Collection consists of correspondence and research files related to Norris Hundley's editorship of the Pacific Historical Review, the case of City of Los Angeles vs. City of San Fernando et al., and his various publications. Additional materials include lecture slides and photographs. Other materials are related to his activities as a professor at UCLA.

Norris Hundley, Jr. was born on October 26, 1935 in Houston, Texas. He received his AB from Whittier College in 1958, and his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1963. His long and distinguished teaching career began as a professor of American history at the University of Houston (1963-1964), and then continued at UCLA (1964-1994), where he became professor emeritus of American history in 1994. As a scholar, he authored over a hundred books and essays, including several groundbreaking works on the history of water usage in California and the West. He is best known for his work on Western water rights, particularly The Great Thirst: Californians and Water, 1770s-1990s (1992). He co-authored one of only two books on the St. Francis Dam disaster of 1928 in the Santa Clarita Valley. Hundley was also the editor of the Pacific Historical Review for 29 years (1968-1997), during which time the journal took a leading role in the development of environmental and ethnic studies. He held leadership positions in many historical organizations, including the Western History Association (president, 1994-1995) and the American Historical Association, Pacific Coast Branch (president, 1994-1995). In addition, Hundley served as the director of the UCLA Latin American Center from 1989-1994, chair of the UCLA Program on Mexico from 1981-1994, and sat on various boards and committees related to the history of California and water usage rights. The last book he co-authored, Heavy Ground: William Mulholland and the St. Francis Dam Disaster (2015), was published posthumously and remains the authoritative text on the St. Francis Dam disaster. Hundley passed away on April 28, 2013.

39.2 Linear Feet (94 boxes, 3 shoe boxes, and 1 oversize box)

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