Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography/Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Additional collection guides
Descriptive Summary
Title: Fish and Game Slides of Ralph B. McCormick
Dates: 1950s
Collection Number: 2010.03
Creator/Collector:
Extent: .5 cubic feet; about 200 slides
Repository:
Humboldt State University Library
Arcata, California 95521-8299
Abstract: Ralph B. McCormick took slides relating to his professional responsibilities as a biologist with the California Fish and Game
Department during the 1950s and of other views that interested him. Most images are from Humboldt and Del Norte Counties in
northern California. Subjects include: stream disruption/damage, logging, fisheries, fishing boats, Eureka street scenes,
landscapes and wildflowers.
Language of Material: English
Access
The collection is open for research by appointment only.
Publication Rights
Copyright has been assigned to the Humboldt State University Library by McCormick's son, William B. McCormick.
Preferred Citation
Fish and Game Slides of Ralph B. McCormick. Humboldt State University Library
Acquisition Information
A City of Arcata employee (Diana Cooper) contacted Special Collections about reviewing a collection of slides that had found
their way to the City offices. William B. McCormick (son of Ralph B. McCormick) had given them to the Friends of the Dunes
in 2009. A phone conversation, in late 2010, with Denise Homer (Naturalist for the City of Arcata) yielded the information
that she had put William McCormick in touch with the Friends of the Dunes' member Carol Van de Meer so that he could inquire
about the plans for the collection, as he had sent it to them many months earlier. In the opinions of Diana Cooper and Denise
Homer the collection is still intact and none had been retained by other entities or individuals along the way.
On March 28, 2011, William (Bill) McCormick was reached by phone and stated he was very pleased that the collection would
be held at the HSU Library's Special Collections. He stated his father had a good relationship with several HSU employees
and was good friends with Professor John Dewitt. He supplied biographical information and ideas about the reasons for some
of the slides. His information has been incorporated into this finding aid.
Biography/Administrative History
Ralph B. McCormick was employed by the California Fish and Game Department in Eureka from 1951 until 1960. In 1960 he took
a position in Sacramento with the California State Parks, remaining there until he retired in 1976. He was a Fisheries Biologist.
McCormick, born in Minnesota, moved to California for health reasons, attended Santa Monica Junior College, then graduated
from UC Berkeley with a degree in Biological Sciences.
Scope and Content of Collection
Ralph B. McCormick took slides relating to his professional responsibilities as a biologist with the California Fish and Game
Department during the 1950s and of other views that interested him. Most images are from Humboldt and Del Norte Counties in
northern California. Subjects include: stream disruption/damage, logging, fisheries, fishing boats, Eureka street scenes,
landscapes and wildflowers, friends and colleagues.
Most slides have location notes and dates on them. William McCormick thinks that many of the slides were taken as part of
investigations into law/regulation violations.
Additional collection guides