Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Gann, Paul, 1912-1989
- Language:
- English.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Campaign materials for State Proposition 13, a property tax reduction initiative passed in 1978, and other propositions, among them Proposition 8, the Victims' Bill of Rights, Propositions 24, 36 and 4, and the 1980 campaign for the United States Senate. Papers relating to the organization Peoples' Advocate and the campaign to remove Rose Bird and other Supreme Court justices. Includes correspondence, mailing lists, mailers, drafts, TV and radio spots, schedules, newspaper clippings, etc.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Paul Gann was born in Arkansas on June 12, 1912, the son of a Nazarene minister. He suffered as a child from osteomyelitis. Unable to join the service during World War II, he worked for the Army Corp of Engineers. He sustained a leg injury and spent 28 months in the Presidio Army Hospital in San Francisco, where he was one of the first recipients of penicillin. This restored him completely to health.
Mr. Gann, his wife Nell and their daughter Polly moved to the Sacramento area in 1935. He was in the automobile sales business in Sacramento and Modesto before and after World War II and later sold real estate in the Sacramento area. Mr. and Mrs. Gann have four children.
He became involved in citizen action movements in the 1960s. In 1974 he founded People's Advocate, a corporation. In 1977, this organization joined with Howard Jarvis to sponsor and qualify Proposition 13, an initiative limiting property taxes. It was adopted by a large margin in 1978. In 1979 the organization sponsored Proposition 4, a constitutional amendment directed at limiting state government spending. This also was passed by the voters.
He won the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in 1980 but was defeated in the general election that November. After the 1980 election, Mr. Gann continued his activist role and was involved in support of several propositions and campaigns, including the Victims' Bill of Rights (Proposition 8, 1982) and the Legislative Reform Act (Proposition 24, 1984).
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
900 N Street, Room 200, P.O. Box 942837Sacramento, CA 94237-0001, US
- Contact:
- (916) 654-0176