William Barclay Stephens papers
Finding aid created by California Academy of Sciences staff using RecordEXPRESS
California Academy of Sciences
2022
55 Music Concourse Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California 94118
(415) 379-5487
library@calacademy.org
http://www.calacademy.org/
Title: William Barclay Stephens papers
Dates: 1869-1962
Collection Number: MSS-447
Creator/Collector:
Stephens, William Barclay, 1869-1962
Extent: 7+ boxes, 2.45 cu.ft
Repository:
California Academy of Sciences
San Francisco, California 94118
Abstract: The papers of Dr. William Barclay Stephens - MD, eye researcher, California Academy of Sciences Member, Fellow, and Honorary
Curator of Horology. Included are photographs, negative, slides, articles, correspondence, clippings, and a stereopticon.
The collection is mainly comprised of items relating to his interest in horology and also includes photos of San Francisco
and the 1906 earthquake and fire.
Language of Material: English
Access is unrestricted
[Identification of item]. William Barclay Stephens papers. Collection Number: MSS-447. California Academy of Sciences
Biography/Administrative History
Dr. W. Barclay Stephens, Physician and Horologist, was born on January 5, 1869, in Paris, Kentucky. As a boy, he found two
antique clocks in the attic of his parents house. He was able to repair one of the clocks to working order, the second’s mechanics
were beyond the abilities of the junior clock lover and became a cabinet instead. This cabinet would serve to hold the other
clocks that he would eventually collect in this lifelong hobby.
In 1890, Dr. Stephens graduated from Georgetown College, Kentucky. In 1893, he received his Doctorate of Medicine from the
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. That same year, he began an eye, ear, nose, and throat practice in
San Francisco, California. After a year in San Francisco, Dr. Stephens moved his practice across the bay to Alameda, where
he was engaged in eye research.
After thirty years as a practicing physician and diplomat of the American board of Ophthalmology and Oto-Larynthamology, Dr.
Stephens suffered a heart attack while testifying as a medical expert in court. That same year, 1934, Dr. Stephens retired,
turning his practice over to his two physician sons, whose mother, Sarah Louise Bruce, he had married in 1903. He spent next
eight the years involved in horticulture and horology.
This retirement was interrupted by World War II. In 1942, his two sons, Stuart and Bruce, were called up to serve in the Navy.
It was apparent to Dr. Stephens that there would be a shortage of physicians in the area and resumed his practice. Once the
war was over Dr. Stephens returned to his retirement in 1948.
Dr. Stephens once said of his hobby (sometime he referred to it as his philosophy), “Time is a precious commodity. One should
spend it and invest it more carefully than any other capital. Wasting it is a destructive habit.” He felt similarly about
the wasting or languishing of money. After organizing the Boy Scouts of America Chapter in Alameda and presiding over the
organization for fourteen years, he (in 1949) donated $20,000.00 for the purchase of a Boy and Girl Scouts youth center. They
named it, in his honor, the Stephens Center. The Boy Scouts further showed their respect and gratitude with Camp Stephens
and the W. Barclay Stephens explorer ship (the largest one of its kind in the world). Dr. Stephens also helped found the Alameda
Hospital and subsequently had a wing named after him in 1957.
After being a member of the California Academy of Sciences for thirty-seven years, Dr. Stephens was named Honorary Curator
of Horology and his famous collection of clocks was opened for display to the public. That same year, 1946, he became a Patron
of the Academy and subsequently a Fellow and a Benefactor in 1952. Dr. Stephens also gave an exhibit to the Bishop Museum
in Honolulu. As was said before, Dr. Stephens saw clocks not as mere measurers of time but as philosophical instruments telling
one how and when to live their life.
After approximately a month of illness, Dr. W. Barclay Stephens passed away, in the hospital he helped to found, on February
28, 1962.
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of Dr. William Barclay Stephens - MD, eye researcher, California Academy of Sciences Member, Fellow, and Honorary
Curator of Horology. Included are photographs, negative, slides, articles, correspondence, clippings, and a stereopticon.
The collection is mainly comprised of items relating to his interest in horology and also includes photos of San Francisco
and the 1906 earthquake and fire.
Horology
Hours (Time)
Clocks and watches
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906