Finding Aid to the Hart Hyatt North papers, 1865-1966

Finding Aid written by Lara Michels
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
© 2013
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Finding Aid to the Hart Hyatt North papers, 1865-1966

Collection Number: BANC MSS 81/55 c

The Bancroft Library



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California
Finding Aid Written By:
Lara Michels
Date Completed:
April 2013
© 2013 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Hart Hyatt North papers
Date (inclusive): 1865-1966
Collection Number: BANC MSS 81/55 c
Creators : North, Hart Hyatt
Extent: Number of containers: 11 cartons, 3 oversize boxes, 2 oversize folders (linear feet: 15)
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract:
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html. 
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Hart Hyatt North papers, BANC MSS 81/55 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Alternate Forms Available

There are no alternate forms of this collection.

Materials Cataloged Separately

Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library (BANC PIC 1979.080--PIC, BANC PIC 1980.098, BANC PIC 1980.100--PIC and BANC PIC 1980.120).

Acquisition Information

The Hart Hyatt North papers were gifted to the Bancroft Library by Mrs. Morgan North in 1979-1981.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
North, Hart Hyatt, 1871-1950--Archives
Shasta Iron Company
United States. Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization.
California. Legislature. Assembly
Republican Party (Calif.)
Oakland High School (Oakland, Calif.)
Canyon Cattle Company
Chinese--California
Japanese--California
Sealing--Bering Sea
Sealing--Law and legislation
Sealing ships--California--San Francisco
Mines and mineral resources--California
China--Emigration and immigration
Japan--Emigration and immigration
United States--Emigration and immigration
Angel Island (Calif.)
Dance cards
Dance cards
Ephemera
Scrapbooks

Administrative Information

Accruals

No additions are expected.

Processing Information

Processed by Lara Michels in 2013.

Biographical Information

Hart Hyatt North was born in Marysville, California on July 12, 1871. His father, George North was a hardware merchant in Marysville and later a fruit farmer in Winters, California. In 1886, Hart Hyatt North moved to Alameda County and graduated from Oakland High School in 1889. He received his law degree from Hastings College of Law in 1892. He was elected to the California State Assembly to represent the 51st district in 1894 and served two terms. North married Emma Morgan, the sister of well-known architect, Julia Morgan. For many years he practiced law and worked with his father-in-law, Charles Bill Morgan, owner of the Shasta Iron Company. He served as U.S. Commissioner of Immigration for California and Nevada from 1898 to 1910. He was dismissed from his position as Commissioner after being charged by the Asiatic Exclusion League and others with being negligent in his administration of the Chinese Exclusion Law and for excessive leniency in the admission of Hindu immigrants. In the 1920s, Hart Hyatt North worked as an attorney for customs broker, William H. Thornley, in filing claims on behalf of the San Francisco seal fleet owners (or their descendents) whose ships had been seized by the U.S. government during the Bering Sea dispute of the 1890s.

Scope and Content of Collection

Correspondence and other files from Hart Hyatt North's work as U.S. Commissioner of Immigration for California and Nevada from 1898 to 1910; materials relating to the Shasta Iron Company (1865-1966); files from North's work as an attorney on behalf of San Francisco schooner owners (and descendants of owners) who were claiming compensation from the US government for the seizure of their ships and seal skins in the Bering Sea during the 1880s and 1890s; materials, mostly clippings and ephemera, from North's two terms in the California Assembly during the 1890s; and some personalia.

 

Series 1:  Commissioner of Immigration files. 1892-1910

Physical Description: carton 1; oversize folder 1

Scope and Content Note

Files from H.H. North's work as U.S. Commission of Immigration for California and Nevada from 1898 to 1910. Contains incoming and outgoing correspondence, some financial records, files relating to Chinese and Japanese immigration, and a file on Chinese Highbinders, a subject North was called upon by his superiors to research in 1898. He later published an article entitled "Chinese Highbinder Societies in the West" in California Historical Quarterly in March of 1948. This file includes statements made to North by Mrs. Kate B. Lake, Maton of the Chinese Mission; Ah Yuk, "rescued Chinese slave girl;" Miss Donaldina Cameron, Matron of the Presbyterian Chinese Rescue Home; Chuh Ho, "rescued Chinese slave girl;" and San Francisco Police Lieutenant, William Price. Carton 1, folder 47 includes a few pieces of correspondence from the Treasury Department to North's predecessors, R.C. McPherson and W.P. Stradley. Oversize folder 1 includes a handwritten chart of Japanese immigration at the Port of San Francisco from 1890-1900 and North's Commission certificates.
 

