Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Guide to the Adrien Joseph Falk Papers, [ca. 1973-1971]
BANC MSS 72/39 c
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Collection Title: Adrien Joseph Falk Papers,
Date (inclusive): [ca. 1973-1971]
Collection Number: BANC MSS 72/39 c
Creator: Falk, Adrien Joseph, 1884-1971
Extent:
Number of containers: 10 boxes, 1 carton, 2 v. and 1 oversize folder
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Materials relating primarily to Falk's civic activities. Includes letters written to him, many of them from prominent men
in San Francisco and in the State; copies of some letters written by him; biographical sketches; personalia; awards and citations;
photographs; clippings; speeches; and subject files, including material on Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
Languages Represented:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Adrien Joseph Falk papers, BANC MSS 72/39 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
The Adrien J. Falk papers were given to The Bancroft Library in August 1971 by his widow, Mrs. Belle Falk. The collection
is not an extensive one since Mr. Falk obviously did not systematically save his papers. What was saved reflects what he regarded
as the highlights of his career and the activities of which he was justifiably proud. The papers, housed in ten boxes, one
carton, two volumes and one oversize portfolio, consist of letters written to him, many of them from prominent men in the
city and state; copies of some letters written by him; biographical sketches; personalia; awards and citations; photographs;
clippings; speeches; and subject files relating to various causes and to organizations with which he was associated, particularly
BART. In general the papers relate to his civic activities rather than to his business career. They are described in greater
detail in the Key to Arrangement.
Adrien J. Falk was born December 9, 1884 in San Francisco. After attending John Swett Grammar School and completing one year
at Lowell High School, he left school to take a job as errand boy for a liquor wholesaler. In 1905 he found employment with
the wholesale grocery firm of Sussman, Wormser and Company, as S & W was then known, as a billing clerk. He became, in turn,
assistant bookkeeper, cashier, credit manager, officer manager, secretary, sales manager, general manager, director, vice-president
(in 1930) and president (in 1946). During this period he saw the transition of S & W from a small wholesale grocery business
to a leading packer and distributor of canned foods. Retiring from the presidency in 1956, he continued to serve the Company
as a consultant.
Mr. Falk continued his interrupted education with classes at the University of California Extension Division, specializing
in accounting, business law and office management, and public speaking. He received an honorary doctorate of laws from the
University of San Francisco in 1953, and served as a Regents Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of California,
Berkeley, in 1958.
Strongly imbued with a sense of civic responsibility, he had an active career in public service also. Even a partial list
of activities in this field testifies to his efforts: president of the San Francisco and the California State Chambers of
Commerce; president and member of the San Francisco Board of Education; president of the San Francisco Community Chest; president
of the San Francisco Board of Trade; chairman of the Conference for the Problems of the Aging (1951); member of the Board
of Governors, Bay Area Council; member of the Advisory Council on Social Security for the U. S. Senate Finance Committee;
and president of the Mount Zion Hospital. His long and distinguished career was climaxed by his service as director and president
of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, a public service he embarked upon in 1957 at the age of 73.
He received many honors, among them a distinguished service award from the Bay Area Council; the Robert C. Kirkwood Award
for significant contribution to the community life of Northern California; and the Urban Transportation Award, presented by
the Second International Conference on Urban Transportation. For his many contributions to community welfare, the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors proclaimed January 17, 1970, "Adrien J. Falk Day."
Mr. Falk died in San Francisco, April 14, 1971.