Chronology |
| 1832 | Hubert Howe Bancroft is born on May 5 in Granville, Ohio, the son of Azariah Ashley Bancroft and Lucy Howe Bancroft.
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| 1848 | Bancroft leaves school to work in the book store owned by his brother-in-law, George H. Derby, in Buffalo, New York.
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| 1852 | On April 1, Hubert Howe Bancroft arrives in California, as the agent for George H. Derby, selects Sacramento for the book store. Derby dies of cholera on September 15.
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| 1853 | In May, seeking new opportunities, Bancroft leaves San Francisco for Crescent City, where he works as bookkeeper and bookseller.
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| 1855 | Bancroft returns to New York, where his widowed sister lends him the $5,500 he realized from the sale of her husband's books.
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| 1856 | Hubert Howe Bancroft opens a stationery and book business in San Francisco, in partnership with his close friend, George L. Kenny, under the firm name of H. H. Bancroft & Co., with offices in the Naglee Building, near the corner of Montgomery and Merchant Streets.
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| 1860 | Bancroft marries Emily Ketchum, of Buffalo, New York. They have one child, Kate.
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| 1860 | In looking over the reference works assembled for William H. Knight's use in preparing the 1862 Hand-book Almanac for the Pacific States, Bancroft first realizes the potential for book collecting.
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| 1862 | Bancroft visits Europe, including London and Paris booksellers, collects enough books on California and the Pacific coast to fill 12 packing cases.
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| 1866-67 | Bancroft and his wife spend nearly a year and a half in Europe, travelling and collecting more books for the library.
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| 1869 | At the auction of the great Mexican collection formed by José Maria Andrade, Bancroft purchases one-third of the 7,000 lots offered.
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| 1869 | Bancroft's wife, Emily, dies in December.
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| 1870 | The Market Street building is completed in April, and the library transfers to the fifth floor.
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| 1876 | Bancroft buys extensively at the auction of E. G. Squier's Central American collection.
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| 1876 | On October 12, Bancroft marries Matilda Cooley Griffing, of New Haven, Connecticut. They have four children: Paul, Griffing, Philip, and Lucy.
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| 1880 | Bancroft purchases $30,000 worth of Mexican and other Spanish American materials at the José Fernando Ramirez auction in London.
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| 1881 | The Bancroft Library moves into its own building at 1538 Valencia Street.
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| 1886 | The Bancroft Building on Market Street burns on April 30.
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| 1887 | The California State Legislature considers purchase of The Bancroft Library as an addition to the State Library; the issue is again considered and again rejected in 1889.
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| 1892 | A Joint Resolution is introduced in Congress requesting a report on the value of The Bancroft Library and whether it should be purchased for the Library of Congress.
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| 1896 | The New York Public Library considers and declines the purchase of The Bancroft Library.
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| 1898 | In response to a purchase offer, University Librarian Joseph C. Rowell evaluates The Bancroft Library at $116,000.
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| 1905 | Engaged by the Regents of the University of California, Reuben Gold Thwaites evaluates The Bancroft Library as worth at least $315,000.
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| 1905 | The Regents purchase The Bancroft Library on November 25 for $250,000, with Hubert Howe Bancroft making a gift of $100,000 of the purchase price.
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| 1906 | In May the library is moved to campus, with quarters on the fourth floor of California Hall. Frederick J. Teggart, Librarian of the Mechanics Institute, supervises the move and becomes honorary custodian, then curator (1906-1916). The Bancroft Library Commission takes charge of the library, beginning September 1906.
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| 1907 | Report of the Commission on the Future Organization, Maintenance, and Regulation of The Bancroft Library" is accepted by the Regents on September 20.
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| 1907 | The Academy of Pacific Coast History is formed to support and promote the library's affairs.
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| 1911 | The Bancroft Library moves from its attic quarters in California Hall to a room on the first floor of the new university library building, named for its benefactor, Charles Franklin Doe.
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| 1916 | Frederick J. Teggart resigns as curator of The Bancroft Library.
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| 1916 | Professor Herbert Eugene Bolton, historian of California and the Southwest, appointed curator.
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| 1918 | Hubert Howe Bancroft dies on March 2.
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| 1919 | Professor Henry Morse Stephens dies on April 16. The Academy of Pacific Coast History dissolves.
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| 1920 | Herbert Eugene Bolton becomes the first director of The Bancroft Library.
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| 1922 | The Bancroft Library relocates from the first to the fourth floor of Doe Library.
