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Guide to the Alexander Pope Papers, circa 1932-2000
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Table of contents
Collection Size:
Approximately 153.873 linear feet.
368 legal size document boxes, one 16.25 x 21 x 3.25 box and one assessor campaign banner [23.75 x 102 inches].
Title: Alexander Pope papers
Dates: ca. 1932-2000
Bulk Dates: 1978-1990
Creator:
Pope, Alexander, 1929- .
Repository:
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery
San Marino, CA 91108
Abstract: The collection contains the papers and administrative files of lawyer and Los Angeles County Assessor, Alexander Hillhouse
Pope.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Boxes 282, 283 are CLOSED. Originals of redacted documents can be found in Pope Box A, which is also closed.
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information,
please contact the Huntington Library Reader Services Department at readerregistration@huntington.org.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from the collection must be submitted in writing to the appropriate curator.
The Huntington's granting permission to publish does not transfer copyright it owns, and permission is granted only to the
extent of Huntington ownership of the rights related to the request. Certain works requested which are physically owned by
the Huntington may be protected by copyright, trademark, or related interests not owned by the Huntington. The responsibility
for determining whether any such intangible rights exist, for obtaining all necessary permissions, and for guarding against
the infringement of those rights that may be held elsewhere, remains with the requester.
Alexander Pope papers, Manuscripts Dept., Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift from Alexander Pope: the initial donation, including all the formal Assessor's Office material, was made Jan. 27, 1996.
Two additional donations of personal material were made at some point over the next three years. The final donation of CCBC
material was received in September, 2000.
Biography / Administrative History
Alexander Hillhouse Pope's grandfathers were both lawyers, and his grandmother was active in a forerunner of the ACLU, which
may explain why Alex Pope was walking precincts for Roosevelt and Truman at a young age. He skipped his last two years of
high school to attend the University of Chicago where his political activism continued with the National Students Association
and Americans for Democratic Action. Pope's college advisor told him law school was the "surest ticket to public office,"
and in 1952 Pope received his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School.
Although he claimed he had no intention of practicing law, Pope did just that for more than twenty years in Los Angeles, while
continuing his activities with the Democratic Party and local community associations. Pope's tireless campaigning and volunteerism
were rewarded when he was appointed Governor Pat Brown's Legislative Secretary (1959-1961). At the community level, Pope
was President of the Westchester Mental Health Clinic (1956-67) at a time when some factions still associated psychiatry with
communist infiltration. He was also a consultant for the implementation of the McCone Commission Report, which examined the
causes and effects of the Watts riots in 1965. Additionally, Pope served on the California Highway Commission (1966-1970)
and was a member of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners (1973-1977).
After working in a gubernatorial administration that elevated public education by leaps and bounds and oversaw a litany of
public works and services, Alex Pope became a pivotal player in applying a new law that eroded the revenue for such services:
Proposition 13. No sooner was Pope the first local politician to oppose the initiative, than he was appointed Assessor of
Los Angeles County, the "biggest property tax agency in the world," and had to enforce the will of the voters: June 8, 1978
-- the New Deal and the Great Society were now in the distant past. Pope put aside his opinions and implemented Proposition
13 "within specified time limitations and with a high level of efficiency," according to L.A. County Chief Administrative
Officer, Harry L. Hufford.
Proposition 13 was the threshold event for an era of economic belt-tightening and its effects permeated intergovernmental
relations as well as local municipal budgets. Pope's endeavors to correct problem areas of Proposition 13 came through litigation
and his legislative work with Assemblyman Dave Elder even after Pope left the Assessor's Office in 1986. In 1997 he became
Executive Director of the California Citizens Budget Commission which published comprehensive reports on reforming the state
budget process and addressing the state's health care needs.
Philip E. Watson was Los Angeles County Assessor from 1963 to 1977. A World War II pilot, he studied accounting at UCLA, became
a field appraiser for the county and then deputy assessor. Watson efforts to reform the assessor's office and limit property
taxes were sidetracked when Baxter Ward and other members of the County Board of Supervisors accused him of unfair assessment
practices, favoring big corporations over small homeowners. These accusations culminated in an audit and report by former
Watergate investigator Carmine Bellino, which was highly critical, but ultimately found no wrong-doing. This investigation
and Watson's health were deciding factors in his decision to step down from the Assessor's Office in 1977. Watson died in
1986 at age 62 in Rancho Mirage, California.
