Valle Verde Retirement Community resident archive collection, 1960s-2021

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Summary

Title:
Valle Verde Retirement Community resident archive collection
Dates:
1960s-2021
Abstract:
This collection consists of materials gathered by members of the Valle Verde resident archives, documenting the history, administration, and member activities of the Valle Verde Retirement Community, located in Santa Barbara, California, from the 1960s to 2021.
Extent:
12.25 Linear Feet (8 cartons, 3 flat boxes, 2 video recordings, 2 motion picture films)
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Valle Verde Retirement Community resident archive collection, SBHC Mss 145. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The Valle Verde Retirement Community resident archive collection documents the history of elder and senior care from the 1960s to 2021, through the lens of this long-standing Santa Barbara institution. Materials cover the development and history of the organization, its administration, and the many activities of its residents over the years, through administrative and business records, agendas, minutes, reports, correspondence, committee reports, and other records.

Resident committee and other resident-generated records include agendas, minutes, correspondence, and activity files, in addition to scrapbooks, historical files, photographs, and audiovisual materials (digitized video recordings, and two 8mm motion picture films). Publications include resident and staff newsletters, handbooks and directories, as well as corporate publications.

Biographical / historical:

The Valle Verde Retirement Community, a HumanGood Senior Living Community, was founded in 1965 by The American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW). Located in Santa Barbara, California, in a neighborhood currently known as Hidden Valley, the 65 acre parcel was originally a walnut grove owned by the Rutherford family.The Valle Verde resident archives was started by Marian Abrecht, the daughter of an original Valle Verde resident. The collection and organizing of content was continued by resident John Mandle, until 2018. In 2022 resident Walter Naumann volunteered to revitalize the archive by scanning the collection and providing residents and their families access to the digitized materials. This work was supported by resident curators Al and Diane Zonana, computer programmer Chuck Anderson, and several other Valle Verde residents including Philip Clark, Harriette Hinderstein, Kevin Ryan, Joe Dobbs, and Vern Kemp, resulting in the creation of a database for the collection and the digitization and cataloging of more than 21,000 items from the archives. In 2023-2024, the Archive Committee began the process of transferring a selection of their archives, not including their large collection of photographs, to the UCSB Library. Valle Verde and the Archive Committee continue to maintain the digital assets.

Acquisition information:
Melissa Honig, Executive Director, Valle Verde Retirement Home, 2024.
Processing information:

The arrangement of these archives maintains their original order, as established by members of the Valle Verde resident archives. Series have been listed alphabetically, and reflect the many social, admnistrative and volunteer activities of the residents over the years.

Physical location:
Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Julia McGowan, Laura Jean Treat Liebhaber, and Zachary Liebhaber, 2024.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-01-22 14:38:06 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Valle Verde Retirement Community resident archive collection, SBHC Mss 145. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
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