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Community Environmental Council records
SBHC Mss 109
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Title: Community Environmental Council records
Identifier/Call Number: SBHC Mss 109
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
31.69 linear feet
(59 document boxes, 1 flat box, 13 DVDs, 58 videocassettes, 2 film reels)
Creator:
Community Environmental Council
Date (inclusive): 1970-2012
Abstract: This collection consists of several types of resources including clippings, history and events files, board minutes, Earth
Day documents, administrative files as well as numerous photographs and audiovisual materials generated in the course of activities
by the Community Environmental Council of Santa Barbara, California, from the 1970s through the 2000s.
The collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
[Identification of Item], Community Environmental Council records, SBHC Mss 109. Department of Special Research Collections,
UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara
Donated by the Community Environmental Council, 2016.
"Since 1970 the Community Environmental Council (CEC) has been a leader in addressing ongoing environmental problems in the
Santa Barbara region. They are often referred to as the "think-and-do tank" because of their efforts to analyze problems and
to develop creative and real-world solutions. The council's efforts have had far reaching impact not only in Santa Barbara
County and its surrounding areas but also nationally and internationally. As a result of the crisis in the aftermath of the
1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the ensuing community outbursts regarding the catastrophe, residents created the nonprofit
organization CEC. The organization's members included Jim Billig, Elaine Burnell, Phil Marking, Marc McGinnes, John Meengs,
Maryanne Mott, Judy Patrick, Paul Relis and Selma Rubin. The CEC received its incorporation papers on April 18, 1970. Thereafter,
the organization held its first major celebratory activity – closing off the street in front of their office on Anapamu Street
for the nation's first "Earth Day". Currently "Earth Day" is one of the largest secular observances in the world. Accordingly,
during this time there were few organizations that were dedicated to addressing the practical challenges of putting appropriate
conservation measures into practice. CEC founders made it their goal to fill that void. CEC's focus involved education, bridge
building, and pioneering new ideas. They often created pilot projects such as community gardens. In addition, CEC embarked
on developing the first South Coast facility for collecting common household hazardous waste materials for disposal. Other
endeavors included the Art From Scrap, the Watershed Resource Center, and a Watershed Restoration program." [Excerpts from
CEC History: Local Pioneers for a National Environmental Movement]
This collection consists of several types of resources dating from the 1970s through the 2000s. It includes clippings, history
and events files, board minutes, Earth Day documents, administrative files as well as numerous photographs and audiovisual
materials. The publications are comprised of policy papers/reports and newsletters. There are CEC symposiums/proceedings with
writings by Paul Relis and others. Within the publication series there are incomplete runs of
Survival Times (1970s). The collection contains correspondence and notes by Robert Easton and Paul Relis. Along with general/miscellaneous
correspondence, the collection includes reports from the City Council Planning Commission, the Citizens Planning Association,
and the Committee for Santa Barbara.
The collection is arranged into the following series: Series 1. Board Minutes; Series 2. Correspondence; Series 3. Administrative
Files; Series 4. History and Events; Series 5. Earth Day; Series 6. Publications; Series 7. Clippings; Series 8. Photographs;
Series. 9 Audiovisual.
Paul Relis journals, SBHC Mss 110, Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Robert Easton collection, SBHC Mss 6, Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Selma Rubin papers, SBHC Mss 83, Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Marc McGinnes papers, UArch FacP 59, Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Environmentalism -- California -- Santa Barbara -- History
Earth Day -- History
Political activists -- California -- Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara (Calif.) -- Politics and government
Administrative records
Administrative reports
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence
DVDs
Film reels
Minutes (administrative records)
Newsletters
Photographs
Videocassettes
Community Environmental Council -- Archives