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Guide to the Leonard McKay Research Papers, 1793-1991
ECS03.02
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Title: Leonard McKay Research Papers
Date (inclusive): 1793-1991
Date (bulk): 1850-1991
Collection Number: ECS03.02
Collector:
McKay, Leonard Mortimore,
1921-2006
Extent:
Containers: 12 boxes and 4 filing cabinet drawers
Volume: 11.5 cubic feet
Volume: 11.5 cubic feet
Physical Location: Series I is housed in vault 1 in the Sourisseau Academy file cabinets ECS 8.1
to 8.4. Series II is located in vault 2 for cold storage, in the Gordon panoramic
negatives cabinet 3. Series III is housed in vault 1 in the Sourisseau Academy shelf
range 34, shelves 34C.3 to 34C.6.
Repository:
Sourisseau Academy for State and Local
History,
San José State University
San José, California 95192
Abstract: The Leonard McKay Research Papers consist of photographs and
papers that document the history of the Santa Clara Valley region. These materials
were gathered by the late printer and historian Leonard McKay during his personal
research into the history of the region. The papers include approximately 2100
original and reproduced slides and negatives depicting agrarian and urban life,
technology, and local events. The papers also include Spanish, Mexican, and American
civil records, locally created scrapbooks, and a large assortment of topical
research files. Collectively, these pictorial and textual resources form a
significant body of research material spanning the late 18th- to 20th- centuries,
documenting economic, cultural, and social development within San José and
the Santa Clara Valley region.
Language:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Sourisseau Academy. Neither the original
photographs nor the digital images held by the Sourisseau Academy may be
reproduced, published, or used on the Internet without the expressed, written
permission of the Executive Secretary. Permission for publication is given on
behalf of the Sourisseau Academy as the owner of the physical items and is not
intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also
be obtained by the researcher. The credit line, "Courtesy of the Edith C. Smith
Trust Collection, Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History" must accompany
any such use.
[Identification of item], Leonard McKay Research Papers, [Box number]: [Folder
number], Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History, San José State
University, San José, California
The Leonard McKay Papers were donated to the Sourisseau Academy by the Edith Corinne
Smith Trust in 2007.
Leonard McKay, Jr. was born to Leonard Mortimore McKay, Sr. and Eugenia Adelina Nenn
on October 21, 1921 in San José, California. He was born to a family with
pioneering roots in the Santa Clara Valley and a tradition deeply entwined with the
printing press. After managing the family printing business for 37 years, Eliza
“Bessie” Smith sold the business to her grandson Leonard McKay Jr. in 1956. McKay
and Bessie also agreed to revert to the original company name, the Smith and McKay
Printing Company (1). McKay ran the Smith and McKay Printing Company until 1983,
when he sold ownership to his son David. In 1986, he opened Memorabilia of San José
and operated the business until his retirement in 2003. Beginning in the 1960s, he
started to exclusively collect art created by Santa Clara Valley artists such as
A.D.M. Cooper, Andrew Putnam Hill, and Louis O. Lussier. To this day, the ensemble
of art collected by McKay remains a distinctive record of social and cultural memory
in the Santa Clara Valley. From 1994 to 1995, McKay served his community and fellow
Rotary members as president of the San José Rotary Club. Following his passion for
local history, McKay was active in the Santa Clara County Pioneers, History San
José, and served several terms on the board of the Sourisseau Academy for
State and Local History. On October 17, 2006, McKay passed away in Santa Clara,
California. (1)
The Trailblazer (Quarterly Bulletin of
the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County)
, Volume 39, Number 3,
September, 1998
The following terms may be used to index this collection.
McKay, Leonard
Mortimore, 1921-2006
Calloway, Hank,
1911-1995
Campbell, Lawrence A., b.
1907
Crummey, John D.,
1878-1976
Loomis, Patricia,
1920-2010
Renzel, Ernie, 1907-2007
Sabatino, Murphy, d.
2010
Agriculture
Agricultural machinery
Business
Industries
Technology
Scrapbooks
San José
(Calif.)
Santa Clara
(Calif.)
Santa Clara County
(Calif.)
Santa Clara Valley
(Santa Clara County, Calif.)
The Leonard McKay Research Papers consists primarily of reproduced and original
photographs, public records, scrapbooks, and thematically arranged research files.
Aside from the broad topics of agriculture, community members, and architecture,
these materials document many aspects of life in San José and the Santa Clara
Valley, the bulk of which dates from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth
century. It is important to note the majority of the photographs in this collection
are reproductions. Many of the photographs were in a state of degradation, were rare
prints, or privately held when McKay copied them. Thanks in large part to his
efforts, these photographs remain available to the public. The research files
compiled by McKay include newspaper clippings, brochures, magazine articles, and
privately and publically produced research reports. The scrapbooks assembled by
McKay and others include a large assortment of news clippings from the San
José Mercury and other regional newspapers. Several of these scrapbooks cover
a wide variety of themes or issues, while others focus on a particular institution,
such as the San José Rotary Club. Some of these scrapbooks are also creations
of important figures in regional history, like politician and former San José
mayor Ernie Renzel, or former president of the Food Machinery Corporation, John
Crummey. Also included are abridged translations of Spanish and Mexican legal
records from the pueblo era of San José and meeting minutes for the Common
Council of the City of San José, edited to include only council items
relating to the city fire department. As an eyewitness to the natural and inevitable
evolution of his community and region, McKay gathered and produced these historical
resources to document the people, places, buildings, and events he thought
significant to the cultural and historical development of San José and the
Santa Clara Valley region.
Arrangement of the Leonard McKay Research Papers
The research materials are arranged into three series:
- Series I: Research Files, circa 1850-1991
- Series II: Negatives and Slides, circa 1850-1991
- Series III: Scrapbooks and Records, 1793-1852, 1860-1983