ROBERT C. GILLINGHAM WORKING PAPERS,
1932-1983
Finding aid prepared by Jennifer Allan Goldman
California State University, Dominguez Hills
Archives & Special Collections
University Library, Room G-145
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, California 90747
Phone: (310) 243-3895
URL: http://archives.csudh.edu/
©2006
Descriptive Summary
Title: Robert C. Gillingham Working Papers
Dates: 1932-1983
Collection Number: Consult repository.
Creator:
Gillingham, Robert C. (Robert Cameron), 1896-
Extent:
1 linear foot
(2 boxes)
Repository: California State University, Dominguez Hills
Archives and Special Collections
Archives & Special Collection
University Library, Room G-145
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, California 90747
Phone: (310) 243-3013
URL: http://archives.csudh.edu/
Abstract:
Robert C. Gillingham was a historian who focused on the South Bay, specifically the Rancho San Pedro, the Dominguez family,
and Compton. This collection consists of correspondence, drafts, and manuscript copies related to his work on The Rancho San
Pedro and Yesterdays of Compton.
Language: Collection material is in English
Administration Information
Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Title of item], Robert C. Gillingham Working Papers, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. University
Library. California State University, Dominguez Hills
Acquisition Information
Likely donated by Robert Gillingham in the 1970s or 1980s.
Processing Information
Materials in this collection were removed from the Rancho San Pedro Reference Collection and the Compton History Collection.
This collection was created in 2006 during the processing of the above collections.
Project Information
This finding aid was created as part of Early Los Angeles/Rancho San Pedro Manuscript Cataloging Project, a CSU Dominguez
Hills Library project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project started in 2005.
Project Director was Greg Williams. Project Archivists were Thomas Philo and Jennifer Allan Goldman.
Biography
Robert C. Gillingham was born in Michigan in 1896 and moved to Compton, California in 1906. He attended Compton Union High
School, earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Pomona College, and served in the first World War. Gillingham later earned his
PhD from the University of Southern California and, in 1927, became Dean of Compton Junior College, a position he held for
35 years. During this time, he also spent 17 years as the chairman of the Compton City Planning Commission. His interest in
local history led him to write The Rancho San Pedro, first published in 1961 and financed by the Dominguez Estate Company.
He also published over sixty articles on Compton history for the Compton News-Tribune, which were later compiled into the
book Yesterdays of Compton.
Scope and Content
A majority of this collection is manuscript drafts and copies of sections of The Rancho San Pedro and Yesterdays of Compton.
Also included are Gillingham’s notes and correspondence to and from local historians, the Dominguez Estate Company, Compton
pioneers, and others.
Arrangement
Arranged in two series:
- Series I. Compton, 1932-1960
- Series II. Rancho San Pedro, 1944-1983
Indexing Terms
Corporate Names
Dominguez Water Corporation
Dominguez Water Company
Geographic Areas
Compton (Calif.)
Rancho San Pedro (Calif.)
Titles
The Rancho San Pedro; the story of a famous Rancho in Los Angeles County and of its owners the Dominguez family
Related Material
The following related collections can be found in the CSUDH Archives and Special Collections.
- Compton History Collection
- Del Amo Estate Company Collection
- Del Amo Nurseries Collection
- Dominguez Air Meet Collection
- Dominguez Water Company Collection
- Rancho San Pedro Collection
- Rancho San Pedro Reference Collection
- South Bay History Collection
- South Bay Photo Collection
- Watson Land Company Collection
Container List
Series I
Compton
1932-1960
Physical Description: 6 folders
Scope and Content Note
Materials in this series relate to Gillingham’s research and writing on the history of Compton, including correspondence,
notes, and a full manuscript of Yesterdays of Compton.
Box 1, Folder 1
Gillingham's correspondence with pioneers and notes on early Compton history
1932-1941
Box 1, Folder 2
History notes, Compton
no date
Box 1, Folder 3
First City Ordinances of Compton
no date
Box 1, Folder 4
Notes on Compton businesses and banks
no date
Box 1, Folder 5
History of Compton Junior College (draft)
1960
Box 1, Folder 6
Original manuscripts (3 folders)
no date
Series II
Rancho San Pedro
1944-1983
Physical Description: 89 folders (1.75 boxes)
Scope and Content Note
This series consists of notes, correspondence, and manuscript drafts of chapters and sections in The Rancho San Pedro.
Research and Notes
circa 1934-1980
Physical Description: 27 folders
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, notes, and research collected for The Rancho San Pedro.
