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.

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.

12.25 Linear Feet (8 cartons, 3 flat boxes, 2 video recordings, 2 motion picture films)

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.

The collection is open for research.