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Kitch (Kenneth Haun) Papers
0085
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Table of contents
Title: Kenneth Haun Kitch Papers
Creator:
Kitch, Kenneth Haun, 1907-
Identifier/Call Number: 0085
Contributing Institution:
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Special Collections and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
7.96 Linear Feet
(9 boxes, 1 flat file drawer)
Date (inclusive): 1895-1987 (bulk 1939-1980)
Language of Material: English
Abstract: Kenneth Haun Kitch was a former journalism professor at California State Polytechnic College, San Luis Obispo. His collection
contains research materials, correspondence, and oral history recordings that Kenneth Haun Kitch conducted for an unpublished
book that he was working on about the history of the Cal Poly Voorhis Unit campus. The correspondence also relates to Kitch's
position overseeing the Cal Poly Educational Center on the Voorhis campus.
The processing of this collection and the creation of this finding aid was funded by the generous support of the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Advance notice required for access.
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository
and the copyright holder.
[Box/folder# or item name], Kenneth Haun Kitch Papers, Collection no. 0085, University Archives, Special Collections and Archives,
University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The materials were gathered from Special Collections' University Archives files.
Kenneth Haun Kitch was born in Kiowa, Kansas on September 12, 1907. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Southwestern
College in Kansas in 1930 and a master's degree from Kansas University in 1937.
Kitch worked as a reporter for the Associated Press and several other news organizations and taught high school journalism
before joining the faculty of California State Polytechnic College, San Luis Obispo in 1950. At Cal Poly, he served as head
of the agricultural journalism department. In 1959, Kitch accepted a special assignment to conduct a study on establishing
a conference center at the Cal Poly Voorhis Unit in San Dimas. That campus was initially the site of the "Voorhis School for
Boys," a school for homeless boys that was started by former automotive industry executive and philanthropist Charles Voorhis.
His son, H. Jerry Voorhis, served as headmaster. The campus then became the southern satellite campus of Cal Poly San Luis
Obispo from 1938 until 1956, except for a period when the campus closed during World War II. When the Kellogg campus opened
in Pomona in 1956, the southern campuses became known as the "Kellogg-Voorhis Campus." They were also referred to as the "Kellogg-Voorhis
Unit." The Voorhis Campus continued to house students while the Kellogg Campus was used for instruction.
Kitch transferred to the Voorhis Campus to become director of the conference center, known as the Cal Poly Educational Center,
when it opened in 1960 and he served in that position until the center's closure in 1970. His official title during that time
was Assistant to the President. Kitch spent his final year at Cal Poly Pomona teaching in the communication arts program until
his retirement in 1973.
In the early 1970s, Kitch also conducted research and recorded oral history interviews for a planned book about the history
of the Voorhis campus in San Dimas, which had originally served as a school for underprivileged boys. Materials indicate that
the preliminary title for the book was
The Country Club, however the book was never published and no manuscript is known to exist, apart from a few draft pages included in his papers.
Kitch died on July 5, 1987 at the age of 79.
The collection contains research materials, correspondence, and oral history recordings that Kenneth Haun Kitch conducted
for an unpublished book that he was working on about the history of the Cal Poly Voorhis Unit campus.
The correspondence also relates to Kitch's position overseeing the Cal Poly Educational Center, the conference center on
the Voorhis campus.
The collection is organized into the following series: Series 1. Writings and Research Materials; Series 2. Oral History Recordings;
Series 3. Correspondence.
Avon Carlson Papers, Collection no. 0022, University Archives, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California
State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Rose Float Records, Collection no. 0020, University Archives, Special Collections
and Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Donald H. Pflueger Cal Poly Pomona History Papers, Collection no. 0007, University Archives, Special Collections and Archives,
University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Pflueger, Donald.
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona: A Legacy and a Mission, 1938-1989. Spokane, Washington : Arthur H. Clark Co, 1999.
Voorhis Family Papers, Collection no. 0090, University Archives, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California
State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Gibson, Stephen and Edward Kendler.
Voorhis Nature Trails. San Dimas, CA: n.p., 1968.
Hymns of Praise: Numbers One and Two Combined. Compiled by F.G. Kingsbury. Chicago: Hope Publishing Company, 1939.
Southern California Camelia Society.
The Camellia Review. Pasadena, CA: Southern California Camellia Society, 1969.
The collection was processed by Rob Strauss and Alex Dan in November 2018.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona -- History
California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis -- History
Voorhis School for Boys
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo--History
Voorhis, Jerry, 1901-1984
Oral histories
Photographs