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Taylor (Paul S.) Papers
BANC MSS 84/38 c
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Paul Schuster Taylor Papers,
creator:
Taylor, Paul Schuster, 1895-
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 84/38 c
Physical Description:
128.7 linear feet
22 boxes, 91 cartons, 2 oversize boxes, 8 oversize folders, and 2 oversize volumes
Date (inclusive): 1660-1997
Date (bulk): (bulk 1895-1984)
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Primarily consists of Paul Taylor's professional and academic research and writings, spanning his career from the 1920s to
his death in 1984, but includes a small amount of personal papers. The bulk of the collection concerns Taylor's research in
the field of agriculture, and includes segments on Mexicans in the U.S., migrant workers, the farm worker strikes of the 1930s
and 1960s, water and land policies in California's Central Valley, and the 160 acre irrigation limitation. With the exception
of correspondence, all series contain research materials, which include any material gathered; drafts of books, articles,
and reports; any correspondence concerning projects, and field notes. Taylor's personal papers include genealogical material
for the Schuster and Taylor families and family correspondence, as well as a collection of materials dedicated to the work
of Dorothea Lange after her death in 1965. Also includes a group of materials which reflect Paul Taylor's contribution to
California Democratic politics from 1932 to 1982, particularly his preparation of analyses on agricultural and water policy
issues.
Language of Material: 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], Paul Schuster Taylor papers, BANC MSS 84/38 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Title: Paul Schuster Taylor Photography Collection, ca. 1851-1981,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 1983.219
Title: Paul Schuster Taylor Photographs relating to agricultural strikes in California, 1933,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 1945.007
Title: Dorothea Lange Farm Security Administration Photograph Collection, 1935-45,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 1942.008
Title: Manuel Gamio, Mexican Immigration to the United States, 1926-28,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS Z-R 5
- Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
- Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
- University of California materials have been transferred to University Archives in The Bancroft Library.
- Government Documents have been transferred to the Doe Library.
The Paul Schuster Taylor Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Paul Schuster Taylor beginning in 1945. His professional
library and personal files were bequeathed to The Bancroft Library on April 13, 1984, by his will. A small amount of materials
transferred to The Bancroft Library from the Water Resources Center Archives in 1998 have been added to the collection.
Funding for processing provided in part by a Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), Title III: Networking, Preservation
and Statewide Resource-sharing grant 1994-1996.
Paul Schuster Taylor (1895-1984), an Iowa-born economist, graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1917. He served as
a Marine captain with the Second Division, American Expeditionary Forces in France from 1917 to 1919. At the end of his military
service, he resumed his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received a Masters degree in 1920, and
a Ph.D. in 1922. Joining the Department of Economics immediately after graduation, Taylor remained at the University of California,
Berkeley throughout his career.
As one of the first scholars to study the problems of migrant farm workers, Taylor was asked by the California Emergency Relief
Administration to report on the plight of the Dust Bowl migrants who flocked into California during the Great Depression.
He took a leave from the University to complete the study and persuaded Dorothea Lange, a San Francisco photographer, to join
his study team. His report, illustrated by Lange's moving photographs, persuaded California relief officials to build housing
for migrants and inspired the Franklin Roosevelt administration to provide food, housing, and medical care for Dust Bowl refugees.
Lange and Taylor married in 1935. In 1939, they again collaborated for the book,
An American Exodus, which is generally considered the most moving depiction of the effects of the Depression on rural America.
In 1943, Taylor began a persistent crusade to protect small farmers' rights to federally subsidized water. He argued that
land ownership patterns directly affect the quality of rural life. Small farms create schools, churches, community organizations
and other adjuncts of a healthy society, while large farms create poverty-stricken farm workers. His arguments led to numerous
court decisions which threatened many of the giant farms in California's Central Valley. The rulings generated a successful
lobbying effort that led to the Federal Reclamation Reform Act of 1982.
