Local History @ Fresno State Library

The Academy Records 1935-2000 (3 linear feet). Meeting minutes, correspondence and topical papers of prominent Fresnans who belonged to The Academy, the discussion group Thomas Risley founded in 1935. To access the papers presented by members of The Academy online click here.

George and Maia Ballis Papers (18.5 linear feet). Papers of the local husband and wife activists and artists for social justice and renewable energy and agriculture. Consists of photographs, slides, negatives, journals, videos, and poetry.

Orlando Bartholomew collection Material relating to the early 20th Century mountaineer and stream-gauger.

Christopher Beaver collection 2001-2013 (ca. 5 TB). Documentaries and supporting information about the San Joaquin River and other Central Valley features.

Galen Beery collection 1970-1972 (2.31 GB). Photographs taken by a volunteer for International Voluntary Services (IVS) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) documenting the Secret War in Laos which displaced the Hmong people living there.

Vernon Brooks Papers 1912-1985 (5 linear inches). Material relating to the Baptist Auberry Mission Church on Mono Indian property.

Berge Bulbulian Papers Papers of a local writer and activist, who was involved in the National Land for People organization and an editorial writer for the Fresno Bee.

Britto Duck Club collection 2017 (3.57 GB). Oral histories detailing the history of the Britto Duck Club near Los Banos.

Burnett and Maxwell Family's Papers 1895-2004 (2 linear feet). Personal papers and photographs of two historical families from Fresno, California. Materials include photographs of family members, friends, and Fresno residents; pamphlets from a former foreman of Pacific Gas and Electric; and writings on Firebaugh family history by Brenda Burnett-Preston.

California Tree Fruit Agreement collection 1930-2006 (35.5 linear feet). Reports and marketing materials related to tree fruit growing in California.

Lloyd Carter Papers (80 linear feet). Papers of the former United Press International (UPI) and Fresno Bee reporter, President of the California Save Our Streams Council, and agriculture, laber and water issues activist.

Central California War Veterans Oral History collection 2010. Interviews conducted by Fresno State students with Valley veterans from World War II through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Central Lumber Company Records (20 linear feet). Business records of an early lumber company in the formative years of Hanford, California, 1896-1971.

Central Valley Agricultural Crop Reports for the Madera, Tulare, Fresno, and Kings counties collection 1943-2011 (1.28 linear feet).

Central Valley Cookbook collection 1960-2011 (1.6 linear feet). Cookbooks, both published and unpublished, written by local authors and organizations and detailing local recipes.

Robert Chittenden collection 1893-1934 (7.5 linear inches). Photographs, correspondence and case files pertaining to crimes committed in Fresno County from 1907-1910, when Robert Chittenden served as sheriff.

Community Alliance collection 1996-2025 (4.68 GB). Collection of the Valley’s longest running progressive newspaper.

Tony Coelho Oral History collection 2005-2007 (49.9 GB). A series of oral histories with the former Congressperson, House Majority Whip and Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Coelho was notably the primary sponsor for the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Lawrence Cone Papers 1913-1983 (2.25 linear feet and 1,136 architectural drawings). Fresno’s first Armenian architect, Cone (born Condrajian in Istanbul) designed many private residences, commercial buildings and churches in California and various parts of the country. The collection is comprised mostly of architectural renderings and blueprints.

T.J. Cox Papers 2018-2020 (77.4 GB). Papers of the U.S. Representative for the California 21st Congressional District from 2019-2021.

Joseph Creem Papers 1928-1943 (1 linear foot). Letters, telegrams, and business forms of a Fresno labor contractor and negotiator in the 1930s to 1940s. Creem supplied labor during the construction of Friant Dam in the early 1940s.

Violet Kazue de Cristoforo Papers 1934-2007 (5.25 linear feet). Personal experiences of a Japanese-American internee during World War II, and her poetry published about her experiences later in life.

Dickey Family Papers 1917, 1925-1963 (10 linear inches). Journals and a diary from a family of farm laborers residing in Raisin City in the early 20th century.

Roslyn Dienstein Papers Materials related to Roslyn Dienstein's law career.

