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Hass (Jeremy D. and John K.) Papers
MS-06  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Scope and Contents
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Arrangement
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Separated Materials
  • Other Finding Aids
  • Preferred Citation
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Conditions Governing Use

  • Language of Material: English
    Contributing Institution: Presidio Research Center
    Title: Jeremy D. and John K. Hass Papers
    creator: Hass, Jeremy D., 1936-2014
    creator: Hass, John K.
    Identifier/Call Number: MS-06
    Physical Description: 6 boxes
    Date (inclusive): 1853-1990
    Date (bulk): 1958-1987
    Abstract: This collection documents the early activities of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation in partnership with California State Parks to reconstruct El Presidio de Santa Barbara. It includes correspondence, research materials and legal documents about property acquisition and management on land where the former presidio stood. It also includes administrative materials, such as minutes, correspondence, and policies collected by board members Jeremy D. Hass and his father John K. Hass, who were active on the board from 1970-1986.

    Scope and Contents

    A significant portion of this collection was created by Jeremy Hass and represents various activities he undertook for the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP). A smaller portion of the collection was created by his father John K. Hass, when he was on the Board of Directors of SBTHP.

    Biographical / Historical

    Jeremy Dennis Hass was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 24, 1936 and spent his early years in St. Paul, Minnesota, before his family moved west. He attended Pomona College where he majored in economics-engineering, with a minor in history, before going on to Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, and Loyola University in Los Angeles. He was admitted to the California State Bar and joined the family law firm Weldon and Hass. Jeremy retired from the firm in 2001.
    In the mid-1960s, while working for Jules Brasseur at Santa Barbara Title Company, Jeremy became interested in the Presidio project, a historic site in downtown Santa Barbara. He plotted the boundaries of the old fortress by studying historic property documents. By 1967 he was an active member of the Presidio Volunteers, a group who conducted archaeological excavations and public events at the site.
    In early 1971, Jeremy wrote a proposal for the future presidio project at the request of Miss Pearl Chase and the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP). For the next several decades Jeremy played a major part in property acquisitions for what became El Presidio de Santa Barbára State Historic Park. Working with local and state legislators, he made numerous trips to Sacramento to consult with state officials about transfers to the State of lands purchased by SBTHP for the park. He and an assistant to the director of the California Dept. of Parks and Recreation developed the concession agreement through which SBTHP operates the State Park.
    Hass was instrumental in early efforts to discover the boundaries of the original presidio and to acquire property for the newly formed State Park. He played an important role in helping negotiate the gift of El Paseo and Casa de la Guerra to SBTHP in 1971. He was a board member from 1970-1976 and was named a Life Honorary Trustee in 1983. He also served briefly as Acting Director of SBTHP in late 1984 to March 1985. In the 1990s he helped arrange the purchase of the Santa Inés Mission Mills lands by SBTHP and he later became a member of SBTHP's Mills Committee. He was a recipient of the Pearl Chase Historic Preservation and Conservation Award in 2000.
    Jeremy presented papers at a number of conferences. His intensive research on the subjects of waterworks, fulling mills, and of California pioneer Joseph Chapman contributed not only to his own publications, but to the academic field, providing source material for scholarly research on the subject by others. Hass passed away on June 30, 2014, at his home in Santa Barbara.
    Jeremy Hass' father John Kelleher Hass was an attorney and intelligence officer at the Marine Corps air base in Goleta during World War II. The family made Santa Barbara a permanent home after the war. John Hass was the founding partner in the law firm, Weldon and Hass. Like his son, he served on the board of the Trust from 1981 until 1986 and was president from 1984-1985.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged in two series:
    Series 1: Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation
    Series 2: Jeremy Hass Research and Personal Papers
    The collection was received in several separate donations with many documents in no specific order. Staff arranged these loose documents chronologically.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    Donated by Jeremy D. Hass.

    Separated Materials

    One envelope and one folder of miscellaneous photographs were transferred to the Presidio Research Center photograph collection. The envelope contains images of the November 1973 visit of the Duke and Duchess of Seville to Santa Barbara. The folder contains several photos of Jeremy Hass, a parade, early photos of the Presidio reconstruction site, Santa Barbara Mission, and Mission Santa Ines Mills. Twenty-three maps and architectural plans were added to the flat file collection.

    Other Finding Aids

    For additional materials on the history of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation and the reconstruction of the Santa Barbara Presidio, see also the Pearl Chase Papers, MS-01, and the Richard Whitehead Papers, MS-02, both located in the Presidio Research Center.

    Preferred Citation

    Jeremy D. and John K. Hass Papers, MS-06, Presidio Research Center, Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, Santa Barbara, California.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Collection is open to researchers.

    Conditions Governing Use

    All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist and Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation Research Center 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 reader.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Deeds
    Buildings
    Santa Barbara (Calif.)--History
    Santa Barbara Presidio (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
    Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation