Guide to the Paul Relis journals SBHC Mss 110
Finding aid prepared by Kovin Sherrod and Beaudry Rae Allen, 2016; revised by Zachary Liebhaber, 2019.
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara 93106-9010
special@library.ucsb.edu
2016; 2019
Title: Paul Relis journals
Identifier/Call Number: SBHC Mss 110
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2.92 linear feet
(7 document boxes)
Creator:
Relis, Paul
Date (inclusive): 1971-2015
Date (bulk): 1980-2015
Abstract: This collection consists primarily of personal journals, as well as manuscripts, booklets, correspondence, and articles documenting
the environmental community outreach activities and personal reflections of author and environmentalist Paul Relis of Santa
Barbara, California.
Physical Location: UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Use Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of Item], Paul Relis journals, SBHC Mss 110. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara
Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Paul Relis, 2016.
Biographical Note
Paul Relis got his start in the environmental movement in the wake of the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969, while an undergraduate
in English at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). In the aftermath of the spill, public interest and activism
spurred the founding of several groups whose purpose was solely to protect the environment. Relis became the first executive
director of one of these groups, the Community Environmental Council (CEC), when he was 23, working closely with Marc McGinnes,
who would also become an important figure in the West Coast environmentalist movement. The CEC focused on ideas to help the
environment, establishing several public gardens experimenting in organic horticulture, as well as solar power, large scale
composting, and biogas. Relis spearheaded grassroots efforts to start recycling programs, Santa Barbara Earth Day, and community
gardens in the early 1970s. Relis is currently Senior Vice President of CR & R Incorporated, an environmental services company
focusing on providing recycling and waste services. Relis has also served as a lecturer at UCSB.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two series:
Series I. Environmentalism and
Series II. Journals.
Scope and Content
This collection primarily consists of Paul Relis's personal journals. The journals span from 1971 to 2014, and not only recount
his activities in the environmental movement, but also his personal reflections on politics, poetry, and life.
The collection contains original copies of
The Santa Barbara Survival Times from the 1970s, as well as clippings, notes and correspondence to and from Relis, documenting the response to projects undertaken
by the Community Environmental Council, especially community gardens activities.
Additionally, there is a manuscript of his book,
Tracks: a Personal Journey on the Environmental Frontier, eventually retitled as
Out of the Wasteland: Stories from the Environmental Frontier.
Separated Material
Published literature listed below has been separated out from the collection for cataloging, and will be accessible through
the UCSB Library Catalog.
Merrill, Richard, ed.
Radical Agriculture. New York: New York University Press, 1976.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Environmentalism -- California -- Santa Barbara
Environmentalists -- California -- Santa Barbara
Articles
Booklets
Correspondence
Journals (accounts)
Manuscripts (documents)
Relis, Paul -- Archives
McGinnes, J. Marc, 1941-
Community Environmental Council
Series I.
Environmentalism
1976-2005
Scope and Content
This series consists of correspondence, notes, manuscripts, and research materials relating to Relis's environmental activism.
Additionally, there is a manuscript of his book,
Tracks: a personal Journey on the Environmental Frontier, eventually retitled
Out of the Wasteland: Stories from the Environmental Frontier.
Box-folder 1:1
Swedish Environmental Community Project
2008
Box-folder 1:2
Santa Barbara Survival Times
undated
Box-folder 1:3
Environmental informational pamphlets
1972, 2014-2015
Box-folder 1:4
Community Environmental Council photographs and documents, family photographs
2002,2008
Box-folder 1:5
"Tracks: A personal Journey on the environmental Frontier," manuscript
1999 January
Box-folder 1:6-7
Environmental news articles
1995-1999
Box-folder 1:8
Environmental notes and letters
1995
Box-folder 1:9
Political articles
2009, 2015
Box-folder 2:1
Recycling Markets: California and the Pacific Rim
1998
Box-folder 2:2
"Agriculture in the City"
1976
Scope and Content
Booklet about growing crops in an urban environment.
Box-folder 2:3
"A New Energy Direction: Bold Local Solutions to a Global Problem"
2007 September 14
Box-folder 2:4
The Mesa Project, Phase I
undated
Scope and Content
Plans for building an environmentally friendly community.
Box-folder 2:5
"Santa Barbara: the Impacts of Growth, vol. 2"
1974
Box-folder 2:6
Environmental policy paper, certificates of recognition, and Earth Day articles
1996, 1997, 2009, 2013
Series II.
Journals
1971-2014
Scope and Content
This series consists of fifty-five journals written by Relis over a span of fory years. Journals include Relis's descriptions
of environmental advocacy, local and federal environmental and general politics, as well as his career. Additionally, the
journals provide insight into Relis's personal life, philosophy, and poetry. The journals are arranged in rough chronological
order.
Box 3
1971
Scope and Content
Includes reflections on turning twenty-five, youth, and the direction of Relis's life.
Box 3
August 1973 - April 1975
Scope and Content
Desriptions of settling into the Bay Area, his new home, musings on the historical nature of cities, and his place in life.
Box 3
March 1978 - December 1978
Scope and Content
A brief summary of the last three years, descriptions of house and family life, more philosophy, and anger at the government
(Jarvis - Gauer initiative).
Box 3
December 1978 - August 1979
Box 3
November 1980 - June 1981
Box 3
October 1981 - April 1982
Box 3
August 1983 - February 1994
Box 3
November 1985 - September 1986
Box 3
November 1986 - October 1987
Box 4
November 1984 - September 1996
Box 4
November 1987 - August 1988
Box 4
March 1988 - December 1988
Box 4
March 1989 - November 1989
Box 4
December 1992 - June 1993
Box 4
June 1993 - December 1993
Box 4
December 1993 - July 1993
Box 5
1994
Scope and Content
Entries questioning who holds systemic power in the United States, foreseeing a strong conservative political movement and
its threat environmentalism.
Box 5
March 1995 - December 1995
Scope and Content
Includes decription of advocating composting as a viable way to produce more crops and solar energy as a replacement for coal.
A trip to New England, much about attacks on September 11 2001); the aftermath; the legislation passed in its wake.
Box 5
September 1995 - May 1996
Box 5
December 1996 - June 1997
Box 5
July 1997 - February 1998
Box 6
June - November 2001
Scope and Content
Includes description of a trip to New England, but the majority of the journal reflects on 9/11 (September 11, 2001 terrorist
attack), the aftermath, and the legislation passed in its wake.
Box 6
August 2004 - April 2005
Scope and Content
Questioning of life and existence (health and illness).
Box 6
April 2005 - January 2006
Box 6
February 2006 - October 2006
Box 7
November 2009 - September 2009
Box 7, Box 7
February 2010 - October 2010
Box 7
2012-2014
Scope and Content
Five journals on world history, philosophy of "civilized" man, environment, and economy( parallels to 2008 recession). Also
includes description of finishing up a manuscript about environmentalism from 1970 forwards.
