The records of the Department of Savings and Loan consist of 23 cubic feet of textual records and are divided into two subgroups: the records of the San Francisco Office and the records of the Los Angeles Office.

Origins of the Department of Savings and Loan can be traced to the creation of the Board of Commissioners of Building and Loan Associations (Statutes of 1893, Chapter 188). The board became a bureau (Statutes of 1905, Chapter 504) and then a Division of the Department of Investment in 1929, a federation of five independent divisions (Statutes of 1929, Chapter 277). In 1943, building and loan associations were granted permission to use the designation savings and loan in their corporate name (Statutes of 1943, Chapter 209). By 1953, savings and loan had become the official designation for the Division, the Commissioner, and laws governing the savings and loan industry (Statutes of 1953, Chapter 641). The Division of Savings and Loan, along with the Department of Investment, became a unit of the Business and Commerce Agency by executive order in 1961. According to legislation passed in 1969, the Savings and Loan Division became a department; the Department of Investment ceased to exist; and divisions once supervised by the Business and Commerce Agency were absorbed into the newly designated Business and Transportation Agency (Statutes of 1969, Chapter 138). Nine business regulatory departments, including the Department of Savings and Loan, constituted one of two functionally related groups in the Business and Transportation Agency; the second group was transportation-oriented and contained three departments.

For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives collections.

While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.