Finding Aid for the South Pasadena Americanism Center Records, 1948-1990 LSC.1844
Finding aid prepared by Rebecca Townsend and Kuhelika Ghosh, 2017.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 12 October 2017.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: South Pasadena Americanism Center records
Creator:
South Pasadena Americanism Center
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1844
Physical Description:
1.2 Linear Feet
(3 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1948-1990
Date (bulk): 1961-1973
Abstract: The South Pasadena Americanism Center was founded by Jane Crosby in 1961 as community center where politically conservative
Republicans could find support among others with similar beliefs. These records span from 1948 to 1990 and contain correspondence,
journal entries, political pamphlets, brochures, meeting minutes, and press and newspaper clippings.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Conditions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], South Pasadena Americanism Center records (Collection 1844). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Jane A. Crosby, 2006.
Processing Information
Processed by Kuhelika Ghosh and Rebecca Townsend in 2017 under the supervision of Courtney Dean in the Center for Primary
Research and Training (CFPRT).
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General
Biography/History
The South Pasadena Americanism Center was founded by Jane Crosby in 1961 as a community center where politically conservative
Republicans could find support among others with similar beliefs. The Center was run by a group of housewives in the 1960s
and provided conservative and anti-communist books which people could read in a safe space. Some of the books included Barry
Goldwater's
The Conscience of a Conservative, J. Edgar Hoover's
Masters of Deceit, and Verna M. Hall's
Christian History of the Constitution. Visitors could also register to vote, sign petitions, find out about upcoming lectures, luncheons, workshops and meetings,
and sign up to make phone calls and stuff envelopes for Republican candidates. As the perceived threat of communism diminished,
the Center shut down in the 1970s.
Scope and Content
The records span from 1948 to 1990 and contain materials of and relating to the South Pasadena Americanism Center, including
political pamphlets, brochures, press and newspaper clippings, Americanism Center promotional material, founding and instructional
documents, publications, editorials, reports (with a focus on American patriotism, Constitutional conservatism, and anticommunism),
meeting minutes, resolutions, speeches, and photographs. It also includes material related to Citizens for Constructive Action,
a group led by Walter Knott that worked to organize and promote Republican political candidates and the Americanism Center.
The daily diaries of the South Pasadena Americanism Center's founder, Jane Crosby, are also included, and provide unique insight
into the day-to-day workings of the organization.
Organization and Arrangement
Collection is arranged in original order.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California -- Politics and government -- Archives.
Republican Party (Calif.)
South Pasadena Americanism Center -- Archives
box 1, folder 1-3
Organizational records
1956-1970
box 1, folder 4
"This is my Country" by Homer H. Bell.
1948-1963
box 1, folder 5
Americanism Center dedication
1967 November 11
box 1, folder 6-7
Board of Directors minutes
1961-1970
box 2, folder 1, box 1, folder 8
Historical records
1962-1966
box 2, folder 3-4
Citizens for Constructive Action
1965
box 2, folder 5
Ephemera, clippings and papers relating to the South Pasadena Americanism Center
1962-1990
box 2, box 3
Jane Crosby's journals
1962-1965
Scope and Content
Contains four of Jane Crosby's daily journals from 1962 to 1965, comprising of an assortment of to-do lists, daily meetings
and events, and ideas for expanding the Americanism Center further.