Bancroftiana, Number 117 Fall 2000: Cal Day and the Friends Annual Meeting

Cal Day and the Friends Annual Meeting

On April 15, 2000, members and guests enjoyed the fifty-third annual meeting of the Friends of the Bancroft Library in the Heller Reading Room. Festivities began with refreshments and a viewing of the current exhibition, "Looking Backward, Looking Forward: Visions of the Future of the Golden State," presented by Theresa Salazar, Curator of the Bancroft Collection of Western Americana. To host this meeting, the Bancroft staff and caterers transformed the Heller Reading Room into a banquet hall, where some seventy-five guests feasted on a wonderful lunch.

Following the luncheon, Charles Faulhaber, The James D. Hart Director of The Bancroft Library, noted that in the previous year Bancroft welcomed almost 14,000 separate research visits, with over 40% of these visits from Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students. He also reported on the continued growth of the collections, with the addition of over 7,000 books, approximately 34,000 pictorial items, mostly photographs, and more than 500 linear feet of new manuscript collections. The Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) completed 118 oral histories, including that of San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. The Mark Twain Project continues to work on the new edition of Huckleberry Finn as well as on Volume 6 of Mark Twain's letters. The announcement that the National Endowment for the Humanities has agreed to continue to fund the project for the next two years was acknowledged as a great tribute to the work of the Mark Twain Papers and Project. In fact, the Project has received continuous NEH support since 1967—a record that can be matched by no other project in the country.

Jim Kantor, David Flinn, Russell Ellis, and Tony Bliss.

Charles Faulhaber also reported on seven other grant projects, ranging from the Digital Scriptorium, a project that supports work with medieval manuscripts; to the cataloguing of 500,000 negatives in the photographic morgue of the San Francisco Call-Bulletin; to the digitization of the complete Honeyman Collection of Western Art, which is now available on the web. The Bancroft continues to expand its teaching and instruction programs, and last fall the Digital Scriptorium served as the basis of a graduate seminar in Medieval Studies, taught jointly by Berkeley and Columbia faculty by teleconference. The digitized images on the web made it possible for students in both institutions to work with the manuscripts inside and outside of class.

To solicit ongoing advice and counsel from faculty members for these and other initiatives, The Bancroft Library has created nine advisory committees—each one with four faculty members, a graduate student, and an undergraduate student. These groups are hard at work exploring ways to assist the Bancroft in our research and teaching missions, and based upon their recommendation, the Bancroft is now open until 6:00p.m. Monday–Thursday, until 5:00p.m. on Friday, and 1:00–5:00p.m. on Saturday during the school year.

The Director highlighted three significant personnel changes in the Library this year. The Bancroft welcomed a new Curator of the Bancroft Collection of Western Americana, Theresa Salazar, who arrived last summer from the University of Arizona. He also introduced the new Coordinator of Research and Instruction, Bill Brown, former assistant university librarian for administrative services and special collections at the University of Miami. The Library also marked the early retirement of Tim Hoyer, Head of Technical Services, and one of the persons most responsible for our success with extramural grants. A national search is now underway for his replacement.

Improvements to the infrastructure of the building were noted, and the staff of the Technical Service Unit is now located on one floor, greatly improving library operations. Thanks to generous gifts from two long-time Bancroft supporters, a contract is now in place with San Francisco architect Mark Cavagnero, who was responsible for the renovation of the Palace of the Legion of Honor, to conduct a space requirements study. This is the first step in what will eventually lead to a complete renovation of the library itself.

Rita Fink and Bancroft Curator Theresa Salazar enjoy the Friends' luncheon.

The Director reported on library development efforts, joining with Ann Flinn, Chair of the Friends of The Bancroft Library, to point out that most of Bancroft's acquisitions budget comes from private giving, either through current donations or in the form of endowment income.