Paul Taylor's testimony, frequently given before congressional committees, and his many contacts with people in related fields
of endeavor made him a well-known and highly respected scholar. Through varied interests, Taylor became disturbed by the efforts
of large land and water owners in California, as well as in other western states, to prevent the enforcement of the 160-acre
excess land limitation in the Federal reclamation laws. In 1949, his "Central Valley Project: Water and Land" was published
in
The Western Political Quarterly; in it Taylor reviewed the history of irrigation in California and the West, and described efforts made in Congress to break
down reclamation legislation. He followed this article with a second piece in the same journal in 1959, in which he showed
the various ways administrators with the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation were permitting the breakdown
of enforcement of the excess lands provision. As an example of how well Paul Taylor succeeded in setting forth his analysis,
the United States Supreme Court cited his "Excess Land Law: Execution of a Public Policy" in its landmark 8-0 decision upholding
the validity of the 160-acre limitation law (Ivanhoe vs. McCracken, 1958).
During most of the 1960s, Taylor conducted studies of rural community development for the United Nations, Stanford Research
Institute, and the International Cooperation Administration. He acted as a consultant in numerous foreign countries, including
India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, each time recommending solutions to effect change in meeting the land problems of each
country.
During the last twenty years of his life, Dr. Taylor wrote many articles on reclamation law for law school journals. Seventeen
were reprinted in 1979 by
The New York Times Arno Press. In his introduction to the volume, Paul W. Gates, a leading historian of land policy, wrote: "Paul Taylor set
an example for scholars to have the courage of their convictions, to delve deeply into major social and economic questions,
to present their facts no matter how unpopular this may make them with selfserving politicians who play the game of greedy
economic interests attempting to monopolize natural resources made valuable at public expense."
The Conservation Service Award, highest honor of the U.S. Department of the Interior, was presented to Paul Schuster Taylor
on May 30, 1980. Secretary of the Interior, Cecil D. Andrus presented the award and the featured speakers included Cesar Chavez,
president of the United Farm Workers of America. During the presentation, Secretary Andrus stated, "Eight presidents and many
Secretaries of the Interior have heard from Professor Taylor. Some have not gotten the message, despite the fact that it has
always been loud and clear."
Paul Taylor's life work has affected the largest institutions and the common working people. The lives of family farmers and
farm laborers in this and other nations are still being influenced by his understanding of the delicate relationships between
the land and the lives of the people who work it.
| 1895 | Born June 9th in Sioux City, Iowa |
| 1917 | B.A., University of Wisconsin |
| 1917-1919 | U.S. Marine Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, France |
| 1920 | M.A., University of California, Berkeley |
| 1922 | Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley |
| 1922-1962 | Instructor, and later professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1927-1929 | Chief Investigator, research project, Social Science Research Council, Mexican Labor in the United States |
| 1930-1931 | Consultant to National Commission on law observance and enforcement, (Wickersham Committee) studying crime and the foreign-born |
| 1931-1932 | Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship for study in Jalisco, Mexico |
| 1933 | Researcher on self-help cooperatives among unemployed, Social Science Research Council and a Rockefeller Foundation grant to the University of California, Berkeley |
| Consultant, Governor's Fact Finding Committee on the Cotton Strike | |
| 1935 | Field Director, Division of Rural Rehabilitation California State Emergency Relief Administration (CERA) |
| 1935-1943 | President, California Rural Rehabilitation Corporation |
| 1935-1936 | Regional Labor Adviser, U.S. Resettlement Administration |
| 1935-1942 | Member, State Advisory Council, California Department of Employment |
| 1936-1940 | Contributing Editor, Rural Sociology |
| 1936-1941 | Senior Economist, Social Security Board |
| 1939 | Member, Governor's Commission on Reemployment (California) |
| Consultant, United States Senate, Civil Liberties Committee | |
| 1940-1944 | Member, California State Board of Agriculture |
| 1943-1945 | Vice-Chairman, Committee on American Principles and Fair Play |
| 1943-1952 | Consulting economist, Office of Secretary of the Interior on Central Valley project studies |
| 1946-1952 | Consultant, Bureau of Reclamation on Central Valley problems of water distribution and land settlement |
| 1949 | Editorial Board Member, American Quarterly |
| 1950-1951 | Consultant, President's Migratory Labor Committee |
| 1952 | Consultant, Export-Import Bank on Artibonite Valley project, Haiti |
