Guide to the University of California, Irvine, collection on the Anteater mascot and other university symbols AS.144
Finding aid prepared by Anne Nguyen; updated by Laura Uglean Jackson and Christine Kim, 2017; updated by Sarah Glover, 2022.
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
(cc) 2022
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine 92623-9557
spcoll@uci.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: University of California, Irvine, collection on the Anteater mascot and other university symbols
Creator:
UCI Libraries. Department of Special Collections and Archives
Identifier/Call Number: AS.144
Physical Description:
3.1 Linear Feet
(1 document box, 1 half document box, 1 flat box, 3 oversize folders, and 1 XOS folder)
Date (inclusive): circa 1965-2009
Date (bulk): 1965
Abstract: This collection is comprised primarily of materials related to the University of California, Irvine mascot, the Anteater.
Included is an original inscribed and signed drawing of the Anteater mascot by cartoonist Johnny Hart (undated), drawings
of mascots proposed by the UCI administration (1965), clippings (photocopies) and ephemera related to the Anteater mascot
and the controversy at the time it was chosen. Also included is an audio oral history interview with Schuyler Hadley Bassett,
who is credited with taking up the successful campaign to elect the anteater as the mascot. The collection also includes design
proposals for UCI logos, including one with a seahorse theme (1965), and proposed design for the UCI Medal, which was established
in 1984. It also includes two anteater basketball mascot bobbleheads. In addition there are several designs of the mascot
with the UCI logo, presumably from the 1990s.
Language of Material:
English
.
The collection has not been processed. It may contain restricted materials. Please contact the Department of Special Collections
and Archives in advance to request access.
Access to original audio recordings is restricted; researchers may request use copies.
Property rights and copyright reside with the University of California. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please
contact the University Archivist.
University of California, Irvine, collection on the Anteater mascot and other university symbols. AS-144. 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.
Alternative Forms of Materials
Select items from this collection have been digitized and are available on
Calisphere .
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection is comprised primarily of materials related to the University of California, Irvine mascot, the Anteater.
Included is an original inscribed and signed drawing of the Anteater mascot by cartoonist Johnny Hart (undated), drawings
of mascots proposed by the UCI administration (1965), clippings (photocopies) and ephemera related to the Anteater mascot
and the controversy at the time it was chosen. Also included is an audio oral history interview with Schuyler Hadley Bassett,
who is credited with taking up the successful campaign to elect the anteater as the mascot. The collection also includes design
proposals for UCI logos, including one with a seahorse theme (1965), and proposed design for the UCI Medal, which was established
in 1984. It also includes two anteater basketball mascot bobbleheads. In addition there are several designs of the mascot
with the UCI logo, presumably from the 1990s.
Related materials (early correspondence regarding the choice of the Anteater mascot) can be found in: AS-016, Student Activities
Office records, Box 4.
box accn2009-027A 001
Box 1 circa 1965-2009
Series Scope and Contents Summary
This box contains an oral history interview with Schuyler Hadley Bassett, who is credited with taking up the successful campaign
to elect the anteater as the mascot; correspondence and pin with Playboy-inspired anteater design, 1965; 2009 clippings about
the mascot controversy and mascot-related UCI ephemera, bulk 1965; and a proposed UCI Medal design, circa 1984.
box accn2009-027A 002
Box 2 circa 1965-2009
Series Scope and Contents Summary
This box contains artistic renderings of mascots proposed by UCI administration (6 total): mariners (2), toros, explorers,
dolphins, clippers; proposed UCI logos; anteater mascot-related ephemera and photographs (including photograph of mascot with
Jack W. Peltason and Daniel G. Aldrich); and page 1 and 2 of and "extra" edition of the UCI student newspaper
Spectrum reporting on the final vote that made the Anteater the official mascot.
folder accn2009-027A XOS001
box accn2014-030 001
box FB-072, folder accn2014-053 : 7
box FB-072, folder accn2014-053 : 6