Papers of William Whitehill Rand (1902-1988), geologist, engineer, and petroleum prospector. The collection includes documents, maps and some artifacts related to Rand's career in geology, marine engineering, and the oil industry. The maps are scientific and some include offshore sounding data. Most are maps of the coast of California, particularly in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The records of his company, Submarex, its subsidiaries, and the ships used, make up the bulk of this collection. These include financial records as well as correspondence regarding work contracts and labor relations. This company, based in Santa Barbara, was heavily involved in the transformation of Santa Barbara from a relatively unknown area (geologically) to a major oil-producing region between 1947 and 1960. The collection also contains correspondence, meeting minutes, journal articles, newspaper clippings, reports, log books, catalogs, and project files on deep sea drilling and ocean exploration.

William Bradford Whitehill Rand was born January 17, 1902, in Salt Lake City. He received his A.B. in Geological Sciences from UC Berkeley in 1926 and his PhD in Geological Sciences from UC Berkeley in 1933, with a dissertation entitled The Geology of Santa Cruz Island, California.

12 linear feet (8 records containers, 1 box, 3 oversize boxes, and 2 map folders)

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special 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.

The majority of the collection is stored off-site; advance notice required for retrieval.