Jump to Content

> Home > Hoover Institution
Collection Guide
∞ https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt3g5032c1/
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Commonwealth Club of California records
2003C87  
Online items available Online items available       Request items ↗
Collection location Contact Hoover Institution
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Entire Collection Guide
Online Items
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Alternate Forms Available
  • List of Study Section Reports
  • Historical Note
  • Scope and Content of Collection
    • Title: Commonwealth Club of California records
    Date (inclusive): 1903-2012
    Collection Number: 2003C87
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 1011 manuscript boxes, 119 oversize boxes, 62 card file boxes, 87 audio trays, 1 motion picture film, 3434 digital files (525.6 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: Minutes, correspondence, reports, studies, speech transcripts, membership and financial records, printed matter, and sound and videotape recordings relating to international, national, state and local public issues. Digital copies of select records also available at https://digitalcollections.hoover.org. 
    Creator: Commonwealth Club of California
    Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Access

    Boxes 5-256, 681-740, and 1239-1240 closed. The remainder of the collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

    Use

    For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Acquisition Information

    Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2003, with several increments received in subsequent years.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Commonwealth Club of California records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Alternate Forms Available

    Digital copies of select records also available at https://digitalcollections.hoover.org. 

    List of Study Section Reports

    1. Published in the Transactions of the Commonwealth Club of California and in the Commonwealth, Part Two

    Volume 1 (1903-1905)

    1. 1. Relations of employer and employed
    2. 2. Civil service
    3. 3. Taxation
    4. 4. Reclamation of swamps
    5. 5. Direct legislation
    6. 6. Regulation of water rights
    7. 7. Progress report
    8. 8. Penology of California
    9. 9. Relations of employer employed
    10. 10. Hospitals of San Francisco
    11. 11. State charities
    12. 12. Progress report
    13. 13. Freight rate regulations

    Volume 2 (1906-1907)

    1. 1. Port of San Francisco
    2. 2. Tenements. Child labor
    3. 3. Torrens land title
    4. 4. Good roads
    5. 5. The direct primary
    6. 6. Appointment and tenure of teachers
    7. 7. Water supply for San Francisco
    8. 8. Fire protection for San Francisco
    9. 9. Needs of University
    10. 10. Municipal ownership
    11. 11. Needs of National Guard
    12. 12. Progress report for 1907

    Volume 3 (1908-1909)

    1. 1. State indebtedness
    2. 2. Education amendments
    3. 3. Proceedings at annual banquet
    4. 4. Taxation amendment
    5. 5. California banking laws
    6. 6. Constitutional amendments
    7. 7. Railroad Commission
    8. 8. Regulation of stock sales
    9. 9. Criminal procedure reform
    10. 10. Progress report for 1908

    Volume 4 (1909-1910)

    1. 1. Banquet for Dr. Jams Bryce
    2. 2. Forestry in California
    3. 3. Ship subsidies
    4. 4. Pacific Ocean commerce
    5. 5. Swamp land reclamation
    6. 6. Hetch Hetchy water supply
    7. 7. Indian rights and wrongs
    8. 8. Progress report for 1909

    Volume 5 (1910-1911)

    1. 1. Forest conservation
    2. 2. Labor problems
    3. 3. Merchant marine
    4. 4. Dependent children
    5. 5. Prevention of tuberculosis
    6. 6. Constitutional amendments
    7. 7. India Basin and state highways
    8. 8. City charters
    9. 9. Progress report for 1910

    Volume 6 (1911-1912)

    1. 1. Red plague
    2. 2. Employer's liability women's suffrage
    3. 3. Recall amendment
    4. 4. Railroad Commission amendments
    5. 5. Direct legislation
    6. 6. City charters amendments
    7. 7. State aid to agriculture
    8. 8. Marketing irrigation bonds
    9. 9. Progress report for 1911

    Volume 7 (1912-1913)

    1. 1. San Francisco harbor control
    2. 2. Conservation
    3. 3. State text books
    4. 4. Home rule in taxation
    5. 5. Workmen's compensation
    6. 6. State vs. local harbor control
    7. 7. Progress report for 1912

    Volume 8 (1913-1914)

    1. 1. Judicial procedure
    2. 2. Water and forest bills
    3. 3. Industrial accident bill
    4. 4. Immigration
    5. 5. Public recreation
    6. 6. California history sources
    7. 7. Red plague - 2nd report
    8. 8. Land transfers
    9. 9. Smoke problems
    10. 10. Address of Hon. Franklin K. Lane
    11. 11. Internal waterways
    12. 12. Progress report for 1913

    Volume 9 (1914-1915)

    1. 1. Bay cities water supply
    2. 2. Federal vs. state control
    3. 3. High cost of living
    4. 4. Taxation amendments
    5. 5. Selection of judges
    6. 6. Powers of cities
    7. 7. Eight-hour law
    8. 8. Red light amendment law
    9. 9. California's constitution
    10. 10. Industrial relations
    11. 11. Water Commission Act
    12. 12. Vocational education
    13. 13. Unemployment
    14. 14. Progress report for 1914

