Finding aid for the USC founding documents and Board of Trustee minutes 5218
Sue Luftschein
USC Libraries Special Collections
2019 July
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0189
specol@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: USC founding documents and Board of Trustee minutes
creator:
University of Southern California
creator:
Widney, R. M. (Robert Maclay), 1838-1929
Identifier/Call Number: 5218
Identifier/Call Number: 1783
Physical Description:
3 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1880-1920, 1956
Date (bulk): 1880-1895
Abstract: The USC founding documents and Board of Trustee minutes consist of a ledger containing the by-laws of the University, adopted
September 3, 1880, and minutes of the Board of Trustees meetings beginning on that date through November of 1885 (Box 1).
Also included is a bound volume of University of Southern Califonia newsletters, dated January 1881-December 1883, with a
few issues missing; a typescript with a breif early history of the founding of the University; contemporary copies of letters
to Rufus von Kleinsmid and George Bovard from Widney; a broadside of the University's articles of incorporation; and a signed,
by Widney, typescript of the address read at the laying of the first corner stone of the University in in 1880.
Container: 1
Container: 2
Container: 3
The USC founding documents and Board of Trustee minutes consist of a ledger containing the by-laws of the University, adopted
September 3, 1880, and minutes of the Board of Trustees meetings beginning on that date through November of 1885; these can
be found in Box 1. Box 2 contains a bound volume of University of Southern Califonia newsletters, dated January 1881-December
1883, with a few issues missing. The newsletter was created to disseminate "first-class religious, moral, and educational
matter...."; the funds generated from the subscription were to be used to fund "a library and apparatus for the University...."
The records also consist of a typescript with a breif early history of the founding of the University, which indicates that
the newsletter was published by Robert Maclay Widney at his own expense; contemporary copies of letters to Rufus von Kleinsmid
and George Bovard from Widney; a broadside of the University's articles of incorporation; and a signed, by Widney, typescript
of the address read at the laying of the first corner stone of the University in in 1880, the original of which is deposited
in the corner stone. Also included is a 1956 letter to President Fagg regarding a piece of fabric from covering of Lindbergh's
Spirit of St. Louis. Box 3 houses the original ledgers for the minutes, which were rebound into a single volume (Box 1).
Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections 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.
[Box/folder no. or item name], USC founding documents and Board of Trustee minutes, Collection no. 5218, University Archives[Repository],
Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Speeches, addresses, etc., American -- Archival resources
Universities and colleges -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Letters
Minutes
Newsletters
University of Southern California -- History
Widney, R. M. (Robert Maclay), 1838-1929 -- Archives