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Finding aid to the Leo L. Stanley scrapbooks and papers, 1849-1974 (bulk 1928-1965), MS 2061
MS 2061  
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Series 1:  Travel scrapbooks 1911-1972 (bulk 1928-1956)

Scope and Contents

Scrapbooks contain daily accounts of each trip and include photographs, maps, travel brochures, news clippings, and other printed matter from places visited. Stanley's observations of conditions at prisons and prison hospitals, and health conditions aboard ships, are often intermingled with personal descriptions of his travels.
Box 1

Trident, Scalpel, and Probe: The Adventures of a Ship's Doctor (vol. I) 1928 October 4-1928 November 2

Scope and Contents

Stanley acted as the ship's doctor on the S.S. City of Los Angeles voyage around South America. The scrapbook contains notes on the preparation for the trip and the first ports of call, including Callao and Lima, Peru; Valparaiso and Santiago, Chile; the Straits of Magellan; Punta Arenas; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. News from San Quentin is also featured in this volume.
Box 2

Trident, Scalpel, and Probe: The Adventures of a Ship's Doctor (vol. II) 1928 November 3-1928 December 6

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Buenos Aires, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay; Santos, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Port of Spain, Trinidad; La Guayra and Caracas, Venezuela; the Panama Canal Zone; San Salvador; Guatemala; and Mazatlan, Mexico. Significantly, the scrapbooks contain notes on visits to local prison hospitals.
Box 2

All Pacific Cruise: Japan (vol. I) 1929 January 14-1929 October 3

Scope and Contents

Stanley was the ship's doctor on the S.S. Malolo 's cruise around the Pacific. The beginning of the scrapbook describes preparations and departure. Travel itinerary includes Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan.
Box 3

All Pacific Cruise: Japan (vol. II) 1929 October 4-1929 October 12

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Kobe, Nara, and Miyajima.
Box 3

All Pacific Cruise: China (vol. III) 1929 October 13-1929 October 22

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Chinwangtao, Peiping, the Great Wall, and Shanghaikun.
Box 4

All Pacific Cruise: Hong Kong, Manila, Saigon (vol. IV) 1929 October 23-1929 November 2

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Hong Kong, Kowloon, Canton, Manila, and Saigon. Stanley describes his visit to an "opium joint" and a "house of ill fame" in Saigon.
Box 4

All Pacific Cruise: Siam, Singapore, Java (vol. V) 1929 November 3-1929 November 11

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Bangkok; Singapore; Jahore; Batavia and Buitenzorg, Java; and Tanjong Priok.
Box 5

All Pacific Cruise: Australia (vol. VI) 1911-1929 (bulk 1929 November 12-1929 November 27)

Restriction on Access

Page 284 is sealed and closed until 2029 in Box 27, folder 1.

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Rottnest Island, Fremantle, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, and Katoonmba. The volume contains observations on local hospitals and prisons.
Box 5

All Pacific Cruise: New Zealand, Fiji, Pago Pago, Hawaii (vol. VII) 1929 November 28-1929 December 15

Conditions on Access

Pages [330-334] are sealed and closed until 2029 in Box 27, folder 2.

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Auckland; Suva, Fiji; Pago Pago, Samoa; and Honolulu and Hilo, Hawaii. Stanley discusses an outbreak of venereal disease among the ship's crew.
Box 6

North Cape-Russia Cruise (vol. I) 1929-1971 February 28 (bulk 1931 June 26-1931 July 8)

Scope and Contents

Stanley was a passenger on a voyage bound for Russia. Travel itinerary includes a trip by train to New York and a stop in Reykjavik, Iceland. This volume also contains a transcription of a letter and poem sent by San Quentin prisoner J.P. "Bluebeard" Watson.
Box 7

North Cape-Russia Cruise (vol. II) 1931 July 9-1937 December 15 (bulk 1931 July 9-1931 July 18)

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes the Norwegian cities of Hammerfest, Lyngen, Trondhjem, and Bergan.
Box 8

North Cape-Russia Cruise (vol. III) 1931 July 19-1971 July 18 (bulk 1931 July 19-1931 August 1)

