W. H. Hutchinson Papers, 1947 – 1977
Finding aid created by California State University, Chico staff using RecordEXPRESS
California State University, Chico
2020
California State University, Chico, Special Collections Meriam Library
400 West First Street
Chico, California 95929-0295
(530) 898-6603
SpecialCollections@csuchico.edu
http://www.csuchico.edu/special-collections/
Title: W. H. Hutchinson Papers, 1947 – 1977
Dates: 1947-1977
Collection Number: MSS 047
Creator/Collector:
W. H. Hutchinson
Extent: Items: 2 boxesLinear Feet: 1.5
Repository:
California State University, Chico
Chico, California 95929-0295
Abstract: The collection consists of research materials on Chico and local history, material for history class taught at California
State University, Chico, and material on pheasant farms.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research without restriction.
The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimants of literary
property.
W. H. Hutchinson Papers, 1947 – 1977. California State University, Chico
J. Walter Rogers Jr
Biography/Administrative History
William Henry (“Old Hutch”) Hutchinson was born on August 13, 1911, in Denver, Colorado. He attended school in Oxford, Mississippi;
Newark, New Jersey; Denver, Colorado, and Redondo Beach, California. He earned his master’s degree from Chico State College
in 1961.
He worked at various times as a horse wrangler, a cowboy, a boiler fireman, and a mucker in mines. During the Depression,
Hutchinson worked as Chief Purser on passenger vessels. During World War II, he served as a Lieutenant Commander in the United
States Maritime Service where he saw duty in the South Pacific, North Atlantic, and Mediterranean.
After the war, Hutchinson moved to Butte County and became a freelance writer. He sold more than 150 fact and fiction articles
to a variety of popular magazines. He also wrote, narrated, and produced several historical pageants on California, and had
his own weekly radio and television shows. Hutchinson authored 15 books, one of which, Oil, Land and Politics: The California
Career of Thomas R. Bard, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He also worked as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle
and frequently contributed to the Chico Enterprise-Record. Hutchinson taught part-time at Chico State College, Sonoma State
College, and San Francisco State between 1953 and 1964. Hutchinson served as a full-time faculty member at Chico from fall
1964 until his retirement in 1978.
Hutchinson died of a heart attack in Chico on March 11, 1990.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of research on Chico and local history, material for a history class taught at California State University,
Chico, and material on pheasant farms. Types of items include: correspondence, research notes and drafts for articles on
California history, book reviews, published articles, photographs, periodicals, and newspaper clippings.
Pheasants
California, Northern
Chico (Calif.)
Research Materials