Other featured Los Angeles County Assessor's Office staff:
Robert H. McNeill, Jr., Assessor Watson's Field Deputy, assigned the task of writing the history of the Los Angeles County
Assessor's Office.
Glenn Quinn: at times, Assistant Assessor and Director of Assessment Services and Chief, Residential Division, served both
Watson and Pope administrations, as did:
Paul M. Hannah, Assistant Assessor, Director of Valuations, Assessment Services and Assessor's Operations
Sherrill D. Luke, Chief Deputy Assessor during the Pope era; became a judge for the Los Angeles Municipal and Superior courts.
Leonard J. Wheeler, Director, Real Property Appraisals; Valuations
Post-Pope assessors marginally represented in this collection:
John J. Lynch, 1986-1990
Kenneth P. Hahn, 1990-2000 (no relation to the Los Angeles City Council member)
Scope and Content of Collection
The Collection is divided into three series, with approximately 45 percent of the materials consisting of Pope's Personal
files, 34 percent from the County Assessor's Office and the remaining 21 percent from the offices of the California Citizen's
Budget Commission. The bulk of the materials are administrative in nature and format, such as letters, memos and reports.
There is a considerable amount of political ephemera, legislation, litigation and published research documents, as well as
photographs. Far and wide, the materials related to the implementation of Proposition 13 are the highlight of the collection.
Individual series descriptions appear below:
SERIES 1: L.A. COUNTY ASSESSOR'S OFFICE
The majority of these files were created by various division chiefs and deal with administrative issues, personnel and valuation
of property. Concentrations of interest begin in the Watson era with his field deputy's efforts to write a history of the
Assessor's Office, followed by the Bellino audit report and Watson's response to this scrutiny. There are also litigation
files, Assessment Appeals Board (AAB) cases, sample forms, departmental activities, work plans, status reports, statistics
and California State Board of Equalization documents. There are administrative files from the Pope era regarding such issues
as Proposition 13's implementation, split roll, conflict of interests and assessment practices.
SERIES 2: POPE: PERSONAL
Here is found a plethora of campaign materials and administrative documents, the bulk of which come from Pope's own campaigns
for assessor, L.A. County Supervisor, 4th District, and his run for the State Board of Equalization. Pope was involved in
many other politicians' campaigns, with the most activity involving Adlai Stevenson's presidential runs, Pat Brown for Governor,
Pat Russell for LA City Council, and Jerome R. Waldie for Governor.
Formats include correspondence, invitations, filing papers, accounting materials, funding disclosure forms, voting statistics,
campaign ephemera and mailers, press kits, agendas, speeches and debate materials. The highlight in this area may very well
be an Eisenhower-Nixon comic book. Pope was involved with local Democratic clubs, but also attended national and state conventions
and related materials are fully represented here.
Pope was a consultant for the implementation of the McCone Commission report on the Los Angeles riots of 1965 and documents
and articles cover related topics such as racism, welfare reform, job programs and business development. There is a wide
range of transportation-related documents and publications from the years Pope served on the California Highway Commission
(featuring the Mineral King development, Long Beach Freeway extension through South Pasadena) and the Los Angeles Board of
Airport Commissioners.
During his years as L.A. County Assessor, Pope was active in developing and promoting legislation to address problem areas
of Proposition 13, and other property valuation issues which are featured in the Legal and Legislative sub-series, along with
litigation documents. Other Pope activities of note involve the California Assessor's Association (CAA) and the International
Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO). Pope was active in a wide range of community-based organizations including the Westchester
Mental Health Clinic, the YMCA and the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Pope's lecture materials and handouts from his trip to
China are also in this series, as well as his chronological and administrative files from his law practice.
SERIES 3: CALIFORNIA CITIZENS BUDGET COMMISSION
The California Citizens Budget Commission first met in 1993 under the auspices of the Center for Governmental Studies. It
was a blue-ribbon panel of twenty-three non-partisan community leaders who had the goal of reforming the state's budget process
and later, the state's health care system. The series consists substantially of research articles on budget and health care
reform and many drafts of the Commission's reports. Administrative files were accumulated by Pope and other CCBC staff including
research analyst Karen Klabin, research associate Camelia Siminescu and secretary Chanel Young.
