Guide to the William Gaddis Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: William Gaddis Collection
Creator:
Gaddis, William, 1920-
Identifier/Call Number: OCH.WGC
Extent:
4.73 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1928-2006
Date (bulk): 1928-1932
Abstract: William (Bill) Gaddis was born in
Berkeley, California in 1920. Gaddis was about ten years old when his father, a Captain in
the United States Navy, was posted to command a ship on the China Station. He spent two
years in Shanghai and Manila with his mother and sister while his father was at sea. While
in Manila, Gaddis attended the American School and participated in local theater. During his
travels he collected a number of playbills, menus, business cards, and maps which he
organized into scrapbooks.
Language of Material: English,
Chinese
Biographical Information:
William (Bill) Gaddis was born in Berkeley, California, in 1920. Gaddis was about twelve
years old when his father, a Captain in the United States Navy, was posted to command a ship
on the China Station. He spent two years in Shanghai with his mother and sister while his
father was at sea. While in Shanghai, Gaddis attended the American School and participated
in local theater. He assembled a collection of playbills, menus, business cards, and maps
which he organized into two scrapbooks.
At the beginning of World War II, William Gaddis joined the U.S. Navy and rose to the rank
of lieutenant before being discharged from the military because he was homosexual. This
discharge occurred in late 1943 or early 1944. After his time in the military, he went on to
become an electrician by trade and he traveled extensively around the globe from
1956-1958.
Scope and Contents
The
William Gaddis Collection consists of playbills, menus,
business cards, maps, and travel documents from William Gaddis's travels in Shanghai,
Nanking, Japan, and the Philipines during the late 1920s to the early 1930s. Also included
in the collection is a scrapbook of photographs given to Gaddis by his father of various
locations in Asia in the early 1930s, a scrapbook compiled by Gaddis of his life in the San
Francisco area in the late 1930s, and two binders from Gaddis' time in middle school.
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
William Gaddis.
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
Tim Kaufler, 2012
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ephemera
Documents
Photographs
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence,
2000-2003
Box 1, Folder 2
Japan: Documents from Travel
Box 1, Folder 3
Manila, Philipines: Documents from Travel, Dentist Records, and
Map,
1928-1931
Box 1, Folder 7
Postcards from China, Japan, and the U.S.
Box 1, Folder 8
Publications:
The Sunday Tribune Magazine,
The Grant Gazette,
April 1931-December 1930
Box 4, Folder 1
Photographs of Asia Scrapbook,
ca. 1931
Box 5, Item 1
Binder from Willard School
Box 5, Item 2
Binder from Willard School
Box 6, Item 1
San Francisco Scrapbook,
1935-1940
