Description
This collection documents the research
and advocacy activities of the California Farm Research and Legislative Committee
(established in 1941) and its official publication, the
California Farm
Reporter
. This collection is largely composed of materials documenting the
Committee's work on issues affecting farmers, workers, and consumers in California, as well
as some materials pertaining to broader national and international issues in the 20th
century. The bulk of the materials in this collection likely belonged to Grace McDonald,
executive secretary of the Committee and editor of the
Reporter for over 30
years. Materials directly produced by the Committee span 1941 to 1974 and include Committee
memos, reports, and promotional materials; the professional and personal correspondence of
Grace McDonald;
Reporter article drafts; meeting and event announcements,
agendas, and minutes; speech transcripts; membership and subscription records; and financial
records.
Background
The California Farm Research and Legislative Committee was a coalition of farm, labor,
cooperative, consumer, church, community, and professional groups dedicated to building a
rural-urban alliance in California and across the United States. The Committee was
established in 1941 and, although the year and circumstances of its dissolution are unknown,
operated until at least 1974, the latest date of the Committee's original materials included
in this collection. The California Farm Reporter was the official publication
of the Committee, providing subscribers monthly updates on issues affecting farmers,
workers, and consumers in California and beyond. The Committee used the
Reporter to engage in a wide range of advocacy work, leveraging research to
organize Committee members and associates around issues spanning farmer and labor
cooperatives; price controls, taxes, and subsidies; the plight of family farms; migrant
labor; wages and working conditions; water availability and utility rates; livestock,
poultry, and dairy; crop production; public health and safety; hunger and nutrition; social
welfare programs; and even broader national and international issues. Grace Burnham McDonald was born in 1889 in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of a
clinical professor of neurology at Yale University. McDonald inherited a sizable sum of
money after her first husband, the son of a wealthy Kentucky whiskey maker, died in the
early 1920s. She used this fortune to further industrial and agricultural labor interests
across the United States for the remainder of her life.
Extent
16.35 Linear Feet
6 cartons, 1 half carton, 6 flat boxes
Restrictions
Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs.
Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair
use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to
determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more
information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.
Availability
Collection is open for research.