Scope and Contents

The volume primarily documents the abrupt end of the voyage. Aubrey "Lady Bob" Montgomery, fellow passenger and friend, died while the ship was docked in Stockholm. Stanley remained behind to care for her affairs. Stanley returned with her body via the Suecia and S.S. Mauritania to New York, then by train to San Francisco. Travel itinerary aboard the Carinthia includes Oslo, Visby Gottland, and Stockholm.
Box 9

Alaska: The Trip as Related by Dr. Stanley (vol. I) 1899-1959 (bulk 1933 June 8-1933 June 11)

Scope and Contents

Stanley and two colleagues from San Quentin, prison dentist Doc Walsh and prison sheriff Fred "the Baron" Shur, vacationed to Alaska and back. The trip begins on the coast of Northern California, continues through Oregon and Washington, and stops in Canada for a voyage from Vancouver aboard the Canadian Pacific Steamer Princess Norah bound for Alaska. Included is a March 1949 article authored by Stanley titled "Backward, Turn Backward" for the Centaur of Alpha Kappa Kappa, with descriptions of Stanley's childhood in Northern California at the turn of the century.
Box 10

Alaska: The Trip as Related by Dr. Stanley (vol. II) 1933 June 11-1933 June 13

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary aboard the Canadian Pacific Steamer Princess Norah includes Alert Bay and Prince Rupert, British Columbia; and Ketchikan and Juneau, Alaska.
Box 11

Alaska: The Trip as Related by Dr. Stanley (vol. III) 1933 June 14-1933 June 16

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Skagway, Alaska; Bennett, Carcross, and Tagish Lake, British Columbia; then to Juneau, Alaska, where they begin the journey home. Stanley quotes extensively from Robert Service's The Trail of '98 throughout this volume.
Box 12

Alaska: The Trip as Related by Dr. Stanley (vol. IV) 1933 June 17-1933 June 22

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Juneau, Alaska; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and San Rafael, California. The last fifty pages are written by Fred Shur, who relates his account of the trip.
Box 13

Around the World via Siberia: Across America, San Francisco to New York on the Deportation Train-From New York on the President Roosevelt Bound for Le Harve (vol. I) 1934 April 20-1934 September 6 (bulk 1934 April 20-1934 May 8)

Scope and Contents

Stanley traveled from San Francisco to New York, serving as a doctor on a deportation train, completing the first stage on a trip bound for the Soviet Union to study hospitals and prisons. Travel itinerary includes the journey to New York from San Francisco and the first few days aboard the S.S. President Roosevelt bound for Le Harve. Included are photographs and descriptions of a number of prisoners aboard the deportation train.
Box 13

Around the World Via Siberia: France: Paris and Versailles-Germany: Berlin and Potsdam (vol. II) 1934 May 9-1964 April (bulk 1934 May 9-1934 May 18)

Scope and Contents

Documents Stanley's trip from Paris to Berlin, where he boarded an airplane bound for Russia. A newspaper clipping and a passage about Abel George Warshawsky is included in this volume, along with Stanley's reminiscences about meeting the artist in Paris.
Box 14

Around the World Via Siberia: Russia: Leningrad and Moscow (vol. III) 1933-1962 September 29 (bulk 1934 May 19-1934 May 24)

Scope and Contents

Includes arrival in Leningrad and a day trip to Moscow accompanied by a guide. Stanley visited hospitals in Leningrad, and an experimental prison commune in Moscow. Included is an English language newspaper Moscow Daily News, dated 1934 May 23, and various period guidebooks to the U.S.S.R.
Box 14

Around the World Via Siberia: Manchoukuo: Chinese Eastern Railway (vol. IV) 1934 May 31-1934 June 3

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes a trip along the Chinese Eastern Railway with stops in Tsitsihar, Anda, Harbin, Hsinking, Mukden, and Shanhaikuan. Stanley visits a prison in Manchuli and a hospital in Mukden, and quotes extensively from the 1934 Guide to Manchoukuo . Also included are photographs and transcriptions from a journal describing his 1929 visit to the area.
Box 15

