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Robert A. Nash Collection FK001-FK006
FK001-FK006
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Contributing Institution:
Chinese Historical Society of Southern California
Title: Robert A. Nash Collection
Identifier/Call Number: FK001-FK006
Physical Description:
6.38 Linear Feet
6 Bankers boxes
Date (inclusive): 1860-1975
Abstract: Robert Nash was a PhD student at the University of California, Los Angeles conducting research on Chinese fisheries and related
industries in the 19th century. Shortly after his dissertation was completed in 1973 and he earned his Doctoral Degree in
Philosophy from UCLA, Nash died and left his papers to CHSSC. His incredible organization, and fastidious research make this
a rich collection on Chinese fisheries, canneries, abalone, shrimp, squids, junks, and sampans. This collection includes Nash's
notes, letters, artifacts, photographs, oral histories, drawings, clippings, photocopies, and publications on Chinese American
maritime activities, the execution and evolution of Chinese commercial fishing activities, and general information about Chinese
immigrant populations in California.
Language of Material:
English
.
As Charter Member #1, Dr. Nash was instrumental in starting the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC)
in 1975. He was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio in 1915. During the 1950s to the early 1960s he conducted fieldwork for the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization in Italy, Turkey, Portugal and Greece. It appears that education was very important to Dr. Nash.
Beginning in the early 1960s, he attended Pasadena City College and went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts and Master of
Arts degrees from California State University at Los Angeles. He earned his doctorate from the Geography Department at UCLA
in 1971. His dissertation, The Chinese Shrimp Fishery in California, is a seminal work in Chinese American history and geography.
According to Dr. Nash, "The major objective of the research...is a contribution to the history of this ethnic minority's participation
in the development of the State that has heretofore been slighted." Robert A. Nash spent many years methodically detailing
and writing about Chinese fishing activities and watercraft. Especially, California built Chinese junks and sampans. Dr. Nash
passed away in Sierra Madre in 1976. Afterwards, his notes, letters, artifacts, photographs, oral histories, drawings and
publications were donated to the CHSSC.
This collection includes Robert Nash's meticulously written field notes, letters,artifacts, photographs, oral histories, drawings,
clippings, photocopies, and publications on Chinese American maritime activities, the execution and evolution of
Chinese commercial fishing activities, and general Chinese American history in California. The bulk of the collection comprises
Nash's course papers/lectures, draft of his dissertation, and collected articles research materials: including reports, interviews,
and statistical/population surveys about Chinese communities in both the Northern and Southern California area. The research
also includes research on the following locations: Chinatowns in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco; San Diego County,
Mariposa County, Tuolumne County, Trinity County, Siskiyou County, Marin County, as well as miscellaneous materials on the
Chinese in Oregon. In addition, the collection contains photographs and negatives, as well as physical artifacts found from
Chinese fisheries in the San Pablo Bay area, near San Francisco,
which Dr. Nash collected throughout his research process.
Materials are arranged by topic into four series: 1. Writings, circa 1952-1969; 2. Research Materials, circa 1880-1969; 3.
Correspondence, 1968-1975; and 4. Artifacts
and Realia, circa 1888-1970. Each series are divided into subseries by content type, and the four series are arranged by order
of level of interest to potential researchers:
Series 1A. Publications, 1B. Unpublished Writings; and Series 2A. Field Notes, 2B. Articles, 2C. Bibliographies, 2D. Interviews,
and 2E. Visual Materials. Series 3 (Correspondence) and Series 4 (Artifacts and Realia) do not have subseries.
To access the CHSSC Archives, it is necessary to contact CHSSC beforehand to set up an appointment. A CHSSC staff member will
assist you with directions, parking information, and researcher guidelines.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Received as a donation from Robert Nash and family in 1976 after his death.
After Dr. Nash completed his dissertation in 1973, he passed away unexpectedly a few years later. The Robert A. Nash Collection
was acquired and processed after his papers and collections were left to CHSSC by his surviving family. The Nash Collection
was processed as part of a larger, multipart archives project led by Ann Lau, Susie Ling, Gilbert Hom, and paid intern Laura
Ng through the CHSSC's first National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) grant. The NEA Grant made it possible for the CHSSC to convert
an unused garage building behind its headquarters into the Archives Center. As part of the CHSSC Archive's mission to pursue,
preserve, and communicate knowledge of the history of Chinese Americans in Southern California, the Robert A. Nash Collection
serves as a valuable addition for future researchers, scholars, and Asian American studies professionals in Southern California.
The physical processing and organization of the Robert A. Nash Collection were mainly performed by Susie Ling with the assistance
of an intern, in which the collection was
identified and listed in an Excel file, and the materials were reboxed, labeled, and moved accordingly. Some of the physical
folders and loose paper materials were partially rehoused into archival, acidfree Hollinger boxes, paid for by the grant funds,
which were then placed into 15 x 12 inch banker boxes (approx. 12 Hollinger boxes to each banker box). These larger boxes
sit on assembled metal shelving units in the Archives Center, located behind the headquarters of CHSSC.
Many of the loose paper materials are in their original folders and retain their original folder titles and organization,
and minimal processing (including reboxing and
refoldering) was performed on the collection at the time. This was mainly in the interest of limited time and available funding,
as well as due to the particular decisions made by the people who processed the Nash collection.
Robert A. Nash Collection, Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.