The Collection is organized into three series, generally based on provenance, and further divided into sub-series:
SERIES 1: L.A. COUNTY ASSESSOR'S OFFICE
Boxes 1-123
Inclusive dates: 1880-1992
Bulk dates 1967-1986
These files were generated by a number of Assessor's Office staff and reflect a variety of arrangements, many of which are
incomplete and inconsistent due to activities that preceded accession. There are sections that appear to be alphabetical by
subject, numerical, alphabetical by name of division or name of division chief.
Sub-series 1: Assessor Watson
Boxes 1-19 (1880-1987; bulk: 1973-1978)
Sub-series 2: Assessor Pope - Administrative
Boxes 19-25 (1969-1986)
Sub-series 3: Watson and Pope Staff
Boxes 26-91 (1938-1988; bulk: 1978-1986)
Sub-series 4: Assessor Pope
Boxes 92-115 (1948-1991; bulk 1978-1986)
Sub-series 5: Assessors Lynch and Hahn
Boxes 116-123 (1975-1992; bulk 1987-1989)
SERIES 2: POPE: PERSONAL
Boxes 124-289
Inclusive dates: 1923-1998
Bulk Dates: 1962-1988
For enhanced accessibility, arrangements were imposed in the following manner:
Sub-series 1: Pope Campaigns
Boxes 124-154 (1974-1994; bulk dates 1978-1986)
Over-all arrangement is chronological, starting with Pope's appointment to L.A. County Assessor's Office, his two elections
to that office, exploration of a run for the State Controller's office, Pope's campaign for Board of Supervisors, 4th District,
State Board of Equalization and his legislation campaign with Assemblyman Dave Elder. The last few boxes (147-154) are campaign
accounting materials including financial disclosure forms.
Sub-series 2: Other Campaigns, Candidates
Boxes 155-177 (1949-1993)
Alphabetical by politician/candidate's surname.
Sub-series 3: Democratic Party
Boxes 178-186 (1950-1992)
Chronological and then alphabetical: committees, conventions, clubs.
Sub-series 4: McCone Commission
Boxes 187-193 (1965-1992; bulk: 1965-1967)
Alphabetical after "Implementation."
Sub-series 5: Transportation
Boxes 194-207 (1945-1989; bulk for Calif. Hwy Commission: 1965-67; bulk for Airport Commission: 1973-1987)
Alphabetical by subject or project name. Boxes 194 through 203 generally contain California Highway Commission documents;
Boxes 204 through 207 materials dealing with the Board of Airport Commissioners.
Sub-series 6: Assessor's Office
Boxes 208-224 (1967-1998; bulk 1978-1987)
Chronological, then alphabetical: end of Pope's era, start of Lynch's term, then county offices, assessor associations (Boxes
217-218), photographs (Boxes 219-221), reports and SBE assessment practices survey.
Sub-series 7: Legal and Legislative
Boxes 225-247 (1959-1998; bulk 1978-1990)
Alphabetical by name of legislation (or bill number) or litigation case (concentration of Proposition 13-related materials).
Sub-series 8: Issues and Organizations
Boxes 238-257 (1923-1992; bulk 1957-1988)
Alphabetical by topic; generally some controversy indicated (Abortion to Zero Population Growth).
Sub-series 9: Associations, Nonprofits
Boxes 258- 272 (1955-1992; bulk: 1983-1988)
Also alphabetical by organization, generally non-controversial (LATC Boxes 263-271, YMCA 271-272).
Sub-series 10: Personal
Boxes 273-283 (1949-1993; bulk: 1987-1988)
Chronological files from the firm of Mayer, Brown and Platt, then personal materials which are alphabetical: American Alpine
Club to University of Chicago.
Sub-series 11: Research and Development
Boxes 284-289
First three boxes are materials used by Pope for his tax lectures in the People's Republic of China; the remaining materials
relate to finances, valuing income property.