June English Forestry collection (ca. 13 linear feet and 144 photographs). A comprehensive index and collection of periodical articles, newspaper clippings, and oral history interviews relating to the history of the Sierra National Forest, 1870 to mid-1980s.

June English Local History collection 1847-1991, (15.5 linear feet and 102 photographs). Books, typescripts, research notes, newspaper clippings, oral history tapes and transcripts, maps and photographs relating to the history of Fresno and Madera Counties and the adjacent Sierra Nevada Mountains, ca. 1850 to 1984.

Fig Garden Women's Club 1904-2015 (21 linear feet). books, scrapbooks, photographs, artifacts and papers of the Fresno area women's club founded in 1921.

Firebaugh Family 1818-1893, (1 linear foot) Historical records from a pioneering Fresno County Family and namesake of the town of Firebaugh.

Fresbians (2 linear inches). Program guides and a silk tie related to Fresno Reel Pride and the Fresbian organization.

Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame collection 1965-2017 (4.75 linear feet, 626 MB). Materials relating to the history of the hall of fame dedicated to Fresno area athletes. Digitized materials include oral histories with some of the hall of fame inductees. https://omeka.library.fresnostate.edu/s/fahof

Fresno Bee collection 1922-2007 (13.5 linear inches). Recollections, photographs and other materials from journalists and staff of the Fresno Bee newspaper.

Fresno County Commission on the Status of Women

Fresno County Farm Bureau Annual Reports 1918-1954 (2.25 linear feet). Reports documenting the various activities of the Farm Bureau throughout the county over thirty-six years. Includes annual reports by the Home Department, addressing women’s domestic issues and activities.

Fresno Irrigation Court Documents collection 1878-1930 (10 linear inches). Briefs and transcriptions from local irrigation related court cases from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries.

Geoffrey Gamble Papers 1908-1996 (18.5 linear feet). Research materials from Gamble's Native American linguistics work, specifically on the Wikchamni people. Also includes research materials from John P. Harrington. Gamble's Wikchamni dictionary is available at wikchamnidictionary.library.fresnostate.edu.

Gay Central Valley (.25 linear inches). Calendar designed by Gay Central Valley organization.

Giffen Inc. Records 1911-2000 (78.25 linear feet). Records of Russell Giffen’s farming operations, primarily Giffen Inc., one of the largest farming operations in the Westlands Water District.

Jack R. Goddard, Jr. collection 1981-2001, (3 linear inches). Oral histories, transcriptions and photographs of life in Fresno in the 1930s-1950s from the perspective of a son of a local journalist.

Gottshalks collection 1987-1991 (3 linear feet). Records of the Fresno department store chain.

The Grapevine Magazine collection 1969-1981 (37.3 MB). Collection of the landmark African American magazine for the Central Valley which documented the African American experience from the late 1960s through the early 1980s.

Erica Hagen collection ca. 1980s (3.64 GB) Photographs documenting the Hmong refugee experience in Thailand and Hagen’s advocacy for their admittance into the United States.

William Hammond Hall Reports 1854-1885 (6 linear inches). Photocopies of mostly irrigation reports on areas in the San Joaquin Valley by state engineer William Hammond Hall. Originals held at the archives of the California Water Resources Department in Sacramento.

Hammer Field collection 1942-1945 (3 linear inches). Newspaper articles and photographs related to the World War II Army Air Corps base, which later became Fresno Yosemite International Airport. The photographs are available online in the Hammer Field digitized collection.

Hanford Hardware Company Records (15 linear feet). Business files of a family-owned company, 1912-1960.

John McEwen Hardcastle collection 935-1990 (8.7 linear feet). Manuscript materials, photographs and ephemera relating to the history of Fresno.

Hirasuna Family Papers 1926-2017 (26.08 linear feet, 67.4 GB). Documents the history of the Hirasuna family in the San Joaquin Valley, as well as their voluntary relocation to Minnesota during WWII, along with their involvement in the Japanese Americans Citizens League and redress movement post-war. Search https://archives.calstate.edu/collections/fn107909d for the digital segmet of the collection available online.

Hmong Resource Materials collection 1983-1994 (6 linear inches). Bibliographies, articles, newsletters and guides to the Hmong language, culture and arts.

