William L. Paul papers

Finding aid prepared by Hollie Johnson, Processing Archivist.
Special Collections & University Archives
The UCR Library
P.O. Box 5900
University of California
Riverside, California 92517-5900
Phone: 951-827-3233
Fax: 951-827-4673
Email: specialcollections@ucr.edu
URL: http://library.ucr.edu/libraries/special-collections-university-archives
© 2011
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.


Descriptive Summary

Title: William L. Paul papers
Date (inclusive): 1912-1961, undated
Date (bulk): 1913-1936
Collection Number: MS 065
Creator: Paul, William L.
Extent: 1.27 linear feet (3 boxes, 1 flat file folder)
Repository: Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
Riverside, CA 92517-5900
Abstract: The William L. Paul papers contain correspondence, photographs, clippings, and other material regarding William L. Paul, a pioneer date grower in Coachella Valley, California from 1909-1935. Topics include the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association, Paul's personal date business, and the exhibition and promotion of Coachella Valley, California dates. Records document the administration and industry activities of the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association, Paul's professional work and involvement with the Southern California date growing community, and aspects of the commercial date industry in the United States, primarily Southern California.
Languages: The collection is in English.

Access

This collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction, and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], [date if possible]. William L. Paul papers (MS 065). Special Collections & University Archives, University of California, Riverside.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Nina Shumway, 1981.

Processing History

Processed by Hollie Johnson, Processing Archivist, 2011.
Processing of the William L. Paul papers was generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The University of California, Riverside was awarded a Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant from 2010-2012, "Uncovering California's Environmental Collections," in collaboration with eight additional special collections and archival repositories throughout the state and the California Digital Library (CDL). Grant objectives included processing of over 33 hidden collections related to the state's environment and environmental history. The collections document an array of important sub-topics such as irrigation, mining, forestry, agriculture, industry, land use, activism, and research. Together they form a multifaceted picture of the natural world and the way it was probed, altered, exploited and protected in California over the twentieth century. Finding aids are made available through the Online Archive of California (OAC).

Biographical Note

William L. Paul was born in Andover, Massachusetts in 1866. He purchased 160 acres of land in Coachella Valley, California in 1902 and moved his family there in 1909. Paul built a ranch on his land with the goal of starting a business growing date palm trees and harvesting the dates as a commercial crop. The first date trees in the Coachella Valley were planted in the late 1890s, but did not thrive. In 1904, the United States Department of Agriculture set up a date experiment station in Mecca, California to study dates as a commercial crop, invigorating the date growing industry.
In 1913, Paul was instrumental in organizing local date growers into a professional association called the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association, serving as the organization's first president. One of the primary functions of the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association was to procure new date off shoots from North Africa for association members, and Paul worked tirelessly at this task. He was responsible for coordinating efforts to import more than 14,000 off shoots to the Coachella Valley between 1913 and 1915.
In 1915, Paul represented the County of Riverside and the California date industry at the World's Fair in San Francisco, where he exhibited California dates and date products. In addition to promoting the date industry at exhibitions, Paul went on a six-month publicity tour in 1916, delivering lectures across the eastern United States about the nutritional value of dates and the Coachella Valley date industry. In 1933, he again represented Coachella Valley, exhibiting dates and date products at the Chicago World's Fair. Paul spent the remainder of his life working at his date ranch and growing his business. His daughter, Nina Paul Shumway, continued to operate the date farm after William L. Paul died in Indio, California in April 1935.

Missing Title

1866 William L. Paul was born in Andover, Massachusetts.
1902 Paul purchased 160 acres of land in Coachella Valley, California.
1909 Paul and his family moved to the Coachella Valley and built a ranch on the land he purchased in 1902.
1913 Paul organized local date growers into a professional organization called the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association.
1913 Paul served as the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association's first president.
1913-1915 Paul led efforts to procure more than 14,000 date tree off shoots from North Africa and import them to the Coachella Valley.
1915 Paul managed the Riverside County date exhibits.
1916 Paul spent six months traveling on the east coast of the United States lecturing about the nutritional value of dates and promoting the Coachella Valley Date industry.
1933 Paul exhibited Coachella Valley dates and date products at the Chicago World's Fair.
1935 Paul died in Indio, California in April 1935.

Collection Scope and Contents

The William L. Paul papers contain correspondence, photographs, clippings, and other material regarding William L. Paul, a pioneer date grower in Coachella Valley, California from 1909-1935. Topics include the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association, Paul's personal date business, and the exhibition and promotion of Coachella Valley, California dates. Records document the administration and industry activities of the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association, Paul's professional work and involvement with the Southern California date growing community, and aspects of the commercial date industry in the United States, primarily Southern California.

Collection Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following three series:
  • Series 1. Coachella Valley Date Growers Association, 1913-1961, undated.
  • Series 2. Professional papers, 1912-1938, undated.
  • Series 3. Date industry, 1913-1951, undated.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Coachella Valley Date Growers Association
Coachella Valley (Calif.)
Date palm
Dates (fruit)
Riverside County (Calif.)

Genres and Forms of Materials

Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence
Financial records
Photographs
Publications


 

Series 1. Coachella Valley Date Growers Association 1913-1961, undated.

