Ben Yellen Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2005
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Ben Yellen Papers
Creator:
Yellen, Ben, 1907-1994
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0193
Physical Description:
18 Linear feet
(45 archives boxes and 9 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1945 - 1994
Abstract: Papers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley, California. Most materials date from
1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and medical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the
core of the collection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters, and published and government documents compose the supporting
materials.
Languages:
English
.
Related Materials
Ben Yellen Correspondence with Charles L. Smith (MSS 667)
Ben Yellen Correspondence with Arthur Brunwasser (MSS 305)
Yellen v. Imperial Irrigation District Collection (MSS 677)
Scope and Content of Collection
The Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism on the subjects of farm labor and western water policy.
Yellen's papers encompass a variety of topics, including migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment, electricity rates,
local politics, medical malpractice, and the compounding of prescriptions. Correspondence in each series is supported by an
array of published materials, as well as government documents and newsletters from a variety of small organizations.
Ben Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's commercial farmers. Although his primary
lawsuit to compel the federal government to enforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution
of land in Imperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers significant discomfort and
sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege how the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial
Valley sought to silence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete and idiosyncratic
collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of small, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of
the poor. His crusades against the tax and electricity "swindles" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges and
power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally, Yellen represented a style of liberalism
that mixed a strong desire to do good with a dose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.
Because of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much of the documentation gathered here
is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual reports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963
and 1990; however, nine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information about major water
projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the collection contains snippets of data about projects such as
the Salt River and Boulder Canyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally speaking, Yellen's
correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency to blur issues together in one letter. His letters are
also highly repetitive because Yellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades, and his ideas about
these topics changed little over time.
Accessions Processed in 1996
Arranged in five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, 2) FARM WORKERS, 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES,
4) MEDICAL ISSUES, and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.
Accession Processed in 2006
Arranged in seven series: 6) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, 7) FARMWORKERS, 8) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES,
9) MEDICAL ISSUES, 10) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 11) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, and 12) SOUND RECORDINGS.
Biography
Ben Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He attended Boy's High School in Brooklyn,
Columbia University and he graduated from Long Island College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York
Medical School, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen turned to the government for
employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for the Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the
Army. In 1942 he settled permanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley largely for its
warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health. Once settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself
in one of the richest and most productive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after his
arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale growers who dominated the region's economy
and their representative institutions, including the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation District
(IID).
At the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and established his own practice. He drew
his patients primarily from the lower segments of Imperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican
migrant farm workers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of his life. In 1956,
at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and brought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance
Company for defrauding migrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion from the Imperial
Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning addresses to migrant workers informing them of their
insurance benefits were unethical attempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the braceros.
Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with Brawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained
strained for the rest of his lifetime. Around 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused
his writings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants.
Although Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests shifted as he expanded his attack on
the big growers. At this time he embarked on the crusade for which he is most well known: enforcement of the Reclamation Law
of 1902. The central case in this effort was the United States v. the Imperial Irrigation District, in which Ben Yellen and
123 other residents of Imperial County acted as amicus curiae. The government had lost the original case in U.S. District
Court, and the Nixon administration decided not to pursue an appeal. Yellen retained attorney Arthur Brunwasser to intervene,
file an amicus brief, and appeal the adverse judgement. The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals permitted intervention, and
supported the allegations of non-enforcement in 1977. In effect, the Court ruled that water from the Hoover Dam can't be used
to irrigate Imperial Valley farms that exceeded the 160-acre per person limit. Yellen's victory was short-lived, however.
In Bryant v. Yellen (1980), Yellen and Imperial County residents again brought suit to force IID compliance with the acreage
restriction provisions of the reclamation laws. Resolution of the case required legal review and analysis by the U.S. Supreme
Court, which held that the 160-acre limitation did not apply to certain private lands in the Imperial Valley, and recognized
the IID as a trustee of the water rights for the benefit of the landowners, without regard to the size of the land holding
prior to the enactment of the Boulder Canyon Project Act of 1929.
In addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics beginning in the 1960s and continuing
into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades, Yellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform
of restricting the power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the "little guy." In 1964, in his only electoral
success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman. To get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed
thousands of his own mimeographed newsletters, locally termed "yellowsheets" because of the yellow paper he used. With a canvas
bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial Valley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or
under windshield wipers. Yellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a result he
increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his "letters to the editor" to disseminate his political ideas.
During the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result of a malpractice suit following the
death of a two-year old boy he injected with a compounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing
in the boy's death, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983. He spent the remainder
of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded, but the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many
restrictions on his return to medicine that he never resumed an active practice.