Doris Hicks collection (.25 linear inches). Photographs and biographical information about one of Fresno's earliest female dentists.

JACL-CCDC Japanese American Oral History collection 1998-2005 (39 DVDs). A collection of 36 videotaped interviews with Japanese Americans (primarily Nisei) in the San Joaquin Valley. Funded by the Japanese Americans Citizens League (JACL), the oral histories were initiated by the late Izumi Taniguchi, a retired professor of Economics at California State University, Fresno. The JACL-CCDC oral histories can be accessed online through our San Joaquin Valley Japanese Americans in World War II digitized collection.

Japanese Americans in World War II collection 1920-1995, (2.5 linear feet). Newsletters produced in internment camps, pamphlets, newspapers, and photographs relating the experiences of Japanese American internees during World War II, especially in the San Joaquin Valley. Also includes official documents issued by the U.S. government declaring the official stance. The Japanese Americans in World War II photographs, newsletters and other publications can be accessed online through our San Joaquin Valley Japanese Americans in World War II digitized collection. For additional information and resources, please see our Japanese Americans in World War II Resource Guide.

Japanese Americans in World War II digital collection A conglomerate online collection composed of parts of several of our Japanese American collections (Japanese Americans in WWII, TOMO Foundation, JACL-CCDC Oral Histories, Walter E. Pollock, Violet Kazue de Cristoforo) which together tell the story of the Japanese American experience in the Central Valley before, during and after World War II.

Martin Theodore Kearney Papers 1865-1906, (9 linear inches). Photocopies of letters, diaries, newspaper clippings as well as the microfilmed personal diaries and address books of Kearney, a Fresno County land developer and grape grower. Also documents the development of Chateau Fresno, Kearney’s proposed estate, now where Kearney Mansion is located. No photocopying of these materials is permitted. The originals reside at the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley.

Kneeland Family Papers 1820-1987 (11.75 linear feet). Letters, diaries and other materials relating to Socialism, the Kneeland Family and their life on Black Mountain near Prather, California after they left the Topolobampo Colony in Mexico. Much material on the flora and fauna of the area.

Kneeland Family Photographs List

Claude Laval Jr. Oral History collection 1988 (491 KB). Oral history detailing the family history of the Laval family and the Laval Corporation.

Yuen Lew Papers (6 linear inches, 1910-1921). Business records and correspondence of a Chinese merchant in Fresno. All the materials are in Chinese.

John Lewis collection (2.5 linear feet and ca. 50 photographs, 1930s-1980s). Research materials for an unpublished manuscript on the history of the U.S. Forest Service in the Sierra National Forest. Includes correspondence between Lewis and Walter J. Puhn, a former Sierra National Forest Supervisor.

Local Boxers collection Material related to early pugilists in Fresno.

Lutz-Ratliff Huntington Lake History collection ca. 1915-1960. Oral history and photographs describing the history of the Huntington Lake area.

McLane/Harris Family Papers 1865-1963 (4.25 linear feet). Diaries, letters, scrapbooks and photographs from the McLane, Best, Harris, and Boggs families in Fresno. Includes documents from Charles L. McLane, CSUF’s first president.

McLane/Harris Family Papers Photographs List

Henry Miller Papers 1880-1965 (3 linear inches [ 210 letters]). Letters from Miller to Patrick Henry Turner, superintendent of the new Columbia Division of Miller & Lux Ranches, near Dos Palos, Merced County, giving detailed instruction on the management of Miller & Lux properties.

Mineral King collection 1947-1995 (3 linear feet). Pamphlets, newspaper clippings, photographs, letters documenting the struggle of a grass-roots movement, largely led by the Sierra Club, to protect the Mineral King area of the Sequoia National Forest from development by the Walt Disney Company.

Molarsky Mono Indian collection 1936, 1967-1981 (1.75 linear feet). Oral histories, songs and lectures by and about Mono Indians from North Fork and Auberry. The oral histories have been digitized through the California Audivisual Preservation Project (CAVPP) and are available on the Internet Archive.

Thomas J. Mooney collection 1917-1918 (5 linear inches). Mostly legal documents describing the famous trial that falsely convicted and imprisoned Mooney for bombing a parade in San Francisco.

