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Guide to the Charles Derleth Papers, 1893-1953
BANC MSS 91/116 c
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Collection Title: Charles Derleth Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1893-1953
Collection Number: BANC MSS 91/116 c
Creator:
Derleth, Charles.
Extent:
3 Boxes and 5 Cartons
(7.5 linear feet)
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Abstract: The Charles Derleth Papers, 1893-1953, include engineering project records, documents from Derleth's tenure at the University
of California, Berkeley College of Civil Engineering, a personal scrapbook, scrapbooks from the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
and Fire, and collected reference materials. Project records consist of correspondence, specifications, and drawings for a
number of projects including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Carquinez Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the Broadway
(Caldecott) Tunnel, and the Posey Tube. Faculty Papers contain lecture notes, examination materials, and research for civil
engineering courses. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire scrapbooks contain clippings, correspondence, documents, and
maps relating to the destruction and rebuilding process.
Physical Location: Collection stored off-site. Advance notice required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please
consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the appropriate curator or the Head of Public Services for forwarding. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library 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 reader.
[Identification of item], Charles Derleth Papers, BANC MSS 91/116 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Charles Derleth Papers. Photographs of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, 1868-1908, bulk 1906-1908. BANC PIC 1958.021-fALB.
The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Derleth, Charles. Correspondence, plans, specifications and blueprints for Sather Tower, 1913-1914. CU-13.8. University Archives,
The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Derleth, Charles. [Collected reprints] 1902-1940. 308x D434 c. University Archives, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
Derleth, Charles. Carquinez Bridge Company. Carquinez Strait bridge. [San Francisco, 1923] fF868.S156C33. The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley.
Charles Derleth Papers, 1865-1952. DERLETH. Water Resources Center Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
S. Clifford Doughty Papers, 1952-1978. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Pictorial material transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
American Toll Bridge Company.
University of California, Berkeley.
Civil engineers--California.
Bridges--Design and construction--California.
Bridges--Virginia.
Bridges, Cantilever.
Bridges--California--Carquinez Strait.
Tunnels--California--Alameda.
Tunnels--California--Oakland.
Bridges--Design and construction.
Earthquakes--California--San Francisco.
Fires--California--San Francisco.
Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, Calif.).
The Charles Derleth papers were transferred to The Bancroft Library from the University of California, Berkeley Transportation
Library in 1991, and were originally cataloged as BANC MSS 91/116 c. The current collection, also cataloged as BANC MSS 91/116
c, consolidates materials previously cataloged as BANC MSS C-B 717, given by Paul F. Keim in 1957, Celeste Ashley of Stanford
University in 1966, and purchased from J Swingle in 1960.
Charles Derleth, Jr. was born October 2, 1874 in New York. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the City College
of New York in 1894 and a Civil Engineering degree from Columbia University in 1896. Derleth served as an instructor and lecturer
at Columbia until 1901, when he moved west to become Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado. In 1903
Derleth accepted an appointment to the University of California, Berkeley to serve as Associate Professor of Structural Engineering.
By 1907 he was Professor and Dean of the College of Civil Engineering, and in 1930 when the Colleges of Civil, Mechanical,
and Electrical Engineering combined, Derleth was appointed Dean of the College of Engineering, serving until 1942.
Derleth played a pivotal role in the design and construction of some of the best known buildings, bridges, dams, highways,
and tunnels in northern California. He was chief engineer for the Carquinez Straight Highway Bridge, the longest cantilever
bridge west of the Mississippi at the time it was built in 1927. Derleth was a member of the Board of Consulting Engineers
for the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the Broadway Tunnel (Caldecott Tunnel). He was in charge
of engineering work for the San Francisco Bureau of Architecture and was a consulting engineer for numerous Alameda County
municipal structures.
In addition, Derleth consulted for well known projects such as the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, the San Francisco
Civic Center and Auditorium, Grace Cathedral, the Native Sons Hall in San Francisco, First National Bank of Berkeley, the
Contra Costa County Hospital and was Chief Consulting Engineer on the Oakland-Alameda Estuary Tunnel (also known as the George
A. Posey Tube). At the University of California, Derleth assisted with the design and construction for a number of buildings
including California Hall, Wheeler Hall, Doe Library, Gilman Hall, LeConte Hall, and Sather Tower (the Campanile). In 1930
Derleth received an honorary degree from the University of California in recognition of his services. Charles Derleth died
on June 13, 1956.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Charles Derleth Papers, 1893-1953, include engineering project records, documents from Derleth's tenure at the University
of California, Berkeley College of Civil Engineering, a personal scrapbook, scrapbooks from the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
and Fire, and collected reference materials. Project records consist of correspondence, specifications, and drawings for a
number of projects including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Carquinez Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the Broadway
(Caldecott) Tunnel, and the Posey Tube. Faculty Papers contain lecture notes, examination materials, and research for civil
engineering courses. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire scrapbooks contain clippings, correspondence, documents, and
maps relating to the destruction and rebuilding process.
The collection documents the engineering of important transportation and building projects in the San Francisco Bay Area during
the first half of the twentieth century. Many of the bridges and tunnels Derleth worked on are now major thoroughfares. Researchers
looking for materials on specific structures should find documents of interest in the collection.
Documents from Derleth's time in the University of California, Berkeley College of Civil Engineering illustrate the evolution
of engineering education in the first half of the twentieth century, particularly through documents from the course Civil
Engineering 113-114, Foundations and Masonry Structure.
The personal scrapbook contains clippings, programs and invitations collected by Derleth and his wife from 1902-1909. The
1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire scrapbooks contain a variety of clippings, correspondence, and documents. The materials
focus on engineering and building techniques in the buildings destroyed as well as new construction methods. Those interested
in the rebuilding of San Francisco from 1906-1909 will find the collection of materials informative.