In 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a lawsuit against Attorney General Janet
Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican immigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything
due to Yellen's death the following year. Yellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have
turned 87.
Preferred Citation
Ben Yellen Papers, MSS 193. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1994-1997.
Restrictions
Original sound recordings in the collection are restricted;listening copies may be available for researchers. Medical records
in boxes 5, 34, 38-43 are restricted.
Digital Content
Yellen's newsletters and statements by braceros of mistreatment have been digitized.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Physicians -- United States -- Biography
Water resources development -- California, Southern -- Finance
Reclamation of land -- Law and legislation -- California, Southern
Foreign workers, Mexican -- Imperial Valley (Calif. and Mexico)
Irrigation water -- California, Southern
Water-supply -- California, Southern
Water transfer -- California, Southern
Migrant labor -- California, Southern
Agricultural laborers -- California, Southern
Imperial County (Calif.)
Imperial Valley (Calif. and Mexico)
Brawley (Calif.)
Political activists -- United States -- Biography
Water rights -- California, Southern -- History
Imperial Irrigation District (Calif.)
Yellen, Ben, 1907-1994 -- Trials, litigation, etc.
Desert Growers Association
All-American Canal System (U.S.)
Yellen, Ben, 1907-1994 -- Archives
Accessions Processed in 1996
YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Arranged in two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets and B) Letters
to the Editor.
A) Yellowsheets: These newsletters provide an overview of Yellen's ideas and activities. They were distributed by hand in
the Imperial Valley and mailed to people throughout the country. Most date from the 1960s, though they continue through the
1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly to the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how
he thought they were all being exploited by the big growers.
B) Letters to the Editor: As the frequency of yellowsheets declined, Yellen increasingly relied on "Letters to the Editor"
to express his views in public.
The Imperial Valley Press and the
Brawley News published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960 and continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises
copies of printed letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals which differ from the
printed version are also held.
Box 1, Folder 11-15
Yellowsheet duplicates
undated, 1960-1967
Box 2, Folder 15-18
Yellowsheet duplicates
1968-1990
FARM WORKERS
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 2) FARM WORKERS: Materials documenting Yellen's initial foray into social and political activism, concerning the plight
of Mexican migrant farm laborers. In the late 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when
he realized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros, but the workers themselves received
inadequate health care and the Continental Life Insurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the
"insurance swindle," Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and board while providing substandard
food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number of hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of
money they earned. Around 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican workers to excluding
them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that growers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic
farm workers, and that Imperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did not buy goods
in local stores.
Arranged in three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits and C) Supporting Materials.
A) Correspondence: Arranged chronologically (1957-1994). Documents both the ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's
philosophical shift away from their cause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the Department
of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of Employment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor,
and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
B) Lawsuits: Arranged chronologically. Documents lawsuit and small claims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and
benefits from the big growers who had cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.
The affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working conditions for farm workers in the
late 1950s.
C) Supporting Materials: Includes financial statements; publications and newsletters by small groups interested in the rights
of farm workers, including the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and reports
about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's dissertation
Health Insurance for Braceros: A Study of its Developement and Implementation Under Public Law #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.
Conditions Governing Access
Some files in subseries B) Lawsuits may be restricted.
Box 4, Folder 9
1970
General note
Includes dispute over the Casa de Amistad medical clinic for domestic migrant workers.
Box 5, Folder 1
Small claims lawsuits by farm workers for their wages
1958 - 1963
Box 5, Folder 2
Ben Yellen vs. Fernando Cuevas
1953
Box 5, Folder 3
Ben Yellen vs. Elvira Ruiz and Theodore Niewenhous
1958 - 1959
General note
Regarding illegal medical treatment of farm workers.
Box 5, Folder 4
Ben Yellen vs. F. Britton McConnell, Commissioner of Insurance, State of CA
1958 - 1959
General note
Regarding defrauding farm workers of their medical insurance.
Box 5, Folder 5
Ben Yellen vs. Constitution Life Insurance Company
1958 - 1959
General note
Prescription forms for patients compiled for medical insurance claims.
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
Box 5, Folder 6
Ben Yellen vs. Imperial Valley Farmers Association, et al.
1958 - 1959
General note
Regarding medical insurance for farm workers.
Box 5, Folder 7
Ben Yellen vs. Wayne Deming
1958 - 1959
General note
Regarding the defrauding of Fidel Gama Velazquez of medical insurance.
Box 5, Folder 8
Ben Yellen vs. Ken Richardson
1959
General note
Regarding medical insurance for farm workers.
Box 5, Folder 9
Ben Yellen vs. Desert Growers Inc.
1959
General note
Prescription forms for patients compiled for medical insurance claims.
