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Relis (Paul) journals
SBHC Mss 110  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Use Restrictions
  • Access Restrictions
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Arrangement
  • Scope and Content
  • Separated Material

  • Title: Paul Relis journals
    Identifier/Call Number: SBHC Mss 110
    Contributing Institution: UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 2.92 linear feet (7 document boxes)
    Creator: Relis, Paul
    Date (inclusive): 1971-2015
    Date (bulk): 1980-2015
    Abstract: This collection consists primarily of personal journals, as well as manuscripts, booklets, correspondence, and articles documenting the environmental community outreach activities and personal reflections of author and environmentalist Paul Relis of Santa Barbara, California.
    Physical Location: UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections

    Use Restrictions

    Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

    Access Restrictions

    The collection is open for research.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of Item], Paul Relis journals, SBHC Mss 110. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

    Acquisition Information

    Gift of Paul Relis, 2016.

    Biographical Note

    Paul Relis got his start in the environmental movement in the wake of the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969, while an undergraduate in English at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). In the aftermath of the spill, public interest and activism spurred the founding of several groups whose purpose was solely to protect the environment. Relis became the first executive director of one of these groups, the Community Environmental Council (CEC), when he was 23, working closely with Marc McGinnes, who would also become an important figure in the West Coast environmentalist movement. The CEC focused on ideas to help the environment, establishing several public gardens experimenting in organic horticulture, as well as solar power, large scale composting, and biogas. Relis spearheaded grassroots efforts to start recycling programs, Santa Barbara Earth Day, and community gardens in the early 1970s. Relis is currently Senior Vice President of CR & R Incorporated, an environmental services company focusing on providing recycling and waste services. Relis has also served as a lecturer at UCSB.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged into two series: Series I. Environmentalism and Series II. Journals.

    Scope and Content

    This collection primarily consists of Paul Relis's personal journals. The journals span from 1971 to 2014, and not only recount his activities in the environmental movement, but also his personal reflections on politics, poetry, and life. The collection contains original copies of The Santa Barbara Survival Times from the 1970s, as well as clippings, notes and correspondence to and from Relis, documenting the response to projects undertaken by the Community Environmental Council, especially community gardens activities. Additionally, there is a manuscript of his book, Tracks: a Personal Journey on the Environmental Frontier, eventually retitled as Out of the Wasteland: Stories from the Environmental Frontier.

    Separated Material

    Published literature listed below has been separated out from the collection for cataloging, and will be accessible through the UCSB Library Catalog.
    Merrill, Richard, ed. Radical Agriculture. New York: New York University Press, 1976.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Environmentalism -- California -- Santa Barbara
    Environmentalists -- California -- Santa Barbara
    Articles
    Booklets
    Correspondence
    Journals (accounts)
    Manuscripts (documents)
    Relis, Paul -- Archives
    McGinnes, J. Marc, 1941-
    Community Environmental Council