Around the World Via Siberia: China: Peiping and Shanghai (vol. V) 1934 June 4-1938 October 12 (bulk 1934 June 4-1934 June 8)

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Peiping, Tientsin, Nanking, and Shanghai, where Stanley boards the M.S. Chichibu Maru. Photographs and descriptions of a prison in Peiping and a "red light district" are included.
Box 15

Around the World Via Siberia: Japan: Kobe and Yokohama; Hawaii: Honolulu (vol. VI) 1934-1966 (bulk 1934 June 9-1934 June 22

Scope and Contents

Stanley travels aboard the M.S. Chichiba Maru with stops in Kobe, Kyoto, Yokohama, Pearl Harbor, and Oahu, Hawaii, ending in San Francisco. Stanley records his thoughts on prostitution houses in Japan and discusses a recent rash of "suicide mania" in Oshima. While in Hawaii, Stanley presents a paper regarding the care of prisoners convicted of "sexual perversions." The volume contains a newspaper clipping from the Honolulu Star Bulletin dated 1934 June 22 about the speech, quoting Stanley's thoughts on the voluntary sterilization of prisoners. A folder of mixed materials, including correspondence related to this part of the trip, is included with the volume.
Box 16

Mexico: Jaunts to Mexico and Back, Trip With Mother in 1932 (Vol. I) 1929-1972 November 22 (bulk 1932 October 4-1932 October 9)

Scope and Contents

Along with his mother, Stanley travels to Juarez, Mexico, with stops at Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, to attend the 30th annual meeting of the Pacific Association of Railway Surgeons. While in Juarez, Stanley visited a prison and a house of prostitution. The volume includes Stanley's mother's account of the trip and Stanley's associate, Dr. George Waldo Burgess', version. Copies of Stanley's articles "The Testicle" (published in 1932, concerning testicle transplants and the experimental surgery performed on prisoners at San Quentin) and “Syphilis Among State Prisoners” (1929) are included.
Box 16

Mexico: Jaunts to Mexico and Back, Trip With Mother in 1932 (vol. II) 1932 October 10-1972 September 3 (bulk 1932 October 10-1932 October 15)

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes Chihuahua, Jimenez, Escalon, Torreon, Toluca, and Mexico City. A visit to a prison in Toluca is recorded, along with a trip to the National Palace where Stanley met President Abelardo Rodriguez.
Box 17

Mexico: Jaunts to Mexico and Back, Trip With Mother in 1932 (vol. III) 1932 October 11-1962 (bulk 1932 October 16-1932 October 19)

Scope and Contents

Stanley traveled from San Juan Teotihuacan to Guadalajara, then home to San Francisco with stops in Cholula, Tepic, Mazatlan, and Nogalas, Mexico. Volume contains a visit to a prison in Guadalajara and a transcribed copy of a letter written by San Quentin prisoner J.P. "Bluebeard" Watson.
Box 18

Mixing in Mexico, 1937 (vol. I) 1937 June-1937 October 11

Scope and Contents

Stanley travels to Guadalajara, Mexico, to attend the annual meeting of the Pacific Association of Railway Surgeons. The volume describes the train trip to Guadalajara. The later part of the volume primarily contains the case history of San Quentin prisoner Jose Alonzo, who worked as an assistant to Dr. Stanley while incarcerated. Paroled to Mexico in 1932, Alonzo and Stanley exchanged a number of letters. Included is their correspondence and a description of a pack trip to Chapala and the countryside taken together.
Box 18

Mixing in Mexico, 1937 (vol. II) 1937 October 11-1954 (bulk 1937 October 11-1937 October 19)

Scope and Contents

Travel itinerary includes the second half of the pack trip to the Mexican countryside, then to San Luis Soyatlan, Tuscueca, Chapala, Mescala, back to Guadalajara, and a train trip bound for San Francisco.
Box 19

Viva Mexico: Trip to Mexico City by Judge Edward I Butler, Mr. Basil H. Holthouse, Mr. Tillius Cordone, and Dr. Leo L. Stanley 1955 January-1972 (bulk 1955 January)