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
Box 5, Folder 10
Ben Yellen vs. Dwight Wilbur
1959
General note
Regarding the unwillingness of
California Medecine to publicize Yellen's work with farm workers and their insurance.
Box 5, Folder 11
Andres Santana Sanchez vs. Adalberto A. Aguirre
1959 - 1960
General note
Regarding wages as a farm worker.
Box 5, Folder 12
Imperial Valley Farmers' Association and R.T. Englund Company dispute
1962 - 1963
General note
Regarding the falsification of farm payroll records.
Box 5, Folder 13
Imperial Valley Farmers' Association and Maggio Green Tops Inc. dispute
1963
General note
Regarding the violation of the Mexican migrant program.
Box 5, Folder 14
Texas State AFL-CIO et al. vs. Robert Kennedy et al.
1962 - 1963
General note
Amicus curiae suit in opposition to Public Law #78 and the importation of Mexican workers.
Box 5, Folder 15
Ben Yellen vs. Casa de Amistad
1970
General note
Dispute over a government sponsored medical clinic for domestic farm workers.
Box 5, Folder 16
Ben Yellen vs. Heber Public Utility District
1985
General note
Regarding the use of taxpayer money to build a plant to make concrete lined steel pipe.
Box 5, Folder 17
Ben Yellen vs. Janet Reno, Attorney General
1993 - 1994
General note
Regarding illegal immigrants.
Box 5, Folder 19
Statements by braceros of mistreatment by Imperial Valley farmers
1958 - 1962
Statements by braceros of mistreatment by Imperial Valley farmers
Box 5, Folder 20
Appeals to retailers on behalf of domestic farm workers
1960
Box 5, Folder 21
Complaints of employment discrimination by domestic farm workers
1962 - 1967
Box 6, Folder 1
Conditions of farm workers and small farmers
1959 - 1977
General note
National Sharecropper's Fund publications.
Box 6, Folder 2
California Annual Farm Labor Report
1963
Box 6, Folder 3
California's Farm Labor Problems
1961 - 1963
General note
Report of the Senate Fact Finding Committee on labor and welfare.
Box 6, Folder 4
Department of Labor News Bulletins
1959 - 1965
Box 6, Folder 5
Essays about farm workers
1963 - 1973
Box 6, Folder 6
Fair and reasonable wage debate
1962 - 1986
Box 6, Folder 7
Farm Labor Magazine
1963 - 1965
Box 6, Folder 8
Final Report of the California Farm Labor Panel to the Secretary of Labor
1965
Box 6, Folder 9
Galarza, Ernesto - essays and statements
1956 - 1960
Box 6, Folder 10
National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor Information letters
1958 - 1965
Box 6, Folder 11
National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor Information booklets
1959-1963
Box 7, Folder 1
National Conference on Poverty in the Southwest
1965
Box 7, Folder 2
Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz - Address before the Town Hall, Los Angeles
1965
Box 7, Folder 3
Farm worker pamphlets
1951 - 1970
Box 7, Folder 4
Government regulations concerning farm workers
1960 - 1965
Box 7, Folder 5
Weist, Grace
1966
General note
Health Insurance for the Bracero: A Study of its Development and Implementation Under Public Law #78.
WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. Arranged in seven subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, C) Western
Water, D) Electricity, E) Imperial Irrigation District, F) Political Campaigns and G) Imperial County and the City of Brawley.
A) Correspondence: Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his correspondence from 1959 to 1994, including enforcement
of the 160 acres limitation from the residency requirement; the "tax swindle;" the "electricity swindle;" and electoral politics
in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on which the large land owners exploited the
common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly argued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient
to curtail the power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through three and a half decades
of letter-writing, as evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters to national political figures regularly in attempts to
garner their attention to the local situation. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in newspaper articles, as well
as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running throughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers
to work on his various cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later causes pro per. He also
wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs to visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these
letters, and others, he lamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities. He maintained
extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis, Charles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer,
Arthur Brunwasser.
B) Lawsuits: Legal documents from U.S. vs Imperial Irrigation District, Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, and smaller related
cases including Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the City of Brawley. Yellen initiated this legal effort after
he was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This suit marked the culmination of Yellen's
struggle with the City of Brawley over his free speech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested. Arranged chronologically.
C) Western Water: Reports and writings about western water issues. Much of the material is government documents and reports
specifically related to the Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a collection of documents
and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the Palo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the
Central Valley Salton Sea, the San Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other Arizona
projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although incomplete, runs of
Western Water News (1960-1995) and the
National Farmers Union Washington Newsletter (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small publications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984),
the
California Farm Consumer Reporter (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People (1976-1985),
Sharecropper (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).
D) Electricity: Includes Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and pamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar
information for the Tennessee Valley Authority (1967-1992).
