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Guide to the Lorenzo Gordin Yates Papers, 1852-1906
BANC MSS C-B 472
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Lorenzo Gordin Yates Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1852-1906
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 472
Creator: Yates, Lorenzo Gordin, 1837-1909
Extent:
Number of containers: 3 boxes, 1 carton, 1 oversize volume, 1 oversize folder
Linear feet: 2.5
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: Letters written to him and by him; diary, 1871 and 1882; subject files with manuscripts of his writings, related notes and
other material; catalogues of his shell and fossil collections; scrapbook of clippings and unmounted clippings of his articles.
Relate primarily to his study of conchology, paleontology, mineralogy, flora, fauna, and other aspects of natural history
and to his interest in the islands off the costs of Santa Barbara, California.
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], Lorenzo Gordin Yates papers, BANC MSS C-B 472, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Photographs and drawings have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections.
Yates' papers were given to The Bancroft Library in 1952 and 1954 by Elizabeth Mason and Charles L. Camp with additions in
1964 from M. C. Richter. They consist of incoming and outgoing letters; a diary, 1871 and 1872; subject files containing manuscripts
of his writings and related notes; catalogues of his shell and fossil collections; and clippings, relating to his many scientific
interests. Photographs and drawings have been removed to the Library's Pictorial Collections for separate indexing. The Key
to Arrangement which follows describes the collection in greater detail.
Lorenzo Gordin Yates was born in England in 1837 and came to the United States when he was fourteen years old. He studied
medicine and dentistry in the east and moved to Centerville, California, about 1864 where he continued his career as a dentist.
He moved to Santa Barbara in 1882 and died there in 1909.
Interest from early childhood in collecting shells and fossils resulted in a lifelong study of numerous aspects of natural
history. He became an expert on conchology, minerology, paleontology, North American Indians, flora, fauna, etc., and wrote
and lectured extensively about these and related subjects, including the islands off the coast of Santa Barbara. In addition,
he compiled valuable collections of ferns, shells, fossils, minerals, prehistoric relics, Indian artifacts, etc.
Yates was president of the Santa Barbara Society of Natural History, secretary of the Board of Horticultural Commissioners
of Santa Barbara County, and president of the Santa Barbara Chapter of the Agassiz Association. He was a fellow of the Linnaean
Society of London, an associate member of the Victoria Institute of London, and an honorary member of many other scientific
organizations.