Scope and Contents

Stanley, along with friends Judge Edward I. Butler, Basil H. Holthouse, and Tillius Cordone, traveled by car and plane to Juarez, Mexico. This scrapbook contains their accounts, which include the drive to El Paso, Texas; flight to Mexico City; Jaurez; tour of the countryside; and the return drive home. Correspondence between Stanley and former San Quentin inmate Jose Guadalupe Rosas Alvarez, whom Stanley visited during the trip, is included.
Box 27, Folder 3

Korea: San Francisco, Honolulu, Wake Island, Tokyo, Seoul 1956 February 8-1956 February 29

Scope and Contents

Stanley acted as a medical attendant for the U.S. Immigration Department on a deportation trip involving a Korean college student deported to Seoul. Stanley describes the trip from San Francisco to Korea, with a brief stop in Hawaii and longer layover in Tokyo. The majority of the trip was spent in Seoul, though Stanley arranged a visit with friends in Japan and a tour of the medical school at the University of Tokyo on the return trip home. Stanley observes the devastation of war in both Korea and in Japan. Travel ephemera, Japanese and Korean English language newspaper clippings, and photographs are included.

Restriction on Access

Volume sealed and closed until 2020 in Box 27, folder 3.
Box 20

Railroad Surgeons Meet in Mexico 1964-1966 (bulk 1965 October-1965 November)

Scope and Contents

Stanley traveled by train to Mexico City to attend the annual meeting of the Pacific Association of Railway Surgeons. The scrapbook contains descriptions of the trip, though most of the narration in the volume concerns former San Quentin inmate Jose Guadalupe Rosas Alvarez, then serving time in a prison in Mexico City following a conviction of rape and murder. The volume includes lengthy correspondence between Stanley and Alvarez, in which Stanley urges Alvarez to write an autobiography and Alvarez discusses his criminal history. The volume also documents Stanley's visit to see Alvarez while in Mexico City to attend the conference.
 

Series 2:  Prison scrapbooks and related material 1851-1968

Scope and Contents

Prison scrapbooks and related materials include accounts of trips taken by Stanley to United States prisons and road camps; correspondence and writings of San Quentin inmate J.P. "Bluebeard" Watson; official San Quentin State Prison records and reports collected or transcribed by Stanley; and San Quentin ephemera.
Box 21

Reports of State Prison Directors on San Quentin 1855-1912

Scope and Contents

Typed and bound copy of reports from the Office of the Board of State Prison Inspectors on prison conditions at San Quentin.
Box 21, Folder 1

Reports of the Committee on State Prisons 1857-1938 February 2 (bulk 1857-1871)

Scope and Contents

Typed copies of San Quentin reports from 1857-1871, including testimonies from state superintendents and prison committee members describing prison conditions. The reports also contain statistics, property inventories, and expenditures.
Box 21

Register of State Prison at San Quentin 1889

Scope and Contents

Bound volume containing lists of convicts on the Register of State Prison at San Quentin, published by the State Office at Sacramento in 1889. Alphabetically arranged and complete from 1851 to 1859, with date of arrival, name, crime, term, date of discharge, and occasional remarks.
Box 22, Folder 1

Federal Executions at the California State Prison at San Quentin 1895 October 18

Scope and Contents

Typed copy with excerpts of testimony from report detailing the executions of Hans Hansen, Herman Sparf, and Thomas C. St. Clair.
Box 22, Folder 2

The Evolution of a State Prison: Historical Narrative of the Ten Years from 1851 to 1861, During the Period When the Care and Employment of Convicts Was Turned Over to the Lessess , by James Wilkins 1918

Scope and Contents

Typed copy of a narrative originally printed in The Bulletin, a San Francisco newspaper, extending from 1918 June 13 through 1918 July 10, detailing the history of San Quentin State Prison from its inception to 1861, including state legislative reports, county records, correspondence and interviews from state officials, and testimonies from court proceedings.
Box 22

Prison Camps of Northern California 1929-1960 March (bulk 1929)