E) Imperial Irrigation District: Yellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which controlled
the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn controlled by the large growers. This subseries
includes IID documents including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990), maps, the IID publication
District News (1960-1974), and publications made by other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen.
F) Political Campaigns: Examples of Yellen's political advertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns,
mostly dating from the 1960s.
G) Imperial County and the City of Brawley: Assorted materials, including descriptions of and fiscal data about Imperial County;
the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a councilman (1964-1968); and correspondence internal to
the city about a variety of matters such as promotions in the police and fire departments, and planning projects.
Box 13, Folder 6
Yellen's research notes
undated
Box 13, Folder 7
People of the State of California vs. Ben Yellen
1965 - 1966
General note
Regarding his assault on Richard Sharp on November 15, 1965.
Box 13, Folder 8
Ben Yellen vs. Jack Bryant, Lom Tompkins et al.
1960
General note
Suit against Imperial Irrigation District to enforce Reclamation Law.
Box 13, Folder 9
Ben Yellen vs. Orville L. Freeman, Secretary of Agriculture, et al.
1967
Box 13, Folder 10
Betty Girth et al. vs. Raymond L. Thompson, Imperial Irrigation District
1969
General note
Case seeking application of 'one man, one vote' rule in Imperial Valley division boundaries.
United States vs. Imperial Irrigation District
Box 13, Folder 11
United States vs. Imperial Irrigation District, 1967-1974
Box 14, Folder 1
Requests to enter the suit
1967
Box 14, Folder 2
Affidavits in support of motion
1971
Box 14, Folder 3
Imperial Irrigation District et al. vs. Ben Yellen et al.
1975 - 1979
Box 14, Folder 4
Imperial Irrigation District et al. vs. Ben Yellen et al.
1979
Ben Yellen et al. vs. Walter J. Hickel, Secretary of the Department of Interior
Box 14, Folder 7
United States vs. Tulare Lake Canal Company, Brief of Ben Yellen and others
1974
Box 14, Folder 8
Ben Yellen vs. Calderon, Jaham, and Osborn, et al.
1986
General note
Regarding improper accounting practices in IID annual reports.
Box 14, Folder 9
Ben Yellen et al. vs. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of CA
1972
General note
Appeal of Ben Yellen et al vs. Walter J. Hickel.
Box 14, Folder 10
Ben Yellen et al. vs. Rogers C. B. Morton, Secretary of the Interior, et al.
1972
Box 14, Folder 11
Jack Bryan et al. vs. Ben Yellen et al.
1980
General note
Countersuit opinion.
Box 14, Folder 12
Benjamin L. Yellen vs. E.O. Steimle, et al.
1967
General note
Suit for civil rights damages against the Brawley Elementary School District.
Box 15, Folder 1
City of Brawley vs. Benjamin Louis Yellen
1966 - 1969
General note
Regarding non-payment of his business license tax.
Box 15, Folder 2
Charles Warren vs. Ben Yellen
1963 - 1964
General note
Regarding defamation of character in one of Yellen's newsletters.
Box 15, Folder 3
People of the State of California vs. Benjamin Louis Yellen
1960
General note
Regarding a disturbance at a bus station.
Yellen vs. Story, Macken, and the City of Brawley
Box 15, Folder 5
Depositions of Yellen and Macken, 1985
Box 15, Folder 4
Lawsuit regarding his arrest for distributing pamphlets on November 10, 1984
Box 15, Folder 9
Department of Interior
1923 - 1970
General note
Correspondence regarding Reclamation Law.
Box 15, Folder 10
All-American Canal Contract, amendments and supplements
1932
Box 15, Folder 11
Landownership, operating tenure, and non-resident landlords
1942
Box 15, Folder 12
Pamphlets advocating enforcement of the Reclamation Law
1947 - 1987
Box 16, Folder 1
Landowners and acres owned in Imperial Valley
1969 - 1977
Box 16, Folder 2
Applicability of the excess land laws to Imperial Irrigation District
1962 - 1964
Box 16, Folder 3
Interior Solicitor's Decision that IID lands are subject to the Reclamation Law
1964
Box 16, Folder 4
Congress should reevaluate the 160-acre limitation on land
1972
General note
Bureau of Reclamation report.
