Processing Information
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Preferred Citation
Arrangement
Biographical / Historical Notes
Scope and Content
Comments
Title: San Diego Open Forum Records
Identifier/Call Number: MS 133
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.5 Linear feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1918-1974
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.
creator:
San Diego Open Forum.
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.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials.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.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged by subject.
Biographical / Historical Notes
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.
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.
Comments
"San Diego Open Forum Newspaper Clippings" (Box 1 folders 17-18) are photocopies of newspaper clippings originally contained
in a binder.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation.
First Unitarian Church (San Diego, Calif.).
San Diego Open Forum.
Freedom of speech
San Diego (Calif.)