Guide to the Homer A. Halverson Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Homer A. Halverson Collection
Creator:
Halverson, Homer A., 1903-2002
Identifier/Call Number: URB.HAH
Physical Description:
1.46 linear feet
Physical Description:
1 Gigabytes
Date (inclusive): 1915-1994
Abstract: Homer Halverson worked for the City of
Los Angeles as an Engineer in the 1920s, on his family's orange grove in the San Fernando
Valley in the early 1930s, and as a structural draftsman in the US Army Corps of Engineers
from the mid-1930s to his retirement in 1965. The
Homer A. Halverson
Collection
documents water history and related infrastructure in the greater Los
Angeles area in the early- to mid-20
th century, especially the
construction of containment and runoff systems within urban and suburban areas in the city.
The Collection also documents Halverson family history, and the family's move from Oklahoma
to California as well as other travels across the United States and Mexico. It consists
primarily of photographs.
Language of Material:
English.
Biographical Information:
Homer Halverson, son of Ole and Laura Halverson, was born in 1903 in Minco, Oklahoma. After
attending the University of Oklahoma, he moved to California in 1924, settling in the San
Fernando Valley with his family. He met and married his wife, Millicent Scoltock, shortly
after, with whom he had two daughters, Gail and Karen.
Halverson worked for the City of Los Angeles as an Engineer in the 1920s, but spent the
early 1930s working on his family's orange grove in the San Fernando Valley. By 1936 he had
become a structural draftsman in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers based out of Glendale,
California. During his many decades with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Halverson worked
to address flooding in the valley and greater Los Angeles, designed structures to channel
water and streams into larger river beds, constructed dams and reservoirs, and designed and
built reinforced concrete flood control across Los Angeles.
In the early 1950s the Halverson family sold their San Fernando Valley citrus grove to the
state of California, which used the land to build a satellite campus of California State
University, Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. The satellite campus eventually became
San Fernando Valley State College, now called California State University, Northridge. Homer
Halverson retired in 1965, and passed away in 2002.
Scope and Contents
The
Homer A. Halverson Collection documents water history and
related infrastructure in the greater Los Angeles area from the early- to mid-20
th century, especially the construction of containment and runoff
systems within urban and suburban areas in the city. The Collection also documents Halverson
family history, and the family's move from Oklahoma to California as well as other travels
across the United States and Mexico. It consists primarily of photographs, but also includes
magazine and newspaper articles, pamphlets, brochures, flyers, and other materials. The
collection consists of two series:
Los Angeles Water
Infrastructure
(1915-1976) and
Personal Files
(1925-1994).
Series I,
Los Angeles Water Infrastructure, documents the
construction of water management systems and water-related infrastructure in the city of Los
Angeles from the early- to mid-20
th century, as well as existing
water systems in the city and outlying areas, especially the Los Angeles River. It consists
of photographs, negatives, color transparencies, and slides documenting various
water-related construction projects and sites, in addition to those of numerous rivers,
creeks, channels, reservoirs, and dams around Los Angeles. It also includes photographs of
other Los Angeles infrastructure, especially freeways. The series dates from 1915 to 1976
and is filed alphabetically.
Series II,
Personal Files, documents Halverson family history
and Homer's personal interests. The material includes two family histories authored by Homer
in 1915 and 1924 and transcribed at a later date with accompanying photographs. Also
included are travel photographs, photographs of the Halverson family and their home, as well
as ephemera documenting Halverson's interests outside of the water supply to Los Angeles,
especially literature, drawing, and the western United States. It includes detached magazine
covers, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, brochures, flyers, and other materials. The material
also includes digital copies of photographs taken by Homer along with printed indexes
including titles and descriptions for all of the photographs. The series dates from 1925 to
1994, and is filed alphabetically.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Los Angeles Water Infrastructure, 1915-1976
Series II: Personal Files, 1925-1994
Electronic Format:
Related Materials
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright
status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected
by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the
written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Karen Lenker, 09/11/2003.
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
The collection was described in a preliminary finding aid that was completed in 2013 and
updated in 2024 with the addition of material received in 2003.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ephemera
Documents
Photographs
Series I: Los Angeles Water Infrastructure,
1915-1976
Box 1, Folder 1
Caballero Creek,
1961 March 19
Box 1, Folder 14
CSUN site, Northridge Silverlake Dam
Box 1, Folder 15
CSUN site, Northridge Silverlake Dam
Box 1, Folder 19
Jones Brothers Breeding Stables
Box 1, Folder 24
Los Angeles River, Army Corps of Engineers
Box 1, Folder 25
Los Angeles River, Army Corps of Engineers
Box 1, Folder 26
Los Angeles River Flood Damage and Installation of Cut Off
Box 1, Folder 27
Los Angeles River Freeway crossing near Hazelhurst, Upper Los Angeles River
near Lancaster
Box 1, Folder 28
Los Angeles River Left Bank at PE Bridge Station 252,
1956 January 23
Box 4, Folder 1
Los Angeles Water Infrastructure Gathered Photographic Index,
ca.
1936-1976
Digital Folder
Los Angeles Water Infrastructure Gathered Photographs And Index,
ca.
1936-1976
Physical Description: 192
Megabytes
Digital Folder
Los Angeles Water Infrastructure Gathered Photographs And Index,
ca.
1936-1976
Physical Description: 51.3
Megabytes
Box 1, Folder 33
Marshall Creek , Army Corps of Engineers
Box 1, Folder 34
Marshall Creek and Freeways Flood Control
Box 1, Folder 35
Marshall Creek and Hillcrest Debris Barn
Box 2, Folder 25
Unidentified color transparencies
Box 2, Folder 26
Unidentified photos and negatives
Series II: Personal Files,
1925-1994
Box 3, Folder 1
Easy Landscape Drawing, Grade 1
Digital Folder
Family, Home, and Travel Photographs,
1925
Physical Description: 172
Megabytes
Digital Folder
Family, Home, and Travel Photographs,
1926
Physical Description: 133
Megabytes
Digital Folder
Family, Home, and Travel Photographs,
1927
Physical Description: 140
Megabytes
Box 4, Folder 2
Family, Home, and Travel Photographs and Index,
1925
Box 4, Folder 3
Family, Home, and Travel Photographs and Index,
1926
Box 4, Folder 4
Family, Home, and Travel Photographs and Index,
1927
Box 4, Folder 5
Homer Halverson memoir,
Travels with Papa:
1915
, Photographs, Story and Index,
1977
Box 3, Folder 3
Literary Digest Covers,
1928-1977
Digital Folder
Move from Oklahoma to California Photographs,
1924
Physical Description: 45.2
Megabytes
Box 4, Folder 6
Move from Oklahoma to California Photographs and Story,
1924
Box 3, Folder 5
Newspaper Clippings,
1928-1929
Box 3, Folder 7
Owensmouth High School Commencement Program
Digital Folder
Personal Photographs Gathered, Gallery For CSUN,
1915-1994
Physical Description: 115
Megabytes
Box 4, Folder 7
Personal Photographs Gathered, Gallery For CSUN, Photographic
Index,
ca.
1915-1994
Box 3, Folder 9
Touring Topics Covers,
1929
Box 4, Folder 8
Travel to Colorado Photographs and Index,
1927
Digital Folder
Travel Photographs,
1928
Physical Description: 173
Megabytes
Box 4, Folder 9
Travel Photographs and Index,
1928
Box 3, Folder 10
Union Oil Bulletin cover,
February 1928