A workshop for teachers serving as coaches for students taking part in the 2008 National History Day competition was held in Folsom in October. Sponsor group was the Sacramento County History Day Committee.

Prime purpose was to steer students toward California history as subjects of their entry in the National History Day competition. The workshop acquainted participants with major sources of reference material which can be accessed by students statewide.

CALIFORNIA SECTION — STATE LIBRARY

Telling the State Library story was Karen Paige. Paige has a Masters in Library Science specializing in California history. The California section has a massive collection of over 800,000 references covering dates from the 1850s through the present.

Documents range from books, maps, newspapers and periodicals to pictorial materials, including daguerreotypes, lithographs, stereographs and paints, and ephemera such as posters, programs, pamphlets and sheet music. If a subject and/or individual was in California at any time, there will be something in the California section.

All researchers — authors, historians, reporters, legislators, filmmakers, genealogists, historic preservationists, graduate students, History Day students, teachers and ordinary California citizens — visit the California History Room to use these resources. All are welcome! Log onto www.library.ca.gov for more information.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, UC DAVIS

Head of Special Collections at University of California, Davis, is Daryl Morrison. Her background: 17 years at Holt Atherton Center for Western Studies at University of Pacific, Stockton. Morrison has a Masters in Library Science and a Masters in Anthropology. CCHS members remember her as executive director of the Conference in the early 1990s.

The Department of Special Collections, established in 1966, houses the library’s rare books, manuscript collections and the archives of UC Davis, as well as other noncirculating research materials requiring care and control that cannot be provided in the open stacks. The department’s purpose is to acquire these materials, make them available for use and preserve their integrity for future generations of students and scholars. Manuscript collections, archives and personal papers comprise about 17,000 linear feet of unique primary research material.

Subject areas represented within the collections correspond to the breadth, diversity and focus of instruction offered at UC Davis. Many of the collections in the general categories of Agriculture, Animal Science, and California History, for example, correspond to local history and the early years of the University Farm, when the Davis campus offered practical assistance to local farmers and ranchers.

Collections in the category of Viticulture and Enology correspond to UC Davis’ integral part in the growth and development of the California wine industry. Personal papers, collections and archival materials gathered in the fields of Literature and the Performing Arts, as well as Political Science and Ethnic Studies, attest to the university’s commitment to the liberal arts and the humanities.

The department is open to the public between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. A patron should call or e-mail ahead whenever possible to consult the staff on the availability of collections. The patron may be directed to catalogs, finding aids, indexes and bibliographies listing book collections, manuscript materials, pamphlets, photographs, ephemera and other materials as available.

For more information, contact:
Ms. Daryl Morrison, Head, Special Collections
UC Davis — Shields Library
100 NW Quad
Davis, CA 95616-5292
Phone: 530-752-2112
E-mail: dmorrison@ucdavis.edu

GOLD RUSH, EARLY STATEHOOD, GOVERNMENT AT SAMCC

Senior archivist Pat Johnson, with a Masters in History with archival focus, oversees the distinguished Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center (SAMCC).

The center houses nearly five million photographic imprints. These images capture the dramatic evolution of the gold rush and the evolution of our state’s government during the last 150-plus years.

The archive also holds the KCRA (NBC affiliate) film collection which contains over nine million feet of film in black and white and color.

Performing searches of SAMCC’s catalog, PastPerfect, is possible via the Internet. The online catalog provides access to nearly 50,000 entries, including over 30,000 images.

SAMCC is located at 551 Sequoia Pacific Boulevard, Sacramento, California 95811. Phone 916-264-7072. Fax 916-264-7582. E-mail address: samcc@cityofsacramento.org Website: www.sacramentoarchives.org