| 1952-1956 | Chairman, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1955-1968 | Consultant, International Cooperation Administration (ICA), later called the Agency for International Development (AID), in Asia, and joint projects with AID and the United Nations, the Ford Foundation, the University of California, and Stanford; also, field studies on Community Development in India, Pakistan and the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela, Jamaica, Colombia, Mexico, Egypt, Iran and Panama. |
| 1956-1962 | Chairman, Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1962 | Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1962-63 | Visiting Professor, Institute of Land Reclamation, University of Alexandria, Egypt |
| 1965 | Doctor of Laws, Boalt Law School, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1970 | Research Director, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO |
| 1971 | Consultant, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO |
| 1972 | Board of Directors, National Coalition for Land Reform |
| 1973 | Legislative Spokesperson, Friends of the Earth |
| 1976 | Land-Water Symposium to Honor Paul Schuster Taylor |
| 1980 | Conservation Service Award |
| 1984 | Died March 13th at his home in Berkeley, Calif. |
| 1895 | Born June 9th in Sioux City, Iowa |
| 1917 | B.A., University of Wisconsin |
| 1917-1919 | U.S. Marine Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, France |
| 1920 | M.A., University of California, Berkeley |
| 1922 | Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley |
| 1922-1962 | Instructor, and later professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1927-1929 | Chief Investigator, research project, Social Science Research Council, Mexican Labor in the United States |
| 1930-1931 | Consultant to National Commission on law observance and enforcement, (Wickersham Committee) studying crime and the foreign-born |
| 1931-1932 | Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship for study in Jalisco, Mexico |
| 1933 | Researcher on self-help cooperatives among unemployed, Social Science Research Council and a Rockefeller Foundation grant to the University of California, Berkeley |
| Consultant, Governor's Fact Finding Committee on the Cotton Strike | |
| 1935 | Field Director, Division of Rural Rehabilitation California State Emergency Relief Administration (CERA) |
| 1935-1943 | President, California Rural Rehabilitation Corporation |
| 1935-1936 | Regional Labor Adviser, U.S. Resettlement Administration |
| 1935-1942 | Member, State Advisory Council, California Department of Employment |
| 1936-1940 | Contributing Editor, Rural Sociology |
| 1936-1941 | Senior Economist, Social Security Board |
| 1939 | Member, Governor's Commission on Reemployment (California) |
| Consultant, United States Senate, Civil Liberties Committee | |
| 1940-1944 | Member, California State Board of Agriculture |
| 1943-1945 | Vice-Chairman, Committee on American Principles and Fair Play |
| 1943-1952 | Consulting economist, Office of Secretary of the Interior on Central Valley project studies |
| 1946-1952 | Consultant, Bureau of Reclamation on Central Valley problems of water distribution and land settlement |
| 1949 | Editorial Board Member, American Quarterly |
| 1950-1951 | Consultant, President's Migratory Labor Committee |
| 1952 | Consultant, Export-Import Bank on Artibonite Valley project, Haiti |
| 1952-1956 | Chairman, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1955-1968 | Consultant, International Cooperation Administration (ICA), later called the Agency for International Development (AID), in Asia, and joint projects with AID and the United Nations, the Ford Foundation, the University of California, and Stanford; also, field studies on Community Development in India, Pakistan and the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela, Jamaica, Colombia, Mexico, Egypt, Iran and Panama. |
| 1956-1962 | Chairman, Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1962 | Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1962-63 | Visiting Professor, Institute of Land Reclamation, University of Alexandria, Egypt |
| 1965 | Doctor of Laws, Boalt Law School, University of California, Berkeley |
| 1970 | Research Director, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO |
| 1971 | Consultant, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO |
| 1972 | Board of Directors, National Coalition for Land Reform |
| 1973 | Legislative Spokesperson, Friends of the Earth |
| 1976 | Land-Water Symposium to Honor Paul Schuster Taylor |
| 1980 | Conservation Service Award |
| 1984 | Died March 13th at his home in Berkeley, Calif. |
The Paul Schuster Taylor Papers primarily consist of Taylor's professional and academic research and writings, spanning his
career from the 1920s to his death in 1984, but include a small amount of personal papers. The bulk of the collection concerns
Taylor's research in the field of agriculture, and includes segments on Mexicans in the United States, migrant workers, the
farm worker strikes of the 1930s and 1960s, water and land policies in California's Central Valley, and the 160 acre irrigation
limitation.
