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Cleland (Robert Glass) Papers
mssCleland
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Robert Glass Cleland papers
Creator:
Cleland, Robert Glass,
1885-1957
Identifier/Call Number: mssCleland
Physical Description:
15 Linear Feet
(37 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1865-1985
Date (bulk): 1937-1956
Abstract: The collection of the Californian
historian Robert Glass Cleland; it consists of correspondence, documents, lectures, drafts,
research notes, source materials and manuscripts.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Robert Glass Cleland papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
A gift from Mrs. Edward L. Doheny, June 1950; five gifts from Andrew Rolle, January 1982,
July 1985, March 1986, September 2001, and June 2002.
Robert Glass Cleland (1885-1957) was a well-known California historian, scholar, professor,
and college administrator. As a writer and scholar, he published 32 works, numerous
articles, and writings in the fields of Southwestern and California history. Cleland was
born in Shelbyville, Kentucky to Reverend Robert W. Cleland and Sallie Glass Cleland on
February 19, 1885; he came to Southern California as a child with his family in the early
1890s where they settled on a ranch near Duarte, California. Cleland graduated from college
in 1907 and obtained a Ph.D. from Princeton in 1912 with a dissertation on the history of
Mexico; in the same year, he joined Occidental College as a professor of history. In the
ensuing years at Occidental College he served as Dean of Men; Vice President, 1927 to 1928;
Acting President; Dean of the Faculty; Trustee and Chair of the Board of Trustees; and chair
of a presidential search committee. He also served as the Norman Bridge Chair of Hispanic
American Relations, as well as the President of the Association of Colleges and Universities
of the Pacific Southwest (later Western College Association). He was a visiting scholar at
the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, from February 1937 to February 1938; in
1943, he joined the Permanent Research Group at the Huntington Library. While at the
Huntington, Cleland worked in the field of American History concentrating upon the history
of California and the Southwest. In 1945, he was appointed as a Trustee of Princeton
University and was also on the Board of Trustees for Scripps College. Cleland received
honorary degrees from Occidental College in 1943 and from the College of Idaho in 1951; he
died on September 3, 1957.
A collection which consists of approximately 5,450 items and covers the years 1865 to 1985;
the collection contains correspondence covering a variety of topics including scholarly
research, speaking engagements, writing assignments, trustee and university business, and
responses to Cleland's publications. Correspondents in the collection include, among others:
George A. Brakeley, Arthur G. Coons, Glenn S. Dumke, Max Farrand, Harold Holmes Helm,
MacMillan Company, H. W. O'Melveny, Princeton University Press, Andrew F. Rolle, Eleanor W.
Towles, and Louis B. Wright. The writings comprise drafts and notes for books, book reviews,
and lectures on California and the Southwest including, among other titles: "The Cattle on a
Thousand Hills" (second edition), "From Wilderness to Empire," "California in Our Time," "A
Mormon Chronicle: The Diaries of John D. Lee," and "This Reckless Breed of Men." The
research files include material on the fur trade, California, Mexico, and the controversial
social insurance schemes proposed by the Retirement Life Payment Association during the
Great Depression. The source material about Mexico covers geography, economics, social life,
and indigenous peoples from the Spanish conquest until the early twentieth century,
including data files and interview reports gathered for the Doheny Foundation. The ephemera
consists mainly of biographical material about Cleland, six photographs, various clippings
on the Southwest, and offprints or printed material by Cleland and his peers. The research
notes are handwritten and typed on one half sheets sorted into folders by topic on the
history of the West and for "The Cattle on a Thousand Hills" material. Note cards have
biographical citations for research materials. There is a cassette tape and phonograph
record of a radio interview with Robert Glass Cleland for the "Meet the Author" program and
a phonograph record of a speech by James Blaisdell.
Processed by Michele McKinnon Fricke, April 2011. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the
ArchivesSpace finding aid derived from the Word finding aid.
Organized in the following series: 1. Correspondence; 2. Writings; 3. Research materials,
notes, ephemera, and oversize.
Former call number: mssCleland papers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art
Gallery
Occidental College
Princeton University -- Trustees
Scripps College
Educators -- California
Fur trade -- History
Historians -- California
Social security -- History -- 20th century
California -- History
Mexico -- History
Southwest, New -- History
Drafts (documents) -- California -- 20th century
Lectures -- California -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 20th century
Manuscripts -- California -- 20th century
Professional papers -- United States -- 20th century
Research (document genres) -- California -- 20th century
Brakeley, George A.
Coons, Arthur Gardiner,
1900-1968
Dumke, Glenn S.
Farrand, Max, 1869-1945
Helm, Harold Holmes, 1900-1985
O'Melveny, H. W. (Henry William), 1859-1941
Rolle, Andrew F.
Towles, Eleanor W.
Wright, Louis B. (Louis Booker),
1899-1984
Macmillan Company
Princeton University Press