Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-12
ACADEMY OF HISTORY PLAN
OF STATE UNIVERSITY
BANCROFT COLLECTION FORMS
NUCLEUS
New Organization Formed to Raise
Value of Records cf Coast Stored
in Berkeley by Increasing
Accessibility

BERKELEY, Oct u-A new addition
has been made to the department of
agriculture In the person of Leroy Ander-
son. at present head of the CALIFORNIA
Polytechnic school located at San Luis
ObispoA Professor Anderson was ap-
pointed this afternoon upon motion OF
President Wheeler at the meeting of the
board of regents held in San Francisco.
The new appointment will take effect
November the first.
Professor Anderson's title will be that
of professor of agricultural practice and
director of the farm school, while Pro-
fessor Wicksons will be that of professor
of agriculture. Leroy Anderson grad
uated from Cornell university in 1896. and
took his doctors degree from the same
university in 1902. He became instructor
in dairy husbandry at the University of
California in 1900. In 1902 he became
director of the California Polytechnic
school at San Luis Obispo. and has for
the last five years held that important
post.
Under his direction the San Luis
-Obispo school has grown and proved in
every way a success. The addition or
Professor Anderson is looked upon as the
beginning of an era of increased useful
ness for the department Of agriculture
under the direction of Director Wickson.
Stephens ls Head
The University of California has come
into possession of the largest mass of
historical material dealing with the his
tory of the west coast of America that
there is In existence anywhere in the
| world. The regents of the university
have handed over the control and ad-
ministration of the books and manu-
scripts collected by H. H. Bancroft, and
|
gether with such other historical material
as they already have or which may come
into their possession to the council of the
academy Of Pacific coast history.
This new organization, at whose head
| is Professor H. Morse Stephens of the
department of history of the university,
is to do for San Francisco and the
Pacific coast what the academy of natur-
| al sciences and other organizations have
done for science during the past years.
From Mexico and British Columbia, as
well as from California, Oregon and
| Washington men have come to support
the foundation of the new academy of
history.
| Every small state of Europe is in
possession of its historical academy for
| the purpose of taking care of the sources
| of it's history and making them avail
able to scholars and historians. The
eastern states are proud to maintain his
torical societies to cherish the memory
of colonial days. But there has been up
70 this year no organized effort to bind
together the whole Of historical research
for the northwest Pacific coast.
The conviction that the history of Cal
| ifornia is bound UP with that of Mexico
and Oregon and Washington and further
north to British Columbia has led to the
| foundation Of the academy of the Pacific
coast history which adopts as its field
| the whole coast from Alaska to Panama.
This scope is immense. 1t regards liter
airy history and economic history as much
within - bounds as political history
and it aims to aid all workers In the
field of history on the northwestern
Pacific coast.
Progress Slow
Most historical societies spend years in
slowly building up collections of histor-
ical material, but it is otherwise with the
| academy of Pacific coast history which
has an endowment of historical material
in its special field that is not possessed
by any other body of historical scholars
In the United States since 1t is not toe
much to say that 1t Is the greatest col
lection of manuscripts in the United
States outside of the library OF congress
at Washington.
The wealth of the Bancroft collection
is marvellous. 1t not only contains the
various collections Of manuscripts, which
go under the name of the Vallejo manu-
scripts the Larlkin manuscripts, etc.
which specially pertain to the history Of
California but II is also rich In Mexican
and Central American manuscripts from
4 the famous Andrade and Squier libraries
including the original proceedings OF ths