{"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026view=compact","prev":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=5\u0026view=compact","next":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=7\u0026view=compact","last":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=9\u0026view=compact"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":6,"next_page":7,"prev_page":5,"total_pages":9,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":50,"total_count":87,"first_page?":false,"last_page?":false}},"data":[{"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-3","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"MALPRACTICE - ANNABELLE HILLOCK'S NOTES","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-3#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-3","ref_ssm":["aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-3","aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-3"],"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-3","title_filing_ssi":"MALPRACTICE - ANNABELLE HILLOCK'S NOTES","title_ssm":["MALPRACTICE - ANNABELLE HILLOCK'S NOTES"],"title_tesim":["MALPRACTICE - ANNABELLE HILLOCK'S NOTES"],"normalized_title_ssm":["MALPRACTICE - ANNABELLE HILLOCK'S NOTES"],"text":["MALPRACTICE - ANNABELLE HILLOCK'S NOTES","Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES","/repositories/2/archival_objects/2349"],"component_level_isim":[2],"parent_ids_ssim":["8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c01-1-8-6-3-5"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/2/archival_objects/2349"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"collection_ssim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":13,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":410,"_nest_path_":"/components#8/components#1","_nest_parent_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c01-1-8-6-3-5","_root_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:50.878Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","title_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers"],"title_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers"],"ead_ssi":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","unitdate_ssm":["1945-1994"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1945-1994"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7"],"text":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7","Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","Ben Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.","At the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. ","Although Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. ","In addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.","During the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.","In 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.","Yellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. ","Papers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","The Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. ","Ben Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.","Because of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.","The collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","SERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. ","The \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.","As the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.","SERIES 2: FARM WORKERS","The FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.","Around 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.","The \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. ","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.","SERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES","The WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. ","The \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).","The second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).","The third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.","Yellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. ","The fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. ","SERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES","The fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. ","The first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.","In December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.","SERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.","Accession Processed in 1997. The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image. The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO.  The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically. The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order. WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order. The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically. The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order. Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact. The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.","The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. ","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.","The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.","WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.","The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.","Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.","The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","For current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog.","Lyrasis Special Collections","These materials are written in  English"],"unitid_tesim":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1945-1994"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"collection_title_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"collection_ssim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["14.40 Electronic file","14.40 linear feet (37 archives boxes)"],"extent_tesim":["14.40 Electronic file","14.40 linear feet (37 archives boxes)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAt the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAlthough Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eYellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. \u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["BIOGRAPHY"],"bioghist_tesim":["Ben Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.","At the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. ","Although Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. ","In addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.","During the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.","In 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.","Yellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. "],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePapers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.\u003c/p\u003e"],"odd_heading_ssm":["ABSTRACT"],"odd_tesim":["Papers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen Papers, MSS 0193. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, MSS 0193. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBecause of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAs the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 2: FARM WORKERS\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAround 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eYellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cscopecontent\u003e\n        \u003chead\u003eAccession Processed in 1997.\u003c/head\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. \u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eWATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eSeries six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.\u003c/p\u003e\n      \u003c/scopecontent\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["SCOPE AND CONTENT","Accession Processed in 1997."],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. ","Ben Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.","Because of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.","The collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","SERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. ","The \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.","As the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.","SERIES 2: FARM WORKERS","The FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.","Around 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.","The \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. ","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.","SERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES","The WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. ","The \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).","The second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).","The third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.","Yellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. ","The fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. ","SERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES","The fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. ","The first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.","In December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.","SERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.","Accession Processed in 1997. The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image. The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO.  The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically. The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order. WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order. The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically. The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order. Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact. The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.","The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. ","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.","The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.","WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.","The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.","Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.","The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_4daaeb965e441c44361e6101b0c557d4\"\u003eFor current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog.\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["For current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog."],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"language_ssim":["These materials are written in  English"],"total_component_count_is":475,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:50.878Z"}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-3"}},{"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-4","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"MALPRACTICE - LAWYER'S FILES","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-4#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-4","ref_ssm":["aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-4","aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-4"],"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-4","title_filing_ssi":"MALPRACTICE - LAWYER'S FILES","title_ssm":["MALPRACTICE - LAWYER'S FILES"],"title_tesim":["MALPRACTICE - LAWYER'S FILES"],"normalized_title_ssm":["MALPRACTICE - LAWYER'S FILES"],"text":["MALPRACTICE - LAWYER'S FILES","Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES","/repositories/2/archival_objects/2350"],"component_level_isim":[2],"parent_ids_ssim":["8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c01-1-8-6-3-5"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/2/archival_objects/2350"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"collection_ssim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":10,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":424,"_nest_path_":"/components#8/components#2","_nest_parent_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c01-1-8-6-3-5","_root_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:50.878Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","title_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers"],"title_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers"],"ead_ssi":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","unitdate_ssm":["1945-1994"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1945-1994"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7"],"text":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7","Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","Ben Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.","At the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. ","Although Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. ","In addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.","During the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.","In 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.","Yellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. ","Papers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","The Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. ","Ben Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.","Because of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.","The collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","SERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. ","The \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.","As the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.","SERIES 2: FARM WORKERS","The FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.","Around 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.","The \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. ","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.","SERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES","The WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. ","The \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).","The second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).","The third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.","Yellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. ","The fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. ","SERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES","The fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. ","The first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.","In December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.","SERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.","Accession Processed in 1997. The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image. The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO.  The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically. The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order. WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order. The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically. The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order. Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact. The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.","The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. ","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.","The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.","WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.","The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.","Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.","The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","For current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog.","Lyrasis Special Collections","These materials are written in  English"],"unitid_tesim":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1945-1994"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"collection_title_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"collection_ssim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["14.40 Electronic file","14.40 linear feet (37 archives boxes)"],"extent_tesim":["14.40 Electronic file","14.40 linear feet (37 archives boxes)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAt the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAlthough Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eYellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. \u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["BIOGRAPHY"],"bioghist_tesim":["Ben Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.","At the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. ","Although Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. ","In addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.","During the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.","In 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.","Yellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. "],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePapers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.\u003c/p\u003e"],"odd_heading_ssm":["ABSTRACT"],"odd_tesim":["Papers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen Papers, MSS 0193. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, MSS 0193. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBecause of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAs the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 2: FARM WORKERS\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAround 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eYellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cscopecontent\u003e\n        \u003chead\u003eAccession Processed in 1997.\u003c/head\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. \u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eWATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eSeries six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.\u003c/p\u003e\n      \u003c/scopecontent\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["SCOPE AND CONTENT","Accession Processed in 1997."],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. ","Ben Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.","Because of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.","The collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","SERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. ","The \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.","As the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.","SERIES 2: FARM WORKERS","The FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.","Around 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.","The \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. ","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.","SERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES","The WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. ","The \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).","The second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).","The third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.","Yellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. ","The fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. ","SERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES","The fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. ","The first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.","In December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.","SERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.","Accession Processed in 1997. The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image. The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO.  The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically. The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order. WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order. The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically. The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order. Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact. The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.","The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. ","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.","The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.","WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.","The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.","Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.","The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_4daaeb965e441c44361e6101b0c557d4\"\u003eFor current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog.\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["For current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog."],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"language_ssim":["These materials are written in  English"],"total_component_count_is":475,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:50.878Z"}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-4"}},{"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-5","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"MALPRACTICE - LEGAL DOCUMENTS","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-5#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-5","ref_ssm":["aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-5","aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-5"],"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-5","title_filing_ssi":"MALPRACTICE - LEGAL DOCUMENTS","title_ssm":["MALPRACTICE - LEGAL DOCUMENTS"],"title_tesim":["MALPRACTICE - LEGAL DOCUMENTS"],"normalized_title_ssm":["MALPRACTICE - LEGAL DOCUMENTS"],"text":["MALPRACTICE - LEGAL DOCUMENTS","Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES","/repositories/2/archival_objects/2351"],"component_level_isim":[2],"parent_ids_ssim":["8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c01-1-8-6-3-5"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/2/archival_objects/2351"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"collection_ssim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":9,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":435,"_nest_path_":"/components#8/components#3","_nest_parent_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c01-1-8-6-3-5","_root_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:50.878Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","title_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers"],"title_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers"],"ead_ssi":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","unitdate_ssm":["1945-1994"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1945-1994"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7"],"text":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7","Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","Ben Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.","At the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. ","Although Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. ","In addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.","During the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.","In 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.","Yellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. ","Papers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","The Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. ","Ben Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.","Because of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.","The collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","SERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. ","The \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.","As the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.","SERIES 2: FARM WORKERS","The FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.","Around 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.","The \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. ","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.","SERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES","The WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. ","The \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).","The second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).","The third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.","Yellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. ","The fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. ","SERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES","The fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. ","The first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.","In December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.","SERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.","Accession Processed in 1997. The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image. The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO.  The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically. The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order. WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order. The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically. The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order. Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact. The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.","The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. ","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.","The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.","WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.","The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.","Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.","The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","For current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog.","Lyrasis Special Collections","These materials are written in  English"],"unitid_tesim":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1945-1994"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"collection_title_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"collection_ssim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["14.40 Electronic file","14.40 linear feet (37 archives boxes)"],"extent_tesim":["14.40 Electronic file","14.40 linear feet (37 archives boxes)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAt the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAlthough Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eYellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. \u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["BIOGRAPHY"],"bioghist_tesim":["Ben Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.","At the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. ","Although Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. ","In addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.","During the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.","In 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.","Yellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. "],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePapers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.\u003c/p\u003e"],"odd_heading_ssm":["ABSTRACT"],"odd_tesim":["Papers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen Papers, MSS 0193. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, MSS 0193. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBecause of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAs the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 2: FARM WORKERS\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAround 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eYellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cscopecontent\u003e\n        \u003chead\u003eAccession Processed in 1997.\u003c/head\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. \u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eWATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eSeries six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.\u003c/p\u003e\n      \u003c/scopecontent\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["SCOPE AND CONTENT","Accession Processed in 1997."],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. ","Ben Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.","Because of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.","The collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","SERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. ","The \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.","As the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.","SERIES 2: FARM WORKERS","The FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.","Around 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.","The \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. ","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.","SERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES","The WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. ","The \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).","The second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).","The third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.","Yellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. ","The fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. ","SERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES","The fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. ","The first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.","In December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.","SERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.","Accession Processed in 1997. The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image. The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO.  The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically. The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order. WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order. The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically. The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order. Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact. The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.","The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. ","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.","The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.","WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.","The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.","Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.","The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_4daaeb965e441c44361e6101b0c557d4\"\u003eFor current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog.