Access Restrictions
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Processing Information
Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Related Material
Title: Isla Vista archives
Identifier/Call Number: SBHC Mss 41
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
42 linear feet
(97 boxes, 2 records containers, 2 open reel audiotapes, 29 audio cassettes, 1 8mm film, 12 open reel videotapes, and 1 map
folder)
Date (inclusive): circa 1954-1989
Date (bulk): 1970-1982
Abstract: Records of the Isla Vista Community Council and Isla Vista Municipal Council, as well as subject/issue files including health,
housing, incorporation and annexation, Isla Vista relations with UCSB, Santa Barbara County, and California, law enforcement,
planning, population, public safety, riots, transportation, zoning, and related audiovisual materials, the bulk of the collection
dating mainly from the 1970s to the early 1980s.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Access Restrictions
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special 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.
Preferred Citation
Isla Vista Archives. SBHC Mss 41. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District, 1992.
Processing Information
Collection contains materials previously identified as Isla Vista Archives, Mss 42; Isla Vista archives SBHC Mss 17.
Administrative History
The following description is taken from a flyer distributed by the Isla Vista Municipal Advisory Council:
Isla Vista Community Government is comprised of two Councils. One Council, the Isla Vista Community Council, was created by
the citizens of Isla Vista on May 5, 1970. This Council was established as the mechanism for:
- promoting internal community cohesion and organization;
- implementing town policies as established by town meetings and ballot referendums;
- advising the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, UCSB, and other local agencies as to community sentiment on problems
related to local planning, safety, welfare, and community improvement.
To enhance its advisory role, the Community Council establishes various commissions to study specific problem areas. These
commissions are comprised of Council members and interested Isla Vista residents. Through active commissions the Isla Vista
Community Council works with and for the community.
The other community government Council is the Isla Vista Municipal Advisory Council. This Council, usually referred to as
the MAC, was established by a Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisor's resolution in 1972; and it functions as a direct
channel from the Community Council to the Board of Supervisors.
The Community Council uses the MAC to advise the Board of Supervisors "on such matters as relate ... to Isla Vista, concerning
services which are or may be provided to said area by the County, including, but not limited to, advice on matters of public
safety, welfare, public works, and planning."
The citizens of Isla Vista elect the Community Council; and Community Council recommends appointments to the MAC based on
this election. The Board of Supervisors do the actual appointing based on this recommendation. The Community Council is the
primary Council in that it is the active political voice of the community. And the MAC is the administrative Council and it
translates community policy into concrete programs and projects. Both Councils are directly responsible to the Isla Vista
electorate.
On Feb. 24, 1972, the Local Agency Formation Commission approved a proposal for the formation of a district to be known as
the Isla Vista Recreation and Park District (IVRPD). IVRPD continues to this day and has been interested in many of the same
issues as those addressed by IVCC and IVMAC. For more detailed information, a history of IVRPD has been written by Christina
A. Ziegler-McPherson and can be viewed on the IVRPD website at: http://www.ivparks.org/history.html
Scope and Content of Collection
The Isla Vista Archives were first formed in 1972. They were administered by the Isla Vista Community Council Archives Commission
and, later, the Isla Vista Municipal Advisory Council Archives Commission. According to a 1980 IVMAC Archives Commission statement,
the Archives "are composed of documents, records, publications and other papers that originally belonged to I.V. community
organizations and projects but are no longer actively used by them, plus every written/printed item that largely or significantly
applies to Isla Vista as a specific subject..." Major concerns of the Commission were to preserve the historical record, make
the material available for public access, and promote IV community heritage.
In the early 1990s the Isla Vista Archives were donated to UCSB. They are housed in the Davidson Library's Department of Special
Collections and, as originally intended by the Archives Commission, are freely available for use by the public.
Related Material
A number of other collections and websites with Isla Vista and related materials are described in the UCSB Special Collections
Isla Vista Resources webpage at: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/ivweb/iv1.html.