Box 16, Folder 5
Department of Agriculture reports on the application of the Reclamation Law, 1978
Box 16, Folder 6
Interim Report, acreage limitation, Department of Interior
1980
Box 16, Folder 7
Water conservation opportunities. Imperial Irrigation District
1984
Reclamation repayments and payout schedules
Box 17, Folder 3-5
Power and Land in California, The Ralph Nader Task Force - Volume 1
1971
Box 17, Folder 6
Power and Land in California, The Ralph Nader Task Force - Volume 2
1971
Box 18, Folder 1
Power and Land in California, The Ralph Nader Task Force - Volume 2
1971
Box 18, Folder 2
Testimony of various people about the Reclamation Law
1948 - 1978
Box 18, Folder 3
Articles by Paul Taylor on Reclamation law
1950 - 1973
Box 18, Folder 4
Paul Taylor's testimony before various government agencies
1961 - 1974
Box 18, Folder 5
Articles about California water and agriculture
1956 - 1985
Box 18, Folder 6
Adams, Peter
1971
General note
The Politics and Economics of the Acreage Limitations of the Federal Reclamation Project.
Box 18, Folder 7
Barnett, Paul,
Imperial Valley: The Land of Sun and Subsidies
1978
Box 18, Folder 8
Smith, Charles -
Anti-Monopoly Water Law Bibliography
1966
Palo Verde Irrigation District
Oversize FB-016, Folder 1
Map showing district irrigation system and proposed adjacent development
1967 January 1
Oversize MC-053, Folder 02
Coachella Valley County Water District boundary map
1965
Box 19, Folder 3
Orange County, California groundwater
1966 - 1967
Box 19, Folder 4
Salton Sea pamphlets
1977 - 1990
Box 19, Folder 5
San Luis Unit, Central Valley Project
1962
Box 19, Folder 6
Central Valley Project, Special Task Force Report
1978
Box 19, Folder 7
San Joaquin Valley, California
undated
General note
Lawsuit to enforce Reclamation Law.
Box 19, Folder 8
Projections of California Agriculture to 1980 and 2000
1970
Box 19, Folder 9
Thirty-five chart examples of questionable land transactions
1975
Box 19, Folder 10
Metropolitan Water District and the Imperial Irrigation District
1970 - 1985
Box 20, Folder 1
Salt River Project, Phoenix AZ
1966
Box 20, Folder 2
Arizona Water Projects
1964 - 1974
Box 20, Folder 3
Boulder Canyon Project
1932
General note
Contract between the United States and the Imperial Irrigation District.
Box 20, Folder 4
Colorado River Dam and irrigation pamphlets and essays
1966 - 1993
Box 20, Folder 5
Yuma Irrigation Project map
1949
Box 20, Folder 6
Waterlog: Newsletter of the Working Alliance to Equalize Rates
1979 - 1984
National Farmers Union Washington Newsletter
Box 21, Folder 3
California Agrarian Action Project
1980 - 1984
Box 21, Folder 4
California Farm Consumer Reporter
1965 - 1973
Box 21, Folder 5
California Home Owner
1963 - 1971
Box 21, Folder 8
Sharecropper, Washington News Reports
1972 - 1974
Box 21, Folder 9
Rural Advance National Sharecroppers Fund
1971 - 1984
Box 22, Folder 1
Tax Assessment and Equalization
1958 - 1966
Box 22, Folder 2
Ben Yellen vs. Equalization Board of Imperial County. Petition regarding real property assessments
1964
Oversize FB-016, Folder 2
Valuations and tax rates tables and assessor's map for Imperial County
1964-1970
Box 22, Folder 3
Financing California's Public Schools by property tax equalizatization, 1964
Box 22, Folder 4
Imperial Irrigation Dsitrict Power Department Cost Allocation and Rate Study. Report to Board of Directors
1978
Box 22, Folder 5
Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules
1962 - 1981
Box 22, Folder 6
Imperial Irrigation District electricity pamphlets
1963 - 1989
Oversize MC-053, Folder 03
Power facilities maps
1966, 1972
Box 22, Folder 7
Tennessee Valley Authority pamphlets
1963 - 1973
Box 22, Folder 8
Tennessee Valley Authority electricity sales statistics
1967 - 1992
Box 22, Folder 9
Murray, Keith,
The Power Without
1964
Imperial Irrigation District
Box 22, Folder 10
Information on Imperial Valley Acreage Limitation Problem
undated
Oversize MC-053, Folder 02
Box 22, Folder 11
Board of Directors, minutes and reports
1961 - 1980
Box 23, Folder 4
Consolidated Balance Sheet
1977
Box 23, Folder 5
Annual inventory of crops receiving water
1974 - 1989
Box 23, Folder 9
Agriculture Reports
1962 - 1980
Oversize MC-053, Folder 01
Oversize FB-016, Folder 3
Water Transportation: Hoover Dam to User
1958
General
Diagram illustrating the delivery of water from the Hoover Dam to an irrigated field in Imperial County.
Box 24, Folder 1
Miscellaneous materials
undated
Box 24, Folder 2
Articles of Incorporation
1955
Box 24, Folder 3
Imperial Resources Associates
1965 - 1977
General note
This group was organized to fight the effort against the enforcement of the Reclamation Law limits.
