Collection Guide
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Guide to the Pacific Sociological Association records, 1958-2011 (1960-1988)
MSS 2006/13
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Table of contents
Title: Pacific Sociological Association records
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 2006/13
Contributing Institution:
California State University, Sacramento Special Collections & University Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
14.25 Linear feet
(10 record cartons, 1 manuscript box, and 1 flat boxes)
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1960-1988
Date (inclusive): 1958-2016
Abstract: The collection begins with records from 1929 when Emory Bogardus, Ph.D. of the University of Southern California founded the
Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) and ends in 2008 upon the retirement of PSA Chief Executive Officer, Dean S. Dorn,
Ph.D., of California State University Sacramento. Contents of the collection include correspondence and emails, minutes of
Business and Executive Council meetings, newsletters, annual meeting agendas, election materials, committee reports, copies
of annual PSA presidential addresses and early accounting records. There are gaps in the chronology of some of the earlier
records, especially for meeting minutes, membership and election of officers.
Physical Location: Some of the CSUS Special Collections and University Archives are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use.
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
creator:
Pacific Sociological Association.
Emory Bogardus, Ph.D. of the University of Southern California founded what is now called the Pacific Sociological Association
(PSA) in 1929. In the fall of that year, Bogardus called together professors of sociology in southern California to form a
regional sociological association. The name adopted at this meeting, Pacific Southwest Sociological Association, was changed
in 1931 to the Pacific Sociological Society and the constitution was changed to provide for an enlarged membership that would
extend from southern California to British Columbia. By vote of the membership in 1960, the name of the organization was changed
to the Pacific Sociological Association. The purpose and object of the association is to promote both sociological research
and the teaching of sociology in universities, colleges, community colleges, and high schools in the Pacific area. It accomplishes
its mission by convening an annual meeting and publishing its journal. The Pacific Sociological Review was launched in 1958
with the intent to publish articles presented at the society’s meetings as well as a few manuscripts submitted independently.
In 1983, the journal was renamed Sociological Perspectives.
[Identification of item]. Pacific Sociological Association records, MSS 2006/13. Department of Special Collections and University
Archives, The Library, California State University, Sacramento.
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, Chapter 17 of the U.S. Code. Requests for permission to publish, quote, or reproduce
from collections must be submitted in writing to the Head of the Department of Special Collections and University Archives.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the department of Special Collections and University Archives, The Library,
California State University, Sacramento as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Conditions Governing Access note
Collection is open for research. Some restrictions may apply.
Processed by Reiko Nagumo, 2011. Updated by Lynn Drennan, July 2017.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
The Pacific Sociological Association records were acquired as a gift in 2007.
Collection files begin with PSA history, including a biography of Emory Bogardus. Historical updates appear in 2002, 2004
(publication of the book by Dean Dorn, “75 Years of PSA, 1929-2004”) as well as a “projection” of what PSA will be like in
2029. Files on PSA Constitution and Bylaws (1935-2007) reflect organizational development. Membership grew from 40 in 1935
to almost 1300 by 2006. The composition of the membership shifted from a professorial group to include non-academic sociologists,
graduate and undergraduate students. Geographic boundaries include Hawaii, Alaska and the western Canadian provinces, Pacific
coastal states and several inland states.
A constitutional requirement of the association is that one annual Business meeting for the general membership and two Executive
Council/Advisory Committee meetings be conducted. Minutes from business meeting are on file from 1940 to 2008 and for the
executive group from 1953 to 2008.
PSA activities are driven by committees, both standing and ad hoc. Their reports and proposals are then presented at Executive
and Business meetings for final policy determinations. Examples of active committees include: Audit, Awards for Scholarship
and Teaching, Award for Social Conscience, Committee on Committees, Contract Monitoring, Endowment, Freedom of Research and
Teaching (COFRAT), Membership, Nominations, Publications, Status of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgender persons, Status
of Racial and Ethnic Minorities, and Status of Women. The records from the Committee on the Status of Women includes files
on specific women sociologists who requested that the PSA investigate allegations of discrimination at universities e.g.,
Redlands, Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, U.C. Davis.
Annual Meeting files include a handbook, master calendar, and attendant duties of advertising, local hosting issues, site
selection policies, and annual agendas for the period 1931-2008. Between 1959 and 1962, spring and fall “mailings” were sent
to members announcing the dates, site and call for papers for the meeting. In January 1993 this procedure was replaced by
the first issue of the Pacific Sociologist newsletter (see Publications Committee file). Augmenting the newsletter is the
correspondence file between meeting planners and presenters on a given program. Traditionally, the PSA presidential address
is given at the annual meeting. On file are copies of many addresses from 1930 to 2003 as well as an analysis of each speech.
(See Dean S. Dorn’s “75 Years of the Pacific Sociological Association, 1929-2004”, pages 146-149 for President and title of
speech.) Unfortunately, some speeches were never published, therefore, those copies are unavailable. The collection includes
also audiotapes of some of the speeches.
The financial records in the collection reflect the income and expenses of the PSA from 1935 to 2007 as well as the balance
sheets for their bank accounts.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Dorn, Dean S.
Pacific Sociological Association.
Sociology.