Finding Aid for the Uplifters Club Records, 1909-1976
Processed by Anne Caiger; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2006
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Uplifters Club Records
Date (inclusive): 1909-1976
Collection number: 2062
Creator: Uplifters Club.
Extent: 4 boxes (2 linear ft.) 3 oversize boxes.
Abstract: The Uplifters Club was founded in Dec. 1913 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club by Harry Marston Haldeman and a small group of
business and professional men; acquired a country home in Rustic Canyon; activities included monthly dinner meetings, polo
games, annual outings, and organized entertainment at which stage and screen celebrities performed; the Club ended in 1947.
Includes minute books, miscellaneous financial, real estate, and other records, photographs, copy photographs, clippings,
and ephemera relating to Rustic Canyon.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Uplifters Club Records (Collection 2062). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, UCLA.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
History
The Uplifters Club derived from the dinner meetings of a group of Los Angeles Athletic Club members, prominent amongst whom
was Harry Marston Haldeman. Their first official dinner as Uplifters was held on December 10, 1913 and their purpose was to
"uplift art, promote good fellowship and build a closer aquaintance," among members. Social traditions that were established
in addition to the dinner meetings included Annual Outings and Poets' Dinners, and High Jinx. L. Frank Baum was a founder
member and wrote the official song, "Haldeman."
During the twenties, the Uplifters acquired a country home in Rustic Canyon, Santa Monica, which was incorporated in 1920,
after which the history of the management of Country Home and the Uplifters Social Club are intertwined. A Club house was
built and dedicated in 1923 and other facilities added included a polo field. Social events continued through the thirties
and, gradually dwindling in number, into the forties. The Club ended in 1947.
The records in this collection were brought together by Mrs. Betty Lou Young and her son Thomas in the course of research
for their (Box 2, folder 12) which contains a chapter entitled, "The Story of the Uplifters. In search of the Land of Oz,"
pages 53-86.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of minute books, miscellaneous financial, real estate, and other records, photographs, copy photographs,
clippings, and ephemera. Includes an historical account of the Club, a photograph album of members, photographs of the Will
Rogers Ranch, sheet music and song books, a copy of the articles of incorporation, and ephemera relating to Rustic Canyon.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Uplifters Club --Archives.
Genres and Forms of Material
Photographs.
Box 1
Uplifters Country Home
1920-1929
Physical Description: 1 bound volume.
Scope and Content Note
Includes copy articles of incorporation of Home, and by-laws, 1920.
Box 1
Directors of the Uplifters
1923-1929
Physical Description: 2 bound volumes.
Scope and Content Note
Volume 2 includes by-laws.
Box 2, Folder 1
Uplifters hymnals
1916, 1929, 1933, 1938
Physical Description: 4 items.
Box 2, Folder 2
Certificate of incorporation of the Uplifters
1920 November 18
Physical Description: 3 items.
Scope and Content Note
Includes related items, 1920.
Box 2, Folder 3
Deeds for Uplifter property
1921
Physical Description: 11 items.
Box 2, Folder 4
Miscellaneous financial records
1921-1939
Box 2, Folder 5
Guarantee of title
1923 October 9
Box 2, Folder 5
Agreement between Santa Monica Bay Telephone Company and the Uplifters Club
[1927 November 8?]
Box 2, Folder 5
Confidential report on an employee
1942 November 2
Box 2, Folder 5
Postcard, "Concert in Bohemian Grove, Russian River, California."
Box 2, Folder 6
Historical account, "High spots in the history of the Uplifters from October 1913 to May 1923"
ca. 1923
Creator/Collector: [by Harry M. Haldeman]
Physical Description: 8 leaves typed (carbon copy).
