Huycke (Harold) collection, 1868-2007

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Summary

Title:
Harold D. Huycke collection
Dates:
1868-2007
Creators:
Huycke, Harold D.
Abstract:
The Harold D. Huycke collection, 1868-2007 (SAFR 22224, HDC 1600) consists of the papers of maritime historian Harold Huycke as well as papers and records he collected from other individuals and organizations involved in maritime history. The majority of the collection has been processed to the file unit level while the photographs have been mostly processed to the item level. The collection is open for use however see the section on Access for restricted material.
Extent:
215 linear ft
Language:
In English.
Preferred citation:

[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item Number], HDC1600 (SAFR 22224), Harold D. Huycke collection, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Background

Scope and content:

The Harold D. Huycke collection, 1868-2007 (SAFR 22224, HDC 1600) consists of the papers of maritime historian Harold Huycke as well as papers and records he collected from other individuals and organizations involved in maritime history. The majority of the collection has been processed to the file unit level while the photographs have been mostly processed to the item level. The collection is open for use however see the section on Access for restricted material.

Huycke's personal papers and the papers and records he collected include correspondence, diaries, logbooks, research notes, photographs, oral histories, manuscripts, corporate records, naval architectural plans and other materials that provide information about West Coast maritime activities in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Some of the collection is materials he produced and collected during his professional life as mate and master at sea, cargo superintendent and marine surveyor. There is a significant amount of material related to the research for his book, To Santa Rosalia: Further and Back, published in 1970, and materials associated with the publication of numerous articles, including a series of articles on the Star Fleet of the Alaska Packers Association.

The collection contains Huycke's research notes and correspondence on a wide variety of topics of United States Pacific Coast maritime history including vessels, maritime businesses, sailors, merchant mariners, ports, cargo, historical organizations, marine art and photography. Vessel interests included square-riggers, schooners, steam schooners, Liberty ships, Victory ships, barges, tugboats and minesweepers. The collection contains information on specific vessels such as KAIULANI, ADA REHAN, TANGO, FALLS OF CLYDE, C.A. THAYER and WAWONA. Among the maritime business related entities are States Steamship Company, Twin Harbor Stevedore Company, Alaska Packers Association, States Marine Lines, Puget Sound Tug & Barge, and Weyerhaeuser Company. Also documented herein is Huycke's extensive involvement in historical organizations and museums that are related to maritime history such as AICH Cape Horners (Amicale internationale des capitaines au long-cours, Cap Horniers), Steamship Historical Society of America, Inc., North American Society for Oceanic History, Square Rigger Club, and San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (and its predecessor organizations).

This collection also includes the manuscripts for Huycke's book, TO SANTA ROSALIA: FURTHER AND BACK, as well as correspondence, research notes, photographs and oral history audio cassette recordings created and used during the 15 years that he researched and wrote the book. These materials represent a wide variety of stories and perspectives, and illustrate Huycke's commitment to thorough research. The book is the history of a dozen German sailing vessels stranded at a remote port in Mexico during World War I. According to David Hull, Huycke's book: "chronicled the final flowering of the last great square-riggers on the face of the earth, and in so doing, [Harold Huycke] wrote the last sailing ship chapter of West Coast maritime history."

Additionally, the collection includes documentation and photographs of Huycke's work restoring the C.A. THAYER and sailing on her from Puget Sound to San Francisco in 1957; and documentation of the sailing of the KAIULANI and the uprising of its crew (that included Karl Kortum) against Captain H.G. Wigsten in Hobart, Tasmania in the early 1940's. Source for quote:

Hull, David. "End of an Era for West Coast Maritime History. Harold Huycke: 1922-2007, An Appreciation." Relative Bearings newsletter, no. 6 (April 2007), p. 2-3.

Biographical / historical:

Captain Harold D. Huycke, Jr. was a maritime historian of the Pacific Coast. He was the author of many articles and the book, "To Santa Rosalia: Further and Back" (1970), a detailed history of a dozen German sailing ships detained in Mexico during the First World War. In 1957, he was employed by the state of California to prepare, man and deliver the C.A. THAYER from Puget Sound to San Francisco, and she is now one of the San Francisco National Historical Park's historic vessels moored at Hyde Street Pier. Huycke was a research associate of the San Francisco Maritime Museum for 57 years and conducted hundreds of oral histories with seafaring men and some of their relatives to help document West Coast maritime history.

Biography: Captain Harold D. Huycke was born in 1922 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and moved to the Los Angeles area in 1930 where he graduated from University High School. He became acquainted with West Coast shipping history while fishing and working around the Santa Monica Pier and Santa Monica Bay fishing barges. He attended Occidental College, graduated from the California Maritime Academy in 1944, and the University of Southern California in 1947. He went to sea on Liberty and Victory ships as a merchant seaman in the Pacific during and following World War II. After the war he continued to go to sea, rising in rank to chief mate, and obtaining his license, Unlimited Ocean, Master, Any Gross Tons. In 1952 he married Alice Marguerite Frost of Birmingham, Alabama after which they relocated to the West Coast where they had 3 children. Captain Huycke spent about 45 years in the shipping industry, at sea as mate and master and ashore as a cargo supervisor and later marine surveyor. His duties found him in San Francisco, the Pacific Northwest, Central America, British Columbia, and Hawaii working for various shipping companies including Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company, States Marine Lines, States Marine-Isthmian Agency, Puget Sound Tug and Barge Company and Foss Launch and Tug Company. Between assignments at sea and ashore, Huycke was tapped by the State of California to purchase, refit and deliver the lumber schooner C.A. THAYER. This year long project culminated in a coastwise sailing voyage from the Puget Sound to San Francisco for which Huycke acted as bosun. Crew members included Karl Kortum. Around this time Huycke also surveyed the steam schooner TONGASS, ex. WAPAMA for the State of California. Beginning in 1973, he became an independent marine surveyor with a specialty in wooden vessels including wooden hulled U.S. Navy minesweepers. He retired from his surveying practice in 1991.

