Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Biographical Information
Scope and Content of Collection
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Clark Kerr personal and professional papers
Date (inclusive): 1800-2005,
Date (bulk): bulk 1952-2003
Collection Number: CU-302
Creators :
Kerr, Clark, 1911-2003
Extent:
Number of containers: 70 Cartons, 6 boxes
Linear feet: 90.13
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/visit/bancroft/university-archives
Abstract: Clark Kerr Personal and Professional Papers documents Kerr's life as an educator,
labor negotiator, and, most importantly, as chancellor of UC Berkeley and then president of the University of
California system. The collection spans his professional career from the beginning of his work in labor
relations to his last great work, his memoir,
The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of
the University of California, 1949-1967
. The collection contains personal, professional, and family
papers (including correspondence and papers of his parents and grandparents) of Clark Kerr, including University
of California administrative records, writings, speeches, correspondence, awards, committee papers, and
photographs.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice
may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the
Library's online catalog.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research with a few exceptions. Boxes 5 and 6 are closed for 75 years past the date of
creation in compliance with Federal and State Privacy Law and FERPA. Subseries 4.6-Governance Interviews-is
restricted as described in the subseries scope and content note.
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in
writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000.
Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to
include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is
restricted to research and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Clark Kerr Personal and Professional Papers, CU-302, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley.
Alternate Forms Available
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Related Collections
Office of the President Records, CU-5
Chancellor's Office Records, CU-149
The FSM papers : unpublished documents and ephemera relating to the Free Speech Movement at the University of
California, Berkeley, in 1964-1965, on microfilm, UC Archives MICROFILM.308h.F85.D77.d
Free Speech Movement Twentieth Anniversary Materials, 1984-1985, CU-387
Clark Kerr Office files regarding the Free Speech Movement, 1964-1985, CU-495
Center for Higher Education files relating to the Free Speech Movement, 1964-1965, CU-310.2
Separated Material
Books and video recordings have been separated.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public
access catalog.
Kerr, Clark, 1911-
Kerr, Clark, 1911--Gold and the blue
Kerr, Clark, 1911--Interviews
Kerr, Clark, 1911--Portraits
Kerr, Clark, 1911--Archives
University of California,
Berkeley--Presidents--Biography
University of California (System)--History
Carnegie Commission on Higher Education
Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher
Education
California. Legislature. Senate. Fact-Finding
Committee on Un-American Activities
Educators--California
Free Speech Movement (Berkeley, Calif.)
Photographs.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Clark Kerr Personal and Professional Papers were transferred to the University Archives from Clark Kerr,
The Center for Studies in Higher Education, and Marion Gade.
Accruals
No additions are expected.
System of Arrangement
Arranged to the folder level.
Processing Information
Processed by Susan Storch and Tammy Lo in 2007
Biographical Information
Clark Kerr was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on May 17, 1911 to Samuel W. and Caroline (Clark) Kerr. He married
Catherine (Kitty) Spaulding in Los Angeles, California in 1934, and they had three children: Clark Edgar,
Alexander William, and Caroline Mary. Kerr died in 2003, shortly after completing his memoirs, The Gold and the
Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967.
Kerr received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1932 from Swarthmore College, his Master of Arts degree in 1933
from Stanford University, and his PhD in economics in 1939 from the University of California at Berkeley
(Berkeley). His first teaching position was at Antioch College from 1937 to 1938, and he went on to teach at
International College in Elsinore, Denmark; Stanford University; the University of Washington; and Berkeley.
From 1945 to 1952, he was the Director of the Institute of Industrial Relations at Berkeley. He became the first
Chancellor at Berkeley in 1952, a post he held until 1958, when he became President of the University of
California system. While president he lead the expansion of the University system by three new campuses and
wrestled with growing student unrest and the Free Speech Movement. In 1967, under pressure from Governor Ronald
Reagan, the Board of Regents fired him, he and resumed his teaching and research. He led the influential
Carnegie Commission on Higher Education until 1973 and its successor the Carnegie Council on Policy Issues in
Higher Education until 1979.*
Scope and Content of Collection
Clark Kerr Personal and Professional Papers documents Kerr's life as an educator, labor negotiator, and, most
importantly, as chancellor of UC Berkeley and then president of the University of California system. The
collection spans his professional career from the beginning of his work in labor relations to his last great
work, his memoir, The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949-1967. The
collection contains personal, professional, and family papers (including correspondence and papers of his
parents and grandparents) of Clark Kerr, including University of California administrative records, writings,
speeches, correspondence, awards, committee papers, and photographs.
Of especial interest for students of the sixties, might be Series 1, Administrative Files and Series 5, The
Gold and the Blue. The Administrative Files reflect the most pressing concerns of Kerr's chancellorship and
presidency. They include original memoranda and other official records that Kerr required to handle those
issues. Included in Series 5 are background materials collected for writing his memoirs as well as candid
comments by his peers on his manuscript as he wrote it. In some cases there is voluminous correspondence
reflecting disagreements over the course of events described in controversial chapters.
Series 2 and 3, Professional Papers as Chancellor and as President reflect Kerr's more unofficial life during
those periods. They include materials that reflect his on-going interest in labor relations and teaching and his
involvement in professional organizations and committees and for the federal government. After he was fired in
1967, Kerr returned to teaching and took up positions with the Carnegie Commission. He was very active in higher
education in more general ways, conducting research and chairing various national committees to study issues in
higher education.
The collection is arranged into seven series: Administrative Files, 1940-1987; Professional Papers as
Chancellor, 1940-1958; Professional Papers as President, 1958-1973; Personal Files Post-President, 1967-2003;
The Gold and the Blue, 1942-2004; Honors and Awards, 1945-2003; and Personal and Family Papers, 1900s-2004