Collection context
Summary
- Abstract:
- Over 300 photographs taken by a lineman Tom Sherman, an electrical lineman documenting a project to lay power lines from Southern California into Oregon.
- Extent:
- 1 linear foot
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Sherman, Tom Photographs. D-775, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Over 300 snapshot photographs taken by a lineman named Tom Sherman while working on a massive infrastructure project executed by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, laying power lines from southern California north into Oregon. The photographer was hired as a lineman with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company soon after his discharge from the United States Marines, having been wounded at the Battle of Iwo Jima. His wounds did not hold him down, and many of the photographs are taken from the massive towers high above the ground or the turbulent waters of the Carquinez Strait and other locations. Other photographs capture numerous closeups of the infrastructure of the electrical towers as well as some long-distance shots, the employees posed on the ground in small groups, the vehicles employed in the work, closeups of some of the equipment on the ground and in the air, a handful of views of the power station, and legions of images showing lineman working closely together to attach electrical wire to transformers, surge arresters, and other parts of the system.
Also included is a group panoramic photograph memorializing almost sixty employees of the Pacific Gas and Electric Concord District, East Bay Division, taken on February 24, 1949. The photo is accompanied by a printed key identifying the employees, including Tom Sherman. The items are rounded out with an issue of the company newspaper, the P. G. and E Progress, dated September 1954.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from McBride Rare Books.
- Processing information:
-
Elizabeth Wood created this finding aid with information supplied by the seller.
- Physical location:
- Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.
- Physical description:
- 356 silver gelatin photographs, 4 x 5.5 inches or slightly smaller, a few captioned in the negative, and a handful dated in manuscript on verso, plus a small panoramic photograph, 8 x 19.5 inches, a printed key to the panorama, and the September 1954 issue of P.G. and E Progress company newspaper.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Sherman, Tom Photographs. D-775, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library100 NW QuadDavis, CA 95616-5292, US
- Contact:
- (530) 752-1621