The San Joaquin County Schools Collection consists of general and individual school histories, scrapbooks, textbooks and scattered miscellaneous county-wide administrative, student and parent association records. The latter include: County School District Manuals (1889; 1918; 1923); County School Directories (1964-1968); a Brandt School District (Lockeford) register (1885-1891); a Lafayette School District (Lodi) register (1876-1878) and Parents' Club minutebook (1958-1962); an Emerson School (Lodi) PTA minutebook (1924-1934); various records from Stockton's Washington School (1866-1888) and, various Lodi High School records, including the By-Laws & Constitution (c1940), Student Council minutebooks (1903-1963), and, a student handbook (1965). The collection also contains information on certain San Joaquin County parochial schools and private institutions of higher education.

In 1851 the first public school in San Joaquin County, known as Stockton Academy, was established in the four year old city of Stockton. Two years after San Joaquin County (Calif.) was created (1850), county-level public education administration was recognized by the State Legislature. At this time there were three school districts in San Joaquin County with a student population of slightly over 200. The State of California required the newly created Superintendents of Schools to draw warrants on their county treasuries on behalf of school creditors and to visit each school in the county at least once a year. They did not require them to be credentialed teachers nor to plan school curriculum. Eight years later (1860) the State Legislature passed an act creating County Boards of Examination having the power to issue teaching certificates. Since Superintendents were not required to have teaching credentials, these four member Boards were made up of the Superintendent and three licenced teachers. At that time San Joaquin County had twenty-one school districts with a student population of 600. Minority students in Stockton, then the only city in San Joaquin County, attended separate schools for nearly twenty years (1859-1879). Stockton High School, the first public secondary school in San Joaquin County, graduated its first class in 1872. Today San Joaquin County has four cities of more than fifty thousand inhabitants, over twenty public high schools and one community college.

Publication Rights The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimants of literary property.

Access Collection is open for research by appointment only.