    Volume 10 (1915-1916)

    1. 1. Rural credits
    2. 2. State's delinquents
    3. 3. Appointment of judges
    4. 4. State commission markets
    5. 5. Land settlement bill
    6. 6. Bay cities water problem
    7. 7. Changes in civil procedure
    8. 8. Exposition Day addresses
    9. 9. County hospital problem
    10. 10. Exposition architecture
    11. 11. Dinner to ex-President Taft
    12. 12. Constitutional amendment of 1915
    13. 13. Fine arts at exposition
    14. 14. City manager plan
    15. 15. Military preparedness
    16. 16. Progress report for 1915

    Volume 11 (1916-1917)

    1. 1. Malaria problem
    2. 2. Appellate courts
    3. 3. Bay cities water district
    4. 4. Municipal elections
    5. 5. State Highway Act
    6. 6. Prohibition amendments
    7. 7. Land tax amendment
    8. 8. Land settlement
    9. 9. Twilight zone of authority
    10. 10. Progress report for 1916

    Volume 12 (1917-1918)

    1. 1. Land settlement bill
    2. 2. Scientific research
    3. 3. Russian revolution
    4. 4. Health insurance
    5. 5. War finance
    6. 6. Civilian organization for war
    7. 7. Oriental trade
    8. 8. Hetch Hetchy
    9. 9. Science in mobilization
    10. 10. Schools of San Francisco
    11. 11. Industrial unrest
    12. 12. Catalogue of Club library
    13. 13. Progress report for 1917

    Volume 13 (1918-1919)

    1. 1. War service
    2. 2. Marketing
    3. 3. Farm labor
    4. 4. Legislative control of courts
    5. 5. Nation's crisis: Address by Hon. Franklin K. Lane
    6. 6. Meat supply
    7. 7. Constitutional amendments
    8. 8. Health insurance
    9. 9. War work
    10. 10. Vivisection
    11. 11. Progress report for 1918

    Volume 14 (1919-1920)

    1. 1. Address by Hon. William Howard Taft
    2. 2. Reception to members from front
    3. 3. Pending legislation
    4. 4. League of Nations
    5. 5. Employer and employees
    6. 6. Peace treaty
    7. 7. Capital, labor and public
    8. 8. Address of President Wilson
    9. 9. War time science advances
    10. 10. Address by Senator Hiram W. Johnson
    11. 11. Address by Herbert Hoover
    12. 12. Food prices
    13. 13. Immigration
    14. 14. War service of club
    15. 15. Progress report for 1919

    Volume 15 (1920-1921)

    1. 1. Standard of value
    2. 2. Reservations to peace treaty
    3. 3. Poor man in court
    4. 4. Alien land law
    5. 5. Constitutional amendments
    6. 6. Problem of prisoner
    7. 7. Water power and irrigation
    8. 8. Selection of jurors
    9. 9. Election laws
    10. 10. Progress report for 1920

    Volume 16 (1921-1922)

    1. 1. Harbor transfer bill
    2. 2. Corporation tax bill
    3. 3. School organization
    4. 4. Penal methods
    5. 5. Wage adjustment
    6. 6. Censorship
    7. 7. National health
    8. 8. State colony settlements
    9. 9. Civil service in California
    10. 10. Earthquakes
    11. 11. Progress report for 1921

    Volume 17 (1922-1923)

    1. 1. Traffic hazards
    2. 2. Washington conference
    3. 3. Water supply problems
    4. 4. Trans-Bay transportation
    5. 5. Water and power act
    6. 6. Constitutional amendments
    7. 7. First annual dinner
    8. 8. Immigration and population
    9. 9. Voting machine
    10. 10. Land tenancy
    11. 11. Address by Secretary Herbert Hoover
    12. 12. Traffic hazards legislation
    13. 13. Progress report for 1922

    Volume 18 (1923-1924)

    1. 1. Governor's first budget
    2. 2. Pending legislation
    3. 3. Marine life conservation
    4. 4. California's forest problems
    5. 5. Immigration restrictions
    6. 6. Regional planning
    7. 7. Hetch Hetchy power
    8. 8. Progress report for 1923

    Volume 19 (1924-1925)

    1. 1. California's highways
    2. 2. Bok peace plan
    3. 3. Administration of justice
    4. 4. Juvenile crime
    5. 5. National defense
    6. 6. Constitutional amendments
    7. 7. Water and power
    8. 8. Advance in science
    9. 9. Fire insurance
    10. 10. Direct primary
    11. 11. Progress report for 1924

    Volume 20 (1925-1926)

    1. 1. State's budget
    2. 2. Highway finance
    3. 3. Motion pictures
    4. 4. California's schools
    5. 5. Employment problems
    6. 6. Earthquake studies
    7. 7. Bay bridges
    8. 8. World court
    9. 9. Irrigation and agriculture
    10. 10. City plans
    11. 11. Progress report for 1925