Box 24, Folder 4
Call for Fairness Newsletter
1977 - 1979
General note
Newsletter of groups opposing Yellen's efforts to enforce the Reclamation Law.
Box 24, Folder 5
Pamphlets and an essay attacking Yellen and defending the interests of big farms
1962 - 1977
District News - Imperial Irrigation District publication
Box 24, Folder 8
Yellen's campaign statements
1964 - 1968
Box 24, Folder 9
Yellen's statements of qualifications
1970 - 1972
Box 24, Folder 10
Yellen's political advertisements and newsletters
1980 - 1993
Oversize MC-053, Folder 04
Political posters
1982 June
Oversize FB-016, Folder 4
Grower's Soliloquy
undated
Box 24, Folder 11
Advertisements for local candidates
1963 - 1990
Box 24, Folder 12
Statements by Imperial Valley candidates
1966 - 1978
Box 24, Folder 13
Miscellaneous materials
1960 - 1970
Box 24, Folder 14
Pamphlet
1950
General
Yellen used this pamphlet to defend his right to distribute his newsletters in automobiles.
Imperial County and the City of Brawley
Box 24, Folder 16
Imperial Valley Farmers' Association Annual Report
1960
Box 24, Folder 17
Imperial County Farm Bureau membership list
1961 - 1962
Box 24, Folder 19
Imperial Valley Weather Summary
1965 - 1989
Box 25, Folder 1
Agricultural Reports
1964 - 1990
Box 25, Folder 2
Crops Guidelines to Production Costs and Practices
1982 - 1983
Box 25, Folder 3
Imperial County tourist guide
1960 - 1970
Box 25, Folder 4
Economic Opportunity Commission
1968
Box 25, Folder 5
City of Imperial Directory - Clubs, Organizations, and Offices
1972
Box 25, Folder 6
Schools - financial and statistical report
1961 - 1962
Box 25, Folder 7
Analysis of economic potential
1962
Box 25, Folder 8
Preliminary budget
1961 - 1962
Box 25, Folder 9
Final budget and final report
1961 - 1962
Box 26, Folder 1
Proposed budget
1964 - 1965
Box 26, Folder 2
Local government budgets
1965 - 1966
Final budget and financial statement
Box 27, Folder 2
Welfare Department annual report
1968 - 1970
Box 27, Folder 3
Elections and reapportionment - Brawley meeting
1963
Box 27, Folder 4
Tax payer's compaints about Brawley schools
1962
Oversize MC-053, Folder 05
Town and county maps
1943 - 1965
Box 27, Folder 6-7
Agendas and minutes
1960-1964 September
Box 28, Folder 1-5
Agendas and minutes
1964 October-1966
Box 29, Folder 1-3
Agendas and minutes
1967-1968
Box 29, Folder 4
Report upon examination of accounts
1963 - 1967
Box 29, Folder 5
Statement of receipts
1964 - 1968
Box 29, Folder 6
Statement of receipts and expenditures
1964 - 1967
Box 29, Folder 7
City Treasurer's monthly reports
1964 - 1968
Box 30, Folder 1
Salaries and retirement plans
1964 - 1967
Box 30, Folder 8-10
Correspondence, reports and agreements
undated, 1964-1965
Box 31, Folder 1-3
Correspondence, reports and agreements
1966-1968
Box 30, Folder 2
Monthly report of Brawley police department
1965 - 1968
Box 30, Folder 3
Official statement inviting bids on $215,00 bonds
1964
Box 30, Folder 4
City report on water system
1962
Box 30, Folder 5
Brawley city master plan
1966
Box 30, Folder 6
Brawley re-use valuation and financial feasibility analysis of downtown
1966
Box 30, Folder 7
Brawley Plaza East development project report
1967
Box 31, Folder 4
Municipal payment to Imperial Irrigation District for water
1973
Box 31, Folder 5
City business licenses
1984
Box 31, Folder 7
Yellen's certificate of election as Brawley City Councilman
1964
Box 31, Folder 8
Plaque commemorating Yellen's term on the Brawley City Council
1964 - 1968
MEDICAL ISSUES
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES. Arranged in two subseries: A) Correspondence and B) Medical Malpractice Suit.
A) Correspondence: Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical journals and other doctors explaining
and advocating his habit of compounding prescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would
put together as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first crusade was against the pharmaceutical
manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he compounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day-to-day
nature of his medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area. Arranged chronologically.
B) Medical Malpractice Suit: In December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a two-year
old boy died in his care. This subseries includes correspondence and materials relating to Travis Kavanaugh vs Ben Yellen,
and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. Legal documents relating to these proceedings are included.