\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["For current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog."],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"language_ssim":["These materials are written in  English"],"total_component_count_is":475,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:50.878Z"}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-3-5-5"}},{"id":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_aa7aa3051aaf587768981ea05d0eda4f","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Manuscripts by Joe Br","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_aa7aa3051aaf587768981ea05d0eda4f#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_aa7aa3051aaf587768981ea05d0eda4f","ref_ssm":["aspace_aa7aa3051aaf587768981ea05d0eda4f","aspace_aa7aa3051aaf587768981ea05d0eda4f"],"id":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_aa7aa3051aaf587768981ea05d0eda4f","title_filing_ssi":"Manuscripts by Joe Br","title_ssm":["Manuscripts by Joe Br"],"title_tesim":["Manuscripts by Joe Br"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Manuscripts by Joe Br"],"text":["Manuscripts by Joe Br","Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","Accession Processed in 1987","MANUSCRIPTS","/repositories/2/archival_objects/269"],"component_level_isim":[3],"parent_ids_ssim":["af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_88c3f40f7cdaec27b56e1129d479904e","af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_b9771d2fea565f261df0bec0f3f6e51c"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","Accession Processed in 1987","MANUSCRIPTS"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","Accession Processed in 1987","MANUSCRIPTS"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/2/archival_objects/269"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"collection_ssim":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":13,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":230,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Access\n         Collection is open for research.\n"],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["Publication Rights\n           Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#1/components#0","_nest_parent_":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_b9771d2fea565f261df0bec0f3f6e51c","_root_":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:21.985Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","title_filing_ssi":"Brainard (Joe) Archive","title_ssm":["Joe Brainard Archive,"],"title_tesim":["Joe Brainard Archive,"],"ead_ssi":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","unitdate_ssm":["1960-1992"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1960-1992"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["MSS 0005","/repositories/2/resources/3"],"text":["MSS 0005","/repositories/2/resources/3","Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","American poetry -- 20th Century","Gay men -- United States -- Biography","Gay men in art","Gay men -- United States -- Poetry","Gay's writings","Prose poems, American","Fiction","Photographs -- 1964-1990.","Cartoons -- United States -- 20th Century","Lithographs -- 1960-1969.","Lithographs -- 1970-1979.","Collages -- 1960-1969.","Collages -- 1970-1979.","Oil paintings -- 1960-1969.","Oil paintings -- 1979-1979.","Watercolor drawings -- 1960-1969.","Watercolor drawings -- 1970-1979.","Lithographs -- 1960-1969 -- Color.","Made up genre","Access Collection is open for research.\n","Biography \nBorn in Arkansas in 1942 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Brainard moved to New York City in 1961.  There, he quickly developed friendships with Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Bill Berkson, Barbara Guest, and other participants in the New York School.  The large number of collaborative works in the collection, as well as the many illustrations Brainard did for books by others,  reflect the sense of community shared by these artists.  \n \nBrainard's achievement, however, is remarkable quite aside from his many associations.  Brainard harmonized linguistic and visual materials in extraordinary ways.  His graphic work is notably literary, often incorporating words and sentences into non-literary designs.  Such qualities prompted Frank O'Hara to say that Brainard's work had \"nothing to do with philosophy, it's all art.\"  Both the art work and writing is full of information and frequently takes erotic and semiotic risks.  In one of his more scandalous serial works, Brainard subjected Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy to every imaginable erotic and high art situation.  \n \nA prolific artist, Brainard's work has been exhibited extensively in the New York City area since the early 1960s.  His first retrospective show, consisting of work from 1960-1970, took place at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago in 1970.  In the mid-1970s he created over 3,000 miniature collages, paintings, and drawings for a major show at the Fischbach Gallery in Manhattan.  The materials gathered in the Joe Brainard Archive were first exhibited at the Long Beach Museum of Art in 1980.  In 1986 they were again exhibited at UCSD.\n \nLike Joe Brainard, Alex Katz is a New York City artist.  He has given numerous solo shows since the early 1960s, and many of his works have been added to numerous public art collections throughout the country.  Unlike Brainard, Katz has created a depthless, planar art which strips the visual image of its narrative, literary aura.  The result, as one critic has noted, is an image of a reality that is of no consequence.  \n","Scope and Content of Collection \nAccession Processed in 1987 \nThe Joe Brainard Archive contains approximately 300 examples of Brainard's art work as well as book and cover illustrations, manuscripts, and published writings, all dating from ca. 1960 to 1979.  Primarily a study collection, the importance of the Joe Brainard Archive is in documenting the wide range, topical as well as technical, of Joe Brainard's artistic production over a twenty year period, ca. 1960-1979.  The collection also includes several art works and many books by other notable artists and writers.  These materials have been arranged in five series:  1) ARTWORK, 2) MANUSCRIPTS, 3) CORRESPONDENCE, 4) CATALOGS, and 5) BIBLIOGRAPHIES.  \n \nSERIES 1: ARTWORK\n \nThis series comprises 161 pieces of Brainard's graphic art and another 20 pieces, most by Alex Katz.  Reflecting the many styles, dimensions, and media with which Brainard experimented during his career, these works include collages (including many of the miniatures Brainard constructed for a show of his in work in 1975), oil and watercolor abstractions, graphite portraits of several well known writers, original cover art for books by Ted Berrigan and John Ashbery, and the original art work for numerous \"comic strips\" done in collaboration with various writers.   \n \nSERIES 2: MANUSCRIPTS\n \nThe MANUSCRIPTS series, arranged chronologically,  includes the notebooks and original manuscripts for nine books of writing by Brainard.  Several manuscripts by Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark, Philip Gambone, and Rudy Kikel are also included.  \n \nSERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series consists primarily of letters from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts.  In addition, there are letters from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson to Brainard, and letters from Ron Padgett, John Giorno, Larry Fagin, and others to Robert Butts.\n \nSERIES 4: CATALOGS \n \nCatalogs for Brainard and Alex Katz exhibitions comprise the CATALOGS series.  Also included are numerous reviews of Katz's work.\n \nSERIES 5: BIBLIOGRAPHIES\n \nVarious checklists constructed by Robert Butts and documenting Brainard's production since 1961 are contained in series five, BIBLIOGRAPHIES.\n \nSEPARATION NOTE\n \nBooks and journals received in the 1984 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive have been separated from the collection and added elsewhere to the library's holdings.  To identify and list these items, conduct an author search in ROGER on the term \"Butts, Robert, former owner.\" \n \nAccessions Processed in 1991 \nThe accessions to the Joe Brainard Archive processed in 1991 contain originals of artwork by Joe Brainard for collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, and correspondence related to Robert Butts' projects.  The materials are arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) ARTWORK, 3) MANUSCRIPTS, and 4) PHOTOGRAPHS.\n \nSERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series includes letters from Bill Berkson to Robert Butts concerning publication of his book \"Serenade\" and correspondence from Joe Brainard.  The materials date between 1986 and 1987 and are organized alphabetically by correspondent.\n \nSERIES 2: ARTWORK\n \nThe ARTWORK series contains original drawings by Joe Brainard for three collaborative works with Bill Berkson and THE BABY BOOK with Kenward Elmslie.  Also included are original art by Brainard for miscellaneous poetry readings and flyers.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n \nSERIES 3: MANUSCRIPTS\n \nThe MANUSCRIPTS series contains photocopies of proofs for Bill Berkson's \"Cnidus, August 4th.\"\n \nSERIES 4: PHOTOGRAPHS\n \nAn excellent portrait of Joe Brainard by photographer Elizabeth Hathon is located in the PHOTOGRAPHS series.  Also included are color transparencies of an eight-piece exhibit entitled \"The Gang of Eight.\"\n \nAccession Processed in 1993 \nThe 1993 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts, most of which are birthday or holiday greetings.  Also included is a print by Andy Warhol.","Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        ","Materials collected by Robert Butts consisting primarily of diverse works by and regarding the popular New York artist and writer Joe Brainard (1942-1994).  Brainard was the author of fifteen books of writing, the illustrator of numerous other books produced by members of the New York School, and a celebrated graphic artist whose work covered a broad range of sizes, styles and media.  The Joe Brainard Archive consists of numerous examples of Brainard's graphic work dating from 1962 to 1979, most of the books illustrated by Brainard, all of Brainard's manuscripts and published writings, notebooks for Brainard's I REMEMBER series and several other books, Brainard's correspondence with members of the Butts family and correspondence to Brainard from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson, checklists of Brainard's artistic production constructed by Robert Butts, and a selection of articles devoted to Brainard's career.\nIn addition to the Brainard materials, the Joe Brainard Archive also includes several lithographs by Alex Katz (b. 1927), an oil painting by Tom Clark, and a few ink sketches by poets Ron Padgett and Allen Ginsberg.  There are also manuscripts of Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark and Rudy Kikel, in addition to broadsides and books written by New York School writers such as John Ashbery, Edwin Denby, and Kenneth Koch.\nThe accessions processed in 1991 contain primarily original artworks by Joe Brainard in collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, including THE BABY BOOK (1965).  Also included are correspondence, manuscript materials and photographs. The accession processed in 1993 comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts and one print by Andy Warhol.","Lyrasis Special Collections","Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- Archives","Brainard, Joe, 1942- , -- correspondent","Berkson, Bill, -- correspondent","Thomson, Virgil, 1896- -- correspondent","Greenwald, Ted, -- correspondent","Fagin, Larry, -- correspondent","Padgett, Ron, -- correspondent","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- artist","Clark, Tom, 1941- -- artist","Katz, Alex, 1927- -- artist","Padgett, Ron, -- artist","Berrigan, Ted","Kikel, Rudy, 1943-","Warhol, Andy,","Collection materials in English"],"unitid_tesim":["MSS 0005","/repositories/2/resources/3"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1960-1992"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992"],"collection_title_tesim":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992"],"collection_ssim":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"creator_ssm":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert"],"creator_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert"],"creators_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert"],"access_terms_ssm":["Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"acqinfo_ssim":["Acquisition Information Not Available"],"access_subjects_ssim":["American poetry -- 20th Century","Gay men -- United States -- Biography","Gay men in art","Gay men -- United States -- Poetry","Gay's writings","Prose poems, American","Fiction","Photographs -- 1964-1990.","Cartoons -- United States -- 20th Century","Lithographs -- 1960-1969.","Lithographs -- 1970-1979.","Collages -- 1960-1969.","Collages -- 1970-1979.","Oil paintings -- 1960-1969.","Oil paintings -- 1979-1979.","Watercolor drawings -- 1960-1969.","Watercolor drawings -- 1970-1979.","Lithographs -- 1960-1969 -- Color.","Made up genre"],"access_subjects_ssm":["American poetry -- 20th Century","Gay men -- United States -- Biography","Gay men in art","Gay men -- United States -- Poetry","Gay's writings","Prose poems, American","Fiction","Photographs -- 1964-1990.","Cartoons -- United States -- 20th Century","Lithographs -- 1960-1969.","Lithographs -- 1970-1979.","Collages -- 1960-1969.","Collages -- 1970-1979.","Oil paintings -- 1960-1969.","Oil paintings -- 1979-1979.","Watercolor drawings -- 1960-1969.","Watercolor drawings -- 1970-1979.","Lithographs -- 1960-1969 -- Color.","Made up genre"],"has_online_content_ssim":["true"],"extent_ssm":["32.20 Electronic file (8 archives boxes,  59 art bin items and 88 oversize folders)","32.20 linear feet (8 archives boxes,  59 art bin items and 88 oversize folders)"],"extent_tesim":["32.20 Electronic file (8 archives boxes,  59 art bin items and 88 oversize folders)","32.20 linear feet (8 archives boxes,  59 art bin items and 88 oversize folders)"],"genreform_ssim":["Photographs -- 1964-1990.","Cartoons -- United States -- 20th Century","Lithographs -- 1960-1969.","Lithographs -- 1970-1979.","Collages -- 1960-1969.","Collages -- 1970-1979.","Oil paintings -- 1960-1969.","Oil paintings -- 1979-1979.","Watercolor drawings -- 1960-1969.","Watercolor drawings -- 1970-1979.","Lithographs -- 1960-1969 -- Color.","Made up genre"],"date_range_isim":[1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eAccess\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003eCollection is open for research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Access Collection is open for research.\n"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eBiography\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nBorn in Arkansas in 1942 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Brainard moved to New York City in 1961.  There, he quickly developed friendships with Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Bill Berkson, Barbara Guest, and other participants in the New York School.  The large number of collaborative works in the collection, as well as the many illustrations Brainard did for books by others,  reflect the sense of community shared by these artists.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nBrainard's achievement, however, is remarkable quite aside from his many associations.  Brainard harmonized linguistic and visual materials in extraordinary ways.  His graphic work is notably literary, often incorporating words and sentences into non-literary designs.  Such qualities prompted Frank O'Hara to say that Brainard's work had \"nothing to do with philosophy, it's all art.\"  Both the art work and writing is full of information and frequently takes erotic and semiotic risks.  In one of his more scandalous serial works, Brainard subjected Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy to every imaginable erotic and high art situation.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nA prolific artist, Brainard's work has been exhibited extensively in the New York City area since the early 1960s.  His first retrospective show, consisting of work from 1960-1970, took place at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago in 1970.  In the mid-1970s he created over 3,000 miniature collages, paintings, and drawings for a major show at the Fischbach Gallery in Manhattan.  The materials gathered in the Joe Brainard Archive were first exhibited at the Long Beach Museum of Art in 1980.  In 1986 they were again exhibited at UCSD.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nLike Joe Brainard, Alex Katz is a New York City artist.  He has given numerous solo shows since the early 1960s, and many of his works have been added to numerous public art collections throughout the country.  Unlike Brainard, Katz has created a depthless, planar art which strips the visual image of its narrative, literary aura.  The result, as one critic has noted, is an image of a reality that is of no consequence.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biography"],"bioghist_tesim":["Biography \nBorn in Arkansas in 1942 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Brainard moved to New York City in 1961.  There, he quickly developed friendships with Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Bill Berkson, Barbara Guest, and other participants in the New York School.  The large number of collaborative works in the collection, as well as the many illustrations Brainard did for books by others,  reflect the sense of community shared by these artists.  \n \nBrainard's achievement, however, is remarkable quite aside from his many associations.  Brainard harmonized linguistic and visual materials in extraordinary ways.  His graphic work is notably literary, often incorporating words and sentences into non-literary designs.  Such qualities prompted Frank O'Hara to say that Brainard's work had \"nothing to do with philosophy, it's all art.\"  Both the art work and writing is full of information and frequently takes erotic and semiotic risks.  In one of his more scandalous serial works, Brainard subjected Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy to every imaginable erotic and high art situation.  \n \nA prolific artist, Brainard's work has been exhibited extensively in the New York City area since the early 1960s.  His first retrospective show, consisting of work from 1960-1970, took place at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago in 1970.  In the mid-1970s he created over 3,000 miniature collages, paintings, and drawings for a major show at the Fischbach Gallery in Manhattan.  The materials gathered in the Joe Brainard Archive were first exhibited at the Long Beach Museum of Art in 1980.  In 1986 they were again exhibited at UCSD.\n \nLike Joe Brainard, Alex Katz is a New York City artist.  He has given numerous solo shows since the early 1960s, and many of his works have been added to numerous public art collections throughout the country.  Unlike Brainard, Katz has created a depthless, planar art which strips the visual image of its narrative, literary aura.  The result, as one critic has noted, is an image of a reality that is of no consequence.  \n"],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003ePreferred Citation\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003eJoe Brainard Archive, MSS 0005. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\n        \u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Preferred Citation Joe Brainard Archive, MSS 0005. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\n        "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content of Collection"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Scope and Content of Collection \nAccession Processed in 1987 \nThe Joe Brainard Archive contains approximately 300 examples of Brainard's art work as well as book and cover illustrations, manuscripts, and published writings, all dating from ca. 1960 to 1979.  Primarily a study collection, the importance of the Joe Brainard Archive is in documenting the wide range, topical as well as technical, of Joe Brainard's artistic production over a twenty year period, ca. 1960-1979.  The collection also includes several art works and many books by other notable artists and writers.  These materials have been arranged in five series:  1) ARTWORK, 2) MANUSCRIPTS, 3) CORRESPONDENCE, 4) CATALOGS, and 5) BIBLIOGRAPHIES.  \n \nSERIES 1: ARTWORK\n \nThis series comprises 161 pieces of Brainard's graphic art and another 20 pieces, most by Alex Katz.  Reflecting the many styles, dimensions, and media with which Brainard experimented during his career, these works include collages (including many of the miniatures Brainard constructed for a show of his in work in 1975), oil and watercolor abstractions, graphite portraits of several well known writers, original cover art for books by Ted Berrigan and John Ashbery, and the original art work for numerous \"comic strips\" done in collaboration with various writers.   \n \nSERIES 2: MANUSCRIPTS\n \nThe MANUSCRIPTS series, arranged chronologically,  includes the notebooks and original manuscripts for nine books of writing by Brainard.  Several manuscripts by Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark, Philip Gambone, and Rudy Kikel are also included.  \n \nSERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series consists primarily of letters from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts.  In addition, there are letters from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson to Brainard, and letters from Ron Padgett, John Giorno, Larry Fagin, and others to Robert Butts.\n \nSERIES 4: CATALOGS \n \nCatalogs for Brainard and Alex Katz exhibitions comprise the CATALOGS series.  Also included are numerous reviews of Katz's work.\n \nSERIES 5: BIBLIOGRAPHIES\n \nVarious checklists constructed by Robert Butts and documenting Brainard's production since 1961 are contained in series five, BIBLIOGRAPHIES.\n \nSEPARATION NOTE\n \nBooks and journals received in the 1984 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive have been separated from the collection and added elsewhere to the library's holdings.  To identify and list these items, conduct an author search in ROGER on the term \"Butts, Robert, former owner.\" \n \nAccessions Processed in 1991 \nThe accessions to the Joe Brainard Archive processed in 1991 contain originals of artwork by Joe Brainard for collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, and correspondence related to Robert Butts' projects.  The materials are arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) ARTWORK, 3) MANUSCRIPTS, and 4) PHOTOGRAPHS.\n \nSERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series includes letters from Bill Berkson to Robert Butts concerning publication of his book \"Serenade\" and correspondence from Joe Brainard.  The materials date between 1986 and 1987 and are organized alphabetically by correspondent.\n \nSERIES 2: ARTWORK\n \nThe ARTWORK series contains original drawings by Joe Brainard for three collaborative works with Bill Berkson and THE BABY BOOK with Kenward Elmslie.  Also included are original art by Brainard for miscellaneous poetry readings and flyers.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n \nSERIES 3: MANUSCRIPTS\n \nThe MANUSCRIPTS series contains photocopies of proofs for Bill Berkson's \"Cnidus, August 4th.\"\n \nSERIES 4: PHOTOGRAPHS\n \nAn excellent portrait of Joe Brainard by photographer Elizabeth Hathon is located in the PHOTOGRAPHS series.  Also included are color transparencies of an eight-piece exhibit entitled \"The Gang of Eight.\"\n \nAccession Processed in 1993 \nThe 1993 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts, most of which are birthday or holiday greetings.  Also included is a print by Andy Warhol."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003ePublication Rights\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        \u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Publication Rights"],"userestrict_tesim":["Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_d0a02735e8e1b0bb0c234d65909c5da5\"\u003eMaterials collected by Robert Butts consisting primarily of diverse works by and regarding the popular New York artist and writer Joe Brainard (1942-1994).  Brainard was the author of fifteen books of writing, the illustrator of numerous other books produced by members of the New York School, and a celebrated graphic artist whose work covered a broad range of sizes, styles and media.  The Joe Brainard Archive consists of numerous examples of Brainard's graphic work dating from 1962 to 1979, most of the books illustrated by Brainard, all of Brainard's manuscripts and published writings, notebooks for Brainard's I REMEMBER series and several other books, Brainard's correspondence with members of the Butts family and correspondence to Brainard from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson, checklists of Brainard's artistic production constructed by Robert Butts, and a selection of articles devoted to Brainard's career.\nIn addition to the Brainard materials, the Joe Brainard Archive also includes several lithographs by Alex Katz (b. 1927), an oil painting by Tom Clark, and a few ink sketches by poets Ron Padgett and Allen Ginsberg.  There are also manuscripts of Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark and Rudy Kikel, in addition to broadsides and books written by New York School writers such as John Ashbery, Edwin Denby, and Kenneth Koch.\nThe accessions processed in 1991 contain primarily original artworks by Joe Brainard in collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, including THE BABY BOOK (1965).  Also included are correspondence, manuscript materials and photographs. The accession processed in 1993 comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts and one print by Andy Warhol.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["Materials collected by Robert Butts consisting primarily of diverse works by and regarding the popular New York artist and writer Joe Brainard (1942-1994).  Brainard was the author of fifteen books of writing, the illustrator of numerous other books produced by members of the New York School, and a celebrated graphic artist whose work covered a broad range of sizes, styles and media.  The Joe Brainard Archive consists of numerous examples of Brainard's graphic work dating from 1962 to 1979, most of the books illustrated by Brainard, all of Brainard's manuscripts and published writings, notebooks for Brainard's I REMEMBER series and several other books, Brainard's correspondence with members of the Butts family and correspondence to Brainard from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson, checklists of Brainard's artistic production constructed by Robert Butts, and a selection of articles devoted to Brainard's career.\nIn addition to the Brainard materials, the Joe Brainard Archive also includes several lithographs by Alex Katz (b. 1927), an oil painting by Tom Clark, and a few ink sketches by poets Ron Padgett and Allen Ginsberg.  There are also manuscripts of Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark and Rudy Kikel, in addition to broadsides and books written by New York School writers such as John Ashbery, Edwin Denby, and Kenneth Koch.\nThe accessions processed in 1991 contain primarily original artworks by Joe Brainard in collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, including THE BABY BOOK (1965).  Also included are correspondence, manuscript materials and photographs. The accession processed in 1993 comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts and one print by Andy Warhol."],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections","Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- Archives","Brainard, Joe, 1942- , -- correspondent","Berkson, Bill, -- correspondent","Thomson, Virgil, 1896- -- correspondent","Greenwald, Ted, -- correspondent","Fagin, Larry, -- correspondent","Padgett, Ron, -- correspondent","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- artist","Clark, Tom, 1941- -- artist","Katz, Alex, 1927- -- artist","Padgett, Ron, -- artist","Berrigan, Ted","Kikel, Rudy, 1943-","Warhol, Andy,"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"names_coll_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- Archives","Brainard, Joe, 1942- , -- correspondent","Berkson, Bill, -- correspondent","Thomson, Virgil, 1896- -- correspondent","Greenwald, Ted, -- correspondent","Fagin, Larry, -- correspondent","Padgett, Ron, -- correspondent","Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- artist","Clark, Tom, 1941- -- artist","Katz, Alex, 1927- -- artist","Padgett, Ron, -- artist","Berrigan, Ted","Kikel, Rudy, 1943-"],"persname_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- Archives","Brainard, Joe, 1942- , -- correspondent","Berkson, Bill, -- correspondent","Thomson, Virgil, 1896- -- correspondent","Greenwald, Ted, -- correspondent","Fagin, Larry, -- correspondent","Padgett, Ron, -- correspondent","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- artist","Clark, Tom, 1941- -- artist","Katz, Alex, 1927- -- artist","Padgett, Ron, -- artist","Berrigan, Ted","Kikel, Rudy, 1943-","Warhol, Andy,"],"language_ssim":["Collection materials in English"],"total_component_count_is":316,"online_item_count_is":2,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:21.985Z","scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eScope and Content of Collection\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAccession Processed in 1987\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe Joe Brainard Archive contains approximately 300 examples of Brainard's art work as well as book and cover illustrations, manuscripts, and published writings, all dating from ca. 1960 to 1979.  Primarily a study collection, the importance of the Joe Brainard Archive is in documenting the wide range, topical as well as technical, of Joe Brainard's artistic production over a twenty year period, ca. 1960-1979.  The collection also includes several art works and many books by other notable artists and writers.  These materials have been arranged in five series:  1) ARTWORK, 2) MANUSCRIPTS, 3) CORRESPONDENCE, 4) CATALOGS, and 5) BIBLIOGRAPHIES.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 1: ARTWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThis series comprises 161 pieces of Brainard's graphic art and another 20 pieces, most by Alex Katz.  Reflecting the many styles, dimensions, and media with which Brainard experimented during his career, these works include collages (including many of the miniatures Brainard constructed for a show of his in work in 1975), oil and watercolor abstractions, graphite portraits of several well known writers, original cover art for books by Ted Berrigan and John Ashbery, and the original art work for numerous \"comic strips\" done in collaboration with various writers.   \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 2: MANUSCRIPTS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe MANUSCRIPTS series, arranged chronologically,  includes the notebooks and original manuscripts for nine books of writing by Brainard.  Several manuscripts by Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark, Philip Gambone, and Rudy Kikel are also included.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe CORRESPONDENCE series consists primarily of letters from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts.  In addition, there are letters from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson to Brainard, and letters from Ron Padgett, John Giorno, Larry Fagin, and others to Robert Butts.