    Volume 21 (1926-1927)

    1. 1. Mexican immigration
    2. 2. Colorado River problems
    3. 3. Indians in California
    4. 4. Eugenics
    5. 5. Compulsory auto liability insurance
    6. 6. State's health
    7. 7. Constitutional amendments
    8. 8. Legislative preparedness for war
    9. 9. Crime wave
    10. 10. State finances
    11. 11. Drouth [Drought] in California
    12. 12. Progress report for 1926

    Volume 22 (1927-1928)

    1. 1. Art, letters and music
    2. 2. Auto accident prevention
    3. 3. Occupational restrictions
    4. 4. America in China
    5. 5. Judicial elections
    6. 6. City planning
    7. 7. Swing Johnson bill
    8. 8. Disarmament
    9. 9. Immigration quota
    10. 10. Farm aid problems
    11. 11. Progress report for 1927

    Volume 23 (1928-1929)

    1. 1. Fine arts and public
    2. 2. Silver anniversary
    3. 3. Steady job
    4. 4. Plan for disaster preparedness
    5. 5. Hydraulic mines vs. valley farmers
    6. 6. Rural police
    7. 7. State taxation
    8. 8. Constitutional amendments
    9. 9. Farm relief
    10. 10. Delinquency studies
    11. 11. California arts
    12. 12. Progress report for 1928

    Volume 24 (1929-1930)

    1. 1. Auto liability insurance
    2. 2. Sex problems
    3. 3. County consolidation
    4. 4. Monroe Doctrine
    5. 5. Permanent registration
    6. 6. Aviation in California
    7. 7. Filipino immigration
    8. 8. Radio problems
    9. 9. Salt water barrier
    10. 10. Progress report for 1929

    Volume 25 (1931-1931)

    1. 1. Health insurance
    2. 2. Clinics for Pre-Delinquent
    3. 3. Heights of buildings
    4. 4. California's tax problems
    5. 5. Street railway ownership
    6. 6. Air police
    7. 7. Constitutional amendments
    8. 8. City manager plan
    9. 9. Golden Gate Bridge
    10. 10. Philippine independence
    11. 11. Direct legislation
    12. 12. Music in the schools
    13. 13. Progress report for 1931

    Volume 26 (1931-1932)

    1. 1. Occupational restrictions
    2. 2. State water plan
    3. 3. Doctor and hospital bills
    4. 4. Chain vs. independent stores
    5. 5. Printing school books
    6. 6. Alien registration
    7. 7. Inter-county rapid transit
    8. 8. Courts vs. commissions
    9. 9. Farm, gas, and income taxes
    10. 10. Progress report for 1931

    Volume 27 (1932-1933)

    1. 1. Unemployment insurance
    2. 2. Sharkey bill
    3. 3. Recognition of Soviet Russia?
    4. 4. Public utility regulation
    5. 5. November ballot measures. Public defender plan
    6. 6. Fitting highways to landscape
    7. 7. Quota or exclusion for Japanese immigrants?
    8. 8. Old age security
    9. 9. Progress report for 1932

    Volume 28 (1933-1934)

    1. 1. Compulsory unemployment reserves
    2. 2. Trust deed reform. Judicial council, expert medical testimony, and insanity commitment
    3. 3. State water plan
    4. 4. Middle class and medical bills
    5. 5. Ballot propositions
    6. 6. Birth control and sterilization
    7. 7. Should all U.S. residents be registered?
    8. 8. Central Valley project
    9. 9. America's Manchurian policy
    10. 10. Transportation regulation
    11. 11. Progress report for 1933

    Volume 29 (1934-1935)

    1. 1. State deficit
    2. 2. Courts and crime problem
    3. 3. Legislative information and the public
    4. 4. Coordinating council plan
    5. 5. 1934 ballot proposals (I)
    6. 6. 1934 ballot proposals (II)
    7. 7. Port controls
    8. 8. I - Majority rule. - II State steering committee
    9. 9. Townsend plan
    10. 10. Selective immigration
    11. 11. State finance
    12. 12. Progress report for 1934

    Volume 30 (1935-1936)

    1. 1. Who should drive?
    2. 2. Anglo-American accord
    3. 3. Non-partisan elections
    4. 4. Basic science law?
    5. 5. California farm labor
    6. 6. New constitution and one-house legislature?
    7. 7. California's plant and animal changes
    8. 8. State probation systems
    9. 9. Stop new roads into high mountains?
    10. 10. Progress report for 1935

    Volume 31 (1936-1937)

    1. 1. Compulsion in industrial relations
    2. 2. Permanent registration
    3. 3. Ballot proposals
    4. 4. Chain store tax
    5. 5. Controversial issues in schools and colleges?
    6. 6. Farm labor dispute board?
    7. 7. November ballot procedure
    8. 8. Problems of Pacific
    9. 9. Social credit for United States?
    10. 10. Health insurance - by whom?
    11. 11. Bay region rapid transit
    12. 12. Progress report for 1936

