Guide to the Harry C. Aitken, Jr. Collection MS 887
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
2021
Contributing Institution:
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
Title: Harry C Aitken, Jr. collection
source:
Aitken, Harry C.
Identifier/Call Number: MS 887
Physical Description:
.17 Linear Feet
1 manuscript half-box
Date (inclusive): 1867-1882
Abstract: This collection contains 32 telegrams addressed to Central Pacific Railroad President and California Governor Leland Stanford
between 1868 to 1869, expense bills and bills of lading from material shipped from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Francisco during
the 1870s, early tickets along the route and guide books to the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads collected by Harry
C. Aitken, Jr.
Physical Location: Statewide Museum Collections Center
Language of Material:
English
.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff for details.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association / Western Railway Museum per instructions from the Harry C. Aitken
Jr. estate, 2020.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by type of material, then chronologically.
Biography
Harry C. Aitken Jr. was born on August 11, 1931 in Berkeley, California. After attending grammar and high school in Berkeley
and completing one year of study at the University of California, he graduated from Stanford University in 1953.
While at Stanford, Mr. Aitken completed ROTC training and when he graduated, he served as Lt. (JR) Communications Officer
aboard the USS Kenneth Whiting in the Pacific. He continued his maritime career as a Junior Purser on American President and
Matson Navigation Lines.
Following his maritime service, Mr. Aiken was a tour director for Travelworld, Inc. of Los Angeles. He also worked in Grahame
Hardy's railroad bookstore and was a copy editor for Howell-North books in Berkeley. He also drove buses.
A charter member of the Bay Area Railroad Association, Mr. Aitken was the photo archivist for its Western Railway Museum in
Rio Vista, California, where he organized over 150,000 images. He was co-author of NAPA VALLEY ROUTE: ELECTRIC TRAINS AND
STEAMERS (Interurban Press Special No. 47, 1975). His final project was editing and revising the late Vernon Sapper's unfinished
manuscript which was published in 2007 as KEY SYTEM STREETCARS.
The Western Railway Museum honored his contributions by naming their photograph archives the Harry C. Aitken, Jr. Photo Archive
in 2015. Mr. Aitken died on April 13, 2020 at his home in Suisun City, California.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item], Harry C. Aitken, Jr. Transcontinental Railroad Collection, MS 887, California State Railroad Museum
Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains 32 telegrams addressed to Central Pacific Railroad President and California Governor Leland Stanford
between 1868 to 1869, expense bills and bills of lading from material shipped from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Francisco during
the 1870s, early tickets along the route and guide books to the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads collected by Harry
C. Aitken, Jr.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of
the CSRM 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 reader.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Central Pacific Railroad Company
Transcontinental Railroad
Construction
Aitken, Harry C.
box 1, folder 1
Bills of lading, Sep. 1871 - Apr. 1880
box 1, box 2-12
Expense bills / bills of lading, May 1875 - May 1877
box 1, folder 13
Letter from Central Pacific General Superintendent S.N. Towne, Jul. 1877
box 1, folder 14
Local ticket and train rates for Central Pacific Railroad, Salt Lake Division, Mar. 20, 1879
box 1, folder 15
"California Pioneers Grand Excursion from Sacramento to New York, Sep. 1869
box 1, folder 16
Nelsons' Pictorial Guide-Books. "The Central Pacific Railroad: A trip across the North American continent from Ogden to San
Francisco", 1871
box 1, box 17
Nelsons' Pictorial Guide-Books. "The Union Pacific Railroad: A trip across the North American continent from Omaha to Ogden",
1871
box 1, folder 18
Pacific Coast Land Bureau. "California Guide Book: The lands of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroad Companies",
1882
box 1, folder 19
"Railroad Communication with the Pacific, with an account of the Central Pacific Railroad of California: The character of
the work, its progress, resources, earning and future prospect, and the advantages of its first mortgage bonds", Jul. 1867
box 1, folder 20
Telegrams to Leland Stanford, Oct. 14, 1868 - Nov. 20, 1869