The collection has been divided into eight series, and except for Correspondence and Personal Papers, all contain research
materials. Writings, and Professional Research Projects and Consultant Work contain the bulk of his professional research
files, and include any material gathered; drafts of books, articles, and reports; any correspondence regarding the project;
and his field notes. Taylor relied heavily on personal observation and interviews in conducting his research and for his major
projects there are usually field notes consisting of interviews and notes taken on the road by either himself or his researchers.
Often, as well, there are photographs taken by himself, Dorothea Lange, or others; these have been transferred to the Bancroft's
Pictorial Collections and have been described separately from his papers.
In 1943, Taylor began a crusade to protect the small farmer's right to federally subsidized water. He regularly testified
before senate committees and legislative bodies that land ownership patterns directly affect the quality of rural life. His
belief that small farms contribute to a healthy society while large farms create a mobile, poverty stricken populace with
no roots was persuasive enough to have influenced court decisions which threatened many of the giant farms in California's
Central Valley and led to the Federal Reclamation Reform Act of 1982. This aspect of his career is represented in his consulting
work for the Office of the Secretary of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation (1943-1952).
While most of Taylor's early work was done either in the United States or Mexico, in later years he often worked in Asia or
South America, serving as a consultant for groups such as the United States Agency for International Development (AID), and
the United Nations. A great deal of this work involved community development and land reform in developing countries.
Taylor's personal papers include genealogical material for the Schuster and Taylor families, family correspondence, and a
series of monographs about the family written by Taylor's mother, Rose Schuster Taylor, and his uncle, O.J. Schuster. Also
included with his personal papers is a collection of materials dedicated to the work of Dorothea Lange after her death in
1965. Paul Taylor assumed responsibility for the preservation of her work and established the Dorothea Lange Fellowship at
the University of California, Berkeley.
To further compliment the collection of personal papers, there is a group of materials which reflect Paul Taylor's contribution
to California Democratic party politics over the fifty year period from 1932 to 1982. One particular effort involved California's
U.S. Senatorial Race of 1950, for which Taylor prepared political analyses on agricultural and water policy issues for Helen
Gahagan Douglas and other candidates.
BOOKS AND MONOGRAPHS
The Sailors' Union of the Pacific.
New York:Ronald Press,
1923.
Reprinted by Arno and the New York Times, 1971.
Reprinted by Arno and the New York Times, 1971.
Mexican Labor in the United States.
Vol. I,University of California Press,
1929-1930.
Reprinted by Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1966, as:
1. Imperial Valley, California
2. Valley of the South Platte, Colorado
3. Migration Statistics
4. Racial School Statistics, California, 1927
5. Dimmit County, Winter Garden District, South Texas
Reprinted by Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1966, as:
1. Imperial Valley, California
2. Valley of the South Platte, Colorado
3. Migration Statistics
4. Racial School Statistics, California, 1927
5. Dimmit County, Winter Garden District, South Texas
Mexican Labor in the United States.
Vol. II,University of California Press,
1931-1932.
Reprinted by Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1966, as:
6. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
7. Chicago and the Calumet Region
Reprinted by Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1966, as:
6. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
7. Chicago and the Calumet Region
Mexican Labor in the United States.
Vol. III,University of California Press,
1933.
Reprinted by Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1966, as:
8. Migration Statistics II
9. Migration Statistics III
10. Migration Statistics IV
Reprinted by Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1966, as:
8. Migration Statistics II
9. Migration Statistics III
10. Migration Statistics IV
A Spanish Mexican Peasant Community: Arandas in Jalisco, Mexico.
University of California Press,
1933.
An American-Mexican Frontier.
University of North Carolina Press,
1934.
Reprinted by Russell & Russell, 1971.
Reprinted by Russell & Russell, 1971.
An American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion.
Reynal and Hitchcock,
1939; with Dorothea Lange.
---, new edition, revised and extended,Yale University Press,
1969; sponsored by the Oakland Museum.
Georgia Plan: 1732-1752. Institute of Business and Economic Research-UC, 1972; Photo-offset by Bruning.
On the Ground in the 30s.
Gibbs M. Smith, Inc.,
1983.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Taylor, Paul Schuster, 1895-