    Volume 32 (1937-1938)

    1. 1. State vs. city harbor control
    2. 2. Subways bonds
    3. 3. Why air wrecks?
    4. 4. City and county labor boards
    5. 5. Progress report for 1937

    Volume 33 (1938-1939)

    1. 1. Consumer cooperatives
    2. 2. 35 Years After
    3. 3. Russian economic system
    4. 4. Ballot proposals
    5. 5. Land-use planning
    6. 6. Game management
    7. 7. Foreign policy for U.S.
    8. 8. Rights of employers and employees
    9. 9. Health insurance plans
    10. 10. Good neighbor policy
    11. 11. Wagner Act amendments
    12. 12. Progress report for 1938

    Volume 34 (1939-1940)

    1. 1. Compulsory health insurance
    2. 2. $30-Thursday plan
    3. 3. November ballot measures
    4. 4. Low-rent housing
    5. 5. Mechanical inspection of cars?
    6. 6. Price fixing
    7. 7. Shasta Dam power
    8. 8. Western hemisphere defense
    9. 9. Progress report for 1939

    Volume 35 (1940-1941)

    1. 1. Reciprocal trade facts
    2. 2. Refugees and quotas
    3. 3. Farm market controls
    4. 4. Ballot proposals
    5. 5. U.S. and aggressors
    6. 6. Expropriations in Mexico
    7. 7. Japanese embargo?
    8. 8. Relief control?
    9. 9. Compulsory health insurance?
    10. 10. Foreign propaganda in U.S.
    11. 11. Progress report for 1940

    Volume 36 (1941-1942)

    1. 1. Why modern architecture?
    2. 2. Super-highways - and how?
    3. 3. Winter sports and winter war
    4. 4. Draftee physical defects
    5. 5. United air force?
    6. 6. War and California agriculture
    7. 7. Progress report for 1941

    Volume 37 (1942-1943)

    1. 1. Strategic war minerals
    2. 2. Unemployment
    3. 3. Federal sales tax and inflation
    4. 4. Ballot proposals
    5. 5. Bay area planning
    6. 6. Crisis in meats and fats and oils
    7. 7. Civilian defense and disaster powers?
    8. 8. Inflation
    9. 9. Draft rejections
    10. 10. Hospitality for service men
    11. 11. Progress report for 1942

    Volume 38 (1943-1944)

    1. 1. War housing and city planning
    2. 2. Labor relations
    3. 3. Post-war peace problems
    4. 4. War in the Pacific
    5. 5. Agriculture in California
    6. 6. Progress report for 1943

    Volume 39 (1944-1945)

    1. 1. Ballot proposals
    2. 2. Permanent disaster preparedness
    3. 3. California's lower courts
    4. 4. White collar workers
    5. 5. Legislative advisory board?
    6. 6. Do lower courts need change?
    7. 7. Big Four, post-war
    8. 8. Compulsory vs. voluntary health insurance
    9. 9. Progress report for 1944

    Volume 40 (1945-1946)

    1. 1. Post-war Latin America
    2. 2. Community Redevelopment Act
    3. 3. U.S. policy toward China
    4. 4. Freeways and mass transportation
    5. 5. Central Valley power
    6. 6. Ballot proposals
    7. 7. Progress report for 1945

    Volume 41 (1946-1947)

    1. 1. Palestine issue today
    2. 2. U.S. immigration policy
    3. 3. Collier highways program
    4. 4. Tax conflicts
    5. 5. Continuous employment
    6. 6. Progress report for 1946

    Volume 42 (1947-1948)

    1. 1. Property assessment
    2. 2. Whither California agriculture? (I)
    3. 3. Whither California agriculture? (II)
    4. 4. Whither California agriculture??(III)
    5. 5. Atomic bomb control
    6. 6. Progress report for 1947

    Volume 43 (1948-1949)

    1. 1. Must cities decentralize?
    2. 2. California fuel
    3. 3. Six lower court plans
    4. 4. Second Bay crossing
    5. 5. Ballot proposals
    6. 6. Delinquency causes
    7. 7. U.S. and Western Europe
    8. 8. Taft-Hartley Act
    9. 9. Transit authority
    10. 10. Progress report for 1948

    Volume 44 (1949-1950)

    1. 1. California water inventory
    2. 2. Ballot proposals for 1949
    3. 3. California water fundamentals
    4. 4. Health insurance?
    5. 5. Water development
    6. 6. Settlement with Japan?
    7. 7. Alcoholism
    8. 8. June ballot proposals
    9. 9. Off-street parking
    10. 10. Progress report for 1949

    Volume 45 (1950-1951)

    1. 1. Ballot proposals
    2. 2. Immigration and population
    3. 3. Recognition of Spain?
    4. 4. Duplication in local government
    5. 5. Armed forces unification
    6. 6. Legislative investigations
    7. 7. Progress report for 1950

