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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Center for Sacramento History
Title: McClellan Air Force Base collection
Identifier/Call Number: MS0175
Physical Description:
12.5 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1942-2001
Collection is open for research use.
All requests to publish or quote from private manuscripts held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron.
No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
Photographs in this collection were copied from originals still owned by the U.S. Air Force. Prints are for reference only;
no copies are to be made.
[Identification of item and/or item number], McClellan Air Force Base collection, MS0175, Center for Sacramento History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by McClellan Air Force Base in 1983, 2000, 2001, and 2017 (accession numbers 1983/062, 2000/012, 2000/059, 2001/071,
and 2017/027).
Processed by Kim Hayden, 2023.
McClellan Air Force Base was established as the Sacramento Air Depot in 1936 during the lead up to the United States' involvement
in World War II. It began operations in 1939. That same year, the name was changed to McClellan Field in honor of Major Hezekiah
McClellan. The base was extremely active during World War II, employing over 20,000 military and civilian workers who focused
on the repair, arming, and preparation of aircraft for the Pacific Theater. The base was renamed McClellan Air Force Base
in 1947, and it continued as an aircraft repair and supply depot during the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Gulf War. During
the Cold War, it was home to the Sacramento Air Logistics Center. McClellan AFB closed in 2001. Today, the base is known as
McClellan Business Park and is home to many businesses and organizations that operate out of its buildings, the Aerospace
Museum of California, and an airfield called McClellan Airport.
The collection documents McClellan Air Force Base through base newspapers, historical studies, oral histories, and photographs.
Material dates from 1942 to 2001. The largest part of the collection consists of bound volumes of the McClellan newspapers
"Sacramento Air Depot (SAD) News," "Command Post," "Pacemaker," and "Spacemaker," dating from 1942 through the base's closure
in 2001. The rest of the collection contains written oral histories of people associated with McClellan, historical studies
of the base and the Sacramento Air Logistics Center, and photographs of the base.
The collection is arranged into 3 series:
- Series 1. Base newspapers, 1942-2001
- Series 2. Oral histories, 1965-1996
- Series 3. Historical studies, reports, and photographs, ca. 1940-1994