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| 1940 | Herbert Ingram Priestley becomes director. He came as associate curator in 1912 and had become librarian in 1920.
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| 1944 | Priestley dies. Bolton returns as acting director.
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| 1943 | University vice-president, Monroe E. Deutsch, chairman, presents the "Report of the Administrative Committee on Bancroft Library to the President," November 29.
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| 1945 | The Bancroft Library is placed under the direction of the General Library.
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| 1946 | George P. Hammond becomes director of The Bancroft Library on July 1.
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| 1946 | At a luncheon meeting on August 1, the Friends of The Bancroft Library is organized.
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| 1947 | Roscoe R. Hill, a senior staff member of the National Archives and a noted Latin Americanist, surveys the library and reports his recommendations.
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| 1948 | First Friends' keepsake is published: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February Second 1848, edited by George P. Hammond.
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| 1950 | The Bancroft Library moves into the newly constructed Annex to Doe Library.
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| 1950 | First issue of Bancroftiana appears.
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| 1953 | Herbert Eugene Bolton dies on January 30.
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| 1954-55 | Professor Lawrence Kinnaird is acting director from September 1954 until March 1955 while Director Hammond is on sabbatical leave.
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| 1960-61 | James D. Hart is acting director of The Bancroft Library while Director Hammond is on sabbatical leave.
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| 1962 | Custody of the University Archives is transferred to The Bancroft Library on October 1. The transfer was then formalized on July 1, 1963.
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| 1963 | James M. Cline presents "A Report on The Bancroft Library" on May 27, addressing several problematic areas of Bancroft collection policy and library administration.
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| 1963 | The Bancroft Library purchases the Robert B. Honeyman, Jr., Collection of Western American Art.
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| 1965 | Director George P. Hammond retires.
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| 1965 | A. Hunter Dupree is appointed director of The Bancroft Library on July 1.
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| 1965 | The Regional Oral History Office transfers to The Bancroft Library on July 1.
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| 1966 | Professor Dupree resigns as director in January. University Librarian Donald Coney is appointed acting director in February.
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| 1969 | Herman W. Liebert, director of the Beinecke Library at Yale, presents his recommendation for the merger of the Rare Books and Special Collections Department with The Bancroft Library.
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| 1970 | James D. Hart becomes director of The Bancroft Library on January 1.
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| 1970 | The Rare Books and Special Collections Department of Doe Library is transferred to The Bancroft Library.
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| 1970 | Mark Twain Papers become part of The Bancroft Library.
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| 1972 | The Bancroft Library moves into temporary quarters on the first floor of the library annex during the remodeling of its reading room and work areas.
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| 1973 | The Edward Hellman Heller Reading Room, centerpiece of a remodeled and expanded research facility, is dedicated on May 6.
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| 1973 | The History of Science and Technology Program is formally established on July 1.
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| 1990 | Director James D. Hart dies. Peter E. Hanff is appointed interim director, then acting director in 1992.
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| 1993 | Director Emeritus George P. Hammond dies on December 5.
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| 1995 | Charles B. Faulhaber assumes the position of James D. Hart Director of The Bancroft Library.
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| 1996 | The Bancroft Library acquires 61 volumes of original manuscripts containing records of the Mexican Inquisition.
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| 1997 | Michael Harrison Receives the initial Hubert Howe Bancroft Award, presented by the Friends of The Bancroft Library for significant achievements in support of historical research and scholarship and in the preservation of ephemera and memorabilia.
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| 1998 | With a gift from Stephen M. Silberstein, the University of California Berkeley Library and The Bancroft Library began an ambitious program to document The Free Speech Movement Archives are established to document the role of Mario Savio and other participants in the Free Speech Movement - a legacy that can still be traced in political activism and educational reform throughout the country. The Free Speech Movement project, in operation since July 1998, has established a comprehensive database, from which text and images of original documents are available online.
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| 1999 | Jean Stone, Philanthropist, receives the second Hubert Howe Bancroft Award.
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| 2000 | James S. Holliday, Historian and Author, is awarded the third Hubert Howe Bancroft Award.
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| 2001 | The Bancroft Library acquires the papers of Pulitzer Prize-wining poet, Gwendolyn Brooks.
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| 2001 | The Mark Twain Papers Project edits and published the authoritative text of Huckleberry Finn.
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| 2001 | Willa Baum, Oral Historian and former director of the Regional Oral History Office receives the fourth Hubert Howe Bancroft Award.
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| 2002 | John L. Heilbron, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of History, UC Berkeley, is presented the fifth Hubert Howe Bancroft Award.
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