Description
The George P. Hammond Papers document the life and career of a Southwestern U.S. historian, who was director of the Bancroft
Library from 1946-1965, and who wrote and published numerous books based on Spanish documents, as well as the history of California.
Background
George Peter Hammond was born on September 19, 1896 in Hutchinson, Minnesota, and spent the first 13 years of his life in
Kenmare, North Dakota. In 1909 his family moved to California; they arrived in Fresno but shortly thereafter settled on a
plot of land in nearby Caruthers. While his parents and older brother worked on the family's farm, Hammond attended the local
grammar school, followed by high school in the town of Easton, eight miles away. He graduated in 1916 and started college
at Berkeley in the fall of that year. At the beginning of his junior year (in Jan. 1919, due to World War I), he chose to
pursue the study of Western American history and became one of Herbert Eugene Bolton's students. He also worked at the Bancroft
Library for two hours a day. By attending summer school in 1919, Hammond was able to graduate with his class in the spring
of 1920.
Extent
Number of containers: 59 cartons, 3 boxes, 5 file-boxes, 3 oversize folders
Linear feet: 62
Restrictions
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. Consent is given on behalf of The
Bancroft Library 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. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Availability
Collection is open for research.