The Director echoed Ann Flinn's comments that the primary purpose of the Friends is to provide financial support for Bancroft. Charles noted that each and every day opportunities for fabulous acquisitions occur and The Bancroft Library could simply not consider these opportunities without gifts and endowment support. The audience welcomed the publication announcement for the Friends newest keepsake, number 45 in the series, selected and edited by Stephen Vincent, Uncertain Country: The Wingate Letters, San California —Meriden, New Hampshire, 1851– 1854.

Charles Faulhaber presented three awards. A special presentation was made to George Miller, who for two years has served as a volunteer to help process manuscript collections in the areas of water use and environmental history. George Miller also provided funds for the archivist to supervise his volunteer efforts. In his proposal to provide financial support George noted that "I can't afford to give an endowed chair, but I think I can manage a table." In recognition of his generous support, a plaque will be affixed to a reading room table identifying this furniture as: "THE GEORGE MILLER TABLE 2000."

The presentation of the second Hill- Shumate Prize, an award for student book collecting followed. Two long-time Bancroft supporters and bibliophiles, Ken Hill of San Diego and the late Dr. Al Shumate of San Francisco, support the award. This year's recipient is Sean Nye. Sean, a junior who spent a year as an exchange student in Gemany during high school and also studied for two years at the University of Glasgow, fell in love with Scottish literature from the 18th century onward. While in Scotland he diligently collected signed copies of contemporary Scottish authors. His collection is noteworthy for its focus and quality.

Sean Nye, recipient of the Hill-Shumate Prize.

The third and final award ceremony centered on the presentation of the prestigious Hubert Howe Bancroft Award. Dr. J. S. Holliday, this year's recipient, was recognized for his many historical and literary accomplishments and for his distinguished leadership of cultural and historical institutions, including The Bancroft Library. Previous recipients include the western collector extraordinaire Michael Harrison of Sacramento, still going strong at the age of 102; and Jean Stone, the widow of Irving Stone, for her extraordinary commitment to the teaching and popularization of history and her generosity to the University of California and to The Bancroft Library.

At the conclusion of the Business Meeting, members and guests traveled next door to Wheeler Auditorium, to enjoy a panel presentation, "California Literature in the Twenty First Century," moderated by Richard Krasny of KQED. Panelists included three noted California authors, Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Rodriguez, and Al Young. In his introductory remarks, Charles Faulhaber noted, "This year marks the 150th anniversary of California statehood. Bancroft has marked that anniversary with an exhibition, "Looking Backward Looking Forward: Visions of the Future of the Golden State." The theme of today's panel discussion, "California Literature in the 21st Century," arose from a similar consideration. As we face the new millenium, (we're not there yet, folks), the face of California, literally, is changing. When the results of the new census are published, they will show that California no longer has an ethnic nor racial majority, that is, no single racial or ethnic group has more than 50% of the population. And that raised some questions, in my mind at least: "What does it mean to write serious literature in and for such a state? What shared experiences or values or beliefs can writers assume that readers will have?" I can think of no better group than the members of the present panel to reflect on these questions and their implications. They are themselves quintessentially Californian. Two of them were born here, of immigrant parents; two of them came here as adults.

Al Young, Richard Rodriguez, and Maxine Hong Kingston discuss California literature at the Cal Day presentation.

The panelists engaged in a spirited discussion on California literature, past, present, and future. With his comments and questions, moderator Michael Krasny challenged the panelists to envision the substance and style of California literature in our post-industrial society. Maxine Hong Kingston described a "global literature" arising in California, where her students were creating a "new language" borne of the many nationalities, languages, and dialects that populate our state. Richard Rodriguez noted the irony that in California "everything is here for the taking" yet there exists in a complex society the search for simplicity and a danger in the creation of "private languages" that belong only to select ethnic, religious, and cultural groups. Al Young noted that California has always been "many places to many people" and a source for overnight riches, whether from the discovery of gold, or the profits of such industries as aerospace, oil, films, and computer technology. Michael Krasny also led the panelists in a consideration of the "many different Californias" including the mythical California created by the eastern establishment. California continues to be recognized as a place and a source of great literature and still continues to confound those "experts" who wish to categorize this work with simple clichés.

—Bill Brown
Research and Instruction