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Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Provenance
Biographical Note
Scope and Contents
Arrangement
General
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Charles Janin Papers
Creator:
Janin, Charles.
Identifier/Call Number: mssJaninc
Physical Description:
27.2 Linear Feet
(46 boxes, 7 volumes)
Date (inclusive): 1858-1937
Abstract: This collection contains papers related to the career of American mining engineer Charles Janin (1873-1937). Subject matter
in the collection focuses on minerals, mines and mining, especially in California, Mexico, Alaska, Canada, Russia (including
Siberia), and Central and South America. While the focus of the papers is mining, the correspondence between mining engineers
also includes observations on Europe during World War I, Russia and Siberia at the time of the Revolution of 1917, as well
as social and political affairs in the various parts of the world.
Language of Material: English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Charles Janin papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Acquired from Louis Janin, Henry Janin, and Elizabeth Janin Evans, December 1958, with additional gifts from Elizabeth Janin
Evans on April 20, 1984, and June 6, 1996.
The following materials were received as part of the addenda: Box 2, Folder 22a; Box 5, Folder 15a; Box 8, Folder 27a; Box
10, Folder 8a; Box 14, Folder 25; Box 15, Folder 12a; Box 16, Folder 22a; Box 24, Folder 19a; Box 29, Folder 6a-6c; Box 30,
Folder 23a; Box 32, Folder 8a; Box 34, Folder 6a; and the unboxed volumes.
Biographical Note
Charles Henry Janin (1873-1937), son of Louis Janin and Elizabeth (Marshall) Janin, was a California mining engineer, who
followed the career of his famous father. He began his professional life by working with his father, then established the
firm of Janin, Stebbins & Smith (later Janin & Smith) until 1911, when he began working alone. In 1914 he joined the staff
of the U. S. Bureau of Mines in Washington D. C., and participated in war work with that bureau during World War I, serving
on the advisory committe on tin resources, as a member of the Gold Committee, and was instrumental in securing for the U.
S. from Siberia, a large shipment of platinum, a very scarce and highly strategic element during the war years.
Janin wrote and published a large number of mining articles, many of which were relative to gold dredging, his main field
of interest during many years. As an active mining engineer he carried out investigations in gold, silver and tin mining areas
in many parts of the world: the Western U. S., Mexico, Central and South America, Africa, Europe, Russia and Siberia, Malaya,
Australia and New Zealand. Like his father and grandfather (Louis Alexander Janin), he had a strong interest in ranching,
and made his home with his family, on Rancho Marcelino near Solvang, Santa Barbara County, California.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of letters, manuscripts (including diaries and mining reports), photographs and maps related to the
career of mining engineer Charles Janin (1873-1937). Subject matter in the collection focuses on minerals, mines and mining,
especially in California, Mexico, Alaska, Canada, Russia (including Siberia), and Central and South America.
There is information about gold, silver, platinum, and tin mining as well as gold dredging, including a Commission for the
Study of Gold in the U.S. by the United States Department of the Interior (Box 23, Folders 11-12) and a 1909 letter from Rossiter
Worthington Raymond to Louis Janin regarding the professional ethics and legal problems common to mining engineers (Box 20,
Folder 3).
Notable material related to Siberia includes a 1918 Memorandum relative to the Necessity for Action by the Allied Governments
in Siberia by the American Committee of Engineers in London (Box 1, Folder 7); five letters, dated 1929-1931) from Ennis C.
Whitehead to Janin relative to projected flying trip across Siberia (Box 25, Folder 8); and correspondence from George S.
Dyer relative to gold mining in Siberia, dated 1917-1936 (Box 4, Folder 23). In addition, there are papers related to the
transfer of platinum to the United States from Siberia in the correspondence of Grigorio Benenson (Box 2, Folder 12); Arnold
C. Hansen (Box 5, Folder 31); Norman C. Stines (Box 22, Folder 23), as well as responses from Janin to these individuals (see
Box 7, Folder 25; Box 9, Folder 6; and Box 13, Folder 15), and in notes on platinum (Box 39, Folder 5).
The collection also contains materials on Russian life and politics (including the Revolution of 1917). There are also materials
on the history of the Santa Ynez Valley in California, including irrigation project papers (Box 21, Folders 6-8), and a piece,
"Some Recollections of Early Days in the Santa Ynez Valley" by Janin (Box 14, Folder 24).
Persons represented in the collection include Samuel Insull (14 pieces in Box 6, Folder 21), Vannoy Hartrog Manning (18 pieces
in Box 17, Folder 19), and Montifiore G. Kahn (35 pieces in Box 15, Folder 16). The collection includes a letter to Janin
from John Powers Hutchins related to pre-World War II in Europe (Box 6, Folder 14). Single letters from William Randolph Hearst,
Harold L. Ickes, and William Gibbs McAdoo may also be found in the collection. There is also scattered correspondence from
various Janin family members.
Businesses or government agencies represented in the collection include the Ingersoll-Rand Company of California, Lena Goldfields,
Ltd. (Lenskoe zolotopromyshlennoe tovarishchestvo), and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Although the collection consists basically of mining papers, it will also be of interest to researchers investigating Europe
during World War I, Russia and Siberia at the time of the Revolution of 1917, or social and political affairs in the various
parts of the world where mining engineers traveled and are intelligent observers, and from which they write letters to each
other.
Arrangement
Organized in the following series: 1. Correspondence; 2. Photographs; 3. Mining reports; 4. Miscellaneous mining papers; 5.
Field notes, diaries, accounts; 6. Janin family papers and photographs; 7. Business papers; 8. Gold dredging papers; 9. Ephemera
and printed items; 10. Maps; 11. Volumes.
General
Former call number: mssJanin, Charles.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gold dredging.
Gold mines and mining.
Irrigation -- California -- Santa Ynez River Valley.
Mines and mineral resources -- Alaska.
Mines and mineral resources -- California.
Mines and mineral resources -- Canada.
Mines and mineral resources -- Central America.
Mines and mineral resources -- Mexico.
Mines and mineral resources -- Russia.
Mines and mineral resources -- Russia (Federation) -- Siberia.
Mines and mineral resources -- South America.
Mining engineers -- California -- Archives.
Platinum mines and mining.
Silver mines and mining.
Tin mines and mining.
Santa Ynez (Calif.) -- History -- Sources.
Santa Ynez River Valley (Calif.) -- History -- Sources.
Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921.
Diaries -- United States.
Letters (correspondence) -- United States.
Maps -- United States.
Photographs -- United States.
Technical reports -- United States.
Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951.
Ickes, Harold L. (Harold LeClair), 1874-1952.
Insull, Samuel, 1859-1938.
Janin (Family)
McAdoo, W. G. (William Gibbs), 1863-1941.
Manning, Mr. (Vannoy Hartrog), 1839-1892.
United States. Department of the Interior.
Ingersoll-Rand Company.
Lenskoe zolotopromyshlennoe tovarishchestvo.