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J.A.C. Grant papers, ca. 1920-1994
1722
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Title: J.A.C. Grant papers
Collection number: 1722
Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material: English
Physical Description:
55 linear ft.
(42 record storage cartons, 10 document boxes and 3 oversize flat boxes.)
Date: ca. 1920-1994
Abstract: James Allen Clifford Grant, Political Science Professor Emeritus joined the UCLA faculty in 1930 and retired in 1969. While
at UCLA, Grant chaired the Political Science Department and the Academic Senate and was instrumental in the foundation of
the UCLA Law School and the selection of its first dean. Materials include correspondence, annotated manuscripts, book reviews
and journal articles, curriculum and syllabi for UCLA Political Science courses, labor arbitration hearing files, District
Counsel Opinions regarding the South Coast Air Quality Management Hearing Board, research files on Vietnam and its constitutional
development, and notes on historic legal cases with an emphasis on United States Supreme Court decisions.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], J.A.C. Grant papers (Collection 1722). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, UCLA.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
6673338
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Collection was received by UCLA University Archives in January 1993.
James Allen Clifford Grant was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1902. Friends and family referred to him as Cliff. When
he was a child, his family moved to Southern California where he graduated from Inglewood High School in 1920 and attended
the Southern Branch of the University of California, which would become UCLA, for two years. He studied at Stanford for four
years, receiving a B.A. in 1924, a M.A. in 1925, and a Ph.D. in 1927. He married Helen Allison in 1928 and they had two children,
William and Beverly.
At Stanford, his intellectual interest was on the junction of political science and the law and remained focused there for
the rest of his life. Grant’s first academic job was at the University of Wisconsin for three years before shifting to the
UCLA faculty in 1930, just after the opening of the Westwood campus. He became a full professor in 1940, moved to over-scale
in 1950, and retired as Political Science Professor Emeritus in 1969, receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from UCLA
that last year.
While at UCLA, Grant was chairman of the Political Science Department, divisional dean of Social Sciences, chairman of the
Budget Committee, and chairman of the Academic Senate. Shortly after the war he played an important role in the establishment
of the UCLA Law School and the selection of a first dean. In the late sixties and into the seventies after his retirement
he worked on system wide problems in Berkeley for President Clark Kerr and for Academic Vice-President Frank Kidner.
Additionally, Grant was much in demand for service outside the University. During World War II he served as vice-chairman
of the Regional War Labor Board in San Francisco. After the war he became a labor arbitrator. He assisted with the establishment
of UCLA’s affirmative action program. He was a member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. He helped the government
of South Vietnam draw up a constitution. He also served on the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise, which supervises projects funded
from the estate of the former Supreme Court justice.
Until his retirement, Grant was a dedicated and prolific scholar. While he edited and contributed to several books, he specialized
in articles which were published in law reviews and political science journals. The topics fell within his general field of
interest: constitutional law, criminal law, apportionment, judicial review, the Supreme Court, and many comparative studies
with Canada, Latin America, and Italy. He died November 22, 1995 at the age of 93.
Materials include correspondence with colleagues, academic editorial boards and Library of Congress concerning the Permanent
Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise, annotated manuscripts, book reviews and journal articles, curriculum and syllabi
for UCLA Political Science courses, labor arbitration hearing files, District Counsel Opinions regarding the South Coast Air
Quality Management Hearing Board, research files on Vietnam and its constitutional development and notes on historic legal
cases with an emphasis on United States Supreme Court decisions.
The collection was processed at the box level while maintaining the creator's original order.
Interview of James A.C. Grant [oral history transcript] / James A.C. Grant, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview,
1989. UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.