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 4: CATALOGS \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nCatalogs for Brainard and Alex Katz exhibitions comprise the CATALOGS series.  Also included are numerous reviews of Katz's work.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 5: BIBLIOGRAPHIES\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nVarious checklists constructed by Robert Butts and documenting Brainard's production since 1961 are contained in series five, BIBLIOGRAPHIES.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSEPARATION NOTE\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nBooks and journals received in the 1984 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive have been separated from the collection and added elsewhere to the library's holdings.  To identify and list these items, conduct an author search in ROGER on the term \"Butts, Robert, former owner.\" \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAccessions Processed in 1991\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe accessions to the Joe Brainard Archive processed in 1991 contain originals of artwork by Joe Brainard for collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, and correspondence related to Robert Butts' projects.  The materials are arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) ARTWORK, 3) MANUSCRIPTS, and 4) PHOTOGRAPHS.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe CORRESPONDENCE series includes letters from Bill Berkson to Robert Butts concerning publication of his book \"Serenade\" and correspondence from Joe Brainard.  The materials date between 1986 and 1987 and are organized alphabetically by correspondent.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 2: ARTWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe ARTWORK series contains original drawings by Joe Brainard for three collaborative works with Bill Berkson and THE BABY BOOK with Kenward Elmslie.  Also included are original art by Brainard for miscellaneous poetry readings and flyers.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 3: MANUSCRIPTS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe MANUSCRIPTS series contains photocopies of proofs for Bill Berkson's \"Cnidus, August 4th.\"\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 4: PHOTOGRAPHS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAn excellent portrait of Joe Brainard by photographer Elizabeth Hathon is located in the PHOTOGRAPHS series.  Also included are color transparencies of an eight-piece exhibit entitled \"The Gang of Eight.\"\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAccession Processed in 1993\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe 1993 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts, most of which are birthday or holiday greetings.  Also included is a print by Andy Warhol.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"]}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_aa7aa3051aaf587768981ea05d0eda4f"}},{"id":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_b651bf9a31d462ade3534753e5260a03","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Manuscripts by Other Authors","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_b651bf9a31d462ade3534753e5260a03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_b651bf9a31d462ade3534753e5260a03","ref_ssm":["aspace_b651bf9a31d462ade3534753e5260a03","aspace_b651bf9a31d462ade3534753e5260a03"],"id":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_b651bf9a31d462ade3534753e5260a03","title_filing_ssi":"Manuscripts by Other Authors","title_ssm":["Manuscripts by Other Authors"],"title_tesim":["Manuscripts by Other Authors"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Manuscripts by Other Authors"],"text":["Manuscripts by Other Authors","Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","Accession Processed in 1987","MANUSCRIPTS","/repositories/2/archival_objects/270"],"component_level_isim":[3],"parent_ids_ssim":["af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_88c3f40f7cdaec27b56e1129d479904e","af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_b9771d2fea565f261df0bec0f3f6e51c"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","Accession Processed in 1987","MANUSCRIPTS"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","Accession Processed in 1987","MANUSCRIPTS"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/2/archival_objects/270"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"collection_ssim":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":7,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":245,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Access\n         Collection is open for research.\n"],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["Publication Rights\n           Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"_nest_path_":"/components#1/components#1/components#1","_nest_parent_":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_b9771d2fea565f261df0bec0f3f6e51c","_root_":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:21.985Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","title_filing_ssi":"Brainard (Joe) Archive","title_ssm":["Joe Brainard Archive,"],"title_tesim":["Joe Brainard Archive,"],"ead_ssi":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","unitdate_ssm":["1960-1992"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1960-1992"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["MSS 0005","/repositories/2/resources/3"],"text":["MSS 0005","/repositories/2/resources/3","Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","American poetry -- 20th Century","Gay men -- United States -- Biography","Gay men in art","Gay men -- United States -- Poetry","Gay's writings","Prose poems, American","Fiction","Photographs -- 1964-1990.","Cartoons -- United States -- 20th Century","Lithographs -- 1960-1969.","Lithographs -- 1970-1979.","Collages -- 1960-1969.","Collages -- 1970-1979.","Oil paintings -- 1960-1969.","Oil paintings -- 1979-1979.","Watercolor drawings -- 1960-1969.","Watercolor drawings -- 1970-1979.","Lithographs -- 1960-1969 -- Color.","Made up genre","Access Collection is open for research.\n","Biography \nBorn in Arkansas in 1942 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Brainard moved to New York City in 1961.  There, he quickly developed friendships with Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Bill Berkson, Barbara Guest, and other participants in the New York School.  The large number of collaborative works in the collection, as well as the many illustrations Brainard did for books by others,  reflect the sense of community shared by these artists.  \n \nBrainard's achievement, however, is remarkable quite aside from his many associations.  Brainard harmonized linguistic and visual materials in extraordinary ways.  His graphic work is notably literary, often incorporating words and sentences into non-literary designs.  Such qualities prompted Frank O'Hara to say that Brainard's work had \"nothing to do with philosophy, it's all art.\"  Both the art work and writing is full of information and frequently takes erotic and semiotic risks.  In one of his more scandalous serial works, Brainard subjected Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy to every imaginable erotic and high art situation.  \n \nA prolific artist, Brainard's work has been exhibited extensively in the New York City area since the early 1960s.  His first retrospective show, consisting of work from 1960-1970, took place at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago in 1970.  In the mid-1970s he created over 3,000 miniature collages, paintings, and drawings for a major show at the Fischbach Gallery in Manhattan.  The materials gathered in the Joe Brainard Archive were first exhibited at the Long Beach Museum of Art in 1980.  In 1986 they were again exhibited at UCSD.\n \nLike Joe Brainard, Alex Katz is a New York City artist.  He has given numerous solo shows since the early 1960s, and many of his works have been added to numerous public art collections throughout the country.  Unlike Brainard, Katz has created a depthless, planar art which strips the visual image of its narrative, literary aura.  The result, as one critic has noted, is an image of a reality that is of no consequence.  \n","Scope and Content of Collection \nAccession Processed in 1987 \nThe Joe Brainard Archive contains approximately 300 examples of Brainard's art work as well as book and cover illustrations, manuscripts, and published writings, all dating from ca. 1960 to 1979.  Primarily a study collection, the importance of the Joe Brainard Archive is in documenting the wide range, topical as well as technical, of Joe Brainard's artistic production over a twenty year period, ca. 1960-1979.  The collection also includes several art works and many books by other notable artists and writers.  These materials have been arranged in five series:  1) ARTWORK, 2) MANUSCRIPTS, 3) CORRESPONDENCE, 4) CATALOGS, and 5) BIBLIOGRAPHIES.  \n \nSERIES 1: ARTWORK\n \nThis series comprises 161 pieces of Brainard's graphic art and another 20 pieces, most by Alex Katz.  Reflecting the many styles, dimensions, and media with which Brainard experimented during his career, these works include collages (including many of the miniatures Brainard constructed for a show of his in work in 1975), oil and watercolor abstractions, graphite portraits of several well known writers, original cover art for books by Ted Berrigan and John Ashbery, and the original art work for numerous \"comic strips\" done in collaboration with various writers.   \n \nSERIES 2: MANUSCRIPTS\n \nThe MANUSCRIPTS series, arranged chronologically,  includes the notebooks and original manuscripts for nine books of writing by Brainard.  Several manuscripts by Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark, Philip Gambone, and Rudy Kikel are also included.  \n \nSERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series consists primarily of letters from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts.  In addition, there are letters from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson to Brainard, and letters from Ron Padgett, John Giorno, Larry Fagin, and others to Robert Butts.\n \nSERIES 4: CATALOGS \n \nCatalogs for Brainard and Alex Katz exhibitions comprise the CATALOGS series.  Also included are numerous reviews of Katz's work.\n \nSERIES 5: BIBLIOGRAPHIES\n \nVarious checklists constructed by Robert Butts and documenting Brainard's production since 1961 are contained in series five, BIBLIOGRAPHIES.\n \nSEPARATION NOTE\n \nBooks and journals received in the 1984 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive have been separated from the collection and added elsewhere to the library's holdings.  To identify and list these items, conduct an author search in ROGER on the term \"Butts, Robert, former owner.\" \n \nAccessions Processed in 1991 \nThe accessions to the Joe Brainard Archive processed in 1991 contain originals of artwork by Joe Brainard for collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, and correspondence related to Robert Butts' projects.  The materials are arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) ARTWORK, 3) MANUSCRIPTS, and 4) PHOTOGRAPHS.\n \nSERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series includes letters from Bill Berkson to Robert Butts concerning publication of his book \"Serenade\" and correspondence from Joe Brainard.  The materials date between 1986 and 1987 and are organized alphabetically by correspondent.\n \nSERIES 2: ARTWORK\n \nThe ARTWORK series contains original drawings by Joe Brainard for three collaborative works with Bill Berkson and THE BABY BOOK with Kenward Elmslie.  Also included are original art by Brainard for miscellaneous poetry readings and flyers.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n \nSERIES 3: MANUSCRIPTS\n \nThe MANUSCRIPTS series contains photocopies of proofs for Bill Berkson's \"Cnidus, August 4th.\"\n \nSERIES 4: PHOTOGRAPHS\n \nAn excellent portrait of Joe Brainard by photographer Elizabeth Hathon is located in the PHOTOGRAPHS series.  Also included are color transparencies of an eight-piece exhibit entitled \"The Gang of Eight.\"\n \nAccession Processed in 1993 \nThe 1993 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts, most of which are birthday or holiday greetings.  Also included is a print by Andy Warhol.","Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        ","Materials collected by Robert Butts consisting primarily of diverse works by and regarding the popular New York artist and writer Joe Brainard (1942-1994).  Brainard was the author of fifteen books of writing, the illustrator of numerous other books produced by members of the New York School, and a celebrated graphic artist whose work covered a broad range of sizes, styles and media.  The Joe Brainard Archive consists of numerous examples of Brainard's graphic work dating from 1962 to 1979, most of the books illustrated by Brainard, all of Brainard's manuscripts and published writings, notebooks for Brainard's I REMEMBER series and several other books, Brainard's correspondence with members of the Butts family and correspondence to Brainard from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson, checklists of Brainard's artistic production constructed by Robert Butts, and a selection of articles devoted to Brainard's career.\nIn addition to the Brainard materials, the Joe Brainard Archive also includes several lithographs by Alex Katz (b. 1927), an oil painting by Tom Clark, and a few ink sketches by poets Ron Padgett and Allen Ginsberg.  There are also manuscripts of Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark and Rudy Kikel, in addition to broadsides and books written by New York School writers such as John Ashbery, Edwin Denby, and Kenneth Koch.\nThe accessions processed in 1991 contain primarily original artworks by Joe Brainard in collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, including THE BABY BOOK (1965).  Also included are correspondence, manuscript materials and photographs. The accession processed in 1993 comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts and one print by Andy Warhol.","Lyrasis Special Collections","Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- Archives","Brainard, Joe, 1942- , -- correspondent","Berkson, Bill, -- correspondent","Thomson, Virgil, 1896- -- correspondent","Greenwald, Ted, -- correspondent","Fagin, Larry, -- correspondent","Padgett, Ron, -- correspondent","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- artist","Clark, Tom, 1941- -- artist","Katz, Alex, 1927- -- artist","Padgett, Ron, -- artist","Berrigan, Ted","Kikel, Rudy, 1943-","Warhol, Andy,","Collection materials in English"],"unitid_tesim":["MSS 0005","/repositories/2/resources/3"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1960-1992"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992"],"collection_title_tesim":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992"],"collection_ssim":["Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"creator_ssm":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert"],"creator_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert"],"creators_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert"],"access_terms_ssm":["Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"acqinfo_ssim":["Acquisition Information Not Available"],"access_subjects_ssim":["American poetry -- 20th Century","Gay men -- United States -- Biography","Gay men in art","Gay men -- United States -- Poetry","Gay's writings","Prose poems, American","Fiction","Photographs -- 1964-1990.","Cartoons -- United States -- 20th Century","Lithographs -- 1960-1969.","Lithographs -- 1970-1979.","Collages -- 1960-1969.","Collages -- 1970-1979.","Oil paintings -- 1960-1969.","Oil paintings -- 1979-1979.","Watercolor drawings -- 1960-1969.","Watercolor drawings -- 1970-1979.","Lithographs -- 1960-1969 -- Color.","Made up genre"],"access_subjects_ssm":["American poetry -- 20th Century","Gay men -- United States -- Biography","Gay men in art","Gay men -- United States -- Poetry","Gay's writings","Prose poems, American","Fiction","Photographs -- 1964-1990.","Cartoons -- United States -- 20th Century","Lithographs -- 1960-1969.","Lithographs -- 1970-1979.","Collages -- 1960-1969.","Collages -- 1970-1979.","Oil paintings -- 1960-1969.","Oil paintings -- 1979-1979.","Watercolor drawings -- 1960-1969.","Watercolor drawings -- 1970-1979.","Lithographs -- 1960-1969 -- Color.","Made up genre"],"has_online_content_ssim":["true"],"extent_ssm":["32.20 Electronic file (8 archives boxes,  59 art bin items and 88 oversize folders)","32.20 linear feet (8 archives boxes,  59 art bin items and 88 oversize folders)"],"extent_tesim":["32.20 Electronic file (8 archives boxes,  59 art bin items and 88 oversize folders)","32.20 linear feet (8 archives boxes,  59 art bin items and 88 oversize folders)"],"genreform_ssim":["Photographs -- 1964-1990.","Cartoons -- United States -- 20th Century","Lithographs -- 1960-1969.","Lithographs -- 1970-1979.","Collages -- 1960-1969.","Collages -- 1970-1979.","Oil paintings -- 1960-1969.","Oil paintings -- 1979-1979.","Watercolor drawings -- 1960-1969.","Watercolor drawings -- 1970-1979.","Lithographs -- 1960-1969 -- Color.","Made up genre"],"date_range_isim":[1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eAccess\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003eCollection is open for research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Access Collection is open for research.\n"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eBiography\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nBorn in Arkansas in 1942 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Brainard moved to New York City in 1961.  There, he quickly developed friendships with Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Bill Berkson, Barbara Guest, and other participants in the New York School.  The large number of collaborative works in the collection, as well as the many illustrations Brainard did for books by others,  reflect the sense of community shared by these artists.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nBrainard's achievement, however, is remarkable quite aside from his many associations.  Brainard harmonized linguistic and visual materials in extraordinary ways.  His graphic work is notably literary, often incorporating words and sentences into non-literary designs.  Such qualities prompted Frank O'Hara to say that Brainard's work had \"nothing to do with philosophy, it's all art.\"  Both the art work and writing is full of information and frequently takes erotic and semiotic risks.  In one of his more scandalous serial works, Brainard subjected Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy to every imaginable erotic and high art situation.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nA prolific artist, Brainard's work has been exhibited extensively in the New York City area since the early 1960s.  His first retrospective show, consisting of work from 1960-1970, took place at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago in 1970.  In the mid-1970s he created over 3,000 miniature collages, paintings, and drawings for a major show at the Fischbach Gallery in Manhattan.  The materials gathered in the Joe Brainard Archive were first exhibited at the Long Beach Museum of Art in 1980.  In 1986 they were again exhibited at UCSD.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nLike Joe Brainard, Alex Katz is a New York City artist.  He has given numerous solo shows since the early 1960s, and many of his works have been added to numerous public art collections throughout the country.  Unlike Brainard, Katz has created a depthless, planar art which strips the visual image of its narrative, literary aura.  The result, as one critic has noted, is an image of a reality that is of no consequence.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biography"],"bioghist_tesim":["Biography \nBorn in Arkansas in 1942 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Brainard moved to New York City in 1961.  There, he quickly developed friendships with Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Bill Berkson, Barbara Guest, and other participants in the New York School.  The large number of collaborative works in the collection, as well as the many illustrations Brainard did for books by others,  reflect the sense of community shared by these artists.  \n \nBrainard's achievement, however, is remarkable quite aside from his many associations.  Brainard harmonized linguistic and visual materials in extraordinary ways.  His graphic work is notably literary, often incorporating words and sentences into non-literary designs.  Such qualities prompted Frank O'Hara to say that Brainard's work had \"nothing to do with philosophy, it's all art.\"  Both the art work and writing is full of information and frequently takes erotic and semiotic risks.  In one of his more scandalous serial works, Brainard subjected Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy to every imaginable erotic and high art situation.  \n \nA prolific artist, Brainard's work has been exhibited extensively in the New York City area since the early 1960s.  His first retrospective show, consisting of work from 1960-1970, took place at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago in 1970.  In the mid-1970s he created over 3,000 miniature collages, paintings, and drawings for a major show at the Fischbach Gallery in Manhattan.  The materials gathered in the Joe Brainard Archive were first exhibited at the Long Beach Museum of Art in 1980.  In 1986 they were again exhibited at UCSD.\n \nLike Joe Brainard, Alex Katz is a New York City artist.  He has given numerous solo shows since the early 1960s, and many of his works have been added to numerous public art collections throughout the country.  Unlike Brainard, Katz has created a depthless, planar art which strips the visual image of its narrative, literary aura.  The result, as one critic has noted, is an image of a reality that is of no consequence.  \n"],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003ePreferred Citation\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003eJoe Brainard Archive, MSS 0005. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\n        \u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Preferred Citation Joe Brainard Archive, MSS 0005. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\n        "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content of Collection"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Scope and Content of Collection \nAccession Processed in 1987 \nThe Joe Brainard Archive contains approximately 300 examples of Brainard's art work as well as book and cover illustrations, manuscripts, and published writings, all dating from ca. 1960 to 1979.  Primarily a study collection, the importance of the Joe Brainard Archive is in documenting the wide range, topical as well as technical, of Joe Brainard's artistic production over a twenty year period, ca. 1960-1979.  The collection also includes several art works and many books by other notable artists and writers.  These materials have been arranged in five series:  1) ARTWORK, 2) MANUSCRIPTS, 3) CORRESPONDENCE, 4) CATALOGS, and 5) BIBLIOGRAPHIES.  \n \nSERIES 1: ARTWORK\n \nThis series comprises 161 pieces of Brainard's graphic art and another 20 pieces, most by Alex Katz.  Reflecting the many styles, dimensions, and media with which Brainard experimented during his career, these works include collages (including many of the miniatures Brainard constructed for a show of his in work in 1975), oil and watercolor abstractions, graphite portraits of several well known writers, original cover art for books by Ted Berrigan and John Ashbery, and the original art work for numerous \"comic strips\" done in collaboration with various writers.   \n \nSERIES 2: MANUSCRIPTS\n \nThe MANUSCRIPTS series, arranged chronologically,  includes the notebooks and original manuscripts for nine books of writing by Brainard.  Several manuscripts by Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark, Philip Gambone, and Rudy Kikel are also included.  \n \nSERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series consists primarily of letters from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts.  In addition, there are letters from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson to Brainard, and letters from Ron Padgett, John Giorno, Larry Fagin, and others to Robert Butts.\n \nSERIES 4: CATALOGS \n \nCatalogs for Brainard and Alex Katz exhibitions comprise the CATALOGS series.  Also included are numerous reviews of Katz's work.\n \nSERIES 5: BIBLIOGRAPHIES\n \nVarious checklists constructed by Robert Butts and documenting Brainard's production since 1961 are contained in series five, BIBLIOGRAPHIES.\n \nSEPARATION NOTE\n \nBooks and journals received in the 1984 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive have been separated from the collection and added elsewhere to the library's holdings.  To identify and list these items, conduct an author search in ROGER on the term \"Butts, Robert, former owner.\" \n \nAccessions Processed in 1991 \nThe accessions to the Joe Brainard Archive processed in 1991 contain originals of artwork by Joe Brainard for collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, and correspondence related to Robert Butts' projects.  The materials are arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) ARTWORK, 3) MANUSCRIPTS, and 4) PHOTOGRAPHS.\n \nSERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series includes letters from Bill Berkson to Robert Butts concerning publication of his book \"Serenade\" and correspondence from Joe Brainard.  The materials date between 1986 and 1987 and are organized alphabetically by correspondent.\n \nSERIES 2: ARTWORK\n \nThe ARTWORK series contains original drawings by Joe Brainard for three collaborative works with Bill Berkson and THE BABY BOOK with Kenward Elmslie.  Also included are original art by Brainard for miscellaneous poetry readings and flyers.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n \nSERIES 3: MANUSCRIPTS\n \nThe MANUSCRIPTS series contains photocopies of proofs for Bill Berkson's \"Cnidus, August 4th.\"\n \nSERIES 4: PHOTOGRAPHS\n \nAn excellent portrait of Joe Brainard by photographer Elizabeth Hathon is located in the PHOTOGRAPHS series.  Also included are color transparencies of an eight-piece exhibit entitled \"The Gang of Eight.\"\n \nAccession Processed in 1993 \nThe 1993 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts, most of which are birthday or holiday greetings.  Also included is a print by Andy Warhol."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003ePublication Rights\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        \u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Publication Rights"],"userestrict_tesim":["Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_d0a02735e8e1b0bb0c234d65909c5da5\"\u003eMaterials collected by Robert Butts consisting primarily of diverse works by and regarding the popular New York artist and writer Joe Brainard (1942-1994).  Brainard was the author of fifteen books of writing, the illustrator of numerous other books produced by members of the New York School, and a celebrated graphic artist whose work covered a broad range of sizes, styles and media.  The Joe Brainard Archive consists of numerous examples of Brainard's graphic work dating from 1962 to 1979, most of the books illustrated by Brainard, all of Brainard's manuscripts and published writings, notebooks for Brainard's I REMEMBER series and several other books, Brainard's correspondence with members of the Butts family and correspondence to Brainard from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson, checklists of Brainard's artistic production constructed by Robert Butts, and a selection of articles devoted to Brainard's career.\nIn addition to the Brainard materials, the Joe Brainard Archive also includes several lithographs by Alex Katz (b. 1927), an oil painting by Tom Clark, and a few ink sketches by poets Ron Padgett and Allen Ginsberg.  There are also manuscripts of Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark and Rudy Kikel, in addition to broadsides and books written by New York School writers such as John Ashbery, Edwin Denby, and Kenneth Koch.\nThe accessions processed in 1991 contain primarily original artworks by Joe Brainard in collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, including THE BABY BOOK (1965).  Also included are correspondence, manuscript materials and photographs. The accession processed in 1993 comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts and one print by Andy Warhol.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["Materials collected by Robert Butts consisting primarily of diverse works by and regarding the popular New York artist and writer Joe Brainard (1942-1994).  Brainard was the author of fifteen books of writing, the illustrator of numerous other books produced by members of the New York School, and a celebrated graphic artist whose work covered a broad range of sizes, styles and media.  The Joe Brainard Archive consists of numerous examples of Brainard's graphic work dating from 1962 to 1979, most of the books illustrated by Brainard, all of Brainard's manuscripts and published writings, notebooks for Brainard's I REMEMBER series and several other books, Brainard's correspondence with members of the Butts family and correspondence to Brainard from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson, checklists of Brainard's artistic production constructed by Robert Butts, and a selection of articles devoted to Brainard's career.\nIn addition to the Brainard materials, the Joe Brainard Archive also includes several lithographs by Alex Katz (b. 1927), an oil painting by Tom Clark, and a few ink sketches by poets Ron Padgett and Allen Ginsberg.  There are also manuscripts of Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark and Rudy Kikel, in addition to broadsides and books written by New York School writers such as John Ashbery, Edwin Denby, and Kenneth Koch.\nThe accessions processed in 1991 contain primarily original artworks by Joe Brainard in collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, including THE BABY BOOK (1965).  