National Land for People collection 1850-1991 (25 linear feet). Books, letters, reports, maps and miscellaneous publications relating to federal irrigation water use restrictions, especially as it pertained to the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.

No on C Coalition Records 1999-2002 (5 linear inches). Documents the opposition to the 2002 extension of Measure C, which raised taxes by half a cent to repair roads and freeways in Fresno County. A coalition of community groups spearheaded this failed effort.

Ara F. “Corky” Normart collection ca. 1993-1997, 2017 (605 MB). Oral history of Fresno native Normart and materials relating to his design for the restoration of the interior of the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Steve Parra Papers 2000-2023 (2.83 linear feet, 1.18 GB). Papers detailing the career of the noted local political cartoonist.

Parties for the Parkway collection 1993-2012 (5 linear inches). Schedules for parties sponsored by and benefitting the San Joaquin River Parkway Trust.

Leon S. Peters Papers 1919-2009 (7 linear feet). Personal papers from the well-known, longtime Fresno philanthropist whose community work reached far and wide though was most notable at Community Hospital and at California State University, Fresno. Also includes scrapbooks of photographs and mementos documenting his extensive world travels with his wife, Alice Peters.

Leon S. Peters Legacy collection (2.44 linear feet, 3.48 GB). Oral history interviews with Leon S. Peters Distinguished Awardees as well as family members and friends who speak on Peters legacy of giving back to the community and influencing others to do the same.

Pete Peters Papers 1980-2010 (1 linear inch). Manuscript materials from the local businessman who carried on his brother Leon S. Peters legacy of community involvement and giving.

Rollin Pickford Papers 1941-2009 (25.5 linear inches). Journals of the Fresno area artist.

Harry Pidgeon collection 1907-1989 (3.75 linear feet and 645 glass negatives). Photographic archive of photographer Harry Pidgeon documenting the lumbering activities of the Sugar Pine area, Madera County, and the social life of the lumbermen, ca. 1910 to 1918. The Harry Pidgeon photos are available online through our Harry Pidgeon digitized collection.

Walter E. Pollock Papers 1942-1955, 1966-1985, 1995 (1.75 linear feet). Research and writings relating to the Japanese-American incarceration during World War II.

Basil Prior Papers 1894-1956, 1979-1980 (5 linear feet). Mainly diaries and account books of Englishman Basil Prior, detailing daily life on his citrus farm, Las Palmas Ranch, in Lindsay from the 1890s to the mid-1950s. Also includes many photographs, loose and in albums, of Prior and his extended family.

Rank v. Krug collection 1947-1967 (9 linear feet). Records from the case between landowners and the federal Bureau of Reclamation on riparian rights along the San Joaquin River below Friant Dam.

Reel Pride collection (1.25 linear inches). Program guides, newspapers, and flyers related to the Fresno Reel Pride LGBTQ Film Festival.

Thomas E. Risley Papers 1900-1935 (9 linear inches). The personal papers and some business records of a prominent, socially active, civic-minded Fresno businessman and property owner.

Eugene Allen Rose collection 1850-2012 (7 linear feet). collection of materials related to Rose's research for his books and articles on the Sierra Nevada and the San Joaquin Valley.

Dr. Chester Rowell Papers 1888-1912 (9 linear inches). Papers of the early Fresno physician, mayor, state senator and founder of the Fresno Republican.

Chester Harvey Rowell Papers 1882-1940 (1.25 linear feet [334 letters]). Mostly personal correspondence between family members but some of the correspondence deals with Rowell’s work as editor of the Fresno Republican (newspaper) from 1898 to 1920. Also includes letters from Rowell’s uncle and namesake, Dr. Chester Rowell.

San Joaquin Valley Farm Labor collection 1947-1974 (2 linear feet). A comprehensive subject collection on Cesar Chavez, the farm labor movement, and the 1966 Delano grape strike. Includes a bibliography and most of the articles it cites.

San Joaquin Valley Town Hall Records 1937-2012 (4.6 linear feet). Photo albums, scrapbooks, bylaws and contracts created by the Town Hall organization detailing their history of bringing in influential and important speakers to the valley to discuss various topics of the day.

