Bloomenshine (Helen) Balboa Park Protective Association Collection, 1896-1983

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Summary

Title:
Helen Bloomenshine Balboa Park Protective Association Collection
Dates:
1896-1983
Creators:
Bloomenshine, Helen
Abstract:
This collection contains items relating to the Balboa Park Protective Association that document their efforts for the preservation of San Diego’s Balboa Park.
Extent:
1.5 Linear feet (3 boxes)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Helen Bloomenshine Balboa Park Protective Association Collection, MS 171, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of documents related to a variety of projects against which Balboa Park Protective Association rallied. These items include correspondence, newsletters, mailings, court documents, and speeches. There is also information about club membership, brief reports about the various projects, and local election information and bond propositions. Scrapbooks include correspondence with city officials, newspaper clippings, and ephemera. Projects mentioned in the collection include: Maple Canyon Road; Naval Hospital Expansion; Fine Arts Gallery; Timken Museum; Florida Canyon; and Bartholomew Plan.

Biographical / historical:

The Balboa Park Protective Association was formed in 1947, and sought to preserve the prevailing architecture in Balboa Park while preventing further incursion of peripheral roads, encroachment by other buildings and organizations, and the increased sprawl of parking lots. The Association worked to subvert various plans and projects that called for further development of the park and its grounds. Helen Bloomenshine was a co-founder of the Balboa Park Protective Association (along with Eleanor Edmiston). She and her associates lobbied politicians, organized concerned citizens and placed petitions on the ballot in an effort to enact the desired preservation, but the Association “achieved only slight success,” as Bloomenshine stated. They succeeded in preventing the incursion of roads called for in the controversial Bartholomew Plan, but failed in thwarting further development of the park, such as the construction of the Timken Museum building and the relocation of the U.S. Naval Hospital onto Park grounds. After the Association was ended in 1967, its work and efforts were continued by the Committee of 100.

Acquisition information:
Accession number 830624A.
Processing information:

Collection processed by Jennifer Ho on October 20, 2011.

Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Arrangement:

Items in the collection are arranged by subject. Scrapbooks retain their original order.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Jennifer Ho
Sponsor:
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Date Prepared:
October 20, 2011
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-01-09T11:03-0800

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Care must be taken when handling scrapbooks to maintain original order.

Terms of access:

The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.

Preferred citation:

Helen Bloomenshine Balboa Park Protective Association Collection, MS 171, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Location of this collection:
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA 92101, US
Contact:
(619) 232-6203
Website