Also included are correspondence, manuscript materials and photographs. The accession processed in 1993 comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts and one print by Andy Warhol."],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections","Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- Archives","Brainard, Joe, 1942- , -- correspondent","Berkson, Bill, -- correspondent","Thomson, Virgil, 1896- -- correspondent","Greenwald, Ted, -- correspondent","Fagin, Larry, -- correspondent","Padgett, Ron, -- correspondent","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- artist","Clark, Tom, 1941- -- artist","Katz, Alex, 1927- -- artist","Padgett, Ron, -- artist","Berrigan, Ted","Kikel, Rudy, 1943-","Warhol, Andy,"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"names_coll_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- Archives","Brainard, Joe, 1942- , -- correspondent","Berkson, Bill, -- correspondent","Thomson, Virgil, 1896- -- correspondent","Greenwald, Ted, -- correspondent","Fagin, Larry, -- correspondent","Padgett, Ron, -- correspondent","Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- artist","Clark, Tom, 1941- -- artist","Katz, Alex, 1927- -- artist","Padgett, Ron, -- artist","Berrigan, Ted","Kikel, Rudy, 1943-"],"persname_ssim":["Brainard, Joe, 1942-","Miller, Robert","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- Archives","Brainard, Joe, 1942- , -- correspondent","Berkson, Bill, -- correspondent","Thomson, Virgil, 1896- -- correspondent","Greenwald, Ted, -- correspondent","Fagin, Larry, -- correspondent","Padgett, Ron, -- correspondent","Brainard, Joe, 1942- -- artist","Clark, Tom, 1941- -- artist","Katz, Alex, 1927- -- artist","Padgett, Ron, -- artist","Berrigan, Ted","Kikel, Rudy, 1943-","Warhol, Andy,"],"language_ssim":["Collection materials in English"],"total_component_count_is":316,"online_item_count_is":2,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:21.985Z","scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eScope and Content of Collection\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAccession Processed in 1987\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe Joe Brainard Archive contains approximately 300 examples of Brainard's art work as well as book and cover illustrations, manuscripts, and published writings, all dating from ca. 1960 to 1979.  Primarily a study collection, the importance of the Joe Brainard Archive is in documenting the wide range, topical as well as technical, of Joe Brainard's artistic production over a twenty year period, ca. 1960-1979.  The collection also includes several art works and many books by other notable artists and writers.  These materials have been arranged in five series:  1) ARTWORK, 2) MANUSCRIPTS, 3) CORRESPONDENCE, 4) CATALOGS, and 5) BIBLIOGRAPHIES.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 1: ARTWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThis series comprises 161 pieces of Brainard's graphic art and another 20 pieces, most by Alex Katz.  Reflecting the many styles, dimensions, and media with which Brainard experimented during his career, these works include collages (including many of the miniatures Brainard constructed for a show of his in work in 1975), oil and watercolor abstractions, graphite portraits of several well known writers, original cover art for books by Ted Berrigan and John Ashbery, and the original art work for numerous \"comic strips\" done in collaboration with various writers.   \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 2: MANUSCRIPTS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe MANUSCRIPTS series, arranged chronologically,  includes the notebooks and original manuscripts for nine books of writing by Brainard.  Several manuscripts by Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark, Philip Gambone, and Rudy Kikel are also included.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 3: CORRESPONDENCE\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe CORRESPONDENCE series consists primarily of letters from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts.  In addition, there are letters from Ned Rorem and Virgil Thompson to Brainard, and letters from Ron Padgett, John Giorno, Larry Fagin, and others to Robert Butts.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 4: CATALOGS \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nCatalogs for Brainard and Alex Katz exhibitions comprise the CATALOGS series.  Also included are numerous reviews of Katz's work.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 5: BIBLIOGRAPHIES\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nVarious checklists constructed by Robert Butts and documenting Brainard's production since 1961 are contained in series five, BIBLIOGRAPHIES.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSEPARATION NOTE\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nBooks and journals received in the 1984 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive have been separated from the collection and added elsewhere to the library's holdings.  To identify and list these items, conduct an author search in ROGER on the term \"Butts, Robert, former owner.\" \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAccessions Processed in 1991\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe accessions to the Joe Brainard Archive processed in 1991 contain originals of artwork by Joe Brainard for collaborations with Bill Berkson and Kenward Elmslie, and correspondence related to Robert Butts' projects.  The materials are arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) ARTWORK, 3) MANUSCRIPTS, and 4) PHOTOGRAPHS.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe CORRESPONDENCE series includes letters from Bill Berkson to Robert Butts concerning publication of his book \"Serenade\" and correspondence from Joe Brainard.  The materials date between 1986 and 1987 and are organized alphabetically by correspondent.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 2: ARTWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe ARTWORK series contains original drawings by Joe Brainard for three collaborative works with Bill Berkson and THE BABY BOOK with Kenward Elmslie.  Also included are original art by Brainard for miscellaneous poetry readings and flyers.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 3: MANUSCRIPTS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe MANUSCRIPTS series contains photocopies of proofs for Bill Berkson's \"Cnidus, August 4th.\"\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 4: PHOTOGRAPHS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAn excellent portrait of Joe Brainard by photographer Elizabeth Hathon is located in the PHOTOGRAPHS series.  Also included are color transparencies of an eight-piece exhibit entitled \"The Gang of Eight.\"\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAccession Processed in 1993\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe 1993 accession of the Joe Brainard Archive comprises 16 letters and postcards from Joe Brainard to Robert Butts, most of which are birthday or holiday greetings.  Also included is a print by Andy Warhol.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"]}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/af02cfc7b437f7c9018c42d9_aspace_b651bf9a31d462ade3534753e5260a03"}},{"id":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_9244676a82a574e0ba9ac26ca8edaab4","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Maps","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_9244676a82a574e0ba9ac26ca8edaab4#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_9244676a82a574e0ba9ac26ca8edaab4","ref_ssm":["aspace_9244676a82a574e0ba9ac26ca8edaab4","aspace_9244676a82a574e0ba9ac26ca8edaab4"],"id":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_9244676a82a574e0ba9ac26ca8edaab4","title_filing_ssi":"Maps","title_ssm":["Maps"],"title_tesim":["Maps"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Maps"],"text":["Maps","Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK","/repositories/2/archival_objects/2832"],"component_level_isim":[2],"parent_ids_ssim":["075db2813bbf51babd021c34","075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_2ad6f868c9651c34075b3bd7d3de5210"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/2/archival_objects/2832"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"collection_ssim":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":1,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":102,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Access\n         Collection is open for research.\n"],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["Publication Rights\n           Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"_nest_path_":"/components#2/components#4","_nest_parent_":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_2ad6f868c9651c34075b3bd7d3de5210","_root_":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:11:47.965Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34","title_filing_ssi":"Scheffler (Harold) Papers","title_ssm":["Harold Scheffler Papers,"],"title_tesim":["Harold Scheffler Papers,"],"ead_ssi":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34","unitdate_ssm":["1926 - 1981"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1926 - 1981"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["MSS 0481","/repositories/2/resources/10"],"text":["MSS 0481","/repositories/2/resources/10","Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","Solomon Islands -- Social conditions","Solomon Islands -- Social life and customs","Solomon Islands -- Religious life and customs","Solomon Islands -- History -- 20th Century -- Sources","Solomon Islands -- Languages","Solomon Islands -- Pictorial works","Choiseul (Solomon Islands) -- Pictoral works","Rendova (Solomon Islands) -- Pictorial works","Oceania","Malekula (Vanuatu)","Christianity -- Solomon Islands","Ethnology -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Kinship -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Land tenure -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Social change -- Solomon Islands","Access Collection is open for research.\n","Biography \nHarold Walter Scheffler was born on October 24, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri.  He attended Southeast Missouri State College in 1952 and transferred to the University of Missouri the following year.  His studies were interrupted by military service with the United States Army, 1954-1955, after which he returned to the University of Missouri and received a B.A. degree in anthropology and sociology in 1956.\n \nScheffler then went on to the University of Chicago for graduate work in anthropology, receiving an M.A. in 1957.  He continued in the doctoral program at Chicago and, with the assistance of a Carnegie Corporation Tri-Institutional Pacific Program grant (1958-1960) and a Fulbright grant (1960-1961), conducted eighteen months of fieldwork (1958-1961) on the island of Choiseul in what was then called the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1963, having submitted a dissertation entitled \"Kindred and Kin Groups in Choiseul Island Social Structure\" (later published in 1965 as CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE.\n \nScheffler studied social structure and kinship on Choiseul Island between November 1958 and April 1961.  He spent most of his time in the village of Voza in the Tepazaka District, but also lived on the opposite side of the island in Ogo village in the Varisi District and made trips to Simbo Island.  Scheffler learned and conducted his research in the Varisi dialect. \n \nAfter returning from Choiseul, Scheffler taught at the University of Connecticut (1961-1962) and Bryn Mawr College (1962-1963).  He joined the Yale University faculty in 1963, and has remained there throughout his career.  \n \nPost-doctoral fellowships and grants from the National Science Foundation enabled him to return to the Solomon Islands.  Between 1967 and 1968, Scheffler conducted research on the island of Rendova as the principal investigator in a study entitled \"Revitalization Movements in the British Solomons,\" which compared religious movements in three locations.  This project examined the separatist Christian Fellowship Church on New Georgia Island (fieldwork conducted by Frances Harwood), the South Seas Evangelical Mission in the Langalanga lagoon area of Malaita (fieldwork conducted by Matthew Cooper) and the participation of people on Rendova Island in revitalization movements (fieldwork conducted by Scheffler).   \n","Scope and Content of Collection \nThe papers of Harold Scheffler relate to Scheffler's ethnographic research in the Solomon Islands, specifically his dissertation fieldwork on Choiseul Island conducted between 1958 and 1961 and his comparative study of religious revitalization movements and separatist churches on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure and kinship, particularly ambilineal descent groups, among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968) and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings; and, writings of others related to his areas of research.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages.  The papers occupy five linear feet and are arranged in eight series:  1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5)  MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.\n \nSERIES 1:  CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged alphabetically and includes letters from anthropologists John Barnes, William Davenport and Murray Groves; the ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, and two of Scheffler's graduate students, Matthew Cooper and Frances Harwood.  There are also letters from government offices in the Solomon Islands, the National Science Foundation and Yale University related to Scheffler's research and travel.\n \nSERIES 2:  WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER\n \nThe WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER series contains manuscripts of Scheffler's journal articles and published works related to the Solomon Islands, including a typescript of his dissertation entitled KINDRED AND KIN GROUPS IN CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE (1963) and drafts for articles on kinship, land tenure and separatist church movements.  Also included are proposals for research grant applications to fund his fieldwork and analysis.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n \nSERIES 3:  CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK\n \nThe CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK series documents Scheffler's dissertation field work and contains field notes and typescript summaries and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Varisi Language Material, and E) Maps.\n \nA) The Diaries (1958-1961) contain Scheffler's day-to-day, handwritten entries describing places visited, contacts made, conversations with informants, new words or usages, and records of expenses during his fieldwork on Choiseul.\n \nB) The Field Notes subseries contains manuscript notebooks with dated entries of ethnographic information from informants, typescript notes that organize, synthesize and summarize the field data on land tenure in the notebooks, and typed notecards with field data classified according to the Human Relations Area Files coding system.  The notecards also include a sociological census of Choiseul Island, notes on cases brought before the native courts, notes on readings, and a bibliography.\n \nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains notebooks and charts with lineage names, relationships and explanations of terminology.\n \nD) The Varisi Language Material subseries contains comparative word lists, a dictionary, descriptions of grammatical forms, and several examples of text.  Varisi is one of six dialects on Choiseul Islands and spoken by many groups outside the Varisi District.\n \nE) The Maps subseries contains seven blueprint drainage maps with Scheffler's (?) annotations of topographical features, villages and trails. \n \nSERIES 4: RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK\n \nThe RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK series document's Scheffler's fieldwork and study of revitalization movements and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Baniata Language Material, and E) Maps.\n \nA) Diaries (1967-1968). The Rendova diaries contain travel accounts, observations on the Christian Fellowship Church, its leader Silas Eto (Holy Mama) and Frances Harwood's field work.\n \nB) The Notebooks contain census data and genealogical information collected on the Baniata side and Rouro.\n \nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains a single set of kinship charts.\n \nD) The Baniata Language Materials subseries contains typescript comparative word lists, descriptions of grammatical forms,  exercises and a vocabulary compiled by Arthur Capell.\n \nE) This subseries contains two commercial maps of Rendova Island (ca. 1965) with annotations and one commercial map of the Solomon Islands group (1951).\n \nSERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK\n \nThe MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK series contains notebooks with general observations and bibliographies on the Solomon Islands, the specific island of Simbo (1960) and Ambryn Island in the New Hebrides.\n \nSERIES 6: WRITINGS OF OTHERS\n \nMost of the material in the WRITINGS OF OTHERS series relates to separatist church movements, including Frances Harwood's research on the Christian Fellowship Church, an instance of a schismatic church in Melanesia.  Also included are handwritten notes, largely related to Ambryn Island, made by British anthropologist Bernard Deacon (1903-1927) and typescript copies of Deacon's notes made by Camilla Wedgewood.  \n \nSERIES 7:  PHOTOGRAPHS\n \nThe PHOTOGRAPHS series is arranged according to periods of fieldwork in two subseries: A) 1958-1961 and B) 1967-1968.\n \nA)  The first subseries contains slides and black-and-white photoprints taken between 1958 and 1961 on Choiseul Island, but also on side trips to New Guinea, Norfolk Island and Simbo Island.  The images document village life in Voza, Scheffler's base on Choiseul; shell money (kesa) and its  surrounding rituals; war making; music making; and, people.  The Simbo Island images depict skull houses and shrines.  \n \nB)  The second subseries contains images documenting the religious revitalization movements and activities on Rendova, Choiseul, and New Georgia Islands, especially Paradise Village and the Christian Fellowship Church and its leader, Silas Eto.\n \nSERIES 8:  AUDIORECORDINGS\n \nThe AUDIO RECORDINGS series is arranged in two subseries: A) Choiseul and B) Rendova.  Within each subseries the recordings contain recitations of texts, pan flute music and songs.\n","Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        ","The papers of Harold Scheffler, anthropologist and ethnographer, relate to Scheffler's field research on ambilineal descent groups on Choiseul Island in the Solomon Islands between 1958 and 1961 and to his comparative study of religious revitalization movements, especially the Christian Fellowship Church, conducted on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure, kinship and ethnographic semantics among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968), and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages of the Solomon Islands.  Of particular interest are manuscript notes by Bernard Deacon, a British anthropologist, and typescript transcriptions of Deacon's notes by Camilla Wedgewood on Ambryn Island, New Hebrides.  The papers span the period from 1926 to 1981 with the bulk of the material generated between 1958 and 1971.\n\nThe papers are arranged in eight series:  1)  CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5) MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.","Lyrasis Special Collections","Scheffler, Harold W.","Scheffler, Harold W. -- Archives","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927","Collection materials in English"],"unitid_tesim":["MSS 0481","/repositories/2/resources/10"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1926 - 1981"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981"],"collection_title_tesim":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981"],"collection_ssim":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"geogname_ssm":["Solomon Islands -- Social conditions","Solomon Islands -- Social life and customs","Solomon Islands -- Religious life and customs","Solomon Islands -- History -- 20th Century -- Sources","Solomon Islands -- Languages","Solomon Islands -- Pictorial works","Choiseul (Solomon Islands) -- Pictoral works","Rendova (Solomon Islands) -- Pictorial works","Oceania","Malekula (Vanuatu)"],"geogname_ssim":["Solomon Islands -- Social conditions","Solomon Islands -- Social life and customs","Solomon Islands -- Religious life and customs","Solomon Islands -- History -- 20th Century -- Sources","Solomon Islands -- Languages","Solomon Islands -- Pictorial works","Choiseul (Solomon Islands) -- Pictoral works","Rendova (Solomon Islands) -- Pictorial works","Oceania","Malekula (Vanuatu)"],"creator_ssm":["Scheffler, Harold W."],"creator_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W."],"creator_persname_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W."],"creators_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W."],"places_ssim":["Solomon Islands -- Social conditions","Solomon Islands -- Social life and customs","Solomon Islands -- Religious life and customs","Solomon Islands -- History -- 20th Century -- Sources","Solomon Islands -- Languages","Solomon Islands -- Pictorial works","Choiseul (Solomon Islands) -- Pictoral works","Rendova (Solomon Islands) -- Pictorial works","Oceania","Malekula (Vanuatu)"],"access_terms_ssm":["Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"acqinfo_ssim":["Acquisition Information Not Available"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Christianity -- Solomon Islands","Ethnology -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Kinship -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Land tenure -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Social change -- Solomon Islands"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Christianity -- Solomon Islands","Ethnology -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Kinship -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Land tenure -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Social change -- Solomon Islands"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["6.90 Electronic file (16 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 7 oversize folders)","6.90 linear feet (16 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 7 oversize folders)"],"extent_tesim":["6.90 Electronic file (16 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 7 oversize folders)","6.90 linear feet (16 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 7 oversize folders)"],"date_range_isim":[1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eAccess\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003eCollection is open for research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Access Collection is open for research.\n"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eBiography\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nHarold Walter Scheffler was born on October 24, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri.  He attended Southeast Missouri State College in 1952 and transferred to the University of Missouri the following year.  His studies were interrupted by military service with the United States Army, 1954-1955, after which he returned to the University of Missouri and received a B.A. degree in anthropology and sociology in 1956.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nScheffler then went on to the University of Chicago for graduate work in anthropology, receiving an M.A. in 1957.  He continued in the doctoral program at Chicago and, with the assistance of a Carnegie Corporation Tri-Institutional Pacific Program grant (1958-1960) and a Fulbright grant (1960-1961), conducted eighteen months of fieldwork (1958-1961) on the island of Choiseul in what was then called the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1963, having submitted a dissertation entitled \"Kindred and Kin Groups in Choiseul Island Social Structure\" (later published in 1965 as CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nScheffler studied social structure and kinship on Choiseul Island between November 1958 and April 1961.  He spent most of his time in the village of Voza in the Tepazaka District, but also lived on the opposite side of the island in Ogo village in the Varisi District and made trips to Simbo Island.  Scheffler learned and conducted his research in the Varisi dialect. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAfter returning from Choiseul, Scheffler taught at the University of Connecticut (1961-1962) and Bryn Mawr College (1962-1963).  He joined the Yale University faculty in 1963, and has remained there throughout his career.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nPost-doctoral fellowships and grants from the National Science Foundation enabled him to return to the Solomon Islands.  Between 1967 and 1968, Scheffler conducted research on the island of Rendova as the principal investigator in a study entitled \"Revitalization Movements in the British Solomons,\" which compared religious movements in three locations.  This project examined the separatist Christian Fellowship Church on New Georgia Island (fieldwork conducted by Frances Harwood), the South Seas Evangelical Mission in the Langalanga lagoon area of Malaita (fieldwork conducted by Matthew Cooper) and the participation of people on Rendova Island in revitalization movements (fieldwork conducted by Scheffler).   \n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biography"],"bioghist_tesim":["Biography \nHarold Walter Scheffler was born on October 24, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri.  He attended Southeast Missouri State College in 1952 and transferred to the University of Missouri the following year.  His studies were interrupted by military service with the United States Army, 1954-1955, after which he returned to the University of Missouri and received a B.A. degree in anthropology and sociology in 1956.\n \nScheffler then went on to the University of Chicago for graduate work in anthropology, receiving an M.A. in 1957.  He continued in the doctoral program at Chicago and, with the assistance of a Carnegie Corporation Tri-Institutional Pacific Program grant (1958-1960) and a Fulbright grant (1960-1961), conducted eighteen months of fieldwork (1958-1961) on the island of Choiseul in what was then called the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1963, having submitted a dissertation entitled \"Kindred and Kin Groups in Choiseul Island Social Structure\" (later published in 1965 as CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE.\n \nScheffler studied social structure and kinship on Choiseul Island between November 1958 and April 1961.  He spent most of his time in the village of Voza in the Tepazaka District, but also lived on the opposite side of the island in Ogo village in the Varisi District and made trips to Simbo Island.  Scheffler learned and conducted his research in the Varisi dialect. \n \nAfter returning from Choiseul, Scheffler taught at the University of Connecticut (1961-1962) and Bryn Mawr College (1962-1963).  He joined the Yale University faculty in 1963, and has remained there throughout his career.  \n \nPost-doctoral fellowships and grants from the National Science Foundation enabled him to return to the Solomon Islands.  Between 1967 and 1968, Scheffler conducted research on the island of Rendova as the principal investigator in a study entitled \"Revitalization Movements in the British Solomons,\" which compared religious movements in three locations.  This project examined the separatist Christian Fellowship Church on New Georgia Island (fieldwork conducted by Frances Harwood), the South Seas Evangelical Mission in the Langalanga lagoon area of Malaita (fieldwork conducted by Matthew Cooper) and the participation of people on Rendova Island in revitalization movements (fieldwork conducted by Scheffler).   \n"],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003ePreferred Citation\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003eHarold Scheffler Papers, MSS 0481. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\n        \u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Preferred Citation Harold Scheffler Papers, MSS 0481. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\n        "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content of Collection"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Scope and Content of Collection \nThe papers of Harold Scheffler relate to Scheffler's ethnographic research in the Solomon Islands, specifically his dissertation fieldwork on Choiseul Island conducted between 1958 and 1961 and his comparative study of religious revitalization movements and separatist churches on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure and kinship, particularly ambilineal descent groups, among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968) and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings; and, writings of others related to his areas of research.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages.  The papers occupy five linear feet and are arranged in eight series:  1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5)  MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.\n \nSERIES 1:  CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged alphabetically and includes letters from anthropologists John Barnes, William Davenport and Murray Groves; the ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, and two of Scheffler's graduate students, Matthew Cooper and Frances Harwood.  There are also letters from government offices in the Solomon Islands, the National Science Foundation and Yale University related to Scheffler's research and travel.\n \nSERIES 2:  WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER\n \nThe WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER series contains manuscripts of Scheffler's journal articles and published works related to the Solomon Islands, including a typescript of his dissertation entitled KINDRED AND KIN GROUPS IN CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE (1963) and drafts for articles on kinship, land tenure and separatist church movements.  Also included are proposals for research grant applications to fund his fieldwork and analysis.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n \nSERIES 3:  CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK\n \nThe CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK series documents Scheffler's dissertation field work and contains field notes and typescript summaries and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Varisi Language Material, and E) Maps.\n \nA) The Diaries (1958-1961) contain Scheffler's day-to-day, handwritten entries describing places visited, contacts made, conversations with informants, new words or usages, and records of expenses during his fieldwork on Choiseul.\n \nB) The Field Notes subseries contains manuscript notebooks with dated entries of ethnographic information from informants, typescript notes that organize, synthesize and summarize the field data on land tenure in the notebooks, and typed notecards with field data classified according to the Human Relations Area Files coding system.  The notecards also include a sociological census of Choiseul Island, notes on cases brought before the native courts, notes on readings, and a bibliography.\n \nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains notebooks and charts with lineage names, relationships and explanations of terminology.\n \nD) The Varisi Language Material subseries contains comparative word lists, a dictionary, descriptions of grammatical forms, and several examples of text.  