Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Biography
Scope and Content
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Paul Scharrenberg Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1893-1960
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 906
Creator:
Scharrenberg, Paul, b. 1877
Extent:
Number of containers: 4 boxes, 5 cartons, 24 volumes
Linear feet: ca. 10
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Correspondence and papers relating primarily to Scharrenberg's career in the labor movement and his other positions. Includes
letters to and from Scharrenberg; subject files containing committee reports, memoranda, copies of correspondence, notes,
printed material, clippings, etc.; scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings re Scharrenberg, other labor leaders and public
officials, seamen, legislation, etc., as well as photographs, notices and programs of meetings, correspondence etc. A few
items relate to family matters
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library 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 reader.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], Paul Scharrenberg Papers, BANC MSS C-B 906, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Biography
Paul Scharrenberg was born in Hamburg, Germany on August 21, 1877. He came to New York as a young boy and went to sea in his
early teens. In 1898 he was an able seaman on the American square-rigger
New York, which was wrecked off Half Moon Bay, California. After working briefly on coastal ships Scharrenberg went to work in San Francisco
for the American Seamen's Union and soon became editor of its Seamen's Journal. He was an active member of the California
Federation of Labor from about 1904 and served as Secretary from 1910 to 1936. In addition, he was a member of the Commission
of Immigration and Housing from 1913 to 1922, the San Francisco City Planning Commission from 1917 to 1926, and the State
Board of Harbor Commissioners from 1927 to 1931. Scharrenberg served as legislative representative for the American Federation
of Labor in Washington, D.C. from 1937 to 1943, when he was called back to California by Governor Earl Warren to serve as
Director of the California State Department of Industrial Relations. He retired in 1955 and died in 1969.
Scope and Content
Scharrenberg gave his papers to The Bancroft Library in 1964. They relate primarily to his career in the labor movement and
to his other positions.
A key to arrangement and partial list of correspondents follows.