Conditions Governing Access
Some files in subseries B) Medical Malpractice Suit are restricted.
Box 31, Folder 9
Yellen, Ben, "A Doctor Addresses His Colleagues"
1948
General note
NARD Journal articles written by Yellen about compounding prescriptions.
Box 34, Folder 4
Yellen's expulsion from the Imperial Valley Medical Society
1959
Travis Kavanaugh et al. vs. Benjamin Yellen, et al
Box 34, Folder 6
Investigation documents
1982-1983
General note
Includes hospital records and coroner's report.
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
Board of Medical Quality Assurance accusation against Yellen
Box 35, Folder 1-8
Transcript - Volume 1-9
1983
Box 36, Folder 3
1987
General note
Petition for the reinstatement of his revoked certificate to practice medicine.
Box 36, Folder 4
Ben Yellen vs. American Medical Association
1988 - 1989
Box 36, Folder 5
Ben Yellen vs. Robert Thompson
1985 - 1986
General note
Charges Thompson with stealing his patients, outgrowth of the malpractice suit.
Box 36, Folder 6
Ben Yellen vs. Dan Latendresse
1985 - 1987
General note
Charges Latendresse as an employee of the Borad of Medical Quality Assurance with conspiring to defraud Yellen of his medical
license.
Box 36, Folder 7
State Education Department of New York disciplinary proceeding against Yellen
1988 - 1989
General note
Revoking and reinstating his license to practice medicine in New York.
Box 36, Folder 8
Ben Yellen vs. Pioneers Memorial Hospital et al.
1988 - 1989
General note
Countersuit to his malpractice suit.
Box 36, Folder 9
Ben Yellen vs. Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals, et al.
1989 - 1990
General note
Charges fraudulent advertising, supression of free speech and free press regarding his malpractice case.
BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL: Contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's birth certificate, photographs, a folder
of personal correspondence, and a collection of secondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the
television show
60 Minutes in 1973.
Box 37, Folder 1
Transcripts -
60 Minutes featuring Ben Yellen and "Western Water" the McNeil/Lehrer Report
General note
Volume V, Number 7. January 14, 1973, and January 3, 1978
Box 37, Folder 2
Biographical and educational data
1935 - 1985
Box 37, Folder 3
Birth certificate, passport, international drivers license, etc
Box 37, Folder 4
Magazine articles about Yellen
1964 - 1990
Box 37, Folder 5
Personal correspondence
1950 - 1993
Accession Processed in 2006
YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 6) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: A small sampling of the pamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public
consumption. They are particularly notable for the attacks Yellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of
Imperial Valley. Arranged chronologically.
Box 38, Folder 2
Voice of the People and Speak Out
1977 - 1990
FARMWORKERS
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 7) FARMWORKERS: Primarily Yellen's correspondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical
records. Arranged in alphabetical order.
Conditions Governing Access
Some files in this series are restricted.
Box 38, Folder 3
Correspondence
1959 - 1974
Box 38, Folder 4
Correspondence
1953 - 1963
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 38, Folder 5
Medical records - A
1958
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 38, Folder 6
Medical records - L
1955
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 38, Folder 7
Medical records - M
1962
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 38, Folder 8
Medical records - Q
1963
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 38, Folder 9
Receipts and notes regarding lawsuits on behalf of braceros
1958
Box 38, Folder 10
Society for the Alleviation of Poverty - Founding and correspondence
1973 - 1976
WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 8) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES: Includes samples of Yellen's correspondence, in addition to receipts. The
receipts provide a hint at the amount of money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets, and radio and
newspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. Arranged in alphabetical order.
Box 39, Folder 2
Receipts and notes for elections
1960 - 1982
Box 39, Folder 3
Receipts for miscellaneous legal cases
1958 - 1988
Box 39, Folder 4
Receipts for newspaper advertising
1960 - 1984
Box 39, Folder 5
Receipts for occupational license
1965 - 1979
Box 39, Folder 6
Receipts for paper for yellowsheets
1959 - 1964
Box 39, Folder 7
Receipts for radio advertising
1958 - 1982
MEDICAL ISSUES
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 9) MEDICAL ISSUES: The most extensive portion of the accession, with most documents relating to Yellen's 1981 medical
malpractice suit. Arranged in four subseries.
A) General Medical Correspondence: Letters pertain mostly to Yellen's practice of compounding prescriptions.
B) Malpractice - Annabelle Hillock's Notes: Hillock was a friend of Yellen, and assisted him in his pro per actions to defend
himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to regain his license.
C) Malpractice - Lawyer's files
D) Malpractice - Legal Documents
Conditions Governing Access
Some files in this series are restricted.