    Volume 46 (1951-1952)

    1. 1. Water development
    2. 2. Tax problems of cities
    3. 3. California's non-partisanship
    4. 4. Home, school in delinquency
    5. 5. U.S.-Russian relations
    6. 6. You and the atom bomb
    7. 7. California farm size
    8. 8. Progress report for 1951

    Volume 47 (1952-1953)

    1. 1. Ballot proposals
    2. 2. U.N. immigration control?
    3. 3. Freeways - Small cities, property owners, business?
    4. 4. Wetbacks and Mexican national agreement
    5. 5. U.S. Asia policy
    6. 6. Educational television
    7. 7. What policy vs. Soviet imperialism?
    8. 8. Progress report for 1952

    Volume 48 (1953-1954)

    1. 1. Golden jubilee
    2. 2. Non-Group health service
    3. 3. State vs. local liquor control
    4. 4. McCarren-Walter immigration changes
    5. 5. Progress report for 1953

    Volume 49 (1954-1955)

    1. 1. Ballot proposals
    2. 2. Taft-Hartley amendments
    3. 3. Schools' product?
    4. 4. To reduce government cost
    5. 5. Bricker amendment
    6. 6. Immigration and our economy
    7. 7. Factors of hospital cost
    8. 8. (I) Water plans. (II) Self-help farm marketing
    9. 9. Progress report for 1954

    Volume 50 (1955-1956)

    1. 1. Indirect factors in government cost
    2. 2. African problems and U.S. policy
    3. 3. Federal, state highway finance
    4. 4. U.N. and U.S.
    5. 5. Health plans in bargaining
    6. 6. Ballot proposals
    7. 7. Progress report for 1955

    Volume 51 (1956-1957)

    1. 1. California's growing economy
    2. 2. Pending immigration proposals
    3. 3. Water reservations for areas of origin
    4. 4. Middle East policy
    5. 5. Bay rapid transit
    6. 6. Progress report for 1956

    Volume 52 (1957-1958)

    1. 1. Organized crime and illegal evidence
    2. 2. Roadside rests
    3. 3. Alcoholic delinquency
    4. 4. Tax criteria
    5. 5. Farm zoning
    6. 6. Progress report for 1957

    Volume 53 (1958-1959)

    1. 1. Ballot proposals
    2. 2. How finance school construction?
    3. 3. State economic planning?
    4. 4. Health plans in collective bargaining (III)
    5. 5. Reforest cutover lands
    6. 6. Progress report for 1958

    Volume 54 (1959-1960)

    1. 1. Regional planning
    2. 2. State water responsibility
    3. 3. California tax system
    4. 4. Refugee policy
    5. 5. Selection and removal of judges
    6. 6. Ballot proposals for November 1960
    7. 7. Vertical integration in food business
    8. 8. 57th annual progress report

    Volume 55 (1960-1961)

    1. 1. Inflation and gold standard
    2. 2. Freeways
    3. 3. Drunk driving
    4. 4. 58th annual progress report

    Volume 56 (1961-1962)

    1. 1. Delinquency recognition
    2. 2. Assessment practices
    3. 3. Forest taxation
    4. 4. Teachers
    5. 5. State's water contract
    6. 6. 59th annual progress report

    Volume 57 (1962-1963)

    1. 1. Ballot proposals for 1962
    2. 2. Monroe Doctrine and communist threat
    3. 3. Red China
    4. 4. Armed forces unification
    5. 5. U.S. economy and cold war
    6. 6. Highway safety
    7. 7. 60th annual progress report

    Volume 58 (1963-1964)

    1. 1. Preserve open space?
    2. 2. Abolish capital punishment?
    3. 3. Wilderness policy?
    4. 4. Bonds vs. pay-as-we-go? (and lease purchase)
    5. 5. Improve state water project?
    6. 6. 61st annual progress report

    Volume 59 (1964-1965)

    1. 1. Ballot proposals for 1964
    2. 2. Agriculture and world trade
    3. 3. Communist drive for South Asia
    4. 4. Supporting California's growth
    5. 5. Courts and demonstrations
    6. 6. Berlin
    7. 7. 62nd annual progress report

    Volume 60 (1966)

    1. 1. Immigration
    2. 2. Farm taxation
    3. 3. Ballot proposals for 1966
    4. 4. 63rd annual progress report
    5. 5. Bay Area regional entitles

    Volume 61 (1967)

    1. A. Tax exemptions
    2. B. State Department policy affecting Latin America
    3. C. State highway commission
    4. D. U.S. military policy for the cold war
    5. E. California's water development
    6. F. Business vs. government
    7. G. 64th annual progress report

    Volume 62 (1968)

    1. A. School policy determination
    2. B. Ballot proposals for 1968
    3. C. U.S. policy in sub-Sahara Africa
    4. D. Natural resources and population needs
    5. E. 65th annual progress report
    6. F. Ballot proposals for November 1968
    7. G. Ballot proposal for November 1968
    8. H. Development of San Francisco Bay

