Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Reuel Olson Papers on the Colorado River Compact, Water Resources
Collection
H.Mss.0584
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Reuel Olson Papers on the Colorado River Compact, Water Resources
Collection
Dates: 1919-1967 and undated
Collection number: H.Mss.0584
Creator:
Olson, Reuel Leslie
Extent:
2 Linear Feet
(5 document boxes)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: Materials in this
collection consist of Reuel Olson's notes, letters, newspaper clippings, government-related
documents, and other research materials that became his doctoral thesis on the Colorado
River Compact: a seven state agreement on the allocation of water resources in the Colorado
River basin. Olson, a law professor at University of Southern California School of Law,
wrote his thesis to satisfy requirements for his doctorate at Harvard University. These
materials provide historical background on the Compact, signed in 1922, and present Olson's
personal work in constructing a history of the Compact.
Physical Location: Please consult repository.
Language of Material: Languages represented in the
collection: English.
Administrative Information
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to
Special Collections.
[Identification of item], Reuel Olson Papers, Water Collection (H.Mss.0584). Special
Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont,
California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Acquisition information unknown.
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Arranged and processed by Special Collections staff in 1975. Collection rearranged and
re-catalogued by Jamella Gow in 2012.
Biography / Administrative History
Reuel Leslie Olson, A. M., J. D., Ph. D., was a law professor at the University of
Southern California School of Law. For his doctoral thesis at Harvard University, Olson
conducted research on the Colorado River Compact: a 1922 seven state agreement on water
rights in the Colorado River basin. Olson began his investigation of this topic to
encourage more study of the United States Constitution's clause (Article 1, Section 10) on
compacts which prohibits compacts between states without consent of Congress. Olson
published his thesis in 1926.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The collection consists of Reuel Olson's materials used in the creation of his thesis on
the Colorado River Compact and include various items such as newspaper clippings, essays,
briefs, articles, letters, and Olson's personal notes. Materials principally focus on the
Compact while some materials relate to other compacts formed during the time or to various
associations and commissions. Materials present a multi-faceted perspective of the Colorado
River Compact as it contains responses to the Compact by states, law-makers, and citizens
who were actively involved in the matter or contributed information on the issues
surrounding its creation.
The collection is organized into the following series and subseries:
- Series 1: Associations, undated
- Series 2: Colorado River Compact Colorado River Compact, 1925-1967 and undated
- Subseries 2.1: Government, 1925 and undated
- Series 3: Other Compacts/Projects, 1919 and undated
- Series 4: Reuel Olsen Materials, undated
- Subseries 4.1: Colorado River Compact thesis-related materials, undated
- Series 5: Miscellaneous Materials, undated
Reuel Olson's thesis "The Colorado River Compact" is held in Special Collections, The
Claremont Colleges Library and can be found through the Library's catalog:
https://ccl.on.worldcat.org/oclc/3354198. Special Collections holds two copies with the
following Library of Congress call numbers:
HON SPCL WATER HD1695.C70 L8 HON SPCL MASON 627.1 OL8c
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Arizona
California
Colorado River Aqueduct (Calif.)
Colorado River Association
Colorado River Commission. Colorado River Compact --
Congresses
Colorado River Compact
Los Angeles (Calif.)
Water-supply