Harold G. Schutt collection 1846-1994 (25 linear feet). Letters, newspaper clippings, pamphlets and ca. 2500 photographs relating to the history of Tulare County with emphasis on the town of Lindsay, the Lindsay Ripe Olive Company and the olive industry, as well as lumbering in the Sequoia National Forest, ca. 1870 to 1975.

Brad Shirakawa collection 1908-2020 (13.1 GB). Photographs related to the Japanese American community in the San Joaquin Valley, dated prior to, during and after World War II.

Enoch A. Smith Papers 1861-1912 (2.5 linear inches). Diaries, letters, notebooks, and receipts relating to cattle ranching in the Fresno area, ca. 1861 to 1901.

STAND (Sane Transportation Alternatives for Neighborhood Defense) Records 1985-1996 (2.5 linear feet and audiovisual material). Organizational records of a grass-roots group who opposed the construction of Freeway 168, fought the City of Fresno but ultimately lost.

Edward Steen collection (6 linear inches). Scrapbook detailing the process of stream gauging in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the 1920s-1930s.

StoryCorps Oral History collection 2016 (11.1 GB). A series of oral histories of Latinos from the San Joaquin Valley created in partnership with the StoryCorps organization.

John Suglian collection 1919, 1951-1955, 2000 (.25 linear inches). Artifacts and biographical information related to a local immigrant farmer and rancher.

SunMt. collection (11.5 linear feet) SunMt. is a non-profit educational organization founded by George and Maia Ballis that consists of a land trust and multimedia production center and serves to educate the public about sustainable living.

Table Grape Growers Negotiating Committee 1965-1987 (3 linear feet). Scrapbooks with newspaper clippings, pamphlets and correspondence dealing with the Table Grape Growers opposition to labor unions in the San Joaquin and Coachella Valleys.

Tehipite Chapter of the Sierra Club Records 1979-2002 (11 linear inches). Administrative records, resource materials and chapter publications dealing with management of the chapter, its activities and the issues that concern their members and their position on those concerns.

Alfred C. Thomas Letters 1850-1851 (1 linear inch [34 letters]). Photocopies of letters from Thomas, a Gold Rush miner who traveled across the country from Cincinnati, eventually reaching San Francisco and Ophir (Mariposa County).

TOMO Foundation collection 1942-1945 (9 linear inches). Newsletters and circulars produced in World War II Japanese internment camps and assembly centers in California, Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming. Includes sixty-three official photographs of Japanese Americans in camps and other locations, commissioned by the War Relocation Authority. The TOMO Foundation photographs can be accessed online through our San Joaquin Valley Japanese Americans in World War II digitized collection.

United States Submarine Veterans of World War II, Fresno Chapter collection (1 linear inch). Materials relating to the construction of the memorial for submarine veterans on the Fresno State campus.

Ernestine Winchell Typescripts 1922-1932 (10.5 linear inches). Photocopies of typescripts for articles Winchell wrote for the Fresno Republican, an early Fresno newspaper. Mostly about local residents with some about places and topics of local interest. There is an in-house subject card file index available.

Valley Foodways collection 2016-2018 (10.2 GB). A collection of oral histories which detail in part the culinary history of the Central Valley and the myriad ethnic groups which have contributed to it.

Water Archives Oral History collection 2009-2016 (97.9 GB). A collection of interviews detailing the history of water in the San Joaquin Valley and the policies and politics surrounding it.

Howard Watkins collection 1977-1999 (2.2 TB). Photographs taken by “Fresno’s Photo Laureate” detailing important local events as well as Watkins’ work and family life.

George Whitmore collection 1958-2012 (29.75 linear feet, 1.44 GB). Detail’s Whitmore’s part in the historic first ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite, as well as his later involvement in the Tehipite Chapter of the Sierra Club and conservation efforts.

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) 1965-2004 (11.5 linear feet). Records of the Fresno branch of the international organization dedicated to ending war.

Woodward Family Papers 1902-2007 (5 linear inches). Photographs, artifacts and an oral history interview relating the history of one of Fresno’s pioneering families. Search https://omeka.library.fresnostate.edu/s/woodward-family to view the digitized collection .