Access Restrictions
Use Restrictions
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Acronyms
Box Type by Number
Title: Robert B. and William R. Moran papers
Identifier/Call Number: Mss 282
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
61.2 linear feet
(136 boxes)
Creator:
Moran, Robert B., 1879-1961
Creator:
Moran, William R.
Date (inclusive): 20th century
Abstract: 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.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Access Restrictions
The Moran Trust subseries is closed. The remainder of the collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of Item], Robert B. and William R. Moran papers, Mss 282. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa
Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Acquisition Information
Bequeathed with the estate of William R. Moran.
Biographical Note
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.
Scope and Content
This guide covers the non-music portion of the William R. Moran Collection, including material relating to Robert B. Moran
(RBM) and William R. Moran (WRM). Most of the material relates to oil exploration, in California, other parts of the U.S.,
and abroad. There is an extensive photograph component to the collection, with 200 glass plate negatives, 8000 early black-and-white
negatives and contemporaneous black-and-white prints, and about 4300 more recent color slides.
The photographs range from about 1900 to the present, and are particularly strong in the areas of early oil exploration and
drilling along the coast and central valleys of California, geological features of the American West, particularly within
the coastal ranges and valleys of Central California, Alaska, Washington, Montana, and Wyoming, as well as many early photos
of Baja and Peru.
Included among the Baja photographs are early prints, negatives and slides of the flora and physical features of the peninsula
and Guadalupe Island, likely taken by explorer and botanist Dr. Reid Venable Moran (1916-2010), William's older brother.
In addition to the photographs, the collection includes personal, biographical, and work related documents and correspondence
of both Robert and William Moran, as well documents related to the Moran 1963 Trust. Many of the Moran 1963 Trust documents
concern the Ganso Azul Oil Field on the Agua Caliente Dome in the Eastern Andean foothills of Peru. Established in 1929 by
Robert Moran, this field first saw production in 1939. The Moran 1963 Trust subseries is closed. The collection also contains
a stereoscopic photograph subseries.
Arrangement
The collection has been divided into three series. Series I., Robert Breck Moran, and Series II. William Rodes Moran, comprise
the personal, biographical and work related documents of Robert and William Moran, including the closed Moran 1963 Trust subseries.
Series III, Photographs, has been divided into subseries by original format, and again by location (by state if within the
United States, by country if outside the United States), subject, or size.
Subseries III.1 Prints and Negatives, begins with photographs related to the the early oil industry in Southern and Central
California (and a small number of other locations) under the heading "Oil", in order to maintain and highlight their original
order and provenance.
Photographs in Subseries II.10, WRM photographs, have been left with the personal/biographical materials in Series II., William
Rodes Moran, in order to maintain their provenance.
Acronyms
WRM = William R. Moran, RBM = Robert B. Moran, EVM = Edna V. Moran
Box Type by Number
BOX TYPES BY NUMBER:
DOCUMENT BOXES: 1-20, 31-54, 60-108, 113-125, 128-135.
OVERSIZE BOXES: 21-22, 55-57, 126-127, 136.
SHOEBOXES: 23-30, 58-59, 109-112.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Petroleum industry and trade -- California -- History
Black-and-white negatives
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Color slides
Correspondence
Glass plate negatives
Photographs
Stereoscopic photographs
Moran, Robert B., 1879-1961 -- Archives
Moran, William R. -- Archives
Standard Oil Company
Union Oil Company of California