The collection is organized into four series: Personal papers, including correspondence focusing on Ottley's literary and political interests; Articles and speeches, comprised of approximately thirty typescripts; Publications, documenting all phases of the production of John A. Sutter, Jr.: statement regarding early California experiences; and Research materials, consisting of notes and documents accumulated for an unpublished work on California water transportation.

Allan Ottley was born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1909 but has been a resident of Califonia since he was 13. He graduated from Santa Barbara High School and Santa Barbara State College and completed library school in Riverside. He worked in the Humboldt County Library and the Sacramento City Library and, after serving with the Navy in the South pacific, began his long association with the California Section of the California State Library. Mr. Ottley has been active in many professional, cultural and civic organizations throughout his life. He served on several committees of the California Library Association; is a founding member and past-president of both the Sacramento Book Collectors Club and the Sacramento County Historical Society; and was appointed by Governor Pat Brown to serve on the Civil War Centennial Commission, the California History Commission and the California Heritage Preservation Commission. His publications include: John A. Sutter, Jr.: statement regarding early California experiences, John A. Sutter's last days, and other publications for the Sacramento Book Collectors Club; and Sidewalk history: pioneer sites of Old Sacramento for the Sacramento City Historic Landmarks Commission, as well as numerous articles for such journals as the California historian, Steamboat bill of facts, Proceedings of the Conference of California Historical Societies, the Far Westerner of the Stockton Corral of Westerners, the National republic, and the quarterly newsletter of the Book Club of California. A noted speaker, Ottley has made many appearnaces at local historical groups and has lectured at several California universities.

Please credit California State Library.

Unrestricted.