Box 2, Folder 7
Uplifters Country Home, rules and regulations adopted
1930 November 4
Physical Description: 13 leaves typed (carbon copy)
Box 2, Folder 8
Account book
1931
Physical Description: 1 bound volume
Box 2, Folder 9
Notes payable to the Bank of America by the Uplifters Country Home
1932-1936
Box 2, Folder 10
Escrow statements re. Uplifters Country Home
1936-1938
Box 2, Folder 11
Transcripts, "the story of the Uplifters, 1936-1938 as carried in the Mercury Magazine"
1974-1976
Creator/Collector: prepared by Betty Lou Young
Physical Description: 1 binder, typed.
Box 2, Folder 12
Book, "Rustic Canyon and the story of the Uplifters"
1975
Creator/Collector: by Betty Lou Young. Santa Monica, Casa Veija Press.
Copy Photographic Prints of Various Original Photographs, Clippings and Ephemera
Scope and Content Note
The items contained in boxed 3-5 were made in the course of research for the book,
Rustic Canyon and the story of the Uplifters, (box 1 folder 12) by Thomas R. Young.
Note
An asterisk (*) after folder title indicated additional material about that subject is to be found in Box 5.
Box 3, Folders 1-2
Canyon homes.*
Physical Description: [folder 1: 8 items; folder 2: 33 items.]
Box 3, Folder 3
Huntington Hartford Foundation.
Physical Description: 3 items.
Box 3, Folder 4
Josepho Ranch.
Physical Description: 32 items.
Box 3, Folder 5
Josepho Ranch, camp.*
Physical Description: 14 items.
Box 3, Folder 6
Miscellaneous.*
Physical Description: 4 items.
Box 3, Folder 7
Murphy Ranch.*
Physical Description: 2 items.
Box 3, Folder 8
Polo field, players.*
Physical Description: 15 items.
Box 4, Folder 1
Uplifters Club. Emblems, etc.
Physical Description: 4 items.
Box 4, Folder 2
Uplifters Club. Clubhouse.*
Physical Description: 14 items.
Box 4, Folder 3
Uplifters Club. Members - cartoons and drawings.*
Physical Description: 23 items.
Box 4, Folder 4
Uplifters Club. Members - photographs.*
Physical Description: 28 items.
Box 4, Folder 5
Uplifters Club. Miscellaneous social events.
Physical Description: 4 items.
Box 4, Folder 6
Uplifters Club. Outings, high jinx.*
Physical Description: 18 items.
Box 4, Folder 7
Will Rogers. Portraits, including some family groups
Physical Description: 19 items.
Box 4, Folder 8
Will Rogers Ranch. Exteriors.*
Physical Description: 16 items.
Box 4, Folder 9
Will Rogers Ranch. Grounds, polo gield, etc.*
Physical Description: 14 items.
Box 4, Folder 10
Will Rogers Ranch. Interiors.*
Physical Description: 11 items.
Box 4, Folder 11
Will Rogers Ranch. Miscellaneous.*
Physical Description: 7 items.
Box 4, Folder 12
Peter Robert Gadd, Jr., 1921-2003. Family remembrances and program for memorial service.
Box 5
Portrait of Gene Smith / Snowy Baker.
Note
Photograph not by Thomas R. Young.
Box 5
Photograph of clubhouse?
Note
Photograph not by Thomas R. Young.
Box 5
Sheet music and songbooks
1909-1913
Physical Description: 6 items.
Scope and Content Note
- By Charles Wakefield Cadman (composer)
- "Four American Indian Songs"
- "From the land of sky-blue water"
- "I hear a thrush at eve"
- "The morning of the year. A song cycle for four solo voices"
- By Ernest R. Ball (composer), lyric by Chauncey Olcott and Geo. Graft, Jr.
- "When Irish eyes are smiling" (2 items)
Box 6
Album containing portrait photographs of the Uplifters Club members.
Box 7
Photograph of Valley elevation
Box 7
Cartoon: The Uplifter's "Movie Dinner"
1916 August 30
Super Oversize Folder 1
Panoramic view of Rustic Canyon
1920s
Physical Description: Photograph.