Scope and Contents

San Quentin Warden James B. Holohan, Superintendent of Prison Road Camps Uriah A. Smith, and Stanley formed a self-appointed committee to inspect the prison camps of Northern California. Stanley notes the conditions of Lake County prison camp, in Lower Lake; Schilling prison camp in Redding; Payne's Creek prison camp in Red Bluff; Paxton prison camp in Feather River; and Oroville prison camp in Quincy, California. Significantly, Stanley describes a "hushed up" incident involving a camp sergeant and camp nurse accused of acquiring bootleg, visiting prostitutes, and mistreating prisoners.
Box 22

Twenty Years at San Quentin 1933-1960 (bulk 1933)

Scope and Contents

Stanley recounts his first twenty years at San Quentin (1913-1933) and medical procedures performed, such as spinal anesthesia. The scrapbook also describes the history of San Quentin. Significantly, Stanley notes the changes in prison population correlating with World War I, anecdotes concerning escapees, and various construction projects seen during his tenure. Photographs of San Quentin documenting changes at the prison are included.
This volume includes the following articles by Stanley: "Tuberculosis in San Quentin," reprinted from California and Western Medicine , vol. 40 (6), December 1938, and vol. 50 (1), January 1939; "Spinal anesthesia," reprinted from California and Western Medicine, vol. 52 (1), January 1940; and "Health reactions of San Quentin inmates to the treatment of periodontitis and gingivitis," reprinted from The Journal of the American Dental Association and the Dental Cosmos , vol. 24, May 1937.
Box 23

Inspection Tour of Road Camps 1937 May 14-1968 December (bulk 1937 May 14-1937 May 28)

Restriction on Access

Pages [12] and [19] are sealed and closed until 2016 in Box 27, folder 4. Page [13] is sealed and closed until 2013 in Box 27, folder 4.

Scope and Contents

Stanley and the Warden of San Quentin, Court Smith, drove from San Quentin to Southern California and then to Northern California to inspect the prison road camps and the inmates tasked with constructing the California highway system. Stanley also attended the annual Northwestern Pacific Railroad Surgeon's meeting in Eureka. The prison road camps described include Number 26 in Anderson Canyon; an unnamed camp near Mt. Wilson in Southern California; Camp 30 in Oroville; Feather River Highway; and Trinity road camp. Photographs, maps, and highway travel brochures are included.
Box 23

Prison Camp Revolt 1939 March 14-1962 January 29 (bulk 1939 March 14-1939 March 17)

Scope and Contents

The scrapbook documents a trip taken with San Quentin Warden, Court Smith and George A. Tilton, Superintendent of Road Construction for the California State Highway Commission, to Camp 34 in Escondido, San Diego County, in order to inspect a report that the road camp prisoners had gone on a "semi-hunger strike." Stanley documents the trip in a daily journal. Photographs and descriptions of work conditions are included, as are detailed histories of the five prisoners accused of inciting the hunger strike. The latter half of the scrapbook documents a road trip Stanley and his companions take to Mission San Luis Rey and a visit with friends in Los Angeles.
Box 24

We Visit Some Pens 1948 June 19-1948 July 9

Scope and Contents

The scrapbook documents a 26-day trip taken with Dr. David Akers, a physician at San Quentin, Stanley's stepson, David Campbell, and Campbell's friends, two nurses from Minnesota, who travel by car to visit penitentiaries and study their medical programs. Itinerary and prisons visited include: Idaho State Penitentiary in Boise, Idaho; Yellowstone National Park; South Dakota Penitentiary in Sioux Falls; Detroit, Michigan; State Prison of Southern Michigan in Jackson; Indiana State Prison in Michigan City; Joliet Sate Prison in Chicago, Illinois; Federal Penitentiary in Terra Haute, Indiana; Sullivan, Indiana; Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri; Colorado State Prison in Canon City; and Utah State Penitentiary in Salt Lake City. The scrapbook also contains a Stanley family history compiled by Ruth Sullivan, and photographs and ephemera from penitentiaries visited.
Box 24

Poems, correspondence, and miscellaneous writings of and about J.P. "Bluebeard" Watson 1929-1938