    Volume 63 (1969)

    1. A. Approach for reducing government costs?
    2. B. Business, government, and the economy
    3. C. Foreign aid
    4. D. Western vs. eastern immigration
    5. E. Water quality regulation
    6. F. Articles of incorporation and by-laws of the Commonwealth Club of California
    7. G. Insuring losses caused by disasters?
    8. H. Changes in existing labor legislation?
    9. I. 66th annual progress report
    10. J. Powers of president in foreign affairs
    11. K. Solid waste disposal in San Francisco Bay area

    Volume 64 (1970)

    1. A. Ballot proposal for June 1970
    2. B. U.S. policy in Southeast Asia
    3. C. Selecting regional governing body
    4. D. Ballot proposals for November 1970
    5. E. Articles of incorporation and by-laws of the Commonwealth Club of California
    6. F. 67th annual progress report

    Volume 65 (1971)

    1. A. Reserve program policies
    2. B. Supplemental water for California
    3. C. California merit plan for selection of judges
    4. D. Performance budgets for state and local government
    5. E. 68th annual progress report
    6. F. What should we do about the U.S. balance of payments problem?

    Volume 66 (1972)

    1. A. June 1972 state ballot propositions
    2. B. Delay in the courts: Who is responsible? What shall we do?
    3. C. How can the U.S. economic system help to improve relations with Latin America?
    4. D. November 1972 state ballot propositions
    5. E. 69th annual progress report

    Volume 67 (1973)

    1. A. Who should govern our colleges and universities?
    2. B. Are courts handcuffing the police?
    3. C. 70th annual progress report
    4. D. Should public employees (state and local) have the same collective bargaining rights as employees in the private sector?
    5. E. Should farm subsidies and price supports be phased out?
    6. F. November 1973 state ballot proposition: Tax and expenditure limitations
    7. G. Should U.S. policy toward South Africa, Rhodesia, and the Portuguese African provinces be revised?
    8. H. Should the federal government have a role in protecting the consumer?

    Volume 68 (1974)

    1. A. June 1974 state ballot propositions
    2. B. A progress report on the year 1973
    3. C. November 1974 state ballot propositions
    4. D. Incentives or penalties for solid waste producers?

    Volume 69 (1975)

    1. A. Public attitudes toward national defense
    2. B. Should the peripheral canal be built?

    Volume 70 (1976)

    1. A. U.S. private investment: What should be its future role in inter-American development?
    2. B. Can American agriculture compete in view of current environmental regulations?
    3. C. June 1976 state ballot propositions
    4. D. November 1976 state ballot propositions
    5. E. The new independent African nations - ability to survive, grow and develop

    Volume 71 (1977)

    1. A. Articles of incorporation and by-laws of the Commonwealth Club of California, a non-profit corporation
    2. B. Can the United States become energy self-sufficient? The current status of oil and gas production
    3. C. What is the role of wastewater reclamation in the use of our water resources?
    4. D. A regional government: Its functions, scope and authority

    Volume 72 (1978)

    1. A. Are present laws effectively ending employment discrimination against women and minorities?
    2. B. Who should control secrecy in regard to national defense and to what extent?
    3. C. Can the U.S. become energy self-sufficient? The current status of nuclear power
    4. D. 1978 state ballot propositions
    5. E. 1978 state ballot propositions
    6. F. The first seventy-five years, 1903-1978
    7. G. Should the state or federal government have pre-eminent authority to control water rights in California?

    Volume 73 (1979)

    1. A. Can the U.S. become energy self-sufficient? The outlook for coal
    2. B. 1979 state ballot propositions

    Volume 74 (1980)

    1. A. 1980 June state ballot propositions
    2. B. 1980 November state ballot propositions

    Volume 75 (1981)

    1. A. Can the United States become energy self-sufficient? Solar energy and alternate energy sources

    Volume 76 (1982)

    1. A. 1982 June state ballot propositions
    2. B. Can the United States become energy self-sufficient? Energy conservation: supply and demand
    3. C. November 1982 state ballot propositions

    Volume 78 (1984)

    1. A. 1984 June state ballot propositions

    Volume 80 (1986)

    1. A. 1986 June state ballot propositions
    2. B. 1986 November state ballot propositions

    Volume 82 (1988)