Varisi is one of six dialects on Choiseul Islands and spoken by many groups outside the Varisi District.\n \nE) The Maps subseries contains seven blueprint drainage maps with Scheffler's (?) annotations of topographical features, villages and trails. \n \nSERIES 4: RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK\n \nThe RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK series document's Scheffler's fieldwork and study of revitalization movements and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Baniata Language Material, and E) Maps.\n \nA) Diaries (1967-1968). The Rendova diaries contain travel accounts, observations on the Christian Fellowship Church, its leader Silas Eto (Holy Mama) and Frances Harwood's field work.\n \nB) The Notebooks contain census data and genealogical information collected on the Baniata side and Rouro.\n \nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains a single set of kinship charts.\n \nD) The Baniata Language Materials subseries contains typescript comparative word lists, descriptions of grammatical forms,  exercises and a vocabulary compiled by Arthur Capell.\n \nE) This subseries contains two commercial maps of Rendova Island (ca. 1965) with annotations and one commercial map of the Solomon Islands group (1951).\n \nSERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK\n \nThe MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK series contains notebooks with general observations and bibliographies on the Solomon Islands, the specific island of Simbo (1960) and Ambryn Island in the New Hebrides.\n \nSERIES 6: WRITINGS OF OTHERS\n \nMost of the material in the WRITINGS OF OTHERS series relates to separatist church movements, including Frances Harwood's research on the Christian Fellowship Church, an instance of a schismatic church in Melanesia.  Also included are handwritten notes, largely related to Ambryn Island, made by British anthropologist Bernard Deacon (1903-1927) and typescript copies of Deacon's notes made by Camilla Wedgewood.  \n \nSERIES 7:  PHOTOGRAPHS\n \nThe PHOTOGRAPHS series is arranged according to periods of fieldwork in two subseries: A) 1958-1961 and B) 1967-1968.\n \nA)  The first subseries contains slides and black-and-white photoprints taken between 1958 and 1961 on Choiseul Island, but also on side trips to New Guinea, Norfolk Island and Simbo Island.  The images document village life in Voza, Scheffler's base on Choiseul; shell money (kesa) and its  surrounding rituals; war making; music making; and, people.  The Simbo Island images depict skull houses and shrines.  \n \nB)  The second subseries contains images documenting the religious revitalization movements and activities on Rendova, Choiseul, and New Georgia Islands, especially Paradise Village and the Christian Fellowship Church and its leader, Silas Eto.\n \nSERIES 8:  AUDIORECORDINGS\n \nThe AUDIO RECORDINGS series is arranged in two subseries: A) Choiseul and B) Rendova.  Within each subseries the recordings contain recitations of texts, pan flute music and songs.\n"],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003ePublication Rights\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        \u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Publication Rights"],"userestrict_tesim":["Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract\u003eThe papers of Harold Scheffler, anthropologist and ethnographer, relate to Scheffler's field research on ambilineal descent groups on Choiseul Island in the Solomon Islands between 1958 and 1961 and to his comparative study of religious revitalization movements, especially the Christian Fellowship Church, conducted on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure, kinship and ethnographic semantics among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968), and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages of the Solomon Islands.  Of particular interest are manuscript notes by Bernard Deacon, a British anthropologist, and typescript transcriptions of Deacon's notes by Camilla Wedgewood on Ambryn Island, New Hebrides.  The papers span the period from 1926 to 1981 with the bulk of the material generated between 1958 and 1971.\n\nThe papers are arranged in eight series:  1)  CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5) MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The papers of Harold Scheffler, anthropologist and ethnographer, relate to Scheffler's field research on ambilineal descent groups on Choiseul Island in the Solomon Islands between 1958 and 1961 and to his comparative study of religious revitalization movements, especially the Christian Fellowship Church, conducted on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure, kinship and ethnographic semantics among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968), and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages of the Solomon Islands.  Of particular interest are manuscript notes by Bernard Deacon, a British anthropologist, and typescript transcriptions of Deacon's notes by Camilla Wedgewood on Ambryn Island, New Hebrides.  The papers span the period from 1926 to 1981 with the bulk of the material generated between 1958 and 1971.\n\nThe papers are arranged in eight series:  1)  CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5) MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS."],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections","Scheffler, Harold W.","Scheffler, Harold W. -- Archives","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"names_coll_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W. -- Archives","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927"],"persname_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W.","Scheffler, Harold W. -- Archives","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927"],"language_ssim":["Collection materials in English"],"total_component_count_is":208,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:11:47.965Z","scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eScope and Content of Collection\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe papers of Harold Scheffler relate to Scheffler's ethnographic research in the Solomon Islands, specifically his dissertation fieldwork on Choiseul Island conducted between 1958 and 1961 and his comparative study of religious revitalization movements and separatist churches on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure and kinship, particularly ambilineal descent groups, among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968) and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings; and, writings of others related to his areas of research.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages.  The papers occupy five linear feet and are arranged in eight series:  1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5)  MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 1:  CORRESPONDENCE\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged alphabetically and includes letters from anthropologists John Barnes, William Davenport and Murray Groves; the ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, and two of Scheffler's graduate students, Matthew Cooper and Frances Harwood.  There are also letters from government offices in the Solomon Islands, the National Science Foundation and Yale University related to Scheffler's research and travel.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 2:  WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER series contains manuscripts of Scheffler's journal articles and published works related to the Solomon Islands, including a typescript of his dissertation entitled KINDRED AND KIN GROUPS IN CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE (1963) and drafts for articles on kinship, land tenure and separatist church movements.  Also included are proposals for research grant applications to fund his fieldwork and analysis.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 3:  CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK series documents Scheffler's dissertation field work and contains field notes and typescript summaries and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Varisi Language Material, and E) Maps.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n \n         \u003cp\u003e\nA) The Diaries (1958-1961) contain Scheffler's day-to-day, handwritten entries describing places visited, contacts made, conversations with informants, new words or usages, and records of expenses during his fieldwork on Choiseul.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nB) The Field Notes subseries contains manuscript notebooks with dated entries of ethnographic information from informants, typescript notes that organize, synthesize and summarize the field data on land tenure in the notebooks, and typed notecards with field data classified according to the Human Relations Area Files coding system.  The notecards also include a sociological census of Choiseul Island, notes on cases brought before the native courts, notes on readings, and a bibliography.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains notebooks and charts with lineage names, relationships and explanations of terminology.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nD) The Varisi Language Material subseries contains comparative word lists, a dictionary, descriptions of grammatical forms, and several examples of text.  Varisi is one of six dialects on Choiseul Islands and spoken by many groups outside the Varisi District.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nE) The Maps subseries contains seven blueprint drainage maps with Scheffler's (?) annotations of topographical features, villages and trails. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 4: RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK series document's Scheffler's fieldwork and study of revitalization movements and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Baniata Language Material, and E) Maps.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nA) Diaries (1967-1968). The Rendova diaries contain travel accounts, observations on the Christian Fellowship Church, its leader Silas Eto (Holy Mama) and Frances Harwood's field work.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nB) The Notebooks contain census data and genealogical information collected on the Baniata side and Rouro.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains a single set of kinship charts.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nD) The Baniata Language Materials subseries contains typescript comparative word lists, descriptions of grammatical forms,  exercises and a vocabulary compiled by Arthur Capell.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nE) This subseries contains two commercial maps of Rendova Island (ca. 1965) with annotations and one commercial map of the Solomon Islands group (1951).\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK series contains notebooks with general observations and bibliographies on the Solomon Islands, the specific island of Simbo (1960) and Ambryn Island in the New Hebrides.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 6: WRITINGS OF OTHERS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nMost of the material in the WRITINGS OF OTHERS series relates to separatist church movements, including Frances Harwood's research on the Christian Fellowship Church, an instance of a schismatic church in Melanesia.  Also included are handwritten notes, largely related to Ambryn Island, made by British anthropologist Bernard Deacon (1903-1927) and typescript copies of Deacon's notes made by Camilla Wedgewood.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 7:  PHOTOGRAPHS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe PHOTOGRAPHS series is arranged according to periods of fieldwork in two subseries: A) 1958-1961 and B) 1967-1968.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nA)  The first subseries contains slides and black-and-white photoprints taken between 1958 and 1961 on Choiseul Island, but also on side trips to New Guinea, Norfolk Island and Simbo Island.  The images document village life in Voza, Scheffler's base on Choiseul; shell money (kesa) and its  surrounding rituals; war making; music making; and, people.  The Simbo Island images depict skull houses and shrines.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nB)  The second subseries contains images documenting the religious revitalization movements and activities on Rendova, Choiseul, and New Georgia Islands, especially Paradise Village and the Christian Fellowship Church and its leader, Silas Eto.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 8:  AUDIORECORDINGS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe AUDIO RECORDINGS series is arranged in two subseries: A) Choiseul and B) Rendova.  Within each subseries the recordings contain recitations of texts, pan flute music and songs.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"]}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_9244676a82a574e0ba9ac26ca8edaab4"}},{"id":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_6b2a179d39aa81137cd18360e94b2c2c","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Maps","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_6b2a179d39aa81137cd18360e94b2c2c#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_6b2a179d39aa81137cd18360e94b2c2c","ref_ssm":["aspace_6b2a179d39aa81137cd18360e94b2c2c","aspace_6b2a179d39aa81137cd18360e94b2c2c"],"id":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_6b2a179d39aa81137cd18360e94b2c2c","title_filing_ssi":"Maps","title_ssm":["Maps"],"title_tesim":["Maps"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Maps"],"text":["Maps","Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK","/repositories/2/archival_objects/2837"],"component_level_isim":[2],"parent_ids_ssim":["075db2813bbf51babd021c34","075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_1f4bf53b2e18e4bbd5270b5a270ad14b"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/2/archival_objects/2837"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"collection_ssim":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":1,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":126,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Access\n         Collection is open for research.\n"],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["Publication Rights\n           Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"_nest_path_":"/components#3/components#4","_nest_parent_":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_1f4bf53b2e18e4bbd5270b5a270ad14b","_root_":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:11:47.965Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34","title_filing_ssi":"Scheffler (Harold) Papers","title_ssm":["Harold Scheffler Papers,"],"title_tesim":["Harold Scheffler Papers,"],"ead_ssi":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34","unitdate_ssm":["1926 - 1981"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1926 - 1981"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["MSS 0481","/repositories/2/resources/10"],"text":["MSS 0481","/repositories/2/resources/10","Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","Solomon Islands -- Social conditions","Solomon Islands -- Social life and customs","Solomon Islands -- Religious life and customs","Solomon Islands -- History -- 20th Century -- Sources","Solomon Islands -- Languages","Solomon Islands -- Pictorial works","Choiseul (Solomon Islands) -- Pictoral works","Rendova (Solomon Islands) -- Pictorial works","Oceania","Malekula (Vanuatu)","Christianity -- Solomon Islands","Ethnology -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Kinship -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Land tenure -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Social change -- Solomon Islands","Access Collection is open for research.\n","Biography \nHarold Walter Scheffler was born on October 24, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri.  He attended Southeast Missouri State College in 1952 and transferred to the University of Missouri the following year.  His studies were interrupted by military service with the United States Army, 1954-1955, after which he returned to the University of Missouri and received a B.A. degree in anthropology and sociology in 1956.\n \nScheffler then went on to the University of Chicago for graduate work in anthropology, receiving an M.A. in 1957.  He continued in the doctoral program at Chicago and, with the assistance of a Carnegie Corporation Tri-Institutional Pacific Program grant (1958-1960) and a Fulbright grant (1960-1961), conducted eighteen months of fieldwork (1958-1961) on the island of Choiseul in what was then called the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1963, having submitted a dissertation entitled \"Kindred and Kin Groups in Choiseul Island Social Structure\" (later published in 1965 as CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE.\n \nScheffler studied social structure and kinship on Choiseul Island between November 1958 and April 1961.  He spent most of his time in the village of Voza in the Tepazaka District, but also lived on the opposite side of the island in Ogo village in the Varisi District and made trips to Simbo Island.  Scheffler learned and conducted his research in the Varisi dialect. \n \nAfter returning from Choiseul, Scheffler taught at the University of Connecticut (1961-1962) and Bryn Mawr College (1962-1963).  He joined the Yale University faculty in 1963, and has remained there throughout his career.  \n \nPost-doctoral fellowships and grants from the National Science Foundation enabled him to return to the Solomon Islands.  Between 1967 and 1968, Scheffler conducted research on the island of Rendova as the principal investigator in a study entitled \"Revitalization Movements in the British Solomons,\" which compared religious movements in three locations.  This project examined the separatist Christian Fellowship Church on New Georgia Island (fieldwork conducted by Frances Harwood), the South Seas Evangelical Mission in the Langalanga lagoon area of Malaita (fieldwork conducted by Matthew Cooper) and the participation of people on Rendova Island in revitalization movements (fieldwork conducted by Scheffler).   \n","Scope and Content of Collection \nThe papers of Harold Scheffler relate to Scheffler's ethnographic research in the Solomon Islands, specifically his dissertation fieldwork on Choiseul Island conducted between 1958 and 1961 and his comparative study of religious revitalization movements and separatist churches on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure and kinship, particularly ambilineal descent groups, among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968) and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings; and, writings of others related to his areas of research.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages.  The papers occupy five linear feet and are arranged in eight series:  1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5)  MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.\n \nSERIES 1:  CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged alphabetically and includes letters from anthropologists John Barnes, William Davenport and Murray Groves; the ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, and two of Scheffler's graduate students, Matthew Cooper and Frances Harwood.  There are also letters from government offices in the Solomon Islands, the National Science Foundation and Yale University related to Scheffler's research and travel.\n \nSERIES 2:  WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER\n \nThe WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER series contains manuscripts of Scheffler's journal articles and published works related to the Solomon Islands, including a typescript of his dissertation entitled KINDRED AND KIN GROUPS IN CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE (1963) and drafts for articles on kinship, land tenure and separatist church movements.  Also included are proposals for research grant applications to fund his fieldwork and analysis.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n \nSERIES 3:  CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK\n \nThe CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK series documents Scheffler's dissertation field work and contains field notes and typescript summaries and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Varisi Language Material, and E) Maps.\n \nA) The Diaries (1958-1961) contain Scheffler's day-to-day, handwritten entries describing places visited, contacts made, conversations with informants, new words or usages, and records of expenses during his fieldwork on Choiseul.\n \nB) The Field Notes subseries contains manuscript notebooks with dated entries of ethnographic information from informants, typescript notes that organize, synthesize and summarize the field data on land tenure in the notebooks, and typed notecards with field data classified according to the Human Relations Area Files coding system.  The notecards also include a sociological census of Choiseul Island, notes on cases brought before the native courts, notes on readings, and a bibliography.\n \nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains notebooks and charts with lineage names, relationships and explanations of terminology.\n \nD) The Varisi Language Material subseries contains comparative word lists, a dictionary, descriptions of grammatical forms, and several examples of text.  Varisi is one of six dialects on Choiseul Islands and spoken by many groups outside the Varisi District.\n \nE) The Maps subseries contains seven blueprint drainage maps with Scheffler's (?) annotations of topographical features, villages and trails. \n \nSERIES 4: RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK\n \nThe RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK series document's Scheffler's fieldwork and study of revitalization movements and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Baniata Language Material, and E) Maps.\n \nA) Diaries (1967-1968). The Rendova diaries contain travel accounts, observations on the Christian Fellowship Church, its leader Silas Eto (Holy Mama) and Frances Harwood's field work.\n \nB) The Notebooks contain census data and genealogical information collected on the Baniata side and Rouro.\n \nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains a single set of kinship charts.\n \nD) The Baniata Language Materials subseries contains typescript comparative word lists, descriptions of grammatical forms,  exercises and a vocabulary compiled by Arthur Capell.\n \nE) This subseries contains two commercial maps of Rendova Island (ca. 1965) with annotations and one commercial map of the Solomon Islands group (1951).\n \nSERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK\n \nThe MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK series contains notebooks with general observations and bibliographies on the Solomon Islands, the specific island of Simbo (1960) and Ambryn Island in the New Hebrides.\n \nSERIES 6: WRITINGS OF OTHERS\n \nMost of the material in the WRITINGS OF OTHERS series relates to separatist church movements, including Frances Harwood's research on the Christian Fellowship Church, an instance of a schismatic church in Melanesia.  Also included are handwritten notes, largely related to Ambryn Island, made by British anthropologist Bernard Deacon (1903-1927) and typescript copies of Deacon's notes made by Camilla Wedgewood.  \n \nSERIES 7:  PHOTOGRAPHS\n \nThe PHOTOGRAPHS series is arranged according to periods of fieldwork in two subseries: A) 1958-1961 and B) 1967-1968.\n \nA)  The first subseries contains slides and black-and-white photoprints taken between 1958 and 1961 on Choiseul Island, but also on side trips to New Guinea, Norfolk Island and Simbo Island.  The images document village life in Voza, Scheffler's base on Choiseul; shell money (kesa) and its  surrounding rituals; war making; music making; and, people.  The Simbo Island images depict skull houses and shrines.  \n \nB)  The second subseries contains images documenting the religious revitalization movements and activities on Rendova, Choiseul, and New Georgia Islands, especially Paradise Village and the Christian Fellowship Church and its leader, Silas Eto.\n \nSERIES 8:  AUDIORECORDINGS\n \nThe AUDIO RECORDINGS series is arranged in two subseries: A) Choiseul and B) Rendova.  Within each subseries the recordings contain recitations of texts, pan flute music and songs.\n","Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        ","The papers of Harold Scheffler, anthropologist and ethnographer, relate to Scheffler's field research on ambilineal descent groups on Choiseul Island in the Solomon Islands between 1958 and 1961 and to his comparative study of religious revitalization movements, especially the Christian Fellowship Church, conducted on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure, kinship and ethnographic semantics among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968), and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages of the Solomon Islands.  Of particular interest are manuscript notes by Bernard Deacon, a British anthropologist, and typescript transcriptions of Deacon's notes by Camilla Wedgewood on Ambryn Island, New Hebrides.  The papers span the period from 1926 to 1981 with the bulk of the material generated between 1958 and 1971.\n\nThe papers are arranged in eight series:  1)  CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5) MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.","Lyrasis Special Collections","Scheffler, Harold W.","Scheffler, Harold W. -- Archives","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927","Collection materials in English"],"unitid_tesim":["MSS 0481","/repositories/2/resources/10"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1926 - 1981"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981"],"collection_title_tesim":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981"],"collection_ssim":["Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"geogname_ssm":["Solomon Islands -- Social conditions","Solomon Islands -- Social life and customs","Solomon Islands -- Religious life and customs","Solomon Islands -- History -- 20th Century -- Sources","Solomon Islands -- Languages","Solomon Islands -- Pictorial works","Choiseul (Solomon Islands) -- Pictoral works","Rendova (Solomon Islands) -- Pictorial works","Oceania","Malekula (Vanuatu)"],"geogname_ssim":["Solomon Islands -- Social conditions","Solomon Islands -- Social life and customs","Solomon Islands -- Religious life and customs","Solomon Islands -- History -- 20th Century -- Sources","Solomon Islands -- Languages","Solomon Islands -- Pictorial works","Choiseul (Solomon Islands) -- Pictoral works","Rendova (Solomon Islands) -- Pictorial works","Oceania","Malekula (Vanuatu)"],"creator_ssm":["Scheffler, Harold W."],"creator_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W."],"creator_persname_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W."],"creators_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W."],"places_ssim":["Solomon Islands -- Social conditions","Solomon Islands -- Social life and customs","Solomon Islands -- Religious life and customs","Solomon Islands -- History -- 20th Century -- Sources","Solomon Islands -- Languages","Solomon Islands -- Pictorial works","Choiseul (Solomon Islands) -- Pictoral works","Rendova (Solomon Islands) -- Pictorial works","Oceania","Malekula (Vanuatu)"],"access_terms_ssm":["Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"acqinfo_ssim":["Acquisition Information Not Available"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Christianity -- Solomon Islands","Ethnology -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Kinship -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Land tenure -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Social change -- Solomon Islands"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Christianity -- Solomon Islands","Ethnology -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Kinship -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Land tenure -- Solomon Islands -- Choiseul","Social change -- Solomon Islands"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["6.90 Electronic file (16 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 7 oversize folders)","6.90 linear feet (16 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 7 oversize folders)"],"extent_tesim":["6.90 Electronic file (16 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 7 oversize folders)","6.90 linear feet (16 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 7 oversize folders)"],"date_range_isim":[1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eAccess\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003eCollection is open for research.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Access Collection is open for research.\n"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eBiography\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nHarold Walter Scheffler was born on October 24, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri.  He attended Southeast Missouri State College in 1952 and transferred to the University of Missouri the following year.  His studies were interrupted by military service with the United States Army, 1954-1955, after which he returned to the University of Missouri and received a B.A. degree in anthropology and sociology in 1956.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nScheffler then went on to the University of Chicago for graduate work in anthropology, receiving an M.A. in 1957.  He continued in the doctoral program at Chicago and, with the assistance of a Carnegie Corporation Tri-Institutional Pacific Program grant (1958-1960) and a Fulbright grant (1960-1961), conducted eighteen months of fieldwork (1958-1961) on the island of Choiseul in what was then called the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1963, having submitted a dissertation entitled \"Kindred and Kin Groups in Choiseul Island Social Structure\" (later published in 1965 as CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nScheffler studied social structure and kinship on Choiseul Island between November 1958 and April 1961.  He spent most of his time in the village of Voza in the Tepazaka District, but also lived on the opposite side of the island in Ogo village in the Varisi District and made trips to Simbo Island.  Scheffler learned and conducted his research in the Varisi dialect. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nAfter returning from Choiseul, Scheffler taught at the University of Connecticut (1961-1962) and Bryn Mawr College (1962-1963).  He joined the Yale University faculty in 1963, and has remained there throughout his career.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nPost-doctoral fellowships and grants from the National Science Foundation enabled him to return to the Solomon Islands.  Between 1967 and 1968, Scheffler conducted research on the island of Rendova as the principal investigator in a study entitled \"Revitalization Movements in the British Solomons,\" which compared religious movements in three locations.  