Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Processing History
Biography
Chronology
Collection Scope and Content Summary
Collection Arrangement
Separation Note
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: Don Meadows papers
Creator:
Meadows, Don
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.001
Physical Description:
89.3 Linear Feet
(150 boxes and 109 oversize folders) and 3.5 unprocessed linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1824-1994 and undated
Abstract: This collection comprises the personal materials, correspondence, writings, and extensive research files of historian and
bibliophile Don Meadows. A small group of files documents the writings of Frances Meadows on Mary Refugio Carpenter Pleasants
and other Orange County historical figures. The bulk of this collection consists of geographically organized archival materials,
largely printed ephemera, dating from the early- to mid-19th through the late 20th centuries relating to Orange County, other
Southern California counties, and Baja California. These materials reflect some of Meadows' historical interests and document
a wide range of cultural, social, political, and economic facets of Southern California history. Principal topics covered
include: agriculture and ranching; businesses; education; government and politics; health care; museums and cultural institutions;
publishing, including newspaper publication; organizations and institutions; prominent people; area promotion, tourism, and
advertising; real estate; recreation and entertainment; religion; transportation; water issues; and weather.
Language of Material:
English
.
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the University of California. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their
heirs. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Preferred Citation
Don Meadows papers. MS-R001. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by gift of Don Meadows and by purchase, 1966 through 1996.
Processing History
Preliminary processing by Special Collections and Archives staff from 1996 to 1998. Processing completed by Philip Brigandi
and Special Collections and Archives student assistants, 2001. Guide edited by Laura Clark Brown in 1996 and Adrian Turner
in 2002.
Biography
Don Meadows was a prominent Orange County historian and scholar. Meadows was born in Shoals, Indiana on October 20, 1897 and
his family moved to Orange County, California in 1903. He graduated from Pomona College in 1922 and received an M.S. in Ecological
Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 1931. He worked as a high school biology instructor, which included
a position at Avalon High School on Santa Catalina Island. In addition to his teaching career, he also worked as a field supervisor
for a biological survey of the Channel Islands, and Park Naturalist at the Big Basin Redwoods and Calaveras Big Trees State
Parks.
Meadows published and co-authored a number of works focusing on Southern California, Orange County, and Baja California history
and amassed a substantial library and collection of archival materials to support his research. Various works were devoted
to Orange County history, including his
Historic Place Names in Orange County and Orange County under Spain, Mexico, and the United States, both published in 1966.
He maintained close relationships with many significant local historians, including William McPherson, Bill Kimes, Paul Bailey,
Burr Belden, Ed Carpenter, and Charles Heiskell, and also interviewed a number of these and other individuals. He was an active
member of many historical and bibliographic organizations, including the Zamarano Club, Los Compadres con Libros, Los Angeles
Corral of the Westerners, the Death Valley '49ers, E Clampus Vitus, and the Orange County Historical Society.
Meadows moved to Yuba City, California in 1985, where he died on November 9, 1994. Additional biographical information can
be found in Pamela Hallan Gibson, et al.,
Don Meadows remembered (Orange County: OCDC Press, 1995).
Chronology
Missing Title
1897 |
Born in Shoals, Indiana. |
1903 |
Moves with family to Southern California and settles in Orange. |
1912 |
The Postscript |
1917 |
Graduates from Orange Union High School. |
1917 |
Enters Pomona College. |
1918 |
Begins collecting publications and archival material on California, later expanding this personal research collection to include
Baja California.
|
1918-1919 |
Serves in the Naval Reserve during World War I. |
1921 |
First research trip to Baja California. Returns regularly after ca. 1934. |
1921 |
Pro patria, a play of early California, |
1922 |
B.A. Biology, Pomona College. |
1922-1925 |
Reporter for newspapers in Pomona and Long Beach. |
1925-1960 |
Printing, science, and biology teacher in Long Beach City schools. |
1926 |
Marries Frances Matchette (1898-1989). |
1926 |
Graduate student at Cornell University. |
1927-1934 |
Teaches on Catalina Island. |
1931 |
M.S. Ecological Studies, University of California, Berkeley. |
1934 |
The magic isle, a pageant of Santa Catalina Island, |
1936 |
President, Lorquin Entomological Society, Long Beach. |
1936-1941 |
Field Supervisor, Los Angeles County Museum's Channel Islands Biological Survey. |
1946-1952 |
Park Naturalist, Big Basin Redwoods and Calaveras Big Trees State Parks. |
1950 |
Sells collection of 20,000 lepidoptera specimen to the United States National Museum. |
1950 |
Member of Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners. |
1950 |
Inducted into E Clampus Vitus. |
1951 |
Baja California, 1933-1950: a biblio-history. |
1952-1954 |
Founding Director, Long Beach Natural History Museum. |
1954-1957 |
Member, Board of Consultants for Rancho Los Cerritos Museum, Long Beach. |
1955 |
The American occupation of La Paz. |
1955-1960 |
Instructor, California history, Orange Coast College. |
1956-1957 |
Begins construction of adobe home in Panorama Heights, near Tustin and settles in Orange County. |
1956 |
Sheriff, Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners. |
1958 |
Co-founder, Los Compadres con Libros, Orange County bibliophilic association. |
1959 |
Brand Book #8, |
1961 |
Active in Orange County Historical Society, later serves on Board of Directors. |
1961 |
Grand Noble Humbug, E Clampus Vitus, Platrix Chapter, Los Angeles. |
1963 |
The house of Bernardo Yorba, |
1963 |
Assists in organization of 1st Baja California Symposium. |
1963 |
Historical volume and reference works: Orange County. Meadows' contributions later republished as Orange County under Spain,
Mexico, and the United States.
