Pauley Family Collection, circa 1900-2007

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Summary

Creators:
Pauley, Clarke
Abstract:
The Pauley family is known for its ties to the oil business and the University of California, Los Angeles. The family also has a decades-long involvement with plans to redevelop the site of the historic winery in Guasti, California and the surrounding area near the Ontario International Airport. Clarke Pauley, grandson of oil magnate Edwin W. Pauley, served as general manager for Guasti Plaza, managing operations of tenants in converted buildings at the site. Guasti Plaza was also the name of the redevelopment effort that Clarke Pauley oversaw at the site. The collection contains photograph albums, brochures, clippings, business records from Guasti Plaza; and historic wine ephemera and digitized pamphlets and photographs from the Italian Vineyard Company. There are also photographs and audio recordings of Edwin W. Pauley and other members of the Pauley family.
Extent:
6.33 Linear Feet (11 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Pauley Family Collection, Collection no. 0035, Southern California Wine and Wine Industry Collection, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains photograph albums, brochures, clippings, and business records from Guasti Plaza and historic wine ephemera and digitized pamphlets and photographs from the Italian Vineyard Company, which operated at the Guasti site in the early 20th century. The wine ephemera includes metal tags from the Italian Vineyard Company.

There are also photographs, films, and recordings featuring Edwin W. Pauley and the Pauley family. The recordings include an audiotape of the dedication of the Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1965.

Biographical / historical:

Edwin W. Pauley was born on January 7, 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Elbert (1874-1950) and Ellen (1874-1949) Pauley. His father, Elbert, worked in the oil business and formed the Pauley Oil Company, a firm that Edwin Pauley also worked at until it was sold in 1927.

Edwin Pauley first attended Occidental College before transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. In 1928, he founded the Petrol Corporation and served as its president.

Edwin Pauley married his first wife, Norma Barrett in 1924. They had one son, Edwin Pauley, Jr. (1925-2001). The circumstances of his first marriage are unclear. In 1937, Edwin Pauley married his second wife, Barbara "Bobette" Jean McHenry (1914-2002), a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.

Edwin and Barbara Pauley had a daughter, Susan, and two sons, Robert and Stephen. In 1946, Edwin Pauley, his brother, and two other men purchased an island off the coast of Oahu called "Coconut Island." The Pauley family would use it for family vacations in the following decades. Edwin Pauley also helped establish a marine lab on the island, which eventually became known as the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. Stephen Pauley and his wife have remained involved with the island, which now fully belongs to the state of Hawaii.

In 1958, Edwin Pauley incorporated Pauley Petroleum. In addition to working in the oil business, he was an adviser to several presidents, including Harry S. Truman, and served as a University of California Regent from 1940 to 1972. Edwin Pauley donated one million dollars for the sports arena at the University of California, Los Angeles that would end up bearing his name: The Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion.

In the 1950s, the Pauley family started its involvement with the land at Guasti, California, which was home to the Italian Vineyard Company winery from 1900 to 1945 and, later, Garrett & Company. Pauley joined with two partners to form Viña Vista Venture, with the intent of building a planned industrial community near the Ontario airport. Viña Vista bought 31 acres of land at Guasti from Garrett & Company. Winemakers Philo and Frank Biane later bought 13 acres of land in Guasti that was not included in Viña Vista's original purchase from Garrett & Company, including the buildings used for wine production. The Bianes operated the winery as the Brookside Vineyard Company. The Pauley family eventually bought the remaining land in the early 1980s and began an effort to redevelop the site as Guasti Plaza.

Edwin Pauley died in 1981. His grandson, Clarke Pauley (son of Stephen Pauley), served as executive director of Guasti Plaza from 1996 to 2008. However, the redevelopment plan did not happen and the Pauley family sold the land to San Diego real estate firm Oliver McMillan in 2006.

Edwin Pauley's son, Robert Pauley, was a businessman who co-founded Sonoma National Bank and also founded an exports company. He died in 2005.

Acquisition information:
Materials in the collection were donated to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona by Clarke Pauley in 2008 and 2011, by Maria Gonzalez in 2007 (Gonzalez worked with Pauley at Guasti Plaza), and gathered from Special Collections' Southern California Wine and Wine Industry Collection files.
Processing information:

The processing of this collection and the creation of this finding aid was funded by the generous support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

The collection was processed by Rob Strauss in September 2018.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following series: Series 1. Guasti and Italian Vineyard Company Materials; Series 2. Pauley Family Audiovisual Materials.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Pauley Family Collection, Collection no. 0035, Southern California Wine and Wine Industry Collection, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Location of this collection:
3801 West Temple Ave.
Pomona, CA 91768, US
Contact:
(909) 869-3775
speccollections@cpp.edu
Website