This project examined the separatist Christian Fellowship Church on New Georgia Island (fieldwork conducted by Frances Harwood), the South Seas Evangelical Mission in the Langalanga lagoon area of Malaita (fieldwork conducted by Matthew Cooper) and the participation of people on Rendova Island in revitalization movements (fieldwork conducted by Scheffler).   \n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biography"],"bioghist_tesim":["Biography \nHarold Walter Scheffler was born on October 24, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri.  He attended Southeast Missouri State College in 1952 and transferred to the University of Missouri the following year.  His studies were interrupted by military service with the United States Army, 1954-1955, after which he returned to the University of Missouri and received a B.A. degree in anthropology and sociology in 1956.\n \nScheffler then went on to the University of Chicago for graduate work in anthropology, receiving an M.A. in 1957.  He continued in the doctoral program at Chicago and, with the assistance of a Carnegie Corporation Tri-Institutional Pacific Program grant (1958-1960) and a Fulbright grant (1960-1961), conducted eighteen months of fieldwork (1958-1961) on the island of Choiseul in what was then called the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1963, having submitted a dissertation entitled \"Kindred and Kin Groups in Choiseul Island Social Structure\" (later published in 1965 as CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE.\n \nScheffler studied social structure and kinship on Choiseul Island between November 1958 and April 1961.  He spent most of his time in the village of Voza in the Tepazaka District, but also lived on the opposite side of the island in Ogo village in the Varisi District and made trips to Simbo Island.  Scheffler learned and conducted his research in the Varisi dialect. \n \nAfter returning from Choiseul, Scheffler taught at the University of Connecticut (1961-1962) and Bryn Mawr College (1962-1963).  He joined the Yale University faculty in 1963, and has remained there throughout his career.  \n \nPost-doctoral fellowships and grants from the National Science Foundation enabled him to return to the Solomon Islands.  Between 1967 and 1968, Scheffler conducted research on the island of Rendova as the principal investigator in a study entitled \"Revitalization Movements in the British Solomons,\" which compared religious movements in three locations.  This project examined the separatist Christian Fellowship Church on New Georgia Island (fieldwork conducted by Frances Harwood), the South Seas Evangelical Mission in the Langalanga lagoon area of Malaita (fieldwork conducted by Matthew Cooper) and the participation of people on Rendova Island in revitalization movements (fieldwork conducted by Scheffler).   \n"],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003ePreferred Citation\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003eHarold Scheffler Papers, MSS 0481. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\n        \u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Preferred Citation Harold Scheffler Papers, MSS 0481. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\n        "],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content of Collection"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Scope and Content of Collection \nThe papers of Harold Scheffler relate to Scheffler's ethnographic research in the Solomon Islands, specifically his dissertation fieldwork on Choiseul Island conducted between 1958 and 1961 and his comparative study of religious revitalization movements and separatist churches on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure and kinship, particularly ambilineal descent groups, among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968) and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings; and, writings of others related to his areas of research.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages.  The papers occupy five linear feet and are arranged in eight series:  1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5)  MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.\n \nSERIES 1:  CORRESPONDENCE\n \nThe CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged alphabetically and includes letters from anthropologists John Barnes, William Davenport and Murray Groves; the ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, and two of Scheffler's graduate students, Matthew Cooper and Frances Harwood.  There are also letters from government offices in the Solomon Islands, the National Science Foundation and Yale University related to Scheffler's research and travel.\n \nSERIES 2:  WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER\n \nThe WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER series contains manuscripts of Scheffler's journal articles and published works related to the Solomon Islands, including a typescript of his dissertation entitled KINDRED AND KIN GROUPS IN CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE (1963) and drafts for articles on kinship, land tenure and separatist church movements.  Also included are proposals for research grant applications to fund his fieldwork and analysis.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n \nSERIES 3:  CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK\n \nThe CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK series documents Scheffler's dissertation field work and contains field notes and typescript summaries and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Varisi Language Material, and E) Maps.\n \nA) The Diaries (1958-1961) contain Scheffler's day-to-day, handwritten entries describing places visited, contacts made, conversations with informants, new words or usages, and records of expenses during his fieldwork on Choiseul.\n \nB) The Field Notes subseries contains manuscript notebooks with dated entries of ethnographic information from informants, typescript notes that organize, synthesize and summarize the field data on land tenure in the notebooks, and typed notecards with field data classified according to the Human Relations Area Files coding system.  The notecards also include a sociological census of Choiseul Island, notes on cases brought before the native courts, notes on readings, and a bibliography.\n \nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains notebooks and charts with lineage names, relationships and explanations of terminology.\n \nD) The Varisi Language Material subseries contains comparative word lists, a dictionary, descriptions of grammatical forms, and several examples of text.  Varisi is one of six dialects on Choiseul Islands and spoken by many groups outside the Varisi District.\n \nE) The Maps subseries contains seven blueprint drainage maps with Scheffler's (?) annotations of topographical features, villages and trails. \n \nSERIES 4: RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK\n \nThe RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK series document's Scheffler's fieldwork and study of revitalization movements and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Baniata Language Material, and E) Maps.\n \nA) Diaries (1967-1968). The Rendova diaries contain travel accounts, observations on the Christian Fellowship Church, its leader Silas Eto (Holy Mama) and Frances Harwood's field work.\n \nB) The Notebooks contain census data and genealogical information collected on the Baniata side and Rouro.\n \nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains a single set of kinship charts.\n \nD) The Baniata Language Materials subseries contains typescript comparative word lists, descriptions of grammatical forms,  exercises and a vocabulary compiled by Arthur Capell.\n \nE) This subseries contains two commercial maps of Rendova Island (ca. 1965) with annotations and one commercial map of the Solomon Islands group (1951).\n \nSERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK\n \nThe MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK series contains notebooks with general observations and bibliographies on the Solomon Islands, the specific island of Simbo (1960) and Ambryn Island in the New Hebrides.\n \nSERIES 6: WRITINGS OF OTHERS\n \nMost of the material in the WRITINGS OF OTHERS series relates to separatist church movements, including Frances Harwood's research on the Christian Fellowship Church, an instance of a schismatic church in Melanesia.  Also included are handwritten notes, largely related to Ambryn Island, made by British anthropologist Bernard Deacon (1903-1927) and typescript copies of Deacon's notes made by Camilla Wedgewood.  \n \nSERIES 7:  PHOTOGRAPHS\n \nThe PHOTOGRAPHS series is arranged according to periods of fieldwork in two subseries: A) 1958-1961 and B) 1967-1968.\n \nA)  The first subseries contains slides and black-and-white photoprints taken between 1958 and 1961 on Choiseul Island, but also on side trips to New Guinea, Norfolk Island and Simbo Island.  The images document village life in Voza, Scheffler's base on Choiseul; shell money (kesa) and its  surrounding rituals; war making; music making; and, people.  The Simbo Island images depict skull houses and shrines.  \n \nB)  The second subseries contains images documenting the religious revitalization movements and activities on Rendova, Choiseul, and New Georgia Islands, especially Paradise Village and the Christian Fellowship Church and its leader, Silas Eto.\n \nSERIES 8:  AUDIORECORDINGS\n \nThe AUDIO RECORDINGS series is arranged in two subseries: A) Choiseul and B) Rendova.  Within each subseries the recordings contain recitations of texts, pan flute music and songs.\n"],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003ePublication Rights\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        \u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Publication Rights"],"userestrict_tesim":["Publication Rights   Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.\n        "],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract\u003eThe papers of Harold Scheffler, anthropologist and ethnographer, relate to Scheffler's field research on ambilineal descent groups on Choiseul Island in the Solomon Islands between 1958 and 1961 and to his comparative study of religious revitalization movements, especially the Christian Fellowship Church, conducted on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure, kinship and ethnographic semantics among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968), and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages of the Solomon Islands.  Of particular interest are manuscript notes by Bernard Deacon, a British anthropologist, and typescript transcriptions of Deacon's notes by Camilla Wedgewood on Ambryn Island, New Hebrides.  The papers span the period from 1926 to 1981 with the bulk of the material generated between 1958 and 1971.\n\nThe papers are arranged in eight series:  1)  CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5) MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The papers of Harold Scheffler, anthropologist and ethnographer, relate to Scheffler's field research on ambilineal descent groups on Choiseul Island in the Solomon Islands between 1958 and 1961 and to his comparative study of religious revitalization movements, especially the Christian Fellowship Church, conducted on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure, kinship and ethnographic semantics among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968), and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages of the Solomon Islands.  Of particular interest are manuscript notes by Bernard Deacon, a British anthropologist, and typescript transcriptions of Deacon's notes by Camilla Wedgewood on Ambryn Island, New Hebrides.  The papers span the period from 1926 to 1981 with the bulk of the material generated between 1958 and 1971.\n\nThe papers are arranged in eight series:  1)  CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5) MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS."],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections","Scheffler, Harold W.","Scheffler, Harold W. -- Archives","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"names_coll_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W. -- Archives","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927"],"persname_ssim":["Scheffler, Harold W.","Scheffler, Harold W. -- Archives","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc","Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927"],"language_ssim":["Collection materials in English"],"total_component_count_is":208,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"075db2813bbf51babd021c34","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:11:47.965Z","scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003chead\u003eScope and Content of Collection\u003c/head\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe papers of Harold Scheffler relate to Scheffler's ethnographic research in the Solomon Islands, specifically his dissertation fieldwork on Choiseul Island conducted between 1958 and 1961 and his comparative study of religious revitalization movements and separatist churches on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968.  Scheffler studied social structure and kinship, particularly ambilineal descent groups, among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers on Rendova Island (1967-1968) and among Simbo islanders (1960).  Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students; manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs, and audiorecordings; and, writings of others related to his areas of research.  Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages.  The papers occupy five linear feet and are arranged in eight series:  1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5)  MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 1:  CORRESPONDENCE\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged alphabetically and includes letters from anthropologists John Barnes, William Davenport and Murray Groves; the ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, and two of Scheffler's graduate students, Matthew Cooper and Frances Harwood.  There are also letters from government offices in the Solomon Islands, the National Science Foundation and Yale University related to Scheffler's research and travel.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 2:  WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER series contains manuscripts of Scheffler's journal articles and published works related to the Solomon Islands, including a typescript of his dissertation entitled KINDRED AND KIN GROUPS IN CHOISEUL ISLAND SOCIAL STRUCTURE (1963) and drafts for articles on kinship, land tenure and separatist church movements.  Also included are proposals for research grant applications to fund his fieldwork and analysis.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 3:  CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK series documents Scheffler's dissertation field work and contains field notes and typescript summaries and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Varisi Language Material, and E) Maps.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n \n         \u003cp\u003e\nA) The Diaries (1958-1961) contain Scheffler's day-to-day, handwritten entries describing places visited, contacts made, conversations with informants, new words or usages, and records of expenses during his fieldwork on Choiseul.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nB) The Field Notes subseries contains manuscript notebooks with dated entries of ethnographic information from informants, typescript notes that organize, synthesize and summarize the field data on land tenure in the notebooks, and typed notecards with field data classified according to the Human Relations Area Files coding system.  The notecards also include a sociological census of Choiseul Island, notes on cases brought before the native courts, notes on readings, and a bibliography.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains notebooks and charts with lineage names, relationships and explanations of terminology.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nD) The Varisi Language Material subseries contains comparative word lists, a dictionary, descriptions of grammatical forms, and several examples of text.  Varisi is one of six dialects on Choiseul Islands and spoken by many groups outside the Varisi District.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nE) The Maps subseries contains seven blueprint drainage maps with Scheffler's (?) annotations of topographical features, villages and trails. \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 4: RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK series document's Scheffler's fieldwork and study of revitalization movements and is arranged in five subseries:  A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Baniata Language Material, and E) Maps.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nA) Diaries (1967-1968). The Rendova diaries contain travel accounts, observations on the Christian Fellowship Church, its leader Silas Eto (Holy Mama) and Frances Harwood's field work.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nB) The Notebooks contain census data and genealogical information collected on the Baniata side and Rouro.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nC) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains a single set of kinship charts.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nD) The Baniata Language Materials subseries contains typescript comparative word lists, descriptions of grammatical forms,  exercises and a vocabulary compiled by Arthur Capell.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nE) This subseries contains two commercial maps of Rendova Island (ca. 1965) with annotations and one commercial map of the Solomon Islands group (1951).\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK series contains notebooks with general observations and bibliographies on the Solomon Islands, the specific island of Simbo (1960) and Ambryn Island in the New Hebrides.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 6: WRITINGS OF OTHERS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nMost of the material in the WRITINGS OF OTHERS series relates to separatist church movements, including Frances Harwood's research on the Christian Fellowship Church, an instance of a schismatic church in Melanesia.  Also included are handwritten notes, largely related to Ambryn Island, made by British anthropologist Bernard Deacon (1903-1927) and typescript copies of Deacon's notes made by Camilla Wedgewood.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 7:  PHOTOGRAPHS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe PHOTOGRAPHS series is arranged according to periods of fieldwork in two subseries: A) 1958-1961 and B) 1967-1968.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nA)  The first subseries contains slides and black-and-white photoprints taken between 1958 and 1961 on Choiseul Island, but also on side trips to New Guinea, Norfolk Island and Simbo Island.  The images document village life in Voza, Scheffler's base on Choiseul; shell money (kesa) and its  surrounding rituals; war making; music making; and, people.  The Simbo Island images depict skull houses and shrines.  \n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nB)  The second subseries contains images documenting the religious revitalization movements and activities on Rendova, Choiseul, and New Georgia Islands, especially Paradise Village and the Christian Fellowship Church and its leader, Silas Eto.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nSERIES 8:  AUDIORECORDINGS\n\u003c/p\u003e\n         \u003cp\u003e\nThe AUDIO RECORDINGS series is arranged in two subseries: A) Choiseul and B) Rendova.  Within each subseries the recordings contain recitations of texts, pan flute music and songs.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"]}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/075db2813bbf51babd021c34_aspace_6b2a179d39aa81137cd18360e94b2c2c"}},{"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-2-4-3","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Medical Malpractice Suit","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-2-4-3#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_c02-1-8-6-2-4-3","ref_ssm":["aspace_c02-1-8-6-2-4-3","aspace_c02-1-8-6-2-4-3"],"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-2-4-3","title_filing_ssi":"Medical Malpractice Suit","title_ssm":["Medical Malpractice Suit"],"title_tesim":["Medical Malpractice Suit"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Medical Malpractice Suit"],"text":["Medical Malpractice Suit","Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES","/repositories/2/archival_objects/2317"],"component_level_isim":[2],"parent_ids_ssim":["8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c01-1-8-6-2-4"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","MEDICAL ISSUES"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/2/archival_objects/2317"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"collection_ssim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":32,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":334,"_nest_path_":"/components#3/components#1","_nest_parent_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c01-1-8-6-2-4","_root_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:50.878Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","title_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers"],"title_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers"],"ead_ssi":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","unitdate_ssm":["1945-1994"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1945-1994"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7"],"text":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7","Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","Ben Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.","At the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. ","Although Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. ","In addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.","During the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.","In 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.","Yellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. ","Papers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","The Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. ","Ben Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.","Because of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.","The collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","SERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. ","The \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.","As the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.","SERIES 2: FARM WORKERS","The FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.","Around 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.","The \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. ","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.","SERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES","The WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. ","The \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).","The second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).","The third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.","Yellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. ","The fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. ","SERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES","The fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. ","The first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.","In December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.","SERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.","Accession Processed in 1997. The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image. The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO.  The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically. The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order. WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order. The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically. The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order. Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact. The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.","The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. ","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.","The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.","WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.","The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.","Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.","The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","For current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog.","Lyrasis Special Collections","These materials are written in  English"],"unitid_tesim":["MSS 0193","/repositories/2/resources/7"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1945-1994"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"collection_title_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"collection_ssim":["Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["14.40 Electronic file","14.40 linear feet (37 archives boxes)"],"extent_tesim":["14.40 Electronic file","14.40 linear feet (37 archives boxes)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAt the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAlthough Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eDuring the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eYellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. \u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["BIOGRAPHY"],"bioghist_tesim":["Ben Yellen was born on July 2, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jake and Annie Yellen. He\nattended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, Columbia University and he graduated from Long\nIsland College of Medicine, now called The University of the State of New York Medical\nSchool, in 1931. Given the economic conditions prevalent during the Depression, Yellen\nturned to the government for employment. For the next decade he worked as a physician for\nthe Civilian Conservation Corps and served as a doctor in the Army. In 1942 he settled\npermanently in the town of Brawley in Imperial County, California. He chose Brawley\nlargely for its warm, dry climate, which he thought would be beneficial for his health.\nOnce settled in Imperial Valley Yellen found himself in one of the richest and most\nproductive agricultural regions in the United States. Roughly a decade and a half after\nhis arrival in Brawley Yellen initiated a protracted battle against the large-scale\ngrowers who dominated the region's economy and their representative institutions,\nincluding the Desert Growers Association and, especially, the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict.","At the time of his arrival in Brawley, Yellen joined the local medical society and\nestablished his own practice. He drew his patients primarily from the lower segments of\nImperial Valley's economic system. His treatment of braceros (i.e., Mexican migrant farm\nworkers) led him into the political activities that would occupy the last four decades of\nhis life. In 1956, at the age of 49, Yellen began agitating against the big growers and\nbrought suit against them and the Continental Life Insurance Company for defrauding\nmigrant workers of their medical insurance benefits. This activity led to his expulsion\nfrom the Imperial Valley Medical Society in 1959 on the charges that his early morning\naddresses to migrant workers informing them of their insurance benefits were unethical\nattempts to build his own practice at the cost of the physicians hired to treat the\nbraceros. Yellen continued to practice medicine independently, but his relationship with\nBrawley's Pioneer Memorial Hospital remained strained for the rest of his lifetime.\nAround 1959 or 1960 Yellen's attitude towards the braceros shifted, and he focused his\nwritings and attentions on the domestic farm workers displaced by Mexican immigrants. ","Although Yellen never abandoned his concern for farm workers, in 1961 his interests\nshifted as he expanded his attack on the big growers. At this time he embarked on the\ncrusade for which he is most well known--the lawsuits to enforce the Reclamation Law of\n1902. The central case in this effort was the United States vs the Imperial Irrigation\nDistrict in which Ben Yellen and 123 other citizens of Imperial County acted as amicus\ncuriae, pushing the case through the legal system. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in\nthis case that the Reclamation Law did apply in Imperial Valley and that all growers\nreceiving federal irrigation water were restricted to 160 acres per person in the\nhousehold. Before this ruling could take effect however, California Senator Alan Cranston\npassed an amendment in the last days of the session that year exempting Imperial Valley\nfrom the Reclamation Law, thereby nullifying the Supreme Court decision and Yellen's\ngreatest victory. ","In addition to his legal activities, Yellen actively engaged in local electoral politics\nbeginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1990s. Throughout these three decades,\nYellen ran for almost every conceivable local office, always on a platform of restricting\nthe power and influence of the big growers for the benefit of the \"little guy.\" In 1964,\nin his only electoral success, Yellen won a four-year term as a Brawley city councilman.\nTo get his views across to the public, Yellen distributed thousands of his own\nmimeographed newsletters, locally termed \"yellowsheets\" because of the yellow paper he\nused. With a canvas bag thrown over his shoulder, Yellen paced the streets of Imperial\nValley placing thousands of yellowsheets on car seats or under windshield wipers.\nYellen's pamphleteering lessened in the 1970s as his health and mobility declined; as a\nresult he increasingly relied on local newspapers to publish his \"letters to the editor\"\nto disseminate his political ideas.","During the final decade of his life, Yellen found himself in a new battle as the result\nof a malpractice suit following the death of a two-year old boy he injected with a\ncompounded prescription. Although he was ultimately cleared of wrong doing in the boy's\ndeath, his medical license was revoked by the state of California on November 16, 1983.\nHe spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his license. In 1987 he succeeded,\nbut the Board of Medical Quality Assurance placed so many restrictions on his return to\nmedicine that he never resumed an active practice.","In 1993 farm workers reappeared as the focus of Yellen's attention when he initiated a\nlawsuit against Attorney General Janet Reno to stop the flow of illegal Mexican\nimmigrants who took jobs from domestic farm workers. The suit never amounted to anything\ndue to Yellen's death the following year.","Yellen died in his home in Brawley on July 1, 1994, one day before he would have turned\n87. "],"odd_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePapers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.