Morgan Adams, Sr. Papers
Finding aid created by Sherman Library and Gardens staff using RecordEXPRESS
Sherman Library and Gardens
2019
614 Dahlia Ave.
Corona del Mar, California 92625
(949) 673-1880
library@slgardens.org
http://www.slgardens.org/
Title: Morgan Adams, Sr. Papers
Dates: 1911, 1918, 1930-1935
Collection Number: 2019_06
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 1 archives box (4 volumes and 2 cabinet cards)
Repository:
Sherman Library and Gardens
Corona del Mar, California 92625
Abstract: This collection consists of a logbook for the sloop Mah-Pé and two logbooks for the schooner Enchantress, which won the 1930
Los Angeles to Honolulu (Transpac) Race. The collection also includes a photograph album and two photographs of Morgan Adams,
Sr. with other Naval officers in Panama.
Language of Material: English
This collection is open for research.
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Sherman Library. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by
the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The Sherman Library do not hold the copyright.
Morgan Adams, Sr. Papers. Sherman Library and Gardens
David V. Adams, the son of Morgan Adams, Jr., donated this collection to Sherman Library on September 27, 2019.
Biography/Administrative History
Morgan Adams, Sr. (1886-1951)
Morgan Adams, Sr. was born in Dayton, Ohio on April 14, 1886. Adams moved to California in 1893 and graduated from Stanford
University in 1907. After college, he worked as a bonds salesman for his family's business, James H. Adams & Company. During
World War I, Adams served as a lieutenant commander, with command of the torpedo boat USS Farragut. Later, he commanded the
Pacific terminus of the Panama Canal. In World War II Adams served as an advisor to Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal
on the ship construction program. Forrestal awarded him the Distinguished Civil Service Certificate for his work. Adams
also served on the Los Angeles Harbor Commission, 1941-1947. He was an avid sailor who owned several vessels in his lifetime,
including Mah-Pé and Enchantress. In 1930, Adams captained Enchantress to win the Los Angeles to Honolulu (Transpac) Race.
Adams was Commodore of the Los Angeles Yacht Club, 1932-1933. At the time of his death in 1951, he was chairman of the board
of the Western Mortgage Company, which he founded.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of a logbook for the sloop Mah-Pé and two logbooks for the schooner Enchantress, which won the 1930
Los Angeles to Honolulu (Transpac) Race. The collection also includes a photograph album and two photographs of Morgan Adams,
Sr. with other Naval officers in Panama.