Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Corporate History
Scope and Content
Descriptive Summary
Title: California Society for the Promotion of Medical Research Records,
Date (inclusive): 1937-1948 (bulk 1938)
Collection number: MSS 71-2
Creator: California Society for the Promotion of Medical Research
Extent: Three cartons, one box
Repository:
University of California, San Francisco. Library. Archives and Special Collections.
San Francisco, California 94143-0840
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], California Society for the Promotion of Medical Research
Records, MSS 71-2, Archives & Special Collections, UCSF Library & CKM
Corporate History
This organization, founded in 1915 but minimally active since the 1922 defeat of a
California antivivisection initiative, was reorganized in 1937 to work against the
proposed State Humane Pound Law (initiative number 2 on the November 8, 1938 ballot). The
Society apparently also opposed another such initiative in 1948. The Society's purpose
was expressed in Article II of its By-Laws: "The purpose of the Society is to disseminate
accurate information as to the methods and benefits of animal experimentation and to
stimulate and guard scientific research." The 1937 reorganization created a Northern
California committee with offices on Pine Street in San Francisco and a Southern
California committee with offices in the Chamber of Commerce building in Los Angeles.
Scope and Content
Minutes, financial records, correspondence, memoranda, notes, lists, clippings, reprints,
pamphlets, draft articles, periodicals. This collection focuses on the Society's efforts
against the 1938 initiative, and offers a look into the organization and workings of a
successful political campaign. There are also materials referencing earlier and later
campaigns around the same issue.