Box 1, Folder 7
Correspondence from historians, Anita Watson, the Watson Land Company; research requests
1950-1980
Box 1, Folder 8
Dominguez Water Company correspondence, statistics and drafts
1944, 1957, 1959
Box 1, Folder 9
Background materials, from Rancho San Pedro book
no date
Box 1, Folder 10
Chronology of the Rancho San Pedro and Dominguez Family
no date
Box 1, Folder 11
Data and notes on Rancho San Pedro grant
no date
Box 1, Folder 12
Data and notes on Rancho San Pedro sources
no date
Box 1, Folder 13
"The Estate of Manuel Dominguez"
circa 1934
Box 1, Folder 14
Evidence of prior grant of Rancho San Pedro
no date
Box 1, Folder 15
Data on Rancho San Pedro floods
no date
Box 1, Folder 16
Data on provision for 11-league grants
no date
Box 1, Folder 17
Early draft of "Rancho San Pedro"
no date
Box 1, Folder 18
Notated list of Los Angeles ranchos, 1889, typed copy
no date
Box 1, Folder 19
Notes on legal documents
no date
Box 1, Folder 20
Petition of Cristobal Dominguez - source list
no date
Box 1, Folder 21
Petition re: Alleged daughter of Juan Jose Dominguez
no date
Box 1, Folder 22
Notes on the Dominguez Homesite
no date
Box 1, Folder 23
Notes on the Dominguez Homesite, Chronology
no date
Box 1, Folder 24
The Story of the Dominguez Homesite
no date
Box 1, Folder 25
Data on the Dominguez family and 19th century floods
no date
Box 1, Folder 26
Documents on the Dominguez Family (Appendix III)
no date
Box 1, Folder 28
Genealogy notes on Carson family
no date
Box 1, Folder 29
Documents list, by year
no date
Box 1, Folder 30
Watson Family chronology
no date
Box 1, Folder 31
Watson family genealogical index, A-K
no date
Box 2, Folder 1
Watson family genealogical index, L-W
no date
Box 2, Folder 2
"History of the Watson Family - 4. The Partition of 1885"
no date
Box 3
Lecture on the history of the Rancho and the Dominguez Family for slide show (two cassette tapes and one reel-to-reel)
1977
Stories of the Rancho San Pedro
no date
Physical Description: 59 folders
Scope and Content Note
Drafts of chapters and sections from The Rancho San Pedro.
Box 2, Folder 3
List and foreword to "Stories of the Rancho San Pedro" series
no date
Box 2, Folder 4
"Original Setting in California (1)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 5
"Original Setting (2)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 6
"The Name Dominguez (2)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 7
"Spanish Occupation of California (2)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 8
"The Name Dominguez (3)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 9
"The Laws of the Indies (4)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 10
"Rancho Grants in California (5)" - draft and final
no date
Box 2, Folder 11
"Early Land Surveys and Records (6)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 12
"Settlement of Rancho Titles (7)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 13
"Juan Jose Dominguez: Soldado de Cuera (8)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 14
"Original Grant of the Rancho San Pedro (8)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 15
"Juan Jose Dominguez: Ranchero (9)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 16
"The Will of Juan Jose Dominguez (11)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 17
"The Career of Cristobal Dominguez (13)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 18
"The Re-Grant of the Rancho (14)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 19
"The Record of Manuel Dominguez (14)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 20
"The Family of Cristobal Dominguez (15)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 21
"Early Life of Manuel Dominguez (16)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 22
"Manuel Dominguez: Mexican Official (17)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 23
"The Argument Over Los Palos Verdes (18)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 24
"Mexican War and the Constitutional Convention of California (19/20)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 25
"Partitions and Sales of Rancho Lands (20)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 26
"Other Sales of Dominguez Lands (23/24)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 27
"The Claim of Nasario Dominguez (25)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 28
"The McFarland Claim to the Rancho (26)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 29
"The Petition for a Patent (27)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 30
"Rancho Boundary Disputes (28)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 31
"The Patent of the Rancho San Pedro (29)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 32
"The Earlier Grazing Era on the Rancho (30)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 33
"The Later Cattle and Sheep Era (31)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 34
"Farming Activities on the Rancho (32)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 35
"Farm Labor and Water Supply (33)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 36
"Rancho Land Valuations (34)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 37
"The Railroad through the Rancho (35)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 38
"Completion of the Railroad (36)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 39
"Interest and Tax Rates (37)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 40
"Later Years of Manuel Dominguez (38)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 41
"The Passing of Manuel Dominguez (39)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 42
"The Estate of Manuel Dominguez (40)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 43
"Later Sale of Dominguez Lands (42)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 44
"The Older Daughters of Manuel Dominguez (43)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 45
"The Family of Maria Victoria Dominguez (44)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 46
"The Del Amo Family (45)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 47
"Maria Jesus de los Reyes Dominguez (47)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 48
"Dominguez Estate Company [and subdivisions] (48)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 49
"Dominguez Water Company (49/52)" - drafts and final copy
no date
Box 2, Folder 50
"Story of Dominguez Hill (50)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 51
"Aviation Meet on Dominguez Hill (53)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 52
"Results of Aviation Meet (54)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 53
"Dominguez Estate Company"
no date
Box 2, Folder 54
"Recent Sales of Rancho Lands"
no date
Box 2, Folder 55
"The Sale of Redondo and Rattlesnake Island"
no date
Box 2, Folder 56
"The Watson Family"
no date
Box 2, Folder 57
"The Old Dominguez Homesite"
no date
Box 2, Folder 58
"The Name: Dominguez (2)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 59
"The Del Amo Family"
no date
Box 2, Folder 60
"The Watson Family (46)"
no date
Box 2, Folder 61
"The Watson Family"
no date
"The Rancho San Pedro"
1961-1963, 1981-1983
Physical Description: 3 folders
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence on the publication of The Rancho San Pedro, including reviews and the second edition/reissue.
Box 2, Folder 62
Copyright, printing, reviews of "The Rancho San Pedro"
1961-1962
Box 2, Folder 63
Correspondence on "The Rancho San Pedro"
1961-1963
Box 2, Folder 64
Correspondence on the reissue of "The Rancho San Pedro"
1981-1983
