Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Biographical Information
Scope and Content of Collection
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Robert Levinson papers
Date (inclusive): 1880-1979,
Date (bulk): bulk 1962-1979
Collection Number: BANC MSS 2010/715
Creators :
Levinson, Robert E., 1938-1980
Extent:
Number of containers: 9 cartons, 1 box, 1 oversize box, and 3 cardfile boxes
Linear feet: 10.2
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The collection consists of Robert Levinson's correspondence; files, drafts, and a card file relating to Levinson's dissertation
on Jews and the California Gold Rush; and a small number of files on Camp Swig.
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.
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.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.Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition,
the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor
restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected
by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public
domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively
with the user.
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. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Robert Levinson papers, BANC MSS 2010/715, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Alternate Forms Available
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Related Collections
Interviews concerning early Jewish settlements in California and Oregon [sound recording] / conducted by Robert E. Levinson,
1966 May-Aug. (BANC CD 424:1-3)
Separated Material
1 reel-to-reel audiotape transferred to the museum holdings of The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life for separate handling
and cataloging.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Levinson, Robert E., 1938-1980--Archives
Judah L. Magnes Memorial Museum. Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks
Cemeteries--West (U.S.)
Jewish pioneers--California
Jewish pioneers--West (U.S.)
Jews--California
Jews--California--Genealogy
Jews--West (U.S.)
Jews--West (U.S.)--Genealogy
Freemasonry--West (U.S.)--Lodges
California--Gold discoveries
Amador County (Calif.)--History
Calaveras County (Calif.)--History
El Dorado County (Calif.)--History
Mariposa County (Calif.)--History
Nevada County (Calif.)--History
Sierra County (Calif.)--History
Tuolumne County (Calif.)--History
Court records--West (U.S.)
Interviews--West (U.S.)
Biographies--West (U.S.)
Census records--West (U.S.)
Correspondence--West (U.S.)
Genealogies--West (U.S.)
Obituaries--West (U.S.)
Jewish historians--California.
Western Jewish History Center. 181
Judah L. Magnes Museum. WJHC 1967.017
Bancroft Library. Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
Online Archive of California
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Robert Levinson papers were gifted to The Bancroft Library by the Judah L. Magnes Museum in 2010.
Accruals
No future additions are expected.
System of Arrangement
Collection is arranged into 3 series: Correspondence; Dissertation materials; and Camp Swig Files.
Processing Information
Processed by the Judah L. Magnes Museum staff in 1968. Additional processing by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
staff in 2011.
Biographical Information
Robert Levinson was an historian, educator, and author who specialized in the history of Jews in the western United States.
His doctoral dissertation, "The Jews in the California Gold Rush", was published in 1978 and it remains the major work about
the history of the Jews during the California Gold Rush. Levinson was a professor of history (1967-1980) and the director
of the Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History (1973-1976) at California's San Jose State University. He played a leading
role in founding San Jose State's Jewish Studies Program in 1975 and he was its first director. As an executive vice-president
for the Judah L. Magnes Museum's Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks (1968-1973, 1977-1978),
Levinson helped renovate and publicize pioneer Jewish cemeteries in California's Mother Lode. He also served as a cantor for
Congregation Beth David in Saratoga, Caliifornia and as a cantor, leader of services, and a lecturer for Congregation Shir
Ami in Castro Valley, Calif.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of Robert Levinson's correspondence; files, drafts, and a card file relating to Levinson's dissertation
on Jews and the California Gold Rush; and a small number of files on Camp Swig, a California youth camp affiliated with the
Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism). The correspondence includes personal correspondence,
professional correspondence (on writings, conferences, and general academic matters), research correspondence, correspondence
relating to Levinson's work with the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks, genealogy
and family history correspondence, correspondence with historical societies, museums and other Jewish heritage organizations,
and correspondence from Levinson's cantorial and rabbinical work. The research correspondence, which dates between 1962 and
1979, is particularly rich with information about the Jews of California and the western United States during the Gold Rush.
Among the dissertation materials in the collection are research files on a range of Gold Rush era subjects, towns, and families;
drafts of Levinson's thesis; and a card file that consists of Levinson's attempt to index Mother Lode newspapers from circa
1850 through 1880 for Jewish content. Newspapers indexed include those from the following California towns: Angels, Columbia,
Downieville, Grass Valley, Jackson, Mammoth Tree Grove, Mariposa, Mokelumne Hill, Nevada City, Placerville, San Andreas, San
Francisco (for content relating to Jews in the Mother Lode counties), Sonora, Sutter Creek, and Volcano. The Camp Swig series
in this collection consists of files relating to Levinson's work with the camp during the 1960s and 1970s.