The School Integration Task Force Records and the Reverend George Walker Smith Papers were processed as part of the San Diego African American Archives Project, made possible by a grant from the President's Leadership Fund. Work for this grant continues through February 2009, and will include an exhibit of Special Collections materials on African-American history in San Diego.
School Integration Task Force Records, 1974-1983 (MS-234)
In 1967, a group of parents filed a class action lawsuit (Carlin et al v. Board of Education, San Diego Unified School District) for alleged inequalities of educational opportunities for students of all ethnic backgrounds. Over a decade later, in 1977, Judge Louis Welsh ruled that the school district must employ a voluntary integration plan to combat segregation. As part of his ruling, Judge Welsh ordered the creation of the School Integration Task Force. The court charged the task force with monitoring and evaluating the implementation and progress of the school district's integration plan. The School Integration Task Force Records document the Task Force's research and findings concerning the San Diego Unified School District's integration plan.
Reverend George Walker Smith Papers, 1950-2000 (MS-0399)
Reverend George Walker Smith was born in Hayneville, Alabama in 1929, and grew up in a family of sharecroppers on a large plantation. After earning a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and attending seminary school, he lead the congregation at the Golden Hill United Presbyterian Church in San Diego. During the late 1950's city leaders noticed Smith and his belief in community activism, and he soon began joining various municipal boards. In 1963, Smith became the first elected African American on the School Board. In 1967, he became the first African American to join the National School Board. He headed the United Negro College Fund for eighteen years, and in 1970, he participated in the White House Conference on Children and Youth. The Reverend George Walker Smith Papers document Smith's ministerial career in San Diego at the Golden Hill United Presbyterian Church and Christ United Presbyterian Church, as well as his political, social, educational, and religious achievements.
Two collections illuminate the history of San Diego State. The San Diego State University Historical Collection, and the Founder's Day Collection both include fascinating documents that can be used to explore the social and administrative history of the institution.
San Diego State University Historical Collection, 1898-1952 (MS-0293)
The SDSU Historical Collection documents the university's history from its beginnings as a normal school through its transition to a state college. The collection dates from approximately 1897-1956, with the bulk of the documents created prior to 1935. It consists primarily of paper records including correspondence and financial records. The collection documents the relationship between students, administrators, and Vice President W.F. Bliss during the school's early years. The collection also documents student enrollment and attendance; the school's financial stability; programs and invitations including Dedication Day and May Day festivities from 1903-1935; student activities and organizations; and faculty involvement with administration.
Founder's Day Collection, 1963-1980 (MS-0300)
San Diego State University's Founder's Day was an annual event that took place the first day in May. Early celebrations, also called Dedication Day, commemorated the dedication of the original Normal School building in 1899. Dedication Day was renamed Founder's Day in the 1930s under Walter Hepner's presidency. Founder's Day festivities included an Open House where faculty members would hold meet and greet sessions for students and their families, as well as activities, exhibits and programs sponsored by individual departments. In 1937, a statue of an Aztec carved by prominent local sculptor Donal Hord was dedicated on Founder's Day as the new school symbol. In 1941, the Greek, or Open Air Theatre was dedicated. In 1971, the Director of Libraries, Louis A. Kenney, presided over the dedication of the Malcolm A. Love Library and unveiled a portrait of Love by Professor Emeritus Everett Gee Jackson.
Three very different manuscript diary collections are also among the newly processed. The Civil War soldier, Asa Sackman, recounts the daily activities of an Ohio regiment in West Virginia in seven small volumes over four years. Sackman doesn't mince words about the many hardships of camp, including the occasional bout with boredom. The diary of Haakon Maurice Chevalier is an incredible primary source, a day to day account of the Nuremburg Trials which includes fascinating comments about the behavior and personal idiosyncracies of the war criminals. Chevalier's diaries (which are accompanied by typed transcriptions) are a quick and accessible read. Finally, the diary of George Batty, passenger on the ship Cleopatra in 1854, recounts his sea voyage from Liverpool to Montreal with a gripping level of detail.
Asa Sackman Diaries, 1861-1862 (MS-0404)
Asa Sackman was a private in the 44th Regiment, Co. G, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain John M. Newkirk. He entered service at age 22, fought for three years, and transferred to Co. G, 8th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry on January 4th, 1864. His status in the Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio is listed as "veteran." This collection consists of seven manuscript diaries, written while Asa Sackman was serving in the 44th Regiment, Company G, of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The diaries date from October 1861, his first month of service, to August 1862. Sackman writes almost daily about the company's movements and actions, the weather, and camp conditions, and occasionally describes encounters with Confederate troops. The manuscript notes on the diary covers list several camps in western Virginia, including Camp Piatt and Meadow Bluffs.
Haakon Maurice Chevalier Diary, 1945-1946 (MS-0403)
Haakon Maurice Chevalier was a translator and professor of French at the University of California-Berkeley. After working as a translator for the French government at the first meeting of the United Nations in 1945, he was asked by the War Department to serve as interpreter at the Nuremberg Trials. This collection is composed of two notebooks kept by Haakon Maurice Chevalier during his position as French-English interpreter at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945. The diaries begin on the first day of the trial, November 20, 1945, and end on February 25, 1946. His account includes vivid descriptions of trial participants (including facial expressions while testifying, unusual physical features, and personality traits), and personal interpretations of testimony.
George Batty Diary, 1854 (MS-0405)
In 1854, George Batty wrote this journal as a long anecdotal letter to his friends, describing his sea voyage from Liverpool to Montreal on the ships "Cleopatra" and "New Era." Batty's vivid daily account spans more than two weeks in August and September, with accompanying observations about city living in Montreal added in December at the end of the diary. Batty describes conditions of the ship and the weather, his fellow passengers, various events aboard the ship (such as a fire, drunken stowaways, iceberg encounters, and porpoise interactions), and also relates his impressions of Quebec and Montreal during his stay. Observations of the upper Canadian coast, the St. Lawrence River, the Victoria Bridge, Eskimo and Iroquois tribes, the timber trade, and severe winter conditions are present in the manuscript.
Finally, the John and Jane Adams Autograph Album Collection is a valuable source for exploring the social life of Victorian America.
This collection consists of 29 late Victorian autograph albums. Autograph albums, also known as "charm" albums, "forget-me-not" albums, or "memory books," were a popular pastime in America during the second half of the nineteenth century. These albums were small blank books that were sometimes decorated with attractive chromolithographs or engravings, or with colored paper. Friends, acquaintances, and family would write brief sentimental verses (often original) or wishes of remembrance to the owner of the album. The inscriber would often sign with a flourish or draw or color a picture to make his or her entry unique and memorable. These albums were often also used to keep pressed flowers, locks of hair, bits of ephemera, and photographs. The albums in this collection (except one) all belonged to young women across the U. S., including New York City, Wisconsin, Wyoming Territory, and Nebraska.
Forthcoming collections in Fall 2008 include: John Theobald Papers, Records of Phi Sigma Nu, San Diego County Department of Public Health Records, La Jolla Shores Association Records, the Leon Williams Papers, and the Carlin Integration Case Records.
Forthcoming collections in Fall 2008 include: John Theobald Papers, Records of Phi Sigma Nu, San Diego County Department of Public Health Records, La Jolla Shores Association Records, the Leon Williams Papers, and the Carlin Integration Case Records.