(Rawls), August 21, 2003 This lecture followed Hiram Johnson’s 1910 campaign for Governor of California and centered on his condemnation of the entrenched power of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Johnson’s surprising victory and dynamic leadership produced an astonishing array of reforms, described by Theodore Roosevelt as “the most comprehensive program of constructive legislation ever passed at one session of any American legislature.” Not least among his legacies has been the role of the initiative as a means for voters to propose statutes and even constitutional amendments, a reform that remains a powerful influence in modern California politics.

(Holiday), August 14, 2003 This presentation recalled the daring, innovative engineering methods of Henry J. Kaiser and his major role in constructing the massive projects that reshaped California and the West including Hoover and Parker dams on the Colorado River; the San Francisco Bay Bridge; and the Bonneville, Grand Coulee, and Shasta dams. During World War II, Kaiser’s shipyards launched more cargo ships than any such enterprise in history—in 1943 one “Liberty Ship” every ten hours. After the war, he challenged Detroit with his automobile production, and his health care program—Kaiser Permanente—pioneered prepaid medical insurance, a forecast for modern HMO’s.

(Rawls), August 7, 2003 This lecture examined the story of California’s development and use of its water resources, including how giant construction projects, conceived by daring, innovative engineers (backed by public support) created water delivery systems for the state’s urban and agricultural growth: the Owens Valley aqueduct for Los Angeles, 1908-1913; the Hetch Hetchy aqueduct for San Francisco 1913-1929; the Colorado River aqueduct for Southern California, 1922-1935; and the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, 1933-1960s.

This talk traced the career of Hubert Howe Bancroft, following his success as a pioneer publisher-bookseller in San Francisco. In 1859 Bancroft began collecting books, journals, maps, and documents that recorded the history of California and the western states and territories. By 1905, when he sold his library to the University of California, Bancroft’s astonishing collection—including government and church archives—encompassed the region from Alaska to Panama. During the almost 100 years since that fortunate purchase, The Bancroft Library has expanded in size and focus to become not only the foremost resource for the study of California and Western American history, but as well one of the greatest research libraries in the world—thanks to the imaginative, often risk-taking leadership of its four Directors. Yes, only four in nearly 100 years, 1905-2005: Herbert E. Bolton, George P. Hammond, James D. Hart, and the present Director, Charles B. Faulhaber.