Box 39, Folder 9
1963 - 1967
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 39, Folder 10
1969 - 1970
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 39, Folder 11
1957 - 1965
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 39, Folder 12
Pioneers Memorial Hospital by-laws and regulations
1961
Box 39, Folder 13
Malpractice correspondence and notes
undated
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
General
Patient prescriptions removed and placed in restricted file.
Malpractice - Annabelle Hillock's notes
Box 39, Folder 14
Annabelle Hillock to Board of Medical Quality Assurance regarding accusation against Yellen
1983
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
Box 40, Folder 1
Dr. Fred Greensite's testimony
Box 40, Folder 3
Dr. Roger Williams' testimony
1983
Box 40, Folder 4
Lab flow sheets
1981
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
Box 40, Folder 5-7
Medical records
1981 - 1982
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
Box 40, Folder 8
Miscellaneous
1982 - 1983
Box 41, Folder 1-3
Miscellaneous
1982 - 1983
General note
Continuation.
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
Box 41, Folder 4
Tests performed on Winston Kavanaugh
1981
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
Malpractice - Lawyer's files
Box 41, Folder 5
Board of Medical Quality Assurance accusation against Yellen
1982 - 1983
Box 41, Folder 6-8
Travis Kavanaugh vs. Yellen
1986
Yellen vs. Board of Medical Quality Assurance
Box 42, Folder 1
Compendium of court record
Box 42, Folder 5
Pleadings #2
1984
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
General
Patient prescriptions have been pulled from this file and restricted.
Malpractice - Legal documents
Box 42, Folder 6
Board of Medical Quality Assurance accusation against Yellen
1982
Box 42, Folder 7
Petition for reinstatement of medical certificate
1986
Box 42, Folder 8
Yellen vs. American Medical Association
1988 - 1989
Box 42, Folder 9
Yellen vs. Board of Medical Quality Assurance
1985
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions apply
General
Patient prescriptions.
Box 43, Folder 1
Yellen vs. Board of Medical Quality Assurance
1985
Box 43, Folder 2
Yellen vs. Board of Medical Quality Assurance
1988
Box 43, Folder 3
Yellen vs. Dan Latendresse et al.
1985
Box 43, Folder 4
Yellen vs. George and Buch et al.
1986
Box 43, Folder 5
Yellen vs. Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals
1989
BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 10) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS: Includes a variety of materials including personal correspondence, documentation of Yellen's
death, as well as an extensive collection of photographs, mostly taken early in Yellen's life. Contains ephemera such as matchbook
covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much-used slogans, and Yellen's physician's diary from the 1950s.
Arranged in alphabetical order.
Conditions Governing Access
Some files in this series are restricted.
Box 43, Folder 6
Callanan Correspondence
1978 - 1979
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 43, Folder 7
Callanan, unfinished thesis
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
Box 43, Folder 8
Case Reports: Pneumopericardium,
The Medical Bulletin of the Veteran's Administration
1939
Box 43, Folder 10
Egan, Shoshana and Robert correspondence
1971 - 1993
Box 43, Folder 13
Personal correspondence and certificates
1980 -1989
Box 44, Folder 1
1960 - 1985
Conditions Governing Access note
Restrictions apply
NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 11) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS: Newspaper articles about Yellen collected between 1958 and 1994. The clippings provide a narrative
to Yellen's life, documenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to get a sense of the
chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.
SOUND RECORDINGS
Scope and Content of Series
SERIES 12) SOUND RECORDINGS: Includes audiotapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances, the most notable of which is his
60 Minutes appearance in 1973. These materials in are chronological order, as their titles are sometimes unclear.
Conditions Governing Access
Original recordings are restricted. Patrons may request user copies be produced.
Box 46, Folder 1
Brawley City Council - Minutes
1965
Brawley City Council meeting
Box 46, Folder 2
NBC News interview
1972
NBC News story on Imperial Valley water laws, featuring Ben Yellen
Box 46, Folder 3
60 Minutes news story on Ben Yellen and Imperial Valley (fragment)
1973
60 Minutes news story on Ben Yellen and Imperial Valley (fragment)
Box 46, Folder 4
Jerry Hansen interview
1977
Jerry Hansen news story on Ben Yellen and Imperial Valley
Box 46, Folder 5
Jack Studdel radio talk show featuring Ben Yellen
1977
Jack Studdel radio talk show featuring Ben Yellen
Box 46, Folder 6
Ben Yellen speech before Brawley city council
undated
Ben Yellen speech before Brawley city council
Box 46, Folder 7
KECC radio program about Ben Yellen's public letter to President Carter and Secretary of Interior
1977
KECC radio program about Ben Yellen's public letter to President Carter and Secretary of Interior