The bulk of the collection consists of newspaper clippings arranged by county and by topic. Subjects covered include the Gold Rush, transportation, and biographies. There is a strong emphasis on the California parlors of the Native Sons of the Golden West, Native Daughters of the Golden West, Daughters of the American Revolution, and women's clubs. The WPA survey work sponsored by the California State Historical Association includes a compilation of materials on California place names and landmarks. There are also many term papers written by Coy's students and arranged by subject. ca. 1925-1950

Owen Cochran Coy (1884-1952) had a long career in the field of history. He taught at Eureka High School in Northern California (1909-1913). He served as the secretary and subsequently as director for the California Historical Survey Commission from 1915-1923. He was a professor of history at the University of Southern California from 1925-1950. Following the commission’s administrative restructuring, he served as director of the California State Historical Association (CSHA) from 1923 to 1950. He served as a state technical director of the Historical Records Survey, W.P.A. in 1936. His publication work included editing Pictorial History of California and serving as editor for the CSHA serial publication, California History Nugget.

(Boxes: 157 legal, 12 letter, 7 record storage, 1 oversize)

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