Collection Guide
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Guide to the Henry Washburn Photographs and Scrapbooks
MS 31
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Table of contents
Title: Henry Washburn photographs and scrapbooks
Dates: 1917-1952
Collection number: MS 31
Creator:
Washburn, Henry L.
Collection Size:
7 boxes
Repository:
University of California, Santa Cruz. University Library.
Special Collections and Archives
Santa Cruz, California 95064
Abstract: This collection contains Henry Washburn's photographs of the 1938 Watsonville flood, High School Forestry classes and Farm
Bureau activities. Also included are five scrapbooks of newspaper clippings documenting farming activities in Santa Cruz County.
Physical location: Stored in Special Collections & Archives: Advance notice is required for access to the papers.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permission to publish or to reproduce the material, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Henry Washburn photographs and scrapbooks. MS 31. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of
California, Santa Cruz.
Gift of Viola Washburn.
Henry Lord Washburn was born in San Jose on December 19, 1889, the son of Arthur H. and Jessica T. (Thompson) Washburn. His
father was a sturdy pioneer who first came from New York to California around the Horn, but returned to the East after a few
years. In 1860, however, he came back to the Pacific coast, and for some time he was the owner and the principal of Washburn
school, San Jose, famous in its day as a private preparatory school. Mrs. Washburn was the first woman graduate of Stanford.
Educated first in the Washburn School, Henry L. Washburn spent two years at Stanford and then went for two years to the University
of California. He eventually graduated from the in 1915 College of Agriculture, and received the coveted degree of Bachelor
of Science. For eight months after graduation, Mr. Washburn was superintendent of George Hewlett's dairy and stock ranch at
Hollister, and after that he was foreman in charge of the one thousand eight hundred acres being planted at Atascadero, in
San Luis Obispo County, serving the new colony for a year. His next engagement was as Santa Cruz County's first farm advisor
with the University of California Extension Service, a position he held for more than thirty years.
On January 20, 1917, Mr. Washburn married Miss Almada Card, a native of San Francisco, and their wedding was celebrated in
San Francisco. Two daughters, Evelyn Dorothy and Nancy J. were born of the union. His second wife was Viola M. Washburn.
Henry Washburn initiated soil conservation activities in the Santa Cruz area in 1920s and also started the Christmas tree
farming project in the area. He worked with 4-H clubs and helped establish the poultry industry in this area. An expert on
soils, he introduced the values of shallow cultivation and established egg laying contests that became state wide events.
He was prominently identified with the introduction of tank mix sprays in the early 1930s and was closely associated with
the establishment of the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau.
In the 1920s he also helped organize minute-man squads to fight forest fires. As a conservationist, Washburn worked at preserving
the area's natural resources. He conducted forest tours and attended hundreds of meetings showing his slides and giving talks
on respecting natural resources. He and his second wife Viola, won awards for their movies of nature subjects. Their series
on "Let's Take a Walk Along a Brook", and "The Desert" won great recognition.
Henry L. Washburn died in July 1972 at the age of 82. Surviving him was his wife, Viola Washburn of Santa Cruz, a daughter,
Mrs. Nancy Bolt of Mill Valley and five grandchildren.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection contains Washburn's photographs of the 1938 Watsonville flood, High School Forestry classes and Farm Bureau
activities. Also included are five scrapbooks of newspaper clippings documenting farming activities in Santa Cruz County.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Washburn, Henry L. (Henry Lord)--Archives
Floods--California--Watsonville--Pictorial works
Floods--California--Pajaro River--Pictorial works
Agriculture--California--Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau (Calif.)