|
1966 |
Historic place names in Orange County. |
1966 |
Orange County under Spain, Mexico, and the United States. |
1967 |
Southern California Quarterly. |
1968-1969 |
Member, California Bicentennial Commission. |
1972-ca. 1992 |
Works on "Orange roots" manuscript, a history of Orange County. |
1972 |
Sells research library and archival collections to the University of California, Irvine Libraries. |
1972 |
A California paisano: the life of William McPherson. |
1972 |
Helps found Orange Community Historical Society. |
1973 |
A friendly community near the foothills, |
1973-1978 |
Member, Orange Community Historical Society, Board of Directors. |
1975 |
Irvine, a city on Rancho San Joaquin. |
1979 |
Los Compadres, the first twenty years. |
1982 |
A gathering of tributes to Don Meadows. |
1985 |
Moves to Yuba City, California. Several groups host celebrations in his honor, including the Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners,
and the Orange County and Orange Community historical societies.
|
1994 |
Dies in Yuba City on November 9. |
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises the personal materials, correspondence, writings, and extensive research files of historian and
bibliophile Don Meadows. A small group of files documents the writings of Frances Meadows on Mary Refugio Carpenter Pleasants
and other Orange County historical figures. The bulk of this collection consists of geographically organized archival materials,
largely printed ephemera, dating from the early- to mid-19th through the late 20th centuries relating to Orange County, other
Southern California counties, and Baja California. These materials reflect some of Meadows' historical interests and document
a wide range of cultural, social, political, and economic facets of Southern California history. Principal topics covered
include: agriculture and ranching; businesses; education; government and politics; health care; museums and cultural institutions;
publishing, including newspaper publication; organizations and institutions; prominent people; area promotion, tourism, and
advertising; real estate; recreation and entertainment; religion; transportation; water issues; and weather.
Materials include manuscripts and typescripts; notes; publications, such as clippings, newsletters, brochures, articles, reprints
and offprints, pamphlets, directories, and catalogs; handbills and broadsides; maps; photographic prints and negatives; postcards;
Meadows' personal book collection card catalog; and other printed ephemera.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is organized into 5 series.
- Series 1. Biographical material, 1900-1993. 0.9 linear ft.
- Series 2. Writings, 1912-1982. 2.9 linear ft.
- Series 3. Correspondence, 1906-1994. 8.8 linear ft.
- Series 4. Writings of Frances Meadows, 1926-1989 (bulk 1970-1989). 1.3 linear ft.
- Series 5. Research and ephemera files, 1824-1994. 63.5 linear ft.
The collection also contains 1 unprocessed accession:
Accession 2017.034. Library card catalog from Don Meadow's personal book collection., circa 1920-1980. 3.5 linear feet
Separation Note
The Don Meadows papers helped provide the basis for a group of other artificial collections created by Special Collections
and Archives, including the following:
Several additional Orange County regional history manuscript collections were also acquired as part of the Don Meadows papers,
including the following:
The bulk of the publications comprising Meadows' research library was separated from the manuscript materials during processing
and cataloged separately in Special Collections and Archives.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographic prints -- California -- 20th century.
Photographic prints -- California -- 19th century.
Newspapers -- California -- 20th century.
Cities and towns -- California -- Orange County
Slides -- California.
Negatives -- California.
Daguerreotypes -- 19th century.
Ambrotypes -- California -- 19th century.
Postcards -- California.
Clippings -- California -- 19th century.
Ephemera -- California.
Maps -- California.
Broadsides -- California.
Campaign paraphernalia -- California.
Newspapers -- California -- 19th century.
California -- Politics and government -- History -- Sources.
California -- Social life and customs -- History -- Sources
Agriculture -- California, Southern.
California -- Biography
California -- History -- Sources
Cities and towns -- California -- Santa Barbara County
Cities and towns -- California -- Los Angeles County
Cities and towns -- California, Southern
Cities and towns -- California -- San Diego County
Online Archive of California
Meadows, Don -- Archives