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Greene (Henry Dart) Papers
D-192
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Davis Library, Dept. of Special Collections
Title: Henry Dart Greene Papers
Creator:
Greene, Henry Dart, 1900-1978
Identifier/Call Number: D-192
Physical Description:
14 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1914-1993
Abstract: The Henry Dart Greene Papers contains photographs, motion picture
films and a limited amount of personal and business papers. The photographs date from 1914 to the late 1960s, and are a mix
of personal and professional subjects. Greene's years at the University of California, Berkeley and photographs of his wife
Ruth Haight Greene's childhood in Sacramento are the earliest photographs in the collection. The collection includes
photographs from Argentina, where Greene worked with the Argentine Fruit Distributors from 1928 to 1931 and from his public
relations work with the American Fruit and Produce Auction Association (AFPAA) from 1933 to 1941. Photographs from Greene's
other professional careers are also included. The collection contains fifty-four 16 mm films dating from the 1930s to the
1960s which include two films made for the Feather River Project Association. While Greene's personal and business papers
are
not a significant portion of the collection there is a substantive collection of personal letters from Greene and his wife
to
their family members between 1928 and 1935. Henry Dart Greene passed away in 1978.
Physical Location: Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request
collections, as many are stored offsite.
Henry Dart Greene (1900-1978) was born on September 20, 1900 in Pasadena, California. He was the son of noted Architect
Henry Mather Greene. Henry Dart Greene's professional life spanned several careers: he was the Executive Manager of the
Feather River Project Association; conducted public relations campaigns for the American Fruit and Produce Auction
Association; ran his own film production company; and tried his hand at ranching. After initial studies in architecture at
Throop College (later California Institute of Technology), Greene enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley in 1919
and graduated in 1923 with a degree in Agriculture. After graduation, Greene worked for the Federal-State Shipping Point
Inspection Service, part of the California State and US Department of Agriculture. Greene was stationed in both Northern and
Southern California between 1923 and 1928. In 1924, while in the Sacramento region, Greene met Ruth Haight (1907-2012); they
were married on June 29th, 1926.
Greene accepted a position in 1928 with the Argentine Fruit Distributors to supervise the building and operation of
packing houses for fresh fruit in the Rio Negro River Valley of Argentina. Henry and Ruth Greene lived and worked in
Cipolletti, Argentina from 1928 to 1931. Upon return to the United States, Greene had several temporary jobs before being
hired to do public relations for the American Fruit and Produce Auction Association (AFPAA) in 1933. Greene's publicity work
for the AFPAA promoted understanding between the Western fruit growers and the Eastern Fruit Markets in cities such as New
York, Chicago, and Boston. In 1935, the AFPAA sent Greene to Cuba as part of a tomato deal and to examine fruit production.
Greene's work with the AFPAA ended in 1941. Subsequently, Greene worked for the Food Machinery Corporation (FMC) between 1941
and 1945, promoting their Flavorseal process for fruit and vegetables. The Greenes' daughters, Nancy Ruth Greene and Virginia
Dart Greene, were born in Pasadena, California on April 6, 1934 and on June 3, 1939.
During 1941, Greene ran a hog ranch in Buttonwillow in the San Joaquin Valley but the business lost money and was
abandoned. While working with the AFPAA and FMC, Greene had made publicity films and in 1945 he formed his own production
company, Henry Dart Greene Productions, to make industrial films. Greene produced films for Sunkist and the Los Angeles
Harbor, but found it difficult to compete with larger companies. He ended the venture in 1948. From 1949 to 1951, Greene was
the Executive Secretary for the Pacific Dairy and Poultry Association (PDPA), covering eight Western States. In 1952, Greene
then ran his own cotton ranch in Roll, Arizona. Ultimately, the low price of cotton did not make the ranch profitable and
Greene returned to California in 1956. Greene became Executive Manager for the Feather River Project Association (FRPA),
later called the California Water Resources Association (CWRA), in 1957. His position oversaw public relations for the FRPA
in bringing together the elements necessary in Northern and Southern California to build the Oroville Dam and the California
aqueduct system. During his tenure, Greene produced two films,
Waterama and
Water For You, and worked on bond passage.