\u003c/p\u003e"],"odd_heading_ssm":["ABSTRACT"],"odd_tesim":["Papers of Benjamin L. Yellen (1907-1994), physician and political activist in Brawley,\nCalifornia. Most materials date from 1948 to 1994 and pertain to water, farming and\nmedical issues in Southern California. Typewritten correspondence forms the core of the\ncollection, while newspaper clippings, newsletters and published and government documents\ncompose the supporting materials. The collection is organized into five series: 1)\nYELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL\nACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and 5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen Papers, MSS 0193. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Ben Yellen Papers, MSS 0193. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBen Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eBecause of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAs the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 2: FARM WORKERS\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eAround 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eYellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eIn December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cscopecontent\u003e\n        \u003chead\u003eAccession Processed in 1997.\u003c/head\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. \u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eWATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eSeries six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.\u003c/p\u003e\n        \u003cp\u003eThe final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.\u003c/p\u003e\n      \u003c/scopecontent\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eWATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["SCOPE AND CONTENT","Accession Processed in 1997."],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Ben Yellen Papers document grassroots social and political activism in the arenas of\nwestern farm labor and water policy. Yellen's correspondence dates from 1948 to 1994 and\nencompasses a variety of topics: migrant farm workers, water policy, tax assessment,\nelectricity rates, local politics, the law, medical malpractice, and the compounding of\nprescriptions. The correspondence in each series is supported by an array of published\nmaterials, as well as documents from the Brawley city government and newsletters from a\nvariety of small organizations. ","Ben Yellen was a loud voice of protest against the entrenched power of California's\ncommercial farmers. Although his primary lawsuit to compel the federal government to\nenforce the 1902 Reclamation Law did not ultimately lead to the redistribution of land in\nImperial Valley, he brought the issue to national attention and caused the big growers\nsignificant discomfort and sizable legal bills. His correspondence and lawsuits allege\nhow the politically and economically powerful interests of Imperial Valley sought to\nsilence him by attacking his medical practice and his personal integrity. His incomplete\nand idiosyncratic collection of newsletters and small publications reveals a web of\nsmall, liberal organizations fighting for the rights of the poor. His crusades against\nthe tax and electricity \"swindles\" illustrate the extent to which the special privileges\nand power of the big growers affected the lives of citizens of Imperial Valley. Finally,\nYellen represented a style of liberalism that mixed a strong desire to do good with a\ndose of paternalism and a powerful sense of individual importance and empowerment.","Because of the scattered way in which Yellen gathered and disseminated information, much\nof the documentation gathered here is incomplete. For example, Yellen acquired the annual\nreports of the Imperial Irrigation District for the years between 1963 and 1990; however,\nnine of the twenty-seven years are missing. Additionally, Yellen solicited information\nabout major water projects in California, Arizona, and Colorado. As a result, the\ncollection contains snippets of data about projects such as the Salt River and Boulder\nCanyon, but not enough information for a coherent study of either topic. Generally\nspeaking, Yellen's correspondence is marred by his rambling prose style and his tendency\nto blur issues together in one letter. His letters are also highly repetitive because\nYellen remained focused on water and related issues for three decades and his ideas about\nthese topics changed little over time.","The collection is organized into five series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR;\n2) FARM WORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; and, 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.","SERIES 1: YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series provides an overview of Yellen's ideas\nand activities. The series is arranged into two chronological subseries: A) Yellowsheets\nand B) Letters to the Editor. ","The \"Yellowsheets,\" or newsletters, were distributed by hand in the Imperial Valley and\nmailed to people throughout the country. The bulkdates from the 1960s and diminishes\nthrough the 1970s and 1980s. Yellen used the yellowsheets to present his views directly\nto the people of the Imperial Valley and to explain how he thought they were all being\nexploited by the big growers.","As the frequency of yellowsheets declined through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Yellen\nincreasingly relied on \"Letters to the Editor\" to express his views in public. The\nIMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS and the BRAWLEY NEWS published Yellen's letters beginning in 1960\nand continued to do so until 1992. The majority of this subseries comprises copies of\nprinted letters; however, originals for which we do not have a printed copy and originals\nwhich differ from the printed version are also held.","SERIES 2: FARM WORKERS","The FARM WORKERS series deals with the issue that first drew Yellen into social and\npolitical activism --the plight of Mexican migrant farm laborers. The series is organized\ninto three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and C) Supporting Materials. In the\nlate 1950s, Yellen formed the Committee for the Protection of Mexican Workers when he\nrealized that growers deducted medical insurance premiums from the paychecks of braceros,\nbut the workers themselves received inadequate health care and the Continental Life\nInsurance Company denied them benefits following injury. In addition to the \"insurance\nswindle,\" Yellen pointed out that growers charged workers exorbitant rates for room and\nboard while providing substandard food. Additionally, the growers restricted the number\nof hours braceros worked and thereby severely limited the amount of money they earned.","Around 1960 Yellen shifted his emphasis away from fighting for the rights of Mexican\nworkers to excluding them in favor of domestic farm workers. Yellen maintained both that\ngrowers imported Mexican migrants at the expense of domestic farm workers and that\nImperial Valley's economy suffered because Mexican workers sent their wages home and did\nnot buy goods in local stores.","The \"Correspondence\" subseries (1957-1994) is arranged chronologically and documents both\nthe ill treatment of Mexican workers and Yellen's philosophical shift away from their\ncause. The letters are mainly outgoing of government agencies and individuals, the\nDepartment of Labor, state and national senators, the California Department of\nEmployment, the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, and the Immigration and\nNaturalization Service.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries is also arranged chronologically and documents lawsuit and small\nclaims court appeals filed by workers to gain wages and benefits from the big growers who\nhad cheated them. Yellen initiated, or was in some way involved with, all of these cases.\nThe affidavits and claims contained within these lawsuits provide a glimpse of working\nconditions for farm workers in the late 1950s. ","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries includes financial statements; publications and\nnewsletters by small groups interested in the rights of farm workers, including the\nNational Advisory Committee on Farm Labor and Citizens for Farm Labor; and essays and\nreports about the conditions of farm work in California, including Grace Weist's\ndissertation HEALTH INSURANCE FOR BRACEROS: A STUDY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION\nUNDER PUBLIC LAW #78, for which Yellen helped gather data.","SERIES 3: WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES","The WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES series is the core and largest part of the\nYellen Papers. It is organized into three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Lawsuits, and\nC) Supporting Material. Yellen discusses a variety of interrelated issues in his\ncorrespondence from 1959 to 1994; the enforcement of the 160 acres limitation; from the\nresidency requirement; the \"tax swindle;\" the \"electricity swindle,\" and electoral\npolitics in Brawley. Throughout his activist career, Yellen identified multiple levels on\nwhich the large land owners exploited the common people of Imperial Valley. He repeatedly\nargued that simple enforcement of the 160 acres limitation was insufficient to curtail\nthe power of the big growers. He doggedly maintained and propagated his beliefs through\nthree and a half decades of letter writing evidenced in this collection. He wrote letters\nto national political figures regularly in attempts to garner their attention to the\nlocal situation. For instance, he wrote to all the presidents, as well as senators and\nrepresentatives in key positions. He frequently wrote to people who were featured in\nnewspaper articles, as well as the authors of articles he found interesting. Running\nthroughout this correspondence are recurring solicitations to lawyers to work on his\nvarious cases, although he was largely unsuccessful and undertook many of his later\ncauses pro per. He also wrote continual solicitations to authors and television programs\nto visit Imperial Valley and publicize the story. In these letters, and others, he\nlamented what he saw as the persecution of his right to free speech by local authorities.\nHe maintained extended correspondence with a few private figures including George Ballis,\nCharles Smith, John Chappell, and his lawyer, Arthur Brunwasser.","The \"Lawsuits\" subseries contains legal documents from US vs Imperial Irrigation District\nand Ben Yellen vs Walter J. Hickel, as well as smaller related cases. The cases are\narranged chronologically by their beginning date and the folders are chronological within\neach case. This subseries also holds Ben Yellen vs Thomas Story, Ricky Macken, and the\nCity of Brawley, in its various manifestations. Yellen initiated this legal effort after\nhe was arrested while distributing his pamphlets at the 1984 Cattle Call Parade. This\nsuit marked the culmination of Yellen's struggle with the City of Brawley over his free\nspeech rights to distribute his pamphlets unmolested.","The \"Supporting Materials\" subseries contains a wide variety of material relating to\nYellen's interrelated interests, chiefly A) Western water, B) Electricity, C) Political\ncampaigns, D) the Imperial Irrigation District, and E) Imperial County and the City of\nBrawley. ","The \"Western water\" sub-subseries consists of reports and writings about western water\nissues. Much of the material is government documents and reports specifically related to\nthe Reclamation law and its applicability to the Imperial Valley. There is also a\ncollection of documents and pamphlets from different western water projects such as the\nPalo Verde Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley, the Central Valley Salton Sea, the\nSan Joaquin Valley, the Metropolitan Water District, the Salt River Project and other\nArizona projects, and the Colorado River Dam. Yellen amassed notable, although\nincomplete, runs of WESTERN WATER NEWS (1960-1995) and the NATIONAL FARMERS UNION\nWASHINGTON NEWSLETTER (1964-1991). Likewise, Yellen saved newsletters and small\npublications from the California Agrarian Action Project (1980-1984), the CALIFORNIA FARM\nCONSUMER REPORTER (1965-1973), California Homeowner (1963-1971), National Land for People\n(1976-1985), SHARECROPPER (1972-1974), and the National Sharecropers' Fund (1971-1984).","The second sub-subseries deals with Yellen's enduring interest in \"Electricity.\" In\nparticular, it contains Imperial Irrigation District electricity rate schedules and\npamphlets (1962-1989), as well as similar information for the Tennessee Valley Authority\n(1967-1992).","The third sub-subseries, \"Political campaigns,\" holds examples of Yellen's political\nadvertisements, as well as advertisements from other local campaigns. Most of this\nmaterial is from the 1960s.","Yellen's nemesis in his political activism was the Imperial Irrigation District, which\ncontrolled the distribution of water and electricity in Imperial Valley and was in turn\ncontrolled by the large growers. The fourth sub-subseries is a collection of IID\ndocuments including audit reports (1960-1964), annual reports (1963-1990) and the IID\npublication DISTRICT NEWS (1960-1974). Also included in this area are publications made\nby other pro-big farmer groups, including pamphlets specifically attacking Yellen. ","The fifth and final sub-subseries is a sizable collection of material pertaining to\nImperial County and the City of Brawley, including descriptions of and fiscal data about\nImperial County; the minutes of the Brawley Town Council for the years he served as a\ncouncilman (1964-1968); correspondence internal to the city about a variety of matters\nsuch as promotions in the police and fire departments and planning projects. ","SERIES 4: MEDICAL ISSUES","The fourth series is tangential to the rest of the collection because it deals with\nYellen's medical philosophy and practice. This series is organized into two subseries: A)\nCorrespondence, and B) Medical Malpractice Suit. ","The first subseries is arranged chronologically and contains the earliest correspondence\nin the collection. Beginning in the 1940s, Yellen wrote numerous letters to medical\njournals and other doctors explaining and advocating his habit of compounding\nprescriptions, that is, writing complex prescriptions patients or pharmacists would put\ntogether as substitutes for more expensive packaged brand name drugs. In fact, his first\ncrusade was against the pharmaceutical manufacturers who charged high prices for drugs he\ncompounded cheaply. Within this subseries are letters reflecting the day to day nature of\nhis medical practice, as well as his relationship with other physicians in the area.","In December of 1981, Yellen's insistence on compounding drugs got him into trouble when a\ntwo-year old boy died in his care. The second subseries contains the correspondence,\narranged chronologically, surrounding the \"Medical Malpractice Suit,\" Travis Kavanaugh vs\nBen Yellen, and Yellen's subsequent countersuits. The legal documents relating to these\nproceedings are also included.","SERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series contains select documents, such as a copy of Yellen's\nbirth certificate, photographs, a folder of personal correspondence, and a collection of\nsecondary articles about him including a transcript of his appearance on the television\nshow 60 MINUTES in 1973.","Accession Processed in 1997. The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image. The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO.  The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically. The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order. WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order. The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically. The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order. Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact. The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear.","The second accession contains materials that supplement those found in the first and\nlargest accession. Materials in this accession include: correspondence, legal documents,\nmedical records, personal ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and audio tapes.\nThe series titles and arrangement mirror those of the first accession. The NEWSPAPER\nCLIPPINGS and AUDIO series are unique to the second accession and provide important\ndocumentation of Yellen's public role and image.","The accession is arranged into 7 series: 1) YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; 2)\nFARMWORKERS; 3) WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES; 4) MEDICAL ISSUES; 5)\nBIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS; 6) NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS and 7) AUDIO. ","The YELLOWSHEETS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR series offers a small sampling of the\npamphlets and letters Yellen produced for public consumption. They document the core of\nYellen's political beliefs and activities. They are particularly notable for the attacks\nYellen undertook against prominent politicians and residents of Imperial Valley. Both the\nyellowsheets and letters to the editor are arranged chronologically.","The second series on FARMWORKERS is also quite short containing primarily Yellen's\ncorrespondence on behalf of braceros in Imperial Valley, as well as a few medical\nrecords. The series is in alphabetical order.","WATER AND RELATED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES is a more extensive series holding samples of\nYellen's correspondence. Additionally, a sample of receipts provides a hint at the amount\nof money Yellen spent on such things as paper for printing yellowsheets and radio and\nnewspaper advertising during his campaigns for political office. This series is also in\nalphabetical order.","The fourth series, MEDICAL ISSUES, is the most extensive portion of the accession. It\nbegins with Yellen's General Medical Correspondence, pertaining mostly to his practice of\ncompounding prescriptions. The bulk of the series is made up of documents relating to his\nmedical malpractice suit which began in 1981. There is a subseries of notes and papers\nthat appear to have come from his lawyer's office. Another subseries is dedicated to\nAnnabelle Hillock's Notes about the case against Yellen and his hearing before the Board\nof Medical Quality Assurance. Hillock was a friend of Yellen who assisted him in his pro\nper actions to defend himself against the accusation of malpractice and subsequently to\nregain his license. The final subseries consists of Legal Documents filed in the\nmalpractice case. The series and subseries are all arranged alphabetically.","The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series offers a variety of materialsincluding personal\ncorrespondence, documentation of his death, as well as an extensive collection of\nphotographs taken primarily early in Yellen's life. Also included are ephemera such as\nmatchbook covers with Yellen's picture on them, rubber stamps with much used slogans, and\nYellen's Physician's diary from the 1950s. The materials in this collection are in\nalphabetical order.","Series six, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, is made up of newspaper articles about Yellen collected\nbetween 1958 and 1994. These clippings provide a narrative to Yellen's life by\ndocumenting his public trials and triumphs. The clippings are a good place to begin to\nget a sense of the chronology of Yellen's life and his public impact.","The final series, AUDIO, consists of audio tapes of a few of Yellen's public appearances.\nThe most notable of which is his \"60 MINUTES\" appearance in 1973. These materials in are\nchronological order as their titles of sometimes unclear."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_4daaeb965e441c44361e6101b0c557d4\"\u003eFor current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog.\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["For current information on the location of these\nmaterials, please consult the Library's online catalog."],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"language_ssim":["These materials are written in  English"],"total_component_count_is":475,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:50.878Z"}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/8a35f0553ff26b79965c963d_aspace_c02-1-8-6-2-4-3"}},{"id":"e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500_aspace_72323ac3100993772b1845d88eb71685","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Military papers","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500_aspace_72323ac3100993772b1845d88eb71685#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_72323ac3100993772b1845d88eb71685","ref_ssm":["aspace_72323ac3100993772b1845d88eb71685","aspace_72323ac3100993772b1845d88eb71685"],"id":"e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500_aspace_72323ac3100993772b1845d88eb71685","title_filing_ssi":"Military papers","title_ssm":["Military papers"],"title_tesim":["Military papers"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Military papers"],"text":["Military papers","The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987","George Washington O'Brien Papers, 1862-1965","/repositories/2/archival_objects/8222","English"],"component_level_isim":[2],"parent_ids_ssim":["e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500","e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500_aspace_dbc2230587325f1492765f1c9885b192"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987","George Washington O'Brien Papers, 1862-1965"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987","George Washington O'Brien Papers, 1862-1965"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/2/archival_objects/8222"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"collection_ssim":["The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":5,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":2,"language_ssim":["English"],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#0","_nest_parent_":"e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500_aspace_dbc2230587325f1492765f1c9885b192","_root_":"e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:54.887Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500","title_filing_ssi":"The O'Brien Family Papers","title_ssm":["The O'Brien Family Papers"],"title_tesim":["The O'Brien Family Papers"],"ead_ssi":"e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500","unitdate_ssm":["1835-1987"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1835-1987"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["AC-108","/repositories/2/resources/96"],"text":["AC-108","/repositories/2/resources/96","The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987","Petroleum industry","Spanish-American War","Lawyers","United States--History--1861-1865, Civil War--Personal narratives","Correspondence","Deeds","Diaries","Personal Names\n Brooks, Jack, 1922-2012 Chilton, Horace, 1853-1932 Hogg, James Stephen, 1851-1906 O'Brien, George Washington, 1833-1909 O'Brien, Chenault, 1874-1940 O'Brien, Chilton, 1911-1983 Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007 Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 Walker, Daniel, 1876-1944 \n Organizations\n Gladys City Oil, Gas \u0026 Manufacturing Company Jefferson County Bar Association State Bar of Texas Texas State Library and Archives Commission \n Subjects\n Lawyers Petroleum industry Spanish-American War United States--History--1861-1865, Civil War--Personal narratives \n Locations\n Austin (Tex.) Jefferson County (Tex.) \n Genres/Formats\nCorrespondence\nDeeds\nDiaries\nEstate records\nFinancial records\nInventories\nLegal files\nPhotographs\nWills","This collection is organized into 9 record groups and 32 series.\n George Washington O'Brien Papers Chenault O'Brien Papers Chilton O'Brien Papers Intergenerational O'Brien Papers Chilton Papers Judge Daniel Walker Papers Photographs Oversize Papers Artifacts","George W. O'Brien, 1833-1909","While George W. O'Brien is best known for his role as a founder of the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company, the company which began Spindletop oil exploration, he had a full life which greatly impacted the history of Southeast Texas. Attaining the rank of captain in the Confederate Army, he was a leader in Democratic politics, the legal profession, and as a financier and organizer of businesses and organizations in Beaumont.","O'Brien recognized the potential for petroleum production in Southeast Texas long before 1901. While camped at Spindletop Springs as a Confederate soldier, in the 1860s, he noticed globules of petroleum on the water and heard the hiss of escaping gas. In 1865 he received a letter from A. B. Trowell, an attorney at Liberty, Texas, who had served in the Confederate Army with members of the O'Brien family. Trowell advised him to purchase land which had petroleum deposits. O'Brien put Trowell's advice in practice when he and his son-in-law and legal partner, Alfred S. John, represented the family of John Allen Veatch in a suit to recover a large tract of land from the State of Texas. Veatch, a scientific Renaissance man, had realized there was economic potential from the strange substances emitted at Sour Lake and Spindletop and carefully chose parcels from the Mexican and Texan governments which had mineral deposits. O'Brien and John were deeded a portion of the John Allen Veatch Survey which included land at Spindletop for their legal assistance.","When Pattillo Higgins, a visionary who dreamed of building an industrial city fueled by the mineral deposits at Spindletop, planned to drill for oil, and Higgins' former employer, George W. Carroll, a local businessman who owned the Beaumont Lumber Company, approached O'Brien about selling his land at Spindletop, O'Brien declined. Instead he proposed joining them as a partner in the venture. Higgins and Carroll accepted O'Brien's offer, and in 1892, the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company was incorporated with the following charter subscribers and directors: George W. O'Brien, George W. Carroll, Pattillo Higgins, J. F. Lanier, and E. E. John. Each of the incorporators put in certain lands in the John A. Veatch Survey at a value of twenty dollars per acre. George W. O'Brien and his daughter Emma E. John conveyed 1350 acres for 270 shares of stock, the other 270 shares of stock were issued to George W. Carroll and Pattillo Higgins who conveyed 1077 acres and J. F. Lanier conveyed 273 acres of land. The Company made several futile attempts to obtain oil at Spindletop, financing its oil drilling attempts by selling off a part of their acreage.","At the turn of the century, the Gladys City Company took action which ushered in a new era. Pattillo Higgins contacted Anthony F. Lucas, an engineer and former captain in the Austrian navy, in 1899 for assistance. Lucas had experience in salt mining along the Gulf Coast. He recognized that many salt domes, such as Spindletop, contained not only salt but also sulphur and petroleum. He leased land from the Gladys City Company and drilled a well. While the well did strike oil, the pipe collapsed from the pressure of the gas before a large amount of oil could be collected. Lucas contacted oil prospectors James Guffey and John Galey for financial assistance, who turned to the Andrew Mellon family for backing. Guffey and Galey hired a team, the Hamill brothers, from Corsicana to conduct the drilling for petroleum. Historians disagree on the reasons for the Hamills' success, some believing that they possessed a heavier and more efficient rotary bit, while other scholars believe it was expertise, not equipment, that was essential.","The efforts to produce petroleum reached fruition on January 10, 1901, when the Lucas gusher erupted, spewing a column of oil 200 feet high for nine days. Although the Lucas gusher was located on land owned by McFaddin-Wiess-Kyle, another group of prominent Beaumont businessmen, and not on Gladys City land, it initiated an unprecedented boom of prospecting for and processing petroleum.","The Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company never again tried operating wells, choosing instead to lease the land to others and collect mineral royalties from them. The land at Spindletop produced not only petroleum, but also vast quantities of sulphur and salt. George W. O'Brien and his descendants retained stock in the company, and continued to provide leadership in the company for many decades.","O'Brien was born in Vermillion Parish, Louisiana, in 1833, to George Bryan and Elizabeth Ann Bryan. O'Brien and his family migrated to Galveston, Texas, in 1849. He moved to Beaumont, Texas, in 1852. As a teenager he carried mail on horseback between Morgan City, Louisiana, and Galveston, Texas, along the Bolivar Peninsula.","O'Brien was active as a Jefferson County official and attorney. He was elected District and County Clerk in 1854, and Justice of the Peace for Precinct One in 1858. O'Brien was admitted to practice law in 1861.","Although O'Brien had opposed slavery, had never owned a slave, and had opposed secession as a member of the Jefferson County Secession Convention, he defended his native South by serving in the Confederacy during the Civil War. He initially fought under the leadership of his kinsman, Captain King Bryan in Company F of the Fifth Texas Infantry Regiment in battles east of the Mississippi, but following an outbreak of measles, was discharged for disability, and returned on foot to Beaumont. While returning home, he regained his health, and in Beaumont in 1862, he recruited an additional company and was elected Captain of Company E, Likens Battalion, Texas Volunteers, later known as Speights Texas Regiment.","His company, during its preparation and march toward the Mississippi River, participated in several important military events. They established a fort at Port Neches to control the Neches River against Federal gun boats which had been dispatched to take beef cattle and other supplies to the Union Army. The company later took part in the Battle of Fordoche in Louisiana, and a battle at Mansfield, Louisiana. During 1863, he maintained a meticulous diary of his wartime experiences. His diary was edited by Houston attorney Cooper K. Ragan, who published them in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1963 and 1964.","After the war, O'Brien became one of the most influential men in Southeast Texas. An ardent Democrat, he expressed his opposition to Radical Republicanism by purchasing the press of the Liberty Gazette in 1869 and serving as editor and publisher of the Neches Valley News and its successor, the Beaumont News Beacon, from 1869 to 1874. The newspaper served as a voice for the Democratic party. O'Brien acted as a delegate from Texas at the 1872 Democratic National Convention.","O'Brien was active in business ventures. He was a subscriber of the Beaumont, Sour Lake, and Western Railroad, later the Gulf Coast and Missouri Pacific System. O'Brien helped finance the Central Asphalt and Refining Company at Port Neches, and the Beaumont Ice, Light, and Refrigerating Company.","O'Brien was prominently identified with the community welfare of Beaumont. He founded and financed many organizations, including the Beaumont Temperance Hall Company in 1880, the Beaumont Academy, and the Methodist Church. He belonged to Albert Sydney John Camp of the United Confederate Veterans. A thirty-second degree Mason, he also served as master of the local lodge from 1877-1878, and 1880-1882.","He died in 1909, and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery, which he had founded in 1887. A Beaumont newspaper wrote in his obituary that he had \"One of the most notable, most beautiful and calmly peaceful careers of any man who [had] ever lived in southeast Texas.