The Finding Aid of the John Allphin Moore Collection on the Douglass Adair Symposia 0044
Rob Strauss
The processing of this collection and the creation of this finding aid was
funded by the generous support of the National Historical Publications and
Records Commission.
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Special Collections and
Archives
February 2018
3801 West Temple Avenue
Pomona, CA 91768
speccollections@cpp.edu
909-869-3775
Title: John Allphin Moore Collection on the Douglass Adair Symposia
Creator: Moore, John Allphin, Jr., 1940-
Identifier/Call Number: 0044
Contributing Institution: California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Special
Collections and Archives
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 2.08 Linear
Feet(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1984-2006 (bulk 1984-1987)
Abstract: The
collection contains correspondence, news clippings, photographs, flyers, and other
material related to the Douglass Adair Symposia, a series of conferences and
academic meetings that began in the 1980s and ran until at least 2008 at Cal Poly
Pomona. The meetings focused on commemorating historical birthdays. The collection
was donated by Dr. John Allphin Moore, the Cal Poly Pomona history professor who
organized and served as director of the symposia.
The processing of this collection and the creation of this finding aid was funded by the generous support of the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Advance notice required for access.
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or
reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
[Box/folder# or item name], John Allphin Moore Collection on the Douglass Adair
Symposia, Collection no. 0044, University Archives, Special Collections and
Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated to the University Library by Dr. John Allphin Moore in
2009.
The Douglass Adair Symposia was a series of gatherings that Cal Poly Pomona history
professor Dr. John Moore organized, initially with the idea of commemorating the
Bicentennial of the American Constitution in 1987. The symposia was named in honor
of Douglass Adair (1912-1968), a professor of history at Claremont Graduate School -
now known as Claremont Graduate University - and the author of seminal essays on the
late eighteenth century and the founding of America.
Moore began organizing the symposia in 1982 and the Exxon Education Foundation
eventually provided $25,000 for the project. Other funding was provided by the
California Council for the Humanities and various units at the University.
The initial, and most ambitious, project organized seven major symposia during the
winter and spring of 1986. Major historians, political scientists, lawyers, judges,
activists, and essayists from across the nation came to Cal Poly Pomona and to the
Claremont Colleges for the discussions. Each presenter and commentator spent two
days in the Pomona Valley, presenting lectures and commentaries at meetings held on
this campus or in Claremont, engaging with interested larger audiences, meeting with
civic groups and students, and, finally, participating in interviews that Moore
conducted. The interviews were taped and used later for a statewide cable broadcast
to teachers across California.
In addition, a course through Cal Poly Pomona's Continuing Education was offered for
regional high school teachers, which was keyed to each of the seven symposia. In
1987, Dr. Moore assisted in publishing, on the exact 200th birthday of the
Constitution, an anthology with all of the presentations and commentaries (
A
Grand Experiment: The Constitution at 200
).
In 1987, Dr. Moore traveled to Paris to attend an historic conference on the U.S.
Constitution, where he reported about the Adair Symposia activities and recruited
three speakers for the next Adair Symposium, held in 1989.
Other symposia were held in the following years, including one in December of 1991 to
mark the 50th anniversary of America's entry into World War II.
The Symposia's name was later changed to also honor Virginia Hamilton Adair, the
widow of Douglass Adair and a longtime professor of English at Cal Poly Pomona. The
final event organized under the Symposia name appears to have been at Cal Poly in
2008. It focused on Herbert Croly's book
The Promise of American
Life
.
The collection contains correspondence, news clippings, photographs, flyers, and
other material related to the Douglass Adair Symposia, a series of gatherings that
began in the 1982 at Cal Poly Pomona and focused on commemorating historical
anniversaries.
The collection also contains brochures and flyers, notes from statewide
teleconferences that were held in 1987, a resolution from Assemblyman Charles Bader,
and a proclamation from the city of Pomona. Items include a letter from former
President Gerald Ford. There is also correspondence from Virginia Hamilton Adair;
Pete Wilson, who was then United States Senator from California; and Congress
members George Brown and David Dreier. The collection also contains a program from a
conference on the United States Constitution that was held in Paris in 1987.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Virginia Hamilton Adair Papers, Collection no. 0045, University Archives, Special
Collections and Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic
University, Pomona.
The following items have been removed from the collection and added to the University
Library's circulating collection and the Special Collections and Archives Rare Books
Collection:
Englehart, Stephen F. and John Allphin Moore, Jr.
Three Beginnings:
Revolution, Rights and the Liberal State.
New York: Peter Lang, 1994.
Moore, John Allphin, Jr. and John E. Murphy.
A Grand Experiment: The
Constitution at 200: Essays from the Douglass Adair Symposia.
Wilmington,
DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1987.
The collection was initially processed and cataloged by Ernesto Sanchez in 2009. The
collection underwent further processing and the finding aid was revised in 2018 by
Rob Strauss to enhance findability and access. The collection number was changed
from SC2010.04 to 0044 and the collection title changed from
Douglass Adair
Symposia Collection
to
John Allphin Moore Collection on the
Douglass Adair Symposia.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Douglass Adair Symposia (1986 : California State Polytechnic
University)
Constitutional history--United States--Congresses
box 1
Correspondence 1982-2006
box 1
Flyers, Programs, and Business Cards 1986-1996
box 1
News Clippings and Press Releases 1984-1996
box 2
Resolution and Proclamation 1986
box 1
Symposia Photographs 1986-1991
box 1
Teleconference Notes 1987