Description
The Vacaville Collection consists of: Ronald Limbaugh's research notes;
book drafts; photographs; project correspondence and reports; and, fifty-nine
taped interviews with long-time residents of Vacaville, California conducted by
Limbaugh, together with miscellaneous documentation pertaining to these
interviews (1976-78). A few of the interviews have been transcribed.
Background
Ronald H. Limbaugh, history professor at the University of the Pacific
and co-author of Vacaville: The heritage of a California community (1978), was
commissioned---as part of local United States Bicentennial celebrations---by
the Vacaville City Council to interview Vacaville "old-timers" and to write a
history of Vacaville. Limbaugh conducted the interviews between fall 1976 and
spring 1978 in the preparation of Vacaville. The Vacaville Heritage Council
helped initiate the project with suggestions about local resources and persons
to interview. Council member, Eleanor Nelson, contacted interviewees and
arranged most of the interviews. The interviews describe conditions in
Vacaville betwen 1880 and 1976. They contain information about the growth of
the fruit cultivation, packing and processing industries which typified the
region during those years. They reveal much about the contributions of Chinese
and Japanese settlers to these enterprises. The tapes also contain information
about race and labor relations and many other local and regional
activities.
Availability
Collection is open for research.