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Williams (Ray E.) Files on Newport Bay Environmental
Issues
MS.R.108
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine
Libraries
Title: Ray E. Williams files on Newport Bay environmental issues
Creator:
Williams, Ray E.
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.108
Physical Description:
3.3 Linear Feet
(8 boxes and one XOS folder)
Date (inclusive): 1942-2003
Date (bulk): 1968-1988
Abstract: This collection comprises the papers of
Ray E. Williams, an environmental and political activist in Newport Beach, California. The
collection documents Williams's efforts as president of the board of Friends of Newport Bay
(1973-1976), as well as his work as a member of the Newport Beach City Council (1976-1980),
to preserve the Upper Newport Bay's wildlife and natural environment. The collection
includes correspondence, reports, maps, meeting minutes, newsletters, clippings, analyses,
speeches, and teaching materials.
Language of Material:
English .
The collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by
the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish,
please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Ray E. Williams Files on Newport Bay Environmental Issues. MS-R108. Special Collections and
Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information
about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder
descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Gift of Ray E. Williams, 2003.
Processed by Christine Kim, 2010.
Ray E. Williams is an environmental activist in Newport Beach, a city in Orange County,
California. He was a member of the Friends of Newport Bay, serving as president from 1973 to
1976, and was a member of the Newport Beach City Council from 1976 to 1980. He also taught
at California High School in Whittier for 12 years and then joined the faculty at Rio Hondo
College as an environmental biologist. He worked to preserve Upper Newport Bay's wildlife
and natural environment, eventually becoming involved in the creation of the Upper Newport
Bay Ecological Reserve, which was established in 1975.
Williams was born in Los Angeles, California in 1933. His father was the librarian at
Whittier High School and the family relocated to Newport Beach each summer, living in a tent
camp on 19th Street for a few weeks up to two months from about 1938 to 1942. He lived in
Newport Beach as an adult from 1969 to 1981.
Williams took an evening class at UC Irvine in 1969 after he had started teaching at Rio
Hondo College. The class, aimed at teachers, was about Orange County environmental problems
and issues. Williams worked with a group on a class project that focused on the Upper
Newport Bay, also known as the Back Bay. He attended a tour of the Back Bay with Bob Fry, a
Newport Harbor High School teacher, as tour leader. Williams got involved after the tour and
was heavily involved with the organization for the next 10 years.
Williams' main involvement in Friends of Newport Bay began in 1973, following successful
efforts by local activists to save the Upper Newport Bay from development by halting a land
exchange between Orange County and the Irvine Company. The organization was asked what they
wanted for the future of the Back Bay, and environmental activists Frank and Frances
Robinson led a group of about a dozen citizens to prepare a plan for a park reserve, for
which Williams was a spokesperson. The Friends of Newport Bay was founded in 1967, later
renamed Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends after merging with the Upper Newport Bay
Naturalists in 2000, then the Newport Bay Conservancy in 2010.
Williams got involved in Newport Beach politics through an appointment to the Newport Beach
Planning Commission, after which he was elected to the Newport Beach City Council. The major
issues during his years on the city council were a senior citizens center and efforts to
slow growth. From 1978 to 1980, Williams and other environmentalists led the Newport Beach
City Council with a five to two majority. Williams served as mayor pro tem from 1978 to
1980. In the 1980 election, Williams and Mayor Paul Ryckoff, the two incumbents, were
defeated by a three to one margin.
Williams retired from full-time teaching at Rio Honda College in May 2006, continuing to
teach part-time thereafter. He retired as a guide for monthly Back Bay tours in 2006. He was
elected to the Board of Directors of the Newport Bay Conservancy in 2011.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises the files of Ray E. Williams, an environmental and political
activist in Newport Beach, California. Materials were largely created and compiled while
Williams was president of Friends of Newport Bay (1973-1976) and while he was a member of
the Newport Beach City Council (1976-1980). These files reflect his involvement in the
preservation of the Upper Newport Bay's wildlife and natural environment, including his
efforts toward the creation of the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve. Forms of materials
include correspondence, reports, maps, meeting minutes, newsletters, clippings, analyses,
speeches, and teaching materials.
This collection is arranged in 3 series:
- Series 1. Friends of Newport Bay files, 1942-2003, 1.2 linear feet
- Series 2. Newport Beach City Council files, 1973-1981, 1.5 linear feet
- Series 3. Reports and other materials, 1971-2003, 0.6 linear feet
Related materials can be found in the following collection: Collection on Upper Newport
Bay. MS-R94. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine,
California.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Public lands -- California -- Upper Newport Bay -- History --
Sources
Activists -- California -- Orange County.
Newport Beach (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century --
Sources
Land use -- California -- Upper Newport Bay
Newport Bay (Calif.) -- Environmental conditions -- 20th
century
Wetland conservation -- California -- Upper Newport Bay
Ecological reserves -- California -- Upper Newport Bay
Newport Bay (Calif.) -- Archives.
Land use -- Environmental Aspects -- California -- Orange
County
Williams, Ray E. -- Archives
Friends of Newport Bay -- Archives
Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve (Calif.) --
Archives