Guide to the Gene Nelson collection
Travis Menne
Center for Sacramento History
551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Phone: (916) 808-7072
Fax: (916) 264-7582
Email: csh@cityofsacramento.org
URL: http://www.centerforsacramentohistory.org/
© 2020
Center for Sacramento History. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Gene Nelson collection
Collection number: MS0090
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, CA
- Processed by:
- Travis Menne
- Date Completed:
- 2009
- Encoded by:
- Kim Hayden
© 2020 Center for Sacramento History. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Gene Nelson collection
Dates: 1919-2003
Bulk Dates: 1950-1980
Collection number: MS0090
Creator:
Nelson, Gene (1921-2008)
Collection Size:
2 linear feet (2 boxes)
Repository:
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Abstract: The collection documents the personal and professional life of Gene Nelson, a Sacramento television broadcast pioneer. Material
spans most of his life, dating from 1919 to 2003, with the bulk from 1950 to 1980. Both his personal and professional life
is documented through photographs and negatives; documents; correspondence; film, video, and audiotape; and artifacts. Personal
items include photographs, documents, and artifacts related to his schooling, time in the military, and family. Items documenting
his professional career include contracts, programs from his shows, ephemera, magazines and clippings, and a large number
of audio, film, and video recordings of his shows.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
Collection is open for research use.
Publication Rights
All requests to publish or quote from private manuscripts held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron.
No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Gene Nelson collection, MS0090, Center for Sacramento
History.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Chris Peterson in 2009 (accession number 2009/012).
Processing Information
Processing and finding aid by Travis Menne, 2009. Finding aid edited by Kim Hayden, 2020.
Biography / Administrative History
Sacramento broadcasting pioneer Gene Nelson was born in 1921 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. He began his show business career
at the local college radio station, then joined the marines in 1942, fighting in World War II until 1945.
Nelson’s career took off after the war with several stints as a radio host for stations in Oregon and California. His first
large-scale weekly show,
Queen for a Night, was with an Oregon station. He hosted the show--where contestants competed for a night of pampering in Hollywood--for three
years. The show’s success drew the attention of Ewing Kelly, the founder of Sacramento’s KCRA 3 radio station, who offered
Nelson a five night per week radio show. Nelson declined the offer and instead accepted a disk jockey position at Sacramento’s
fifth most popular radio station at the time, KGMS. Gene began hosting the KGMS shows
Alarm Clock Club and
The Gene Nelson Show in 1952.
While at KGMS, Nelson also worked for two San Francisco television stations: He hosted a Friday-night TV show on KPIX-TV and
did commercials on KRON-TV for the Monday Night Fights. Following these shows and his success as a radio host, Nelson began
working for Sacramento’s KCCC-TV.
Beginning in January 1954, Nelson hosted three television programs, which ran for four years:
Sacramento Varieties,
Breakfast With Gene, and
Club 40. In 1958, he took his shows to Channel 10, and later to Channel 13 for roughly one year. After this, Nelson retired from
show business, appearing only in a few small-budget documentaries produced by friends. He and his wife, Barbara Harris (married
November, 28 1954), lived in Tiburon and Calistoga before returning to Sacramento. He was a member of the Valley Broadcast
Legends. Nelson died in 2008.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection documents the personal and professional life of Gene Nelson, a Sacramento television broadcast pioneer. Material
spans most of his life, dating from 1919 to 2003, with the bulk from 1950 to 1980. Both his personal and professional life
is documented through photographs and negatives; documents; correspondence; film, video, and audiotape; and artifacts. Personal
items include photographs, documents, and artifacts related to his schooling, time in the military, and family. Items documenting
his professional career include contracts, programs from his shows, ephemera, magazines and clippings, and a large number
of audio, film, and video recordings of his shows. Photographic material in this collection has not yet been rehoused.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Television broadcasting--Sacramento (Calif.)
Radio broadcasting
Social life and customs--Sacramento (Calif.)
Box 1, Folder 1
Military photos of Marine Corps career in WWII
1940-1944
Box 1, Folder 2
Professional and business photos
1944-1985
Box 1, Folder 4-7
Personal photos
1919-2003
General
Photos show family events, barbeques, Christmas, outings, vacations, homes, friends, pets and automobiles. Consists of 500-1,000
unsorted photos.
Box 1, Folder 8
Negatives
ca.1940-2000
General
Includes photos of professional career and personal life.
Box 1, Folder 10
Military discharge papers
1945
Box 1, Folder 11
Professional/business papers
1953-1989
General
Includes contracts, speech, newspaper clippings.
Box 1, Folder 12
Personal, real estate contracts and reports
1954
Box 1, Folder 13
Wedding
1954
General
Includes receipts, plane tickets, postcards, newspaper clippings, church materials and wedding cards.
Box 1, Folder 14
Correspondence
1957-1989
General
Includes letters concerning Salon, Rotary Club, KCCC-TV Channel 40, and American Guild of Variety Artists.
Box 1, Folder 15
Membership cards
1944
General
Includes ephemera from Gene Nelson’s "Alarm Clock Club" and "Breakfast with Gene."
Box 1, Folder 15
KCCC-TV Christmas card
1944
Box 1, Folder 15
Programs for "Queen for a Night" and "Breakfast with Gene"
1954
Box 1, Folder 15
Magazines
1955
General
Includes "TV Radio Mirror" magazine with article about Nelson on page 16.
Box 2, Object 1
"Applause" (¼" audiotape)
undated
Box 2, Object 2
"Gene Nelson O/CIS 1-60" (¼" audiotape)
1970-05-13
Box 2, Object 3
"Sacto Variety Show" (¼" audiotape)
undated
Box 2, Object 4
"Rod & Gene KOAC" (¼" audiotape)
undated
Box 2, Object 5
"Pat... Hollywood... Gail Storm" (illegible title, ¼" audiotape)
undated
Box 2, Object 6
"Hollywood Bob Mary Max Mitch M." (¼" audiotape)
undated
Box 2, Object 7
"Breakfast With Gene" (¼" audiotape)
undated
Box 2, Object 8
"Sacto Varieties" (¼" audiotape)
undated
Box 2, Object 9
"Sacto Varieties/Gene Singing" (¼" audiotape)
undated
Box 2, Object 10
"Locals Breakfast Party" (¼" audiotape)
1958-02-20
Box 2, Object 11
"Gene Nelson Horse Race" (videotape)
undated
Box 2, Object 12
"Island Etc." (8mm film)
undated
Box 2, Object 13
Untitled 8mm film
undated
Box 2, Object 14
"Horse Race at Golden Gate Fields" (VHS)
undated
General
Guest presented by Gene Nelson
Box 2, Object 15
"Angel Island Re-Visited" (VHS)
1985-08-11
General
"Hosted by the 'Honorable' Gene Nelson. Produced and Directed by his Friend Don Batten."
Box 2, Object 16
"Alcatraz, the Inside Story" (VHS)
undated
General
Hosted by Gene Nelson with guest Frank Heaney. Produced by Don Batten.
Box 2, Object 18
Silk banner, Tiburon-Belvedere Rotary Club
undated
Box 2, Object 20
Framed photo of woman
undated