    1. A. 1988 June state ballot propositions
    2. B. 1988 November state ballot propositions

    Historical Note

    The Commonwealth Club of California is a private, nonprofit organization for the nonpartisan study of public issues based in San Francisco, California. It was founded on February 3, 1903, by San Francisco Chronicle editorial writer Edward F. Adams to investigate and discuss public issues and contribute to their solution, provide an open and impartial forum for discussion of disputed questions, and influence public opinion according to conclusions reached after proper investigation.
    Adams envisioned limiting the club's membership to "men of decided competence" until the club was well established. The club had 60 members in 1904, 3,192 in 1935, and 14,027 in 1970. Membership was opened to women in 1971.
    Through much of its history, the club's structure included a president, vice president, board of governors, and an executive committee, as well as other officers and committees. The board of governors transacted most of the club's business. The president appointed members of the board of governors to the executive committee, which typically met more frequently than the board and exercised whatever powers given to it by the board. The board created study sections and special and standing committees as it deemed necessary to conduct the club's work. Committees carried out the club's business operations, while study sections investigated and reported on public issues. The president appointed section chairs, committee chairs, and all committee members, while section membership was open to any member of the club. Initially the club's work was performed by volunteers, but over time a permanent staff grew.
    The club incorporated on March 15, 1926. This enabled the club's board of governors to hold and manage the club's permanent fund and to receive bequests from members.
    On August 12, 1903, the club approved its governors' recommendation that members organize themselves for work in study sections, created as need for them appeared. The function of these subgroups was to study and make reports on a general area of state, national, or international problems. Technically the club's original constitution did not provide for studying national problems, but club members quickly discovered that it was not possible to study California issues without weighing aspects of matters beyond its boundaries. The four initial study sections were: commercial interests, public education, public finance, and social welfare. More than seventy-five study sections existed at various times, though the total number functioning at one time was far less. Several language sections, including French, Japanese, and Spanish, were also created. Club members could join and drop out of any study section at any time.
    The study sections typically held a series of meetings in which authorities on all sides of the issue presented their views. After about a year or more of such hearings the study section prepared a report. The report was presented at a monthly report meeting of the club, where discussion by the membership was invited. The report and discussion were subsequently published in the Transactions of the Commonwealth Club and distributed to the membership. In some cases club members voted by mail on the issues covered by the report, and the ballot results became official club policy. Over time the club gradually produced fewer studies, and after it became a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code in 1969, which disallowed lobbying, the club's study section program essentially ended.
    Some of the club's studies were instrumental in developing parts of the framework for government in California, such as the public defender's office, small claims courts, civil service system, jury selection system, and state election booklets. In 1913, the club also completed what some believe to be the first study of air pollution ("smoke problems") undertaken in the United States. Sections also regularly prepared analyses of California ballot measures for each election.
    Interest from funds held by the Commonwealth Club, Inc., occasionally supported special research studies written by qualified experts hired by the club. This occurred with approval of the board of governors, and under the direction of the club's Research Committee or Research Service. These special studies concerned occupational restrictions (1929), courts vs. commissions (1931), the legislature of California (1943), the population of California (1946), California social welfare (1956), powers of the president in foreign affairs (1966), and land use, open space, and the government process (1974).
    In addition to the club's monthly study section report meetings, in which section reports were presented for discussion, the club held weekly luncheon meetings. At the weekly meetings speakers gave addresses on a variety of local, national, and international issues.
    The luncheon programs started when the executive committee adopted a report on August 6, 1908, providing a "Section on Current Topics," which was charged with arranging a weekly luncheon and providing a speaker. The report was forwarded to the board of governors with a favorable recommendation. A Committee on Current Topics, which later became the Luncheon Program Committee, was formed by the board to arrange for speakers at the luncheons. In 1919 the luncheons were moved to Fridays. Dinner programs were added in the mid-1970s.
    The club's luncheon programs were broadcast on the radio within California starting in 1924, and in the 1950s the broadcasts expanded beyond California. A Radio and TV Committee was established by the board of governors in 1959; it was given exclusive charge of all radio and television broadcasts or filming of club talks. Meanwhile, in the mid-1940s the first sound recordings of the club's weekly radio program were made. Until 2003 the club outsourced the work of recording its programs, an arrangement that caused it to be somewhat selective about which programs were recorded. In 2003 the club hired its own staff to perform recording work and started recording all of its programs.
    To stimulate California authors to greater excellence and increase public recognition of their work, the club established literature medal awards in 1931 for the best books written by California authors, regardless of subject matter. Several gold and silver medals are awarded annually in various categories by the literature medal award jury, whose members were appointed by the club president.
    The club began sponsoring international study tours in 1968 as an extension of its activities and as an additional service to members. A Tour Committee, established by the board in 1967, managed this work.
