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Register of the Wood California State Landmarks Advisory Committee Papers, 1965-1976
Mss151  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administrative Information
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Wood California State Landmarks Advisory Committee Papers,
    Date (inclusive): 1965-1976
    Collection number: Mss151
    Creator: Richard Coke Wood
    Extent: 3.5 linear ft.
    Repository: University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
    Stockton, CA 95211
    Shelf location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
    Language: English.

    Administrative Information

    Access

    Collection is open for research.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Wood California State Landmarks Advisory Committee Papers, Mss151, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

    Biography

    Richard Coke Wood (1905-1979) was a professor of California History at the University of Pacific in Stockton, Calif. (1950-1976). During those years he published several works on the history of the southern Motherlode, including Calaveras,The Land of Skulls (1955) and Murphys, Queen of the Sierra (1968). Wood also published a college textbook: CaliforniaHistory (1963). In 1965 he was first named to the California State Landmarks Advisory Committee by Gov. Edmund G. Brown. He was later reappointed by Gov. Ronald Reagan. Wood served as a member of the Commission through 1976.
    Commission members served without compensation for terms of four years. They were empowered to conduct a state-wide inventory of historic sites, including State Historical Landmarks, National Register items, and Points of Historical Interest. They were to review applications for various types of historic landmark status, to recommend the attributes necessary for achieving landmark status, and to recommend to the Dept. the type of plaque and descriptive wording to be used in marking historic sites. They were expected to review and recommend state-wide history plans to the Dept. of Parks and Recreation. The Commission was also charged with maintaining a record of all archeological sites in California.

    Scope and Content

    Wood's committee papers consist principally of applications by various site sponsors for placement of their sites on the National Register of Historic Places. They are of particular interest in that they contain background and detailed research information about little-known buildings and locales. The papers also include applications for Registered California Landmark and Point of Historical Interest status, as well as minutes and agendas, policy and procedural information, and correspondence relating to the activities of the State Landmarks Advisory Committee.