Charles Derleth Papers, 1893-1953

Summary

Creators:

Derleth, Charles.

Abstract:

The Charles Derleth Papers, 1893-1953, include engineering project records, documents from Derleth's tenure at the University of California, Berkeley College of Civil Engineering, a personal scrapbook, scrapbooks from the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, and collected reference materials. Project records consist of correspondence, specifications, and drawings for a number of projects including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Carquinez Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the Broadway (Caldecott) Tunnel, and the Posey Tube. Faculty Papers contain lecture notes, examination materials, and research for civil engineering courses. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire scrapbooks contain clippings, correspondence, documents, and maps relating to the destruction and rebuilding process.

Extent:

3 Boxes and 5 Cartons (7.5 linear feet)

Language:

English

Background

Scope and content:

The Charles Derleth Papers, 1893-1953, include engineering project records, documents from Derleth's tenure at the University of California, Berkeley College of Civil Engineering, a personal scrapbook, scrapbooks from the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, and collected reference materials. Project records consist of correspondence, specifications, and drawings for a number of projects including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Carquinez Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the Broadway (Caldecott) Tunnel, and the Posey Tube. Faculty Papers contain lecture notes, examination materials, and research for civil engineering courses. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire scrapbooks contain clippings, correspondence, documents, and maps relating to the destruction and rebuilding process.

The collection documents the engineering of important transportation and building projects in the San Francisco Bay Area during the first half of the twentieth century. Many of the bridges and tunnels Derleth worked on are now major thoroughfares. Researchers looking for materials on specific structures should find documents of interest in the collection.

Documents from Derleth's time in the University of California, Berkeley College of Civil Engineering illustrate the evolution of engineering education in the first half of the twentieth century, particularly through documents from the course Civil Engineering 113-114, Foundations and Masonry Structure.

The personal scrapbook contains clippings, programs and invitations collected by Derleth and his wife from 1902-1909. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire scrapbooks contain a variety of clippings, correspondence, and documents. The materials focus on engineering and building techniques in the buildings destroyed as well as new construction methods. Those interested in the rebuilding of San Francisco from 1906-1909 will find the collection of materials informative.

Biographical / historical:

Charles Derleth, Jr. was born October 2, 1874 in New York. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the City College of New York in 1894 and a Civil Engineering degree from Columbia University in 1896. Derleth served as an instructor and lecturer at Columbia until 1901, when he moved west to become Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado. In 1903 Derleth accepted an appointment to the University of California, Berkeley to serve as Associate Professor of Structural Engineering. By 1907 he was Professor and Dean of the College of Civil Engineering, and in 1930 when the Colleges of Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering combined, Derleth was appointed Dean of the College of Engineering, serving until 1942.

Derleth played a pivotal role in the design and construction of some of the best known buildings, bridges, dams, highways, and tunnels in northern California. He was chief engineer for the Carquinez Straight Highway Bridge, the longest cantilever bridge west of the Mississippi at the time it was built in 1927. Derleth was a member of the Board of Consulting Engineers for the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the Broadway Tunnel (Caldecott Tunnel). He was in charge of engineering work for the San Francisco Bureau of Architecture and was a consulting engineer for numerous Alameda County municipal structures.

In addition, Derleth consulted for well known projects such as the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, the San Francisco Civic Center and Auditorium, Grace Cathedral, the Native Sons Hall in San Francisco, First National Bank of Berkeley, the Contra Costa County Hospital and was Chief Consulting Engineer on the Oakland-Alameda Estuary Tunnel (also known as the George A. Posey Tube). At the University of California, Derleth assisted with the design and construction for a number of buildings including California Hall, Wheeler Hall, Doe Library, Gilman Hall, LeConte Hall, and Sather Tower (the Campanile). In 1930 Derleth received an honorary degree from the University of California in recognition of his services. Charles Derleth died on June 13, 1956.

Acquisition information:

The Charles Derleth papers were transferred to The Bancroft Library from the University of California, Berkeley Transportation Library in 1991, and were originally cataloged as BANC MSS 91/116 c. The current collection, also cataloged as BANC MSS 91/116 c, consolidates materials previously cataloged as BANC MSS C-B 717, given by Paul F. Keim in 1957, Celeste Ashley of Stanford University in 1966, and purchased from J Swingle in 1960.

Physical location:

Collection stored off-site. Advance notice required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

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