\"","O'Brien was married twice, and was the father of nine children. Sarah E. Rowley married O'Brien in 1854. They were the parents of Emma E. John Smith, Minnie G. Starke, Lillie E. Townsend, George Cave O'Brien, who served as District Judge and District Attorney in Jefferson County, Kaleta B. James, Sarah Alice O'Brien, and Olive O'Brien, who died as an infant. After Sarah Rowley O'Brien's death in 1873, O'Brien married Ellen Peebles Chenault in 1874. This marriage produced two children, Chenault O'Brien and Robert Peebles O'Brien.","O'Brien changed the spelling of his last name from O'Bryan to O'Brien between 1868 and 1871.","Chenault O'Brien was born on October 16, 1874, at Beaumont. A brilliant attorney, his legal research during his tenure as secretary/treasurer of the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company established many principles for oil and gas law in Texas.\n\nAs a young man, O'Brien served as Chief Deputy County and District Clerk for four years. In 1898, with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he was a member of a loal military company known as the Beaumont Light Guards. When he volunteered to serve his country in the war against Spain, he was made First Lieutenant of Company D, Third Texas United States Volunteers. After undergoing intensive military training at Fort Clark, Texas, he and his command were ordered to Cuba for active service, but to his disappointment, these plans were changed, and through the summer of 1898, his company saw service at Key West, Florida, and Montauk Point, New York, after which they were mustered out of the service, the war having ended. A Spanish-American War veterans camp was named in his honor.\n\nAfter the war, he was educated for the law, graduating from the University of Texas in 1900. O'Brien entered into law practice with I. R. Bordages and his father, George W. O'Brien, in a firm entitled O'Brien, Bordages, and O'Brien. After the death of Captain O'Brien, George Cave O'Brien and Robert A. John entered the firm. He later formed a practice with his brother-in-law George Chilton.\n\nHe was noted by the Jefferson County Bar Association as a \"forceful, brilliant and successful lawyer.\" Not only did he develop petroleum law but also irrigation law, involving riparian and other water-rights, due to the rice growing industry which began in Jefferson County about the same time that O'Brien was admitted to the bar.\n\nO'Brien was active in legal organizations, including the Jefferson County Bar Association, and Texas State Bar Association. He practiced law for over forty years. He also was a leader in the civic, religious, and business life of Beaumont. He was a member of Beaumont Masonic Lodge No. 286, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Ex-Students Association of the University of Texas, and a president of the Neches Club.\n\nO'Brien was a family man. He married Christine Chilton, the daughter of Horace Chilton, United States Senator from Texas, in 1904. They were the parents of two children, Eleanor Patricia \"Pat\" O'Brien Moor, and Chilton O'Brien.\n\nChenault O'Brien died in Beaumont in August 1940.","Chilton O'Brien followed in his father and grandfather's footsteps. He provided leadership to the Gladys City Company, a Texas corporation owning lands at Spindletop, as a director, secretary-treasurer, and vice-president and chief executive officer.\n\nO'Brien was born in 1911, and reared in Beaumont at the ancestral home on the bank of the Neches River. He graduated from Beaumont High School in 1929, where he lettered in football three years, and edited the school yearbook.\n\nO'Brien was educated at the University of Texas, where he was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity, and played football as a college freshman. He edited the 1934 Cactus, the university's yearbook. He earned a law degree from the University of Texas in 1936, and was a member of the University of Texas Ex-Students.\n\nDuring World War II, he served in the Navy, first as an intelligence oficer, and second as officer in command of a torpedo boat in the South Pacific. He was commended for outstanding performance of duty in action, and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant commander.\n\nOne of the outstanding land title authorities in his profession, O'Brien used his expertise on cases with subjects as varied as personal injury, oil and gas, trusts, probate, real estate, and corporate law. From 1936-1941 he was associated with the firm of Smith, Smith, and Boyd. He was made a partner in the firm in 1939. In 1941, he opened his own law office, and in October of that year, he was joined with Rupert R. Harkrider. Their partnership, which was interrupted by the Second World War, ended in 1949 when Harkrider left Beaumont. From 1969-1980, he was associated with Howard N. Richards.\n\nO'Brien's service to the legal profession included tenure on the Examining Committee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He was active in local and state legal organizations. He was a member of the Jefferson County Bar Association, serving as its president from 1952-1953. O'Brien was a long time member of the State Bar of Texas, and was selected as a charter fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation in 1966. O'Brien was a member of the American Bar Association.\n\nO'Brien inherited land in the Shelby Corzine Survey southwest of Beaumont. His interests here included a joint venture, with F. L. Yeates, of raising a herd of registered Santa Gertrudis cattle, a breed of cattle developed by the King Ranch. The name Santa Gertrudis is from Rincon de Santa Gertrudis, the name of the original land grant purchased by Captain Richard King from the heirs of Juan Mendiola. Santa Gertrudis cattle, which are a deep cherry red color, are approximately five-eighths shorthorn and three-eighths Brahman. The cattle's strengths include a high degree of heat and tick resistance, ease of calving, and good mothering ability. O'Brien was a member of the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International. The land in this survey was also used for raising rice, hay, and grass seed crops.\n\nO'Brien was a director of the First Security National Bank of Beaumont from 1962-1975. The bank merged with the First Security National Corporation, a Texas bank holding company headquartered in Beaumont in the early 1970s. In 1973, while he was a director of the First Security National Corporation, its wholly owned subsidiaries included the First Security National Bank of Beaumont, Security First Mortgage Company which had offices in Beaumont and Houston, and First National Bank of Colleyville in Tarrant County. Other subsidiaries were the Village State Bank and Gateway National Bank of Beaumont, People's State Bank of Kountze, and the Sour Lake State Bank. The bank was praised by the bank publication, Sheshunoff, in 1972 as a well-managed bank with fast growing deposits.\n\nO'Brien was also involved in civic affairs. As chairman of the Beaumont City Charter Commission from 1947-1948, O'Brien wished to make the governing body more directly responsible to the will of the people. O'Brien believed that a slate of five men should be elected for a two year term. This slate, including a mayor and four councilmen from the four wards of Beaumont, would pledge to carry out a specific program. Administrative work was to be in the hands of a city manager who would have executive control over city services.\n\nO'Brien was active in other civic activities, including serving on the Beaumont Planning and Zoning Commission from 1962-1965. He was a leader in organizations, serving as president of the Beaumont Community Council and Family Service, and as a director on the boards of the Salvation Army and Central YMCA. O'Brien served on the Regents Development Council of Lamar University. He received the Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was also active in St. Mark's Episcopal Church, where he served on the vestry, and as senior warden. He served on the first board of trustees of All Saints Episcopal School in Beaumont, and on the board of trustees of St. Stephen's School of Austin.\n\nO'Brien worked for the Democratic party. He was a member of the Jefferson County Young Democratic Club, and served as the chairman of the State Executive Committee of the Young Democratic Club. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1940. Lyndon Johnson and O'Brien were allies from the 1940s. During Johnson's first campaign for the United States Senate, O'Brien assisted him in Beaumont's Congressional district. He worked to help get Johnson the Democratic nomination in 1952, when O'Brien served as an alternate delegate from Texas at the Democratic National Convention. After 1960, because of being a trustee for the Texas Portland Cement Company, and the semi-public nature of the trusteeship, he believed he could not take an active role in politics. He continued to serve as a political liaison for Johnson in the Beaumont area.\n\nO'Brien was an acknowledged authority on Texas history, who provided leadership to prominent historical organizations. He served on the board of the Texas Library and Historical Commission, later known as the Texas Library and Archives Commission, from 1978-1983. He was appointed chairman of the commission in 1982. O'Brien was a regional director of the Atascosito Historical Society, which is the friends group of the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center. The Sam Houston Regional Library, located in Liberty, Texas, is a division of the Texas State Library. He was a founding member of the Texas Gulf Historical Society, serving as its president in 1968-1969. He was a director of the Texas Historical Foundation, and he was a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, Sons of the American Revolution, and the Philosophical Society of Texas.\n\nO'Brien researched and wrote articles on Texas history topics including the O'Brien family; John Allen Veatch, who acquired parcels of land from the Mexican government which included Spindletop and Sour Lake; the Ashworth family, a pioneer family in Jefferson County; and the Jefferson County Bar Association.\n\nO'Brien married Barbara Ann Miller of Springfield, Illinois, in 1937. They were the parents of two children, Ann and Ellen, and the grandparents of five.","The Chenault O'Brien Family Papers, 1865-1931, AC-091.","The O'Brien papers document the remarkably parallel lives of three generations of the O'Brien men. George, Chenault, and Chilton O'Brien were leaders who improved Southeast Texas by their service in the military, political, business, religious, and organizational life of Beaumont, Texas. The collection includes diaries, maps, agendas, photographs, newspapers, legal documents, abstracts, deeds, title opinions, jury lists, jury instructions, court transcripts, leases, company board of directors minutes, company bylaws, correspondence, artifacts, and scrapbooks.","The collection contains papers documenting the O'Brien men's service in three wars. George Washington O'Brien's Civil War diary contains a balanced account of wartime experiences, including the grinding boredom of marching, the excitement of battle, the scarcity of food, deprivations of civilians, and anguish over the death of his comrade and brother-in-law Henry Rowley. Cooper K. Ragan, a Houston attorney who edited the diaries for publication in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1963 and 1964, praised O'Brien for his legible handwriting and excellent spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The diaries are small in size, approximately 3 x 5 inches, and include information such as the serial number of his revolver, record of money loaned, and a recipe to alleviate diarrhea. Chilton O'Brien's papers include his application for a commission to the Intelligence branch of the United States Navy, information on navigational theory, and a naval glossary.","The collection documents agricultural life of Jefferson County in the 1860s, and from 1910 through the 1980s. George W. O'Brien's ledger book lists his financial transactions. He also listed the commodities that he provided such as tobacco, and the credits that farmers earned by producing agricultural commodities. His descendants, Chenault and Chilton O'Brien, kept records of the agricultural transactions in the land they owned in the Shelby Corzine Survey, southwest of Beaumont. These records include farm leases spelling out the rights and responsibilities of both tenant and landlord. Chilton O'Brien's papers from the Shelby Corzine Survey in Jefferson County include pedigree charts of the Santa Gertrudis cattle raised there.","The collection also includes the papers of Irma John Gordon Orr, and Alfred John, Jr., the grandchildren of George W. O'Brien. These papers document their extensive landholding, including land in Jefferson county, which was leased for rice, and Hardin County land, which was leased for its lumber. The papers document the type and diameter of timber harvested.","Chenault O'Brien's papers include documentation of the history of the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company from 1901-1939, including barrels of petroleum produced, average price per barrel, and dividends paid from the financial bonanza which resulted from the deep sands oil discoveries of the 1920s. His correspondence to friends and family report on the development of the Second Spindletop, John Henry Kirby's control of the company in the 1930s, and O'Brien's attitude toward Kirby. His papers document the 1935 sale of John Henry Kirby stock in Chicago, the price the O'Brien family was prepared to pay, and the price actually paid for the stock.","Chilton O'Brien's papers document his personal and legal involvement in the petroleum industry. His papers include mineral leases, company bylaws, and correspondence from companies such as the Texas Oil Royalty Company. As a bank director for the First Security National Bank between the years 1962-1975, Chilton O'Brien collected papers which document the bank's stock splits, dividends, investment income, portfolio of investments, organizational structure, mergers, statements of condition, and lists of directors and officers.","Chilton's civic papers document not only his dynamic personality but also provide detailed information on many Beaumont groups, such as the Magnolia Cemetery Company's annual audits.","The personal papers of Chilton O'Brien provide many insights into his life and personality, including a keen sense of humor. His 1925 schoolboy diary details school expenses, football plays, cattle raising, and hunting trips. O'Brien's personal papers document the construction of his house and its furnishings, including rugs, draperies, and furniture.","The O'Brien family papers chronicle the rich heritage of the family, including the acquisition and changes in the O'Brien home. George W. O'Brien purchased five acres of land along the Neches River in 1883. The land had been previously owned by his father, George Bryan. Three of the five acres were used to create the Bryan Addition, the first residential addition n Beaumont, leaving two acres for the O'Brien home. Chilton O'Brien's papers document the relocation of part of the O'Brien home to land in the Shelby Corzine Survey where it was used by the family as a weekend home. This acreage gave the family room for not only a beautiful house, but all the necessary outbuildings such as servants' quarters, poultry house, and barn. On the grounds of the O'Brien family land was a large oak tree known as the \"O'Brien Oak\" which George W. O'Brien said was planted by Cave Johnson in 1849, the year of the California gold rush and O'Brien's move to Beaumont. The papers include newspaper clippings and correspondence discussing the age of the tree, activities which took place in the shade of the oak, and its eventual decline and destruction.","The O'Brien Family Papers document the remarkably parallel lives of three generations of the O'Brien men. George, Chenault, and Chilton O'Brien were leaders who improved Southeast Texas by their service in the military, political, business, religious, and organizational life of Beaumont, Texas.","The collection includes diaries, maps, agendas, photographs, newspapers, legal documents, including abstracts, deeds, title opinions, jury lists, jury instructions, court transcripts, leases, company board of directors minutes, company bylaws, correspondence, artifacts, and scrapbooks.","Lyrasis Special Collections","O'Brien, George W. , 1833-1909","O'Brien, Chenault ,  1874-1940","O'Brien, Chilton, 1911-1983","Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007","Johnson,  Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973","Hogg, James Stephen, 1851-1906","English"],"unitid_tesim":["AC-108","/repositories/2/resources/96"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1835-1987"],"normalized_title_ssm":["The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987"],"collection_title_tesim":["The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987"],"collection_ssim":["The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"geogname_ssm":["Petroleum industry","Spanish-American War"],"geogname_ssim":["Petroleum industry","Spanish-American War"],"places_ssim":["Petroleum industry","Spanish-American War"],"access_subjects_ssim":["Lawyers","United States--History--1861-1865, Civil War--Personal narratives","Correspondence","Deeds","Diaries"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Lawyers","United States--History--1861-1865, Civil War--Personal narratives","Correspondence","Deeds","Diaries"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["77 Box","38 Maps"],"extent_tesim":["77 Box","38 Maps"],"genreform_ssim":["United States--History--1861-1865, Civil War--Personal narratives","Correspondence","Deeds","Diaries"],"indexes_html_tesm":["\u003cindex id=\"aspace_3fe01837a17db88a94788409c825cc9b\"\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003ePersonal Names\n\u003cblockquote\u003eBrooks, Jack, 1922-2012\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eChilton, Horace, 1853-1932\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eHogg, James Stephen, 1851-1906\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien, George Washington, 1833-1909\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien, Chenault, 1874-1940\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien, Chilton, 1911-1983\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eJohnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eJohnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eWalker, Daniel, 1876-1944\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n Organizations\n\u003cblockquote\u003eGladys City Oil, Gas \u0026amp; Manufacturing Company\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eJefferson County Bar Association\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eState Bar of Texas\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eTexas State Library and Archives Commission\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n Subjects\n\u003cblockquote\u003eLawyers\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003ePetroleum industry\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eSpanish-American War\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eUnited States--History--1861-1865, Civil War--Personal narratives\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n Locations\n\u003cblockquote\u003eAustin (Tex.)\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eJefferson County (Tex.)\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n Genres/Formats\nCorrespondence\nDeeds\nDiaries\nEstate records\nFinancial records\nInventories\nLegal files\nPhotographs\nWills\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/index\u003e"],"indexes_tesim":["Personal Names\n Brooks, Jack, 1922-2012 Chilton, Horace, 1853-1932 Hogg, James Stephen, 1851-1906 O'Brien, George Washington, 1833-1909 O'Brien, Chenault, 1874-1940 O'Brien, Chilton, 1911-1983 Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007 Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 Walker, Daniel, 1876-1944 \n Organizations\n Gladys City Oil, Gas \u0026 Manufacturing Company Jefferson County Bar Association State Bar of Texas Texas State Library and Archives Commission \n Subjects\n Lawyers Petroleum industry Spanish-American War United States--History--1861-1865, Civil War--Personal narratives \n Locations\n Austin (Tex.) Jefferson County (Tex.) \n Genres/Formats\nCorrespondence\nDeeds\nDiaries\nEstate records\nFinancial records\nInventories\nLegal files\nPhotographs\nWills"],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is organized into 9 record groups and 32 series.\n\u003cblockquote\u003eGeorge Washington O'Brien Papers\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eChenault O'Brien Papers\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eChilton O'Brien Papers\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eIntergenerational O'Brien Papers\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eChilton Papers\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eJudge Daniel Walker Papers\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003ePhotographs\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eOversize Papers\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eArtifacts\u003c/blockquote\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is organized into 9 record groups and 32 series.\n George Washington O'Brien Papers Chenault O'Brien Papers Chilton O'Brien Papers Intergenerational O'Brien Papers Chilton Papers Judge Daniel Walker Papers Photographs Oversize Papers Artifacts"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical / Historical"],"bioghist_tesim":["George W. O'Brien, 1833-1909","While George W. O'Brien is best known for his role as a founder of the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company, the company which began Spindletop oil exploration, he had a full life which greatly impacted the history of Southeast Texas. Attaining the rank of captain in the Confederate Army, he was a leader in Democratic politics, the legal profession, and as a financier and organizer of businesses and organizations in Beaumont.","O'Brien recognized the potential for petroleum production in Southeast Texas long before 1901. While camped at Spindletop Springs as a Confederate soldier, in the 1860s, he noticed globules of petroleum on the water and heard the hiss of escaping gas. In 1865 he received a letter from A. B. Trowell, an attorney at Liberty, Texas, who had served in the Confederate Army with members of the O'Brien family. Trowell advised him to purchase land which had petroleum deposits. O'Brien put Trowell's advice in practice when he and his son-in-law and legal partner, Alfred S. John, represented the family of John Allen Veatch in a suit to recover a large tract of land from the State of Texas. Veatch, a scientific Renaissance man, had realized there was economic potential from the strange substances emitted at Sour Lake and Spindletop and carefully chose parcels from the Mexican and Texan governments which had mineral deposits. O'Brien and John were deeded a portion of the John Allen Veatch Survey which included land at Spindletop for their legal assistance.","When Pattillo Higgins, a visionary who dreamed of building an industrial city fueled by the mineral deposits at Spindletop, planned to drill for oil, and Higgins' former employer, George W. Carroll, a local businessman who owned the Beaumont Lumber Company, approached O'Brien about selling his land at Spindletop, O'Brien declined. Instead he proposed joining them as a partner in the venture. Higgins and Carroll accepted O'Brien's offer, and in 1892, the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company was incorporated with the following charter subscribers and directors: George W. O'Brien, George W. Carroll, Pattillo Higgins, J. F. Lanier, and E. E. John. Each of the incorporators put in certain lands in the John A. Veatch Survey at a value of twenty dollars per acre. George W. O'Brien and his daughter Emma E. John conveyed 1350 acres for 270 shares of stock, the other 270 shares of stock were issued to George W. Carroll and Pattillo Higgins who conveyed 1077 acres and J. F. Lanier conveyed 273 acres of land. The Company made several futile attempts to obtain oil at Spindletop, financing its oil drilling attempts by selling off a part of their acreage.","At the turn of the century, the Gladys City Company took action which ushered in a new era. Pattillo Higgins contacted Anthony F. Lucas, an engineer and former captain in the Austrian navy, in 1899 for assistance. Lucas had experience in salt mining along the Gulf Coast. He recognized that many salt domes, such as Spindletop, contained not only salt but also sulphur and petroleum. He leased land from the Gladys City Company and drilled a well. While the well did strike oil, the pipe collapsed from the pressure of the gas before a large amount of oil could be collected. Lucas contacted oil prospectors James Guffey and John Galey for financial assistance, who turned to the Andrew Mellon family for backing. Guffey and Galey hired a team, the Hamill brothers, from Corsicana to conduct the drilling for petroleum. Historians disagree on the reasons for the Hamills' success, some believing that they possessed a heavier and more efficient rotary bit, while other scholars believe it was expertise, not equipment, that was essential.","The efforts to produce petroleum reached fruition on January 10, 1901, when the Lucas gusher erupted, spewing a column of oil 200 feet high for nine days. Although the Lucas gusher was located on land owned by McFaddin-Wiess-Kyle, another group of prominent Beaumont businessmen, and not on Gladys City land, it initiated an unprecedented boom of prospecting for and processing petroleum.","The Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company never again tried operating wells, choosing instead to lease the land to others and collect mineral royalties from them. The land at Spindletop produced not only petroleum, but also vast quantities of sulphur and salt. George W. O'Brien and his descendants retained stock in the company, and continued to provide leadership in the company for many decades.","O'Brien was born in Vermillion Parish, Louisiana, in 1833, to George Bryan and Elizabeth Ann Bryan. O'Brien and his family migrated to Galveston, Texas, in 1849. He moved to Beaumont, Texas, in 1852. As a teenager he carried mail on horseback between Morgan City, Louisiana, and Galveston, Texas, along the Bolivar Peninsula.","O'Brien was active as a Jefferson County official and attorney. He was elected District and County Clerk in 1854, and Justice of the Peace for Precinct One in 1858. O'Brien was admitted to practice law in 1861.","Although O'Brien had opposed slavery, had never owned a slave, and had opposed secession as a member of the Jefferson County Secession Convention, he defended his native South by serving in the Confederacy during the Civil War. He initially fought under the leadership of his kinsman, Captain King Bryan in Company F of the Fifth Texas Infantry Regiment in battles east of the Mississippi, but following an outbreak of measles, was discharged for disability, and returned on foot to Beaumont. While returning home, he regained his health, and in Beaumont in 1862, he recruited an additional company and was elected Captain of Company E, Likens Battalion, Texas Volunteers, later known as Speights Texas Regiment.","His company, during its preparation and march toward the Mississippi River, participated in several important military events. They established a fort at Port Neches to control the Neches River against Federal gun boats which had been dispatched to take beef cattle and other supplies to the Union Army. The company later took part in the Battle of Fordoche in Louisiana, and a battle at Mansfield, Louisiana. During 1863, he maintained a meticulous diary of his wartime experiences. His diary was edited by Houston attorney Cooper K. Ragan, who published them in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1963 and 1964.","After the war, O'Brien became one of the most influential men in Southeast Texas. An ardent Democrat, he expressed his opposition to Radical Republicanism by purchasing the press of the Liberty Gazette in 1869 and serving as editor and publisher of the Neches Valley News and its successor, the Beaumont News Beacon, from 1869 to 1874. The newspaper served as a voice for the Democratic party. O'Brien acted as a delegate from Texas at the 1872 Democratic National Convention.","O'Brien was active in business ventures. He was a subscriber of the Beaumont, Sour Lake, and Western Railroad, later the Gulf Coast and Missouri Pacific System. O'Brien helped finance the Central Asphalt and Refining Company at Port Neches, and the Beaumont Ice, Light, and Refrigerating Company.","O'Brien was prominently identified with the community welfare of Beaumont. He founded and financed many organizations, including the Beaumont Temperance Hall Company in 1880, the Beaumont Academy, and the Methodist Church. He belonged to Albert Sydney John Camp of the United Confederate Veterans. A thirty-second degree Mason, he also served as master of the local lodge from 1877-1878, and 1880-1882.","He died in 1909, and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery, which he had founded in 1887. A Beaumont newspaper wrote in his obituary that he had \"One of the most notable, most beautiful and calmly peaceful careers of any man who [had] ever lived in southeast Texas.\"","O'Brien was married twice, and was the father of nine children. Sarah E. Rowley married O'Brien in 1854. They were the parents of Emma E. John Smith, Minnie G. Starke, Lillie E. Townsend, George Cave O'Brien, who served as District Judge and District Attorney in Jefferson County, Kaleta B. James, Sarah Alice O'Brien, and Olive O'Brien, who died as an infant. After Sarah Rowley O'Brien's death in 1873, O'Brien married Ellen Peebles Chenault in 1874. This marriage produced two children, Chenault O'Brien and Robert Peebles O'Brien.","O'Brien changed the spelling of his last name from O'Bryan to O'Brien between 1868 and 1871.","Chenault O'Brien was born on October 16, 1874, at Beaumont. A brilliant attorney, his legal research during his tenure as secretary/treasurer of the