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Title: Don Rivett collection
Dates: 1895-2007
Bulk Dates: 1960-2000
Collection number: MS0080
Creator:
Rivett, Donald (1917-2009)
Creator:
Rivett, Alfred Irving (1891-1974)
Collection Size:
9.63 linear feet (9 boxes)
Repository:
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Abstract: The collection documents Sacramento amateur historian Don Rivett’s activities with local historical associations, employment
with Sacramento County Parks and Recreation, and his family. He had a hand in the creation of the Sacramento History Museum
and registering Old Sacramento as a historic landmark. Rivett was a member of the Historic Landmark Commission, Sacramento
History Center (now the Center for Sacramento History), Sacramento Pioneer Association and Foundation, and Sacramento County
Historical Society. Each organization has its own series that contains meeting minutes, membership information, newsletters,
brochures, clippings, ephemera, and material related to specific projects. County Parks and Recreation material documents
his work and projects, including work with buildings on the historic register. Material related to his family documents his
father Alfred “Irving” Rivett’s work with the California Division of Highways and various historical associations, his grandfather
Edgar Rivett, the family’s church activities, and various family members’ interests.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research use.
All requests to publish or quote from private manuscripts held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron.
No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Don Rivett collection, MS0080, Center for Sacramento
History.
Acquired from the Don Rivett family in 2010 (accession number 2010/019).
Processing and finding aid by Margaret Janssen, 2011-2012. Finding aid edited by Kim Hayden, 2020.
Biography / Administrative History
Don Rivett was a local amateur historian who worked with the Sacramento County Department of Parks and Recreation. Along with
his father, he was a member of the Sacramento Historic Landmarks Commission, the Sacramento County Historical Society, and
the Sacramento Pioneer Association. He also worked with docents at the Sacramento History Museum. Through his affiliation
with historical societies and his work at the county, Rivett helped to register Old Sacramento as a historic landmark.
Rivett was a descendent of a Sacramento pioneer family. His great-grandfather John Rivett came from England to California
at the beginning of the Gold Rush and set up shop in the mercantile business. By 1852, he’d sent for his fiancée, Sarah Cook,
and they were married in San Francisco then settled in Sacramento. The couple briefly returned to England to settle Sarah’s
father’s estate, and John died there from tuberculosis. They had three sons, one of which, Edgar Henry was Don Rivett’s grandfather.
Edgar Henry Rivett was born in England in 1859. He returned to Sacramento with his mother and brothers, where they lived off
the sale of John’s business, which had been sold to W. P. Fuller. Edgar and one of his brothers opened a printing business,
A. and E. Rivett, and later he worked for the post office, rising through the ranks to become postmaster in Oak Park. He and
his wife, Georgie McFarland Rivett, were married in 1885. They were members of the Westminster Presbyterian Church and Fremont
Presbyterian Church. Edgar died in 1952.
Their son Alfred Irving Rivett, known as Irving, was born in Sacramento in 1891. He also worked for the post office, first
as a bicycle courier then as a clerk. He attended University of Nevada where he earned a degree in engineering, then returned
to Sacramento. Irving married Ora Lea Lain in 1915 and began work for the California State Division of Highways as a draftsman.
They had two children, twins Donald and Dexter. Irving worked in Bay Area shipyards during World War I, resuming his work
with the Highway Division after the war. He ultimately became a safety engineer with that department, working on many road
safety campaigns and speaking to civic and educational groups all over the state. He later helped develop educational programs
for teachers of college and high school drivers’ education classes. Irving died in 1974 and Ora died in 1976.
Donald Irving Rivett was born in 1917 to Irving and Ora in the old Mercy Hospital on R Street. Rivett grew up near today’s
Franklin Boulevard and Broadway, and he spent his boyhood playing in Oak Park and Joyland. He briefly worked on the Mack ranch
south of town, where he learned to milk cows and drive a tractor. He started attending Sacramento High School, but when his
father was transferred by the State Division of Highways to Stockton, Rivett finished high school there and attended College
of the Pacific. He returned to Sacramento about 1938 and worked for the city in its recreation department, particularly at
Camp Sacramento. Part of his work with the city was to help manage the transient housing and soup kitchen. He worked part
time for the California State Fair and continued to do so for about 15 years before and after the war, sometimes as a tree
topper and laborer and then as assistant director of special events.
When World War II started in Europe, Rivett joined the army in 1941 and shipped overseas before Pearl Harbor, serving in Europe
and Africa. He served 10 campaigns with the infantry, including a commando unit, and finished his duty as an instructor with
the Foreign Legion. When the war ended in Europe, he was transferred to the Pacific theater, but Japan surrendered before
he was sent there.
After the war, Rivett married Virginia Moore in 1946. He held various jobs, first with Continental Chemical Company, then
the Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Sacramento for eight years as a probation and parole officer. He worked for
the Associated Home Builders from the mid-1950s until 1970 when he accepted a job with the Sacramento County Department of
Parks and Recreation. He also worked with the Sacramento Symphony for a time in the 1950s through 1970.
Rivett retired in 1980, but remained busy with his membership in local historical groups. He died in 2009 in Sacramento.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection primarily documents Rivett’s membership and work with local historical organizations, specifically the Historic
Landmark Commission, Sacramento History Center (now known as the Center for Sacramento History), Sacramento Pioneer Association
and Foundation, and Sacramento County Historical Society.
Each historical organization has its own series, which typically contain meeting minutes, membership information, newsletters,
brochures, clippings, ephemera, and material related to specific projects, including historic landmarks, dedication ceremonies,
Old Sacramento, the Pioneer Bridge, and the Sacramento History Museum.
The collection also documents Rivett’s work with Sacramento County Parks and Recreation, particularly buildings on the historic
register, and to a lesser extent, his family, including an entire series of material collected or created by his father Alfred
“Irving” Rivett and his work with the California Division of Highways and various historical associations. The Other Rivett
family material focuses on Edgar Rivett, the family’s church activities, and various family members’ interests.
The collection is arranged into 7 series:
- Series 1. Historic Landmark Commission, 1960-1972
- Series 2. Sacramento History Center, ca. 1972-1990, bulk 1985-1990
- Series 3. Sacramento Pioneer Association and Foundation, 1967-2007
- Series 4. Sacramento County Historical Society, 1960-2001
- Series 5. Sacramento County Parks and Recreation, 1915-2002, bulk 1965-1985
- Series 6. Alfred Irving Rivett, 1932-1974
- Series 7. Rivett Family interests and church activities, 1895-2001
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
California. Division of Highways
Center for Sacramento History
Historic Landmark Commission (Sacramento, Calif.)
Old Sacramento Historic District (Sacramento, Calif.)
Sacramento County (Calif.). Department of Parks and Recreation
Sacramento County Historical Society
Sacramento History Center
Sacramento History Museum
Sacramento Pioneer Association
Historic landmarks -- Sacramento (Calif.)
History -- Sacramento (Calif.)
History -- Societies, etc. -- Sacramento (Calif.)
Social life and customs – Sacramento (Calif.)