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Special Collections & University Archives

This is an academic guide for resources in Stanislaus State Library's Special Collections and University Archives.

Manuscript Collections

Bernice Wood Collection - Bernice Wood (1887-1963), known as an innovator of immigrant education in Hughson and Modesto in the years 1920-1940, was a teacher, banker, real estate agent, Turlock Irrigation District (TID) employee, as well as an owner of a small farm. The collection includes letters received from immigrants she taught or assisted, scrapbooks, photographs, songbooks, and related documents. A biography and transcriptions of the Bernice Wood correspondence and scrapbooks can be found in three published volumes, compiled and edited by Bob Santos, available in the Special Collections: Bernice Wood: friend of the foreigner (LC3719 .S26 1999) and Bernice Wood: a collection of her memoirs and correspondence 2 vols. (LC3719 .W66 1999). 

G. W. Hume Company Collection - George Weber Hume was one of a partnership of three men who innovated salmon canning in the United States. Beginning in 1864, they launched a salmon canning industry that spanned the Pacific coast from California to Alaska. The G. W. Hume Company began as an offshoot of this enterprise. Turlock's facility, established in 1910, canned fruits and vegetables and eventually became the headquarters of the company in 1938. The Hume collection includes representative business papers, stockholders meeting minutes (1908-1968), assorted photographs, a copy of the monograph Salmon of the Pacific Coast by R. D. Hume (1893), and a file of newspaper clippings. 

Gordon H. Winton, Jr. Working Papers - Gordon H. Winton, Jr. (born in Merced, 1913) represented the 31st District (Merced and Madera Counties) in the California General Assembly (1957-1966).  He was an influential legislator during his tenure, sponsored critical legislation, and was instrumental in the decision to locate CSU Stanislaus in Turlock.  The working papers contain various bills, reports, memos, and a variety of other materials that pertained to his work in the Assembly.  The bills are indexed by both topic and bill number. An oral history transcript is available in the MAIN Collection:  Oral history interview with Hon Gordon H. Winton, Jr.:  California State Assemblyman, 1956-1966:  November 6, 1986 and January 17, 1987 (F866.4 .W568x A4 1988). 

Hutchings Newsom Family Letters - A collection of family correspondence (1813-1912) that documents the Hutchings-Newsom family’s western migration and aspects of pioneer life. Beginning in Virginia, the letters trace family settlements from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri to California, Oregon, and Washington. A majority of the letters center on Missouri and the Hills Ferry area in Stanislaus County. A transcription of the letters is available in the Special Collections: Hutchings/Newsom family correspondence: transcriptions 1813-1912, edited & transcribed by Bob Santos, 2 vols (E179.5 .S26 2002). 

Nisaburo Aibara Collection - Nisaburo Aibara (1918-1972) served as a leader and moving force of the Turlock area Japanese-American community. The collection contains materials from the Turlock Social Club, a local Japanese-American community group active between 1939 and 1970. There is also a small group of materials on the Japanese American incarceration experience during World War II and the Turlock and Merced Assembly Centers. Additionally, the collection has extensive records on agricultural cooperatives and Japanese-American church activity. 

Regional History Collections

Regional Historical Society Publications - A collection of nearly complete runs of local history periodicals.  Titles and their sponsoring agencies include the following: CHISPA (Tuolumne County Historical Society), the Gateway (Patterson Township Historical Society), The Mariposa Sentinel (Mariposa County Historical Society), Stanislaus Stepping Stones (McHenry Museum and Historical Society), and the Turlock Pioneer (Turlock Historical Society). These publications contain research articles on historical topics not found elsewhere.  Updated with current issues. 

Regional Map Collection (1860-1972) - Includes historical maps of regional cities, such as Turlock, Modesto, Riverbank, etc., and the counties of Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne.  The maps range in content, size, purpose, and historical provenance.  Types of maps include the following: water resources, land and parcel, Sanborn fire insurance, irrigation districts (TID/MID), mining, topographical, and railroads.

Regional Oral History Collection - Oral interviews and transcripts beginning in the 1960s of notable local community members, such as Fred McMillan who was born in Stanislaus County in 1876. CSU Stanislaus acts as a repository for the interviews done by the Stanislaus County Oral History Project sponsored by the McHenry Museum & Historical Society. University Archives holds a similar collection of oral interviews of significant CSU Stanislaus faculty, staff, and administrators. 

Turlock Architectural Plans - Consists of a small collection of plans for Turlock buildings, including the Turlock Post Office, Fire Station, and plans for the university library building on the County Fairgrounds and permanent campus.

Turlock City Clerk Records - Contains the handwritten and typewritten memorandums and receipts of the Turlock City Clerk’s Office, 1908-1936.

Turlock Mercantile Company Papers - The Mercantile Company, a dry goods and general store serving the Turlock area, occupied the building at the southwest corner of the Broadway and Main Streets intersection in downtown Turlock for several decades. The collection contains account ledgers, bank deposits, memorandums, and store policy and procedures, 1919-1968. 

From the Sayad Collection

The Sayad Collection is an Assyrian, primarily Near Eastern theological/cultural book collection representing the private library of the Rev. Eshoo Paul Sayad, acquired by the CSU Stanislaus library in 1970.  See Collection Descriptions tab for further information.

From the Bernice Wood Collection

Photograph of Bernice Wood with her first car.  She writes:  "My first car, 1919 Ford; Ran 10 years, 100,000 miles; Cost $400."  (comments written near original mounted photograph)

CSU ScholarWorks

ScholarWorks is the digital repository of California State University. ScholarWorks serves as a digital archive for collecting, preserving, and distributing digital material pertinent to California State University. Stan State ScholarWorks currently hosts the electronic manuscripts of master's theses/projects and doctoral dissertations authored by Stan State students since 2013.

Directory of archival & special collections in California

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