Series 2:  Shasta Iron Company. circa 1865-1977

Physical Description: carton 2-3; oversize box 1; oversize folder 1

Scope and Content Note

North's files from his work with the Shasta Iron Company, which was owned by his father-in-law Charles Bill Morgan. Includes incorporation and administrative documents, correspondence, and financial materials on the Shasta Iron Company. Also includes some Company files belonging to Charles Bill Morgan and Morgan North, H.H. North's son. Oversize box includes a minute book for meetings of the Shasta Iron Company shareholders (1906-1966).
 

Series 3:  San Francisco sealing fleet claims. circa 1881-1928

Physical Description: carton 4-10
Carton 4

Active - Bowhead, circa 1881-1928

Scope and Content Note

Files on the following schooners: Active, Albert Walker, Alexander, Alfred Adams, Alice, Allie I. Algar, Alpha, Alton, Anaconda, Angel Dolly, Annie, Sophia Sutherland (filed under Archibald Sutherland), Bessie Rutter, and Bowhead. Also files with the following titles: Alaska Commercial Company, assorted documents regarding sealing, and Borland vs. USA.
Carton 5

Brown Benson - Edgar Liebes, circa 1881-1928

Scope and Content Note

Files on the following schooners: C.G. White, Challenge, C.H. White, City of San Diego, and Columbia. Also files with the following titles: Brown Benson vs. USA, certificate of collector, Christie Erikson vs. USA, Circuit Court appeals, Cohn, Correspondence, and Edgar Liebes as administrator of estate of Herman Liebes.
Carton 6

Edward E. Webster - Henry Dennis, circa 1881-1928

Scope and Content Note

Files on the following schooners: Edward E. Webster, Ellen, Emma and Louisa, Emmett Felitz, Ethyl, Favorite, Fisher Maid, George Peabody, George R. White, Hattie Gage, Helen Blum, and Henry Dennis. Also files with the following titles: Frederick G. Dodge Testimony; Helen Mar Wheeler, Estate of.
Carton 7

Henry Dennis - Lily L., circa 1881-1928

Scope and Content Note

Files on the following schooners: Henry Dennis, Ivanhoe, James G. Swan, James Hamilton Lewis, Jane Gray, Josephine, Kate and Anna, La Ninta, Laura, and Lily L. Also files with the following titles: H. Liebes claims and H. Liebes versus USA.
Carton 8

Lily L. - Mollie Adams, circa 1881-1928

Scope and Content Note

Files on the following schooners: Lily L., Lottie, Louis Olsen, Luisa D., Lydia, Margarite, Mary Brown, Mary Deleo, Mary H. Thomas, Mascot, Matthew Turner, Mattie T. Dyer, Mist, Mollie Adams. Also files with the following titles: memoranda.
Carton 9

Multiple schooners - Sealing litigation miscellany, circa 1881-1928

Scope and Content Note

Files on the following schooners: Nellie Martin, Olga, O.S. Fowler, Otter, Pearl, Rattler, Rose Sparks, Rosie Olsen, San Diego, San Jose, St. Paul. Also files with the following titles: multiple schooners, Pacific Trading Company, research materials, and sealing litigation miscellany.
Carton 10

Shipping and navigation regulations - Writs of error, circa 1881-1928

Scope and Content Note

Files on the following schooners: Sierra, Sophia, Spencer F. Baird, Sylvia Handy, Therese, Unga, Vanderbilt, Venture, Volunteer, Walter L. Rich, and Willard Ainsworth. Also files with the following titles: shipping and navigation regulations, walrus and other hunting, and Whitelaw versus USA.
 

Series 4:  State Assemblyman materials. circa 1894-1898

Physical Description: carton 11, folder 1-5; oversize box 2-3

Scope and Content Note

Clippings and some correspondence and ephemera relating to North's years as an Assemblyman in the California State Assembly. Oversize boxes 2 and 3 contain scrapbook of political clippings relating to California State Assembly politics (1894-1897).
 

Series 5:  Personalia and other files. circa 1888-1910

Physical Description: carton 11, folder 6-24; oversize folder 2

Scope and Content Note

Personal correspondence (circa 1900-1910); invitations, programs, and other ephemera mainly from Oakland High School and UC Berkeley; dance cards; a Preliminary Prospectus of Western Hills of Memorial City Incorporated, Landale, California; a file on the Canyon Cattle Company (1907-1908); persnal accounts, a file of correspondence with M. Sedych regarding the immgration of his wife from Harbin, China (1927-1928); and miscellany. Oversize folder 2 includes diplomas and certificates.