Description
A wide variety of Sierra Club leaders are represented in this collection, including staff members engaged in national environmental
politics; activists of critical importance to the development of the conservation movement in the United States; and volunteer
activists involved in local conservation efforts. The papers, mostly correspondence and subject files, are a rich resource
not only as a record of individual conservation activities but also for the history of the Club itself. Since the Sierra Club
Mills Tower office and all the records within were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire, the history of the Club during
its first decades can best be traced by examining early members' papers. The most extensive group of early materials is found
in the papers of William E. Colby. Papers are sketchy for the decades of the 1910s through the 1930s. David R. Brower's papers
document conservation battles won and lost, including the long fight to stop the building of dams and roads within the national
parks.
Extent
Number of containers: 279 cartons, 4 boxes, 3 oversize folders, 8 volumes
Linear feet: ca. 354
Restrictions
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.
Availability
Collection is open for research.