Inventory of the Dept. of Consumer Affairs - Cemetery Board Records
Processed by Paul Rendes
California State Archives
© 2016
1020 "O" Street
Sacramento, California 95814
Phone: (916) 653-2246
Fax: (916) 653-7363
Email: ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov
URL: http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/
California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.
Inventory of the Dept. of Consumer Affairs - Cemetery Board Records
Collection number: F3860, R404.1
California State ArchivesOffice of the Secretary of State
Sacramento, California
- Processed by:
- Paul Rendes
- Date Completed:
- October 2016
- Encoded by:
- Veronica Lara
© 2016 California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.
Title: Dept. of Consumer Affairs - Cemetery Board Records
Dates: 1949-1978
Collection number: F3860, R404.1
Creator:
Dept. of Consumer Affairs - Cemetery Board
Collection Size:
4 cubic feet
Repository:
California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract: The Cemetery Board was created by Chapter 1487,
Statutes of 1949, which added Chapter 19 to Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code 9600 et seq. The records of the Cemetery
Board consist of 4 cubic feet of textual materials dating from 1949 to 1978. The records document the plans, studies, goals,
and operations of the board during this time period.
Physical location: California State Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility
for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.
[Identification of item], Department of Consumer Affairs-Cemetery Board Records, [ID number].[series number], [box and folder
number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
The Cemetery Board was created by Chapter 1487,
Statutes of 1949, which added Chapter 19 to Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code 9600 et seq. This legislation, also known
as the Cemetery Act, placed the Cemetery Board under the Department of Professional and Vocational Standards. It originally
consisted of five members with terms expiring after one year until 1953. The legislation specified that members would be appointed
by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The board was created for the purpose of regulating cemeteries, cemetery brokers,
and cemetery salesmen. The Act, however, excluded the following types of cemeteries from the board’s jurisdiction: a religious
corporation, church, religious society or denomination, a corporation solely administering temporalities of any church or
religious society or denomination, or any cemetery organized, controlled, and operated by any of them; a public cemetery;
and any private or fraternal burial park not exceeding ten acres in area, established before 1939.
Nonetheless, the legislation stipulated that the aforementioned cemeteries shall be subject to cemetery brokerage provisions.
The provisions are outlined in Article 4 of the Act (Business and Professions Code Sections 9675-9686). They include, but
are not limited to, acts constituting being a cemetery broker or salesperson; pleading and proving license in action for compensation;
prohibited employment or compensation with respect to unlicensed persons; dissemination of known false statement; and advertising
without license or certificate.
The board was also authorized to examine the endowment care funds of cemetery corporations. Prior to 1950, cemetery brokers
and salesmen had been licensed by the Division of Real Estate, State Department of Investment. In 1971, the Department of
Professional and Vocational Standards became the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Now known as the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, the entity licenses, regulates, and investigates complaints against California
funeral establishments, funeral directors, embalmers, apprentice embalmers, cemetery brokers, cemetery salespersons, cremated
remains disposers, crematories, crematory managers, cemetery managers, and the nearly 200 licensed cemeteries in the state
(Business and Professions Code Section 9609). The Bureau consists of 25 staff members which includes the Bureau Chief, Field
Operations Supervisor, auditors, field representatives, analysts, and administrative assistants.
The records of the Cemetery Board consist of 4 cubic feet of textual materials dating from 1949 to 1978. The records document
the plans, studies, goals, and operations of the board during this time period. The records are organized into 4 record series:
Cemetery Questionnaires, 1949-1977; California Association of Public Cemeteries, 1963, 1966; Information on Indian Cemeteries,
1962, 1969; and Board Meeting Records, 1963-1971, 1973-1978. The majority of the material consists of Cemetery Questionnaires
and Board Meeting Records. Fourteen cubic feet of Endowment Care Reports covering the years 1949 to 1984 were deaccessioned
during processing because the records did not possess archival or research value (AC 86-100, AC 93-02-30, 2006-146, 1999-11-24).
Further accruals are expected.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Cemetery managers
Funeral homes
Embalming
Crematorium
Native American
F3860:1-61
Series 1 Cemetery Questionnaires 1949-1977
Physical Description: 61 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by county and alphabetically thereunder by cemetery name.
Access Information
Cemetery Board investigations contain information that is restricted in accordance with Government Code sections 7923.600-7923.625
(formerly section 6254(f)).
Scope and Content Note
Cemetery Questionnaires document the ownership of private, religious, fraternal, and public cemeteries. This series also addresses
the types of internment and services available at individual cemeteries, types of property available, date of establishment,
total number and number of acres developed, and other operations information. Furthermore, the records also contain countywide
lists of known cemeteries, miscellaneous correspondence received providing additional historical information on individual
cemeteries, maps and drawings, newspaper articles, complaints on operations and Cemetery Board investigations, and fiscal
and operational documentation.
F3860:62
Series 2 California Association of Public Cemeteries 1963, 1966
Physical Description: 1 file folder
Arrangement
Arranged by type of cemetery and alphabetically thereunder by cemetery name.
Scope and Content Note
California Association of Public Cemeteries includes correspondence and lists of fraternally, privately, publically, and religiously
owned cemeteries in California. The listing was prepared from questionnaires supplied to the Cemetery Board. The file also
includes a document on cemetery districts released by the Senate Permanent Fact Finding Committee on Natural Resources.
F3860:63
Series 3 Information on Indian Cemeteries 1962, 1969
Physical Description: 1 file folder
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by county.
Access Information
Series is exempt from disclosure in accordance with Government Code section 7927.000 (formerly section 6254(r)).
Scope and Content Note
Information on Indian Cemeteries contains correspondence with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the locations of Indian burial
grounds throughout California. The correspondence resulted in the identification of burial sites in twenty nine counties.
Details of Indian burial grounds often include the name of the site, contact information, address or description of location,
and the township and range.
R404.1, Box 1/1 - Box 2/28
Series 4 Board Meeting Records 1963-1971, 1973-1978
Physical Description: 64 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by meeting date.
Access Information
A portion of the March 16, 1967 meeting file (Box 1, folder 22) is restricted for 75 years from the date of creation in accordance
with Government Code sections 7923.600-7923.625 (section 6254(f)).
Scope and Content Note
Board Meeting Records may include, but are not limited to, agenda items, approval of minutes of the previous meeting, attendance
sheets, reports, transcripts of meeting minutes, maps of property, photos or pictures, correspondence, and statements of operations,
cash balances, and expenditures. Reports discussed at meetings typically involve applications submitted to the Cemetery Board
to operate an endowment care cemetery. These reports may include the capital stock of the corporation, proposed site of cemetery,
development plans and cost, applicant’s officers, sources of funding, description of the property’s physical condition and
features, and shareholders. Reports may also include Corporate Cemetery Broker’s Licenses submitted to the Cemetery Board
for review. Additionally, reports may address relevant legislation and endowment and care funds.
The researcher should know also that pages 45 to 130 of the transcript from the March 3, 1964 meeting are missing (Box 1,
folder 7).