SERIES 3: CALIFORNIA CITIZENS BUDGET COMMISSION
Boxes 290-369
Inclusive dates: 1917-2000
Bulk Dates: 1995-2000
Original arrangement was maintained, but sub-series were assigned and can be clustered in the corresponding database:
Sub-series 1: Administration
Sub-series 2: Research
Sub-series 3: Reports, Publications
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Bellino, Carmine S. (Carmine Salvatore), 1905-1990.
Bradley, Tom, 1917-
Brown, Edmund G. (Edmund Gerald), 1905-.
Dana, Deane.
Jarvis, Howard.
Kefauver, Estes, 1903-1963.
McCone, John A. (John Alex), 1902-1991.
Post, A. Alan, (August Alan), 1914-.
Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965.
Waldie, Jerome R.
Watson, Philip E. (Philip Eugene), 1921-.
Westen, Tracy.
Wheat, Frank, 1921-.
Pope, Alexander, 1929- --Archives.
California. Dept. of Health Services--Archives.
California. Division of Highways--Archives.
California. Governor's Commission on the Los Angeles Riots.
California. Highway Commission.
California. State Board of Equalization.
International Association of Assessing Officers.
Los Angeles (Calif.). Board of Airport Commissioners.
Los Angeles County (Calif.). Board of Supervisors.
Los Angeles County (Calif.). Office of Assessor.
Los Angeles Theatre Center.
California Citizens Budget Commission--Archives. .
California Taxpayers' Association.
Center for Governmental Studies (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Central City Association of Los Angeles (Calif.)
Democratic National Committee (U.S.)
Democratic Party (Calif.)
Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs.
League of Women Voters of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Actors' Theatre.
Mayer, Brown and Platt.
Medi-Cal Policy Institute.
University of Chicago. Law School--Alumni and alumnae--Archives.
Brown, Jerry, 1938-.
African Americans--Crimes against--California--Los Angeles.
Airports management--California.
Budget process--Calfornia.
Campaign literature--California--20th century.
County government--California--Los Angeles County--Archives.
Health care financing--California.
Health care reform.
Insurance, Health.
Intergovernmental fiscal relations--United States.
International economic relations.
Legislation--California.
Managed care plans (Medical care)
Medical care--California.
Medicaid.
Medicare.
Mental health counseling--California.
Nonprofit organizations--California.
Political campaigns--California.
Political parties--Rules and practice--California.
Poor--Medical care--California.
Property tax law--California.
Property tax relief--California.
Racism--California--Los Angeles.
Real property--California.
Real property tax--California--20th century.
Tax and expenditure limitations--California.
Tax assessment--California--Los Angeles County.
Transportation--California--20th century.
Watts Riot, Los Angeles, Calif., 1965--Sources.
California--Politics and government--20th century--Sources.
Los Angeles (Calif.)--History--20th century--Sources.
California--History--20th century--Sources.
Mineral King (Calif.)
Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.)--History--Sources.
Professional papers--California--20th century.
Personal papers--California--20th century.
Tax records--California--Los Angeles County.
Index Terms Related to this Collection
Bellino, Carmine S. (Carmine Salvatore), 1905-1990.
Bradley, Tom, 1917-
Brown, Edmund G, (Edmund Gerald), 1905-
Brown, Jerry, 1938-
Dana, Deane.
Jarvis, Howard.
Kefauver, Estes, 1903-1963.
McCone, John A. (John Alex), 1902-1991.
Post, A. Alan, (August Alan), 1914-.
Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965.
Waldie, Jerome R.
Watson, Philip E. (Philip Eugene), 1921-.
Westen, Tracy.
Wheat, Frank, 1921-.
California Citizens Budget Commission.
California. Governor's Commission on the Los Angeles Riots.
Los Angeles County (Calif.). Office of Assessor.
Adams, James R.
Secrets of the Tax Revolt (San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, c.1984).
Kuttner, Robert.
Revolt of the Haves - Tax Rebellions and Hard Times (New York: Simon and Schuster, c1980).
Richter, Paul.
California and the American Tax Revolt - Proposition 13 Five Years Later (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, c. 1984).
Shires, Michael A.
Has Proposition 13 Delivered?: The changing tax burden in California (San Francisco, Calif.: Public Policy Institute, c. 1998).