Steele (Dwight C.) papers, 1942-2002, bulk 1970-2001

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Summary

Title:
Dwight C. Steele papers
Dates:
1942-2002, bulk 1970-2001
Creators:
Steele, Dwight C.
Abstract:
The Dwight C. Steele Papers, 1942-2002 (bulk 1970-2001), contain correspondence, subject and organizational files on various environmental conservation issues, with particular focus on the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe Regions.
Extent:
7 cartons, 2 oversize folders; 8.75 linear feet
Language:
Collection materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Dwight C. Steele Papers, BANC MSS 2005/195 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Background

Scope and content:

The Dwight C. Steele Papers, 1942-2002 (bulk 1970-2001), contain correspondence, subject and organizational files on various environmental conservation issues, with particular focus on the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe Regions.

Professional activities with environmental organizations comprise the bulk of the collection and include correspondence, organizational memos, meeting minutes, planning and policy communications, etc. Primarily spanning from 1970-2001, collection series include: Correspondence; Professional Activities (Environmental Organizations; Legal Practice); Subject Files; and Personal. Following the original order of the collection, correspondence is found throughout according to organizational affiliation, topic, and year as appropriate for each series. Correspondence is primarily related to organizational planning and policy, as well as environmental and conservation advocacy and lobbying efforts, and includes exchanges with regional and national figures such as Ronald Reagan, Gray Davis, Dianne Feinstein, and other legislators. Environmental organizations of note include Save San Francisco Bay Association, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, Citizens for the Eastshore State Park, Planning and Conservation League, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Tahoe-Baikal Institute, Sierra Club, Sierra Nevada Alliance, and others. Subject files relate to environmental conservation topics.

Biographical / historical:

Dwight C. Steele was born on January 23, 1914 in Alameda, California. A lawyer practicing in California and Hawaii with an early interest in labor law, he began working pro bono in 1969 for conservation causes, and accepted no paying clients after 1980. From 1942 to 1945 he served on the Regional War Labor Board and the Regional War Manpower Commission, and from 1951 to 1952 he was appointed to the National Wage Stabilization Board. Labor work includes that with the Distiributors Association of San Francisco, the Hawaii Employers Council, the Lumber and Mill Employers Association, and the Bermuda Employers Council. From 1968 to 1972 he was elected to the office of Director of the Alpine Springs Water District. From 1971 to 1978 he was a trustee and treasurer for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, and served as General Counsel for the League to Save Lake Tahoe beginning in 1989. From 1978 to 1983 he was appointed as a Governing Body Member of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

An environmental lobbyist and activist, Steele had a particular affinity for water and transportation issues. Active in the Sierra Club beginning in 1966, his environmental activism rapidly expanded to include many conservation groups, campaigns and causes. He served on the Board of Directors and as the Vice President of the Save San Francisco Bay Association (now known as Save the Bay) and served on the Board of Directors and as President for the League to Save Lake Tahoe. He was on the Board of Directors for the Tahoe-Baikal Institute and was deeply involved with many other conservation organizations in the San Francisco Bay area and the Lake Tahoe region. He also worked on legislation to establish the Eastshore State Park and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the first coastal protection agency in the United States.

Two oral histories with Steele are included in Sierra Club Nationwide III (1989) and The Sierra Club and the Urban Environment II: Labor and the Environment in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1960s-1970s (1983). He was the recipient of many awards throughout his career including the Peter E. Haas Public Service Award (1999) for his volunteer efforts and grassroots environmentalism and the ChevronTexaco Conservation Award (2002) for his conservation efforts in the San Francisco Bay area. Steele died on July 11, 2002 in Alpine Meadows, California.

Acquisition information:
The Dwight C. Steele Papers, 1942-2002 (bulk 1970-2001), were given to the Bancroft Library by Alberta Steele on July 5, 2004. Additions were made on November 8, 2004.
Processing information:

Processed by Stephanie M. Roach in 2010.

Accruals:

No additions are expected.

Physical location:
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Stephanie M. Roach
Date Prepared:
© 2010
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid generated by GenX; markup validated by The Bancroft Library using CDL validation tools; Date of source: February 2011

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Dwight C. Steele Papers, BANC MSS 2005/195 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
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