Sharkey Family Collection
Finding aid created by Contra Costa County Historical Society staff using RecordEXPRESS
Contra Costa County Historical Society
2021
724 Escobar Street
Martinez, California 94553
9252291042
info@cocohistory.com
http://www.cocohistory.com/
Title: Sharkey Family Collection
Dates: 1865-1990s
Collection Number: 2011.36
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 31 boxes, 18 cu feet
Repository:
Contra Costa County Historical Society
Martinez, California 94553
Abstract: The Sharkey Family Collection consists of personal correspondence, political and legal documents, newspaper clippings, and
ephemera connected to State Senator William R Sharkey and family, spanning from the early 1900s to the 1990s.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research.
Contact the Contra Costa County Historical Society for publication permission.
Sharkey Family Collection. Contra Costa County Historical Society
Scope and Content of Collection
While the collection includes documents and news stories connected to Sharkey’s state senate activities, the bulk of the collection
consists of personal correspondence between his son, Sharkey Jr, and his fiancée (later wife), Dorothy Jessen, 1925 –1951.
In addition, the collection contains information on Sharkey Jr.’s military service, enrollment at Stanford University, and
as an employee at the DMV. Other materials include greeting cards, audiotapes, and photographs of the Sharkey family, their
friends, and colleagues.
correspondence, personal
documents, political
documents, legal
documents, military
Sharkey, William R.
Jessen, Dorothy
Martinez News-Gazette
Stanford University
Department of Motor Vehicles
California Rivers and Harbors Commission
photographs
personal papers
newspaper clippings
letters
postcards
postcards
California State Senator
newspaper editor