Scope and Contents

Contains a typed and bound collection of poems by Watson titled Writings of JP Bluebeard Watson Vol. I (1930-1938). Some poems include introductory text by Watson and all are followed by a signature. A folder containing typed correspondence written to Stanley by Watson is included. The letters (1929-1930) describe the relationship between the Stanley and Watson, and concern Watson's plans to speak to reporters and publish his novel. The folder also contains a copy of E.B. Hoag's & E.H. Williams' 1921 article "The Case of J.P. Watson, the Modern Bluebeard" from the Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology , vol. 12 (3).
Box 25

Tangled, by J.P. Watson 1930

Scope and Contents

A bound and typed draft of J.P Watson's unpublished novel Tangled given to Stanley while Watson was under his care. The novel, a love story, is centered around several characters and involves a foiled plot to either murder or marry for money.
Box 25

Tangled: a Revised Copy, by J.P. Watson 1913-1932 (bulk 1932)

Scope and Contents

A bound and typed draft of J.P Watson's unpublished revision of his novel Tangled. Also includes two undated photographs of Watson (a portrait and a photograph with two unknown men) and a picture of San Quentin's garden (1913). The forward contains a letter to Stanley asking him to destroy the earlier version.
Box 25

San Quentin ephemera 1909, undated

Scope and Contents

Folder contains two San Quentin souvenir poetry booklets, A Song of Freedom (1909) and Forget Me Not (undated). Phil Thatcher's undated religious tract, San Quentin Alumnus , published by the Shepherd Foundation in Lynwood, California, is also included.
 

Series 3:  Personal papers, articles, and writings 1849 - 1970

Scope and Contents

Contains family manuscripts, newspaper clippings and articles authored by and about Stanley, travel brochures and ephemera, correspondence, and autobiographical writings.
Box 26, Folder 1

Diary of a California Pioneer: typescript 1849?

Box 26, Folders 2-3

The Lost Ledge, written by Dr. Hartwell B. Stanley (handwritten manuscript) 1897-1946 (bulk 1897)

Scope and Contents

Handwritten family history written by Leo Stanley's father, Dr. Hartwell B. Stanley. Includes a note written by Stanley describing the gift of the manuscript from his mother on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
Box 26, Folder 4

The Lost Ledge, by Dr. Hartwell B. Stanley (typed and bound copy) 1897-1972 (bulk 1897)

Scope and Contents

Typed and bound copy of Dr. Hartwell B. Stanley's manuscript "The Lost Ledge" (1897). Includes loose newspaper clippings (1972, undated) and a preface written by Leo Stanley (1946).
Box 26, Folder 5

Ephemera 1931-1967

Box 26, Folder 6

Articles and newspaper clippings 1931-1971

Scope and Contents

Contains articles written by and about Stanley, mostly concerning his medical career.
Box 26, Folder 7

Correspondence 1932-1965

Scope and Contents

Includes correspondence to Stanley from friends, mostly pertaining to his scrapbook collection or to his publications.
Box 26, Folder 8

Three Ways To Win 1952-1974 (bulk 1952)

Scope and Contents

As a member of the press, Stanley reported on a pioneer military air landing exercise in Hawthorn, Nevada. Contains a narrative of the event, a letter to press correspondents attending, accompanying photographs, and a press booklet.
Box 26, Folder 9

News Men I Have Known after 1967

Scope and Contents

Typed autobiographical manuscript documenting Stanley's overlapping careers as an occasional reporter for San Francisco Bay Area newspapers and doctor at San Quentin, including newspaper clippings of some of his work. Notably, Stanley recounts the testicular implantation experiments and the attention of the press that followed, including a variant version of the "Buck" Kelly case.
Box 26, Folders 10-11

A Long and Happy One: Autobiography of Leo L. Stanley 1968

Scope and Contents

Autobiography of Stanley documenting his early childhood to his retirement. Includes notes about experimental testicular implantation surgeries performed on prisoners in San Quentin and sterilization procedures, including the "Buck" Kelly case.
Box 26, Folder 12

Portrait 1970

Scope and Contents

Brief autobiographical portrait written by Leo Stanley.