(From David Hull's article listed below): For 60 years, Huycke's avocation was maritime history. With John Lyman, Karl Kortum, and John Kemble he was part of the first generation of maritime historians on the West Coast. Huycke has written and contributed to several books on maritime history. His largest published project was the book, TO SANTA ROSALIA, FURTHER AND BACK, a detailed history of a dozen German sailing vessels detained in a remote port in Mexico during World War I. He researched and wrote extensively on commercial sailing vessels including the Star Fleet of the Alaska Packers Association, steam schooners, Liberty and Victory ships, fishing barges and maritime businesses. Huycke located and collected primary source material and corresponded with hundreds of sailors, captains, collectors, and historians. He served as mentor and editor to many individuals, helping them to write and publish stories that would otherwise would not have been told. He conducted oral histories to preserve the stories of seafaring men and the vessels that they sailed on.

His interest in preserving maritime history led him to become active in historical organizations and maritime museums in North American and throughout the world. Harold founded the North American section of the International Society of Cape Horners, an organization whose members have all sailed around Cape Horn in a commercial sailing vessel. Huycke served on the editorial board of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society's periodical, Sea Chest. He directed many donations to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park over the years and some very important archival collections were acquired because of Huycke.

Captain Huycke died in Edmonds, Washington on February 12, 2007.

Sources:

The Herald Everett, Washington. Captain Harold D. Huycke Jr. Obituary http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/heraldnet/obituary.aspx?n=harold-d-huycke&pid=86546972 last accessed 6/13/2012

Hull, David. End of an Era for West Coast Maritime History: Harold Huycke: 1922-2007, An Appreciation. Relative Bearings newsletter, no. 6 (April 2007), p. 2-3.

Huycke, Harold D. To Santa Rosalia Further and Back. Biography on inside cover jacket.

Acquisition information:

SAFR-02093

SAFR-02186

The majority of the collection (SAFR-02093) was given directly to San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in 2010 by Harold Huycke's wife after his death. Additional material (SAFR-02186) was later donated by the Huycke family in 2011.

Processing information:

The manuscript portion was processed by Edward LeBlanc. The oral histories, photographs and media in series 11 and 12 were processed by Amy Croft and M. Crawford with some assistance from Lauren Bianchi. The front matter was written by Amy Croft and M. Crawford.

Separated Material:

The San Francisco Maritime Museum created copies of oral history audio cassettes for Harold D. Huycke and these were received with the Harold Huycke collection. Some of these oral histories had originally been recorded by Huycke and donated to the San Francisco Maritime Museum oral history collection. Huycke gave some of these copied tapes his own index number and created a description of the subjects covered in the interviews. This information can be found in Huycke's index (see Series 11: Oral Histories). This index remains in this collection because it was created by Huycke and also because it contains information about some of the other oral histories in this collection that are not found in the San Francisco Maritime NHP.

The following list of user audio cassettes are copy tapes, were not indexed by Harold and do not contain any additional information as to the content of the interviews. They have been transferred back to the San Francisco Maritime Museum Oral History collection as additional user copies: Don Austin, (OHC UCC 70a-b); Charles E. Bywater, (OHC UCA 83a-f); Gus Carlson, (OHC UCC 87a-b); Craig (OHC UCA 30a); Ottmar Friz, (OHC UCC 73a-b); August Jacobs, (OHC UCC 71a-e); J. A. T. Olesen, (OHC UCA 22); Thorwald Olesen, (OHC UCA 12a-n); Alfred Pearce, (OHC UCC 68a-b); Juan E. Salberto, (OHC UCC 32a-e); Dirk Visser, (OHC UCC 39a-d); Berthold Werder, (OHC UCA 9a-hh); Charles, L. Wheeler, (OHC OCC 74a-c).

The descriptions in this collection guide were compiled using the best available sources of information. Such sources include the creator's annotations or descriptions, collection accession files, primary and secondary source material and subject matter experts. While every effort was made to provide accurate information, in the event that you find any errors in this guide please contact the reference staff in order for us to evaulate and make corrections to this guide.

Please cite the title and collection number in any correspondence with our staff.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into 12 series: 1. Collected manuscripts and personal collections of others; 2. Subject files; 3. Vessels; 4. Maritime businesses; 5. Historical organizations and museums; 6. Correspondence; 7. Architectural drawings; 8. Labor Unions; 9. Marine survey records - general; 10. Wooden minesweepers; 11. Oral histories; 12. Photographs and audio visual material

Physical location:
San Francisco Maritime NHP, Historic Documents Department
Physical description:
.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard .

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by: Historic Documents Department Staff: Edward LeBlanc, Amy Croft and M. Crawford, 2012.
Date Prepared:
2013
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid derived from ICMS database and converted into xml from a template revised and updated by San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Historic Documents Department. 8/22/2013 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for use unless otherwise noted.

Physcial access to the original nitrate film and glass plate negatives are restricted and digital copies are available for access.

Some of the textual records in Series 1-10 have privacy and use restrictions that are drescribed in the file unit scope and content note.

Terms of access:

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Preferred citation:

[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item Number], HDC1600 (SAFR 22224), Harold D. Huycke collection, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Location of this collection:
Building E, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123, US
Contact:
415-561-7030
Website