Series Scope and Contents

This series contains correspondence, clippings, publications, and other material regarding the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association. The bulk of the correspondence is addressed to William L. Paul. Documents and correspondence regarding a formal complaint filed by the Association against the lead scientists and supervisors of the U. S Department of Agriculture Date Experiment Station in Indio, California, are also included.

Series Arrangement

This series is arranged sequentially according to box and folder number.
Box 1, Folder 1

Invoices, money orders and other financial records from the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association. 1913-1915, undated.

Box 1, Folder 2

Publications and announcements from the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association regarding the association's dissatisfaction with the performance of the Federal Bureau of Plant Industry. 1916-1925, undated.

Box 1, Folder 3

Clippings about the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association. 1922,1961, undated.

Box 1, Folder 4

Correspondence to and from members of the Coachella Valley Date Growers Association. Correspondents include William L. Paul, the first president of the association, and Walter Swingle, a crop physiologist from the Federal Bureau of Plant Industry. 1913-1926, undated.

Box 1, Folder 5

Photographs depicting a date exhibit and the association's first importation of young date palms from Africa. 1913, undated.

 

Series 2. Professional papers 1912-1938, undated

Series Scope and Contents

This series contains correspondence, photographs, clippings, and other material related to William L. Paul's professional life as a date grower in Coachella Valley, California. The material documents Paul's many involvements with the date industry, including the sale of date products, date trees, and land for date farms.

Series Arrangement

This series is arranged sequentially according to box and folder number.
Box 1, Folder 6

Photographs of William L. Paul's date farm. undated.

Box 1, Folder 7

Manuscripts and notes regarding the promotion of dates and William L. Paul's date growing business. 1913-1916, undated.

Box 1, Folder 8

Correspondence and typescripts regarding the appraised values of date farm land and date trees. 1916-1928, undated.

Box 1, Folder 9

Financial statements, receipts, and correspondence from William L. Paul's date business. 1909-1936, undated.

Box 1, Folder 10

Correspondence and receipts from the charities that William L. Paul supported through donations of his products. Includes thank you notes from childrens' homes and hospitals. 1931-1932, undated.

Box 1, Folder 11

Correspondence from William L. Paul's date business. 1912-1915, undated.

Box 1, Folder 12

Correspondence and purchase orders for date trees. 1913-1916, undated.

Box 2, Folder 1

Correspondence and purchase orders for dates. 1918-1931.

Box 2, Folder 2

Publications and price lists from William L. Paul's date business. 1932-1938, undated.

Box 2, Folder 3

Correspondence between customers and William L. Paul regarding dates and his date business. Includes a thank you note from Amelia Earhart. 1913-1938.

Box 2, Folder 4

Calendar, ribbon (award), and certificate belonging to William L. Paul. 1916-1931, undated.

Box 2, Folder 5

Clippings about William L. Paul and his date business. 1923, 1933, undated.

Box 2, Folder 6

Agendas, correspondence, and other material from Riverside County, California. 1913-1916.

Box 2, Folder 7

Clippings and correspondence about Southern Pacific Railroad. 1917, undated.

Box 2, Folder 8

Clippings about Helen Randu, a dietician and public speaker. 1934, undated.

Flat-File-Folder 1, Item 1

Map from the Southern Pacific Railroad Company depicting railroad lines and parcels of land available for sale in Southern California. 1914.

Flat-File-Folder 1, Item 2

Map of Coachella Valley, California produced by the France Investment Company of Los Angeles, California. 1914.

 

Series 3. Date industry 1913-1951, undated.

Series Scope and Contents

This series contains correspondence, photographs, clippings, and other material regarding the Date (fruit) industry. The bulk of the material focuses on the Coachella Valley Date industry in Southern California, with select items documenting Date culture in Florida and the Middle East. Material pertaining to the United States Department of Agriculture's activities in the Coachella Valley are also included.

Series Arrangement

This series is arranged sequentially according to box and folder number.
Box 2, Folder 9

Publications about the date industry, including date farm pamphlets and date growing newsletters. 1916-1951, undated.

Box 2, Folder 10

Correspondence and receipts from the date exhibit at the Southern California Panama Exposition. 1913-1916, undated.

Box 2, Folder 11

Correspondence, publications, and other material regarding the United States Department of Agriculture and the date industry. Includes documents from an official complaint filed against the Department of Agriculture by Coachella Valley date growers. 1915-1935, undated.

Box 2, Folder 12

Correspondence and other material regarding land management in Coachella Valley, California. 1913-1916, undated.

Box 2, Folder 13

Correspondence and publications from the James H. Northrop date farm in Indio, California. 1915, undated.

Box 2, Folder 14

Correspondence and publications from the Palm Development Company in Pensacola, Florida. 1915-1916.

Box 2, Folder 15

Photographs of date trees, date farms, and date exhibits . undated.

Box 3, Folder 1

Clippings regarding the date industry. Includes stories about the history of the Coachella Valley date culture written by Nina Paul Shumway, William L. Paul's daughter. 1917-1958, undated.

Box 3, Folder 2

Scrapbook about the date industry (part 1 of 2). Includes clippings, photographs, correspondence, and other material. 1914-1917, undated.

Box 3, Folder 3

Scrapbook about the date industry (part 2 of 2). Includes clippings, photographs, correspondence, and other material. 1914-1921, undated.