    As early as 1979, the club offered programs in the South Bay. Beginning in 1990, the club began offering regular programs in other regions of the Bay Area beyond San Francisco. In 1990 the regional chapters were: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Peninsula, Santa Clara, and Sonoma. The program offerings in the South Bay expanded significantly in 1997 when the World Forum of Silicon Valley merged with the club. Regional programs in Marin and Sonoma Counties, and in the East Bay, continue to be part of the club's programming effort.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The records of the Commonwealth Club of California relate to international, national, state, and local public issues, and to the history and activities of the club. Included are minutes of meetings, correspondence, reports, studies, membership and financial records, publications of the club, photographs, videorecordings, and sound recordings.
    Among the club's publications are the Transactions of the Commonwealth Club, the Commonwealth, and the annual progress report, which are included in the Printed Matter series. From 1903 to 1925, the club's serial publication was the Transactions of the Commonwealth Club. The Transactions contain reports of study sections and related discussions that occurred at monthly dinner meetings.
    Beginning in May 1925, the Transactions expanded into two parts carrying a new title. The Commonwealth, Part One, has been published weekly since May 12, 1925. It contains information on activities and events of the club, including condensed summaries of the weekly luncheon addresses by visiting speakers. The Transactions of the Commonwealth Club continued as the Commonwealth, Part Two, and continued to provide reports of the study sections. Although the Transactions became part two of the Commonwealth, numbering and paging of the two components were kept separate until 1967. The Transactions was phased out by the late 1980s, leaving the Commonwealth as the sole serial publication of the club. These publications may also be available at many libraries.
    The club's annual progress reports, published as part of the Transactions, typically contain a list of study section reports from volume 1 to date (included in this finding aid), a list of monthly dinner programs and weekly luncheon programs for the year, lists of current committees and study sections, brief reports by committees and study sections, membership roster for the year, and the constitution (to 1968), articles of incorporation (since 1969), and bylaws. Some of this information can be used as finding aids to such series as the Study Sections File and the Program File.
    The Program File documents the club's schedule of regular presentations by speakers to club members. Background information on speakers, correspondence inviting them to speak, and occasionally, prepared texts of speeches, are available. Through 1975, the files are arranged chronologically by year of speech, and thereunder alphabetically by first letter of the speaker's last name; there are not individual files for each speaker. Beginning in 1976, the files are also arranged chronologically, but in many cases the year apparently represents the year the file was opened; the contents of the files can span multiple years, and the speaker may have actually spoken at the club in a later year. Files on potential speakers who never actually spoke at the club are included. New files were often opened for the same individual in a subsequent year, so some people have multiple files. Thus the years by which post-1975 files are arranged should not be taken too literally.
    The Historical File contains various lists of the club's luncheon and dinner program speakers; the alphabetical lists can be useful in determining when a particular person addressed the club. Textual records of the speeches presented at these programs may be found in two different series. Programs prior to 1925 were sometimes published in the Transactions. Summaries of speeches made since about 1925 were published in condensed form in the Commonwealth. In addition, the Program File, which contains files on individual speakers, may contain a typescript copy of the prepared text of the speech, as provided by the speaker, and/or a copy of the condensed program summary that was published in the Commonwealth. However, in many cases no complete text of a speech, nor the question and answer session that followed, exists. As a result, the sound recording of the program is usually the most complete version of the speech available.
    More than three thousand sound recordings of club programs are available. The earliest recordings are from 1944, and near-current programs continue to be added to the collection on an ongoing basis. In a few cases, videorecordings of club programs are also available in the Videorecordings series and are itemized in the container list that follows.
    The club has had more than seventy-five study sections. Reports of the study sections, published in the Transactions, are one source of information on the section. The reports indicate the section responsible for them, which is not always obvious. For example, the 1928 report on disaster preparedness was prepared by the Section on Scientific Research, a natural follow-up to the section's study of earthquakes.
    Many, but not all, of the sections are also documented by minutes of meetings, notices of meetings, correspondence, and other unpublished material in the Study Sections File. Beyond the published study section reports, the records in the Study Sections File may include unpublished reports, research material, and summaries of presentations made by guest speakers at study section meetings.
    Study sections for a given year are typically listed in the club's annual progress report for that year (part of the Printed Matter series); the 50th anniversary program lists dates of many study sections that existed from 1903 to 1953, and the 75th anniversary program provides dates for those in existence from 1953 to 1978 (both are included in the Historical File). These dates can be used to identify which years of study section minutes and notices to consult to locate records of a particular section.
    The printing samples in the Printing Records may include club issuances that are not available in other parts of the collection.
    The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed the club's office and most of its records. However, printed copies of the minutes of the early board of governors meetings, along with printed Transactions of the club's pre-1906 reports, survived.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Audiotapes
    Video tapes
    California -- Politics and government
    United States -- Politics and government
    World politics
    San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.) -- Politics and government
    2 Search hits
    Clear search hits
    [Online Content] Collection Contents
    Historical File
    Study Sections File
    Program File [2 hits]
    Printed Matter
    Subject File
    Oversize Material
    Printing Records
    Card File
    Photographs
    Videorecordings
    [Online Content] Sound Recordings of Club Programs
    Compact sound cassettes
    1/4-inch sound tape reels (7-inch)
    1/4-inch sound tape reels (10-inch)
    Digital audio tapes (DATs)
    Compact sound discs
    Lacquer sound discs
    [Online Content] Incremental Material
    Home | Contributing Institutions | Collection Guides | Browse Map | About OAC | FAQs | Contact Us | Privacy Statement | Terms of Use | Accessibility
    The Online Archive of California is a service of the UC Libraries, powered by the California Digital Library.