Harry Alley Collection, 1930-1985

Processed by Don Walker

Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections

University of the Pacific Library

3601 Pacific Ave.

Stockton, CA 95211

Phone: (209) 946-2404

Fax: (209) 946-2942

URL: http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html

Harry Alley Collection, 1930-1985

Collection number: MSS 298

Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections

University of the Pacific Library

Stockton, California

Processed by:: Processed by Don Walker
Date Completed:: 2003
Encoded by:: Michael Wurtz

Descriptive Summary

Title: Harry Alley collection

Dates: 1930-1985

Collection number: MSS 298

Creator: Alley, Harry Edward

Collection Size: 1 foot

Repository: University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Dept. of Special Collections

Stockton, California 95211

Abstract: This collection contains Harry Alley's mayoral newsletters, Rio Vista Superintendent of Schools Newsletters, Letters to the Editor, and various other speeches, writings (fiction and non-fiction), biographical material, and school material.

Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.

Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Access

Collection open for research.

Publication Rights

Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections 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 researcher.

Preferred Citation

Harry Alley collection. MSS 298. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library.

Biography / Administrative History

Harry Edward Alley (1902-1999) spent virtually his entire life in the small Sacramento River town of Rio Vista, California. He graduated from the local high school (1920), passed state teachers' examinations shortly afterward and began teaching in rural Solano County elementary schools. Alley rose slowly through the ranks of his profession, becoming Principal of Rio Vista High School during the late 1930s and Superintendent of the Rio Vista Schools (1949-1967). Alley led a campaign for the fluoridations of the Rio Vista water supply (1953-58). Following his retirement in 1967, Harry Alley was elected to the Rio Vista City Council and ultimately served as Mayor (1970-1975). While in his mid-eighties, Alley taught gifted eighth-grade math students in the local Middle School.

Perhaps Harry Alley's greatest loves were writing and his hometown. Although, as the collection reveals, he more than once tried his hand at fiction, Alley most successfully combined his two passions in the newsletters he penned while Superintendent and Mayor.

Scope and Content of Collection

Series One contains Alley's Rio Vista Superintendent of Schools Newsletter (1949-1966), Letters to the Editor, and various other speeches, writings (fiction and non-fiction), biographical material, and school material. Series Two contains the manuscript and final versions of Harry's Alley, his self-published newsletter while he was Mayor from 1970-1975.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Water - Fluoridation - California - Rio Vista

School districts - California - Rio Vista

Rio Vista (Calif.) - History

Series 1: Biographical Materials, Writings, Speeches (1930-1985)

Series 2: Harry’s Alley Newsletter (1970-1975)