Greene retired from the FRPA/CWRA in 1970 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Henry Dart Greene passed away in
Pasadena on June 29th, 1978.
The Henry Dart Greene Papers consists of photographs, motion picture films, and a limited amount of personal and business
papers. The photographs date from 1914 to the late 1960s, and are a mix of personal and professional subjects. The earliest
photographs (1914-1922) are of Greene's wife Ruth Haight Greene and depict Ruth and her childhood friends in the Sacramento
region. The early photographs of Henry Dart Greene document Greene's college years at the University of California, Berkeley
between the years of 1919 and 1923. These photographs show a variety of Bay Area and Northern California locations and
college activities. The bulk of the photographic collection represents Greene's professional careers. Photographs from 1928
to 1931 date from Greene's work with Argentine Fruit Distributors in Argentina and also include personal photographs of Henry
and Ruth Greene. Photographs from 1933 to 1941 show Greene's publicity work for the American Fruit and Produce Auction
Association (AFPAA) in the Eastern fruit markets and his 1935 AFPAA visit to Cuba. Greene's work with the Food Machinery
Corporation (FMC) and the Feather River Project Association (FRPA) are only found in a few images. The collection contains
photographs of Greene's hog ranch from 1941 and photographs from 1952 to 1956 are of Greene's cotton ranch in Roll, Arizona,
which include images of the farm workers.
There are fifty-four 16mm films in the collection. The collection contains films made of the Eastern fruit markets from
1933 to 1941 and productions made by Greene's film company, Henry Dart Greene Film Productions in 1945 to 1948. Two later
films from the 1960s,
Waterama and
Water and You, made for the FRWA, are also present in the collection.
The Henry Dart Greene Papers contains a substantive collection of personal letters from Greene and his wife Ruth to their
family members, many written during their time in Argentina. Memorabilia such as Ruth Haight Greene's 1922 Sacramento High
School yearbook and Greene's college yearbooks are also included. The papers also contain a limited amount of business
correspondence and professional papers. Greene's professional papers include articles in Spanish by Greene; work schedules
from his time in Argentina; a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings on AFPAA; and maps, programs, and newsletters relating
to the FRPA. While Henry Dart Greene is the son of Pasadena architect Henry Mather Greene, the papers do not contain any
material significant to Greene and Greene Architecture. Further biographical information is available in
The Memoirs of Henry Dart Greene and Ruth Elizabeth Haight Greene, Volume One and Volume Two,
edited by Virginia Dart Greene Hales.
Greene & Greene Archives, University of
Southern California
. The collection includes materials related to the families of Charles and Henry Greene,
including the Greene family films, which date from the 1920s to the 1970s.
The Papers are arranged into five series: 1. Letters, 2. Professional Papers, 3. School Yearbooks, 4. Photographs, and 5.
Film.
Collection is open for research.
Devyn Henry, Special Collections intern, processed the collection and created its finding aid, under the direction of the
University Archivist, John Skarstad. Sara Gunasekara, Collections Manager, and Liz Phillips, Manuscript and Photograph
Archivist, encoded the finding aid with assistance from student employees Renee Therriault and Angela Villanueva.
Gift of Ruth E. Greene, 1995.
[Identification of item], Henry Dart Greene Papers, D-192, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University
of California, Davis.
All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. 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 Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is
not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Agriculture -- Cuba -- Marketing
Cuba -- Pictorial works
Fruit trade -- Argentina -- Negro River (Río Negro)
Argentina -- Pictorial works
Agriculture -- Public Relations
Greene, Ruth Elizabeth Haight, 1907-
University of California, Berkeley--Pictorial works
Greene, Henry Dart, 1900-1978--Archives.
FMC Corporation
Feather River Project Association