CSUDH Archival Research Guide Published

Guide to the Archival Collections of CSU Dominguez Hills and the CSU System http://archives.csudh.edu/Guide%20to%20CSUDH%20Collections.pdf The Archives and Special Collections Department in the University Library has published a Guide to the Archival Collections of CSU Dominguez Hills and the California State University System. Compiled by Greg Williams, Director of the Archives and Thomas Philo, cataloging archivist, the Guide represents the first comprehensive documentation of the extent and depth of the Archival Collections at Dominguez Hills. The 150 page guide has over 100 illustrations from the collection and is available online at the Archives website: http://www. archives.csudh.edu. The Archives has over 215 collections consisting of 2500 feet of archival material dating from the 1850s through the 2000s, 150,000 photographs and a digital collection of 6000 items. In addition there are over 5000 rare or special collection books dating back to 1555. The Guide contains shorter descriptions than the 115 CSUDH finding aids that are published on the Online Archive of California (OAC) http://www.oac.cdlib.org. The Guide has links to each OAC finding aid. The Guide also includes a history of the archives, information on archival collecting initiatives, materials on use of the collections, research topics by major, and a list of research areas featured in the collection. Because the Guide is on-line it will be updated when new collections are cataloged. This purpose of the Guide is to allow faculty and students to have a quick understanding of what is in our collections,” said Greg Williams. “This tremendous resource is available to all students, faculty and community members.”

The collection of history materials began at Dominguez Hills in the late 1960s with initiatives to collect Japanese American materials and Dominguez Family records by members of the History Department, and continued through the 1970s with the accumulation of a rare book collection in the library. In 1979 the University became the archive for the CSU System. The main responsibility of the Archives and Special Collections Department of the University Library at CSUDH is to serve the research needs of CSUDH students, faculty and the community. Additionally, the Archives also functions to encourage CSUDH students to use primary sources. The department serves several functions as the archives for the Dominguez Hills campus, the 23-campus California State University System and the Rancho San Pedro/Dominguez Family. In addition the Archives have various South Bay Los Angeles, Compton and Long Beach collections, an Asian Pacific Studies Collection, the congressional papers of Glenn Anderson and Juanita Millender-McDonald. The archives also has extensive material on the 1910 Los Angeles Aviation Meet at Dominguez Field, Tradeswomen, African Diaspora Sacred Music and many collections on Japanese Americans during World War II. In addition the Archives’ rare book collections include such topics as photography, Latin America, early 20th century bestsellers and the works of avant-garde publishers Boni-Liveright, Grove Press, Thomas Mosher Press and Peter Pauper Press. The Archives also has several on-line photo collections that are listed in the Guide.The Archives blog is located at http://csudharchives.blogspot.com/. The Archives is open to researchers Monday-Friday 10-4.

Rival Candidates Exhibition

Announcing a new exhibition in the Archives and Special Collections Department on the fifth floor of the University Library: The Rival Candidates: Electioneering and Politicians in California. The exhibition will run from the conventions until the inauguration (August 2012-February 2013). Featuring materials from the Glenn Anderson Collection, the Juanity Millender-McDonald Collection, the Glenn Dumke Collection and other archival collections, the Rival Candidates focuses on national, state and local elections and politics mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, but also materials from the 2000s. The purpose of the exhibition is to highlight the vast material the Archives holds on elections and politics. Also included in the exhibition are newspaper headlines from major events involving presidents, political conventions during the 1940s and 1950s, the strange sage of cross-filing for primary elections in California, Juanita Millender-McDonald’s career, early minority congressional candidates, Presidential inaugurations, buttons, White House signing pens, campaign buttons and even White House Easter Egg Hunt eggs. The Archival collection of Glenn Anderson features an endless array of materials from the 1930s to the 1990s. Anderson (1913-1994) was the mayor of Hawthorne before he was thirty, a state assemblyman, co-founder of the State Democratic Council, Lt. Governor for eight years during the Pat Brown administration, and Congressman from the South Bay and Long Beach for 20 years. He helped fund the 710 freeway and the 105 freeway is named for him. Juanita Millender-McDonald (1938-2007) was a Congresswoman from the South Bay from (1996-2007), a state legislator and Carson City Council member. Dr. Glenn Dumke (1917-1989) was a history professor and dean at Occidental College, President of San Francisco State College and Chancellor of the CSU System from 1962 to 1982. Dumke’s papers are part of the CSU System Archives which are housed in the Archives at CSUDH. Students, faculty and staff are welcome to view the exhibition Monday-Friday 10-4 in the Archives on the South Side of the Library on the Fifth Floor. For more information call 310 243-3895. Faculty are welcome to bring their classes to see the exhibition or for instruction on the primary resources within the Archives. While there are many major topics and themes in the exhibition….there is also a good deal of factual information scattered throughout the exhibition.

Political junkies may know most of the following questions, but the answers are scattered throughout the exhibition. Who was Alben W. Barkley? What Roosevelt ran for Governor of California in 1950? Who was Miss Jane from the Beverly Hillbillies supporting for Lt. Governor in 1966? Which U.S. Presidents lived in Compton? Why did Congressman Richard Nixon run as a Democrat in the Democratic Primary in 1948? Who was the Congresswoman and movie star’s wife that gave Richard Nixon the nickname “Tricky Dick?” Where was John F. Kennedy nominated as the Democratic Party’s Presidential Candidate in 1960? What did Frank Sinatra have to do with Glenn Anderson’s campaign for Lt. Governor in 1958. What future governor was Governor Brown fishing with in 1960? What California politicians were the Republican Party candidates for Vice President in 1948, 1952 and 1956? Who were Democratic Presidential Candidate Adlai Stevenson’s running mates in 1952 and 1956? What California Governor became one of the most significant U.S. Supreme Court justice of the 20th century? What future President was accused of trying to impeach him? (Okay, the second question is not in the exhibition). Who was California’s favorite son for the 1948 and 1952 Republican conventions? Who did the Republicans like in 1952? Answers???? Come see the Exhibition….