San Diego Open Forum Records, 1918-1974

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Summary

Title:
San Diego Open Forum Records
Dates:
1918-1974
Creators:
San Diego Open Forum.
Abstract:
This collection contains meeting minutes and other business papers of the San Diego Open Forum, a non-profit organization promoting free speech, from 1918 to 1974.
Extent:
0.5 Linear feet (1 box)
Language:
Preferred citation:

San Diego Open Forum Records, MS 133, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains meeting minutes and other business papers of the San Diego Open Forum, a non-profit organization promoting free speech, from 1918 to 1974. Meeting minutes for the Board of Directors run from 1959 through the organization’s dissolution in 1974. Other business papers include their Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws (as adapted in 1933); financial papers (including correspondence with their ongoing funder, the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation); brochures advertising their annual lecture series; and numerous press releases and newspaper clippings.

Biographical / historical:

The San Diego Open Forum was founded in 1919 to promote democracy and freedom of speech in San Diego County. The organization was inspired after an incident in 1918 in which police prevented a lecture by investigative reporter Lincoln Steffens at the First Unitarian Church for fear of a gathering mob of protesters. Founders included prominent citizens Lyman J. Gage, George A. Garrett, E.M. Scofield, William E. Ritter, W. Templeton Johnson, Douglas Young, Judge Spencer M. Marsh, and the Reverend Dr. Howard Bard.

Beginning in 1919, the Open Forum presented an annual series of lectures from October through May, hosted by Dr. Bard at the First Unitarian Church. The group hosted academics, doctors, activists, and controversial figures from a variety of political backgrounds. The Open Forum remained active for 55 years. By the 1970s, they faced competition from lecture series at local universities and in televised broadcasts, and in 1974 the Board of Directors gave in to the decline in funding and attendance and dissolved the organization.

Processing information:

Collection processed by Samantha Mills on March 27, 2013.

Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged by subject.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Samantha Mills
Sponsor:
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Date Prepared:
March 27, 2013
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-04-01T15:48-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.

Preferred citation:

San Diego Open Forum Records, MS 133, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Location of this collection:
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA 92101, US
Contact:
(619) 232-6203
Website