Photographs and documents relating to the careers of Robert B. and William R. Moran. Most of the collection pertains to oil exploration in California, other parts of the United States, and abroad.

Robert Breck Moran (1879-1961) graduated from Stanford University in 1907, worked as a petroleum geologist for Associated Oil and Standard Oil, and opened his own office in San Francisco as a consulting geologist in 1911, marrying Edna Louise Venable of San Luis Obispo, California, that same year. Eventually settling in Pasadena, Robert Moran moved his office to Los Angeles in 1915. Among other achievements, Robert Moran pioneered the use of the airplane in geological reconnaissance work and has been credited with the discovery of the Venice Oil Field well in Los Angeles while consulting for the Ohio Oil Company from 1927 to 1929. On a trip to Peru in 1929, Moran discovered the Agua Caliente Oil Dome, upon which he established the Ganso Azul Oil Field. Robert Moran has been recognized as an early pioneer in the fields of petroleum geology and petroleum engineering. William Rodes Moran (1919-2006) followed in the footsteps of his father. After obtaining his bachelor's degree in geology from Stanford University in 1942, William went on to work for Union Oil as an exploration geologist, retiring as Vice President for Exploration of Molycorp in 1985. From 1956 to 1989 William was an associate editor of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin. In addition to his professional work in exploration geology, William was a recognized collector and researcher in the area of early recorded sound. Materials related to William's early sound recording collecting and research activities may be consulted in the William R. Moran collection, PA Mss 57, at the UC Santa Barbara Library Department of Special Research Collections.

61.2 linear feet (136 boxes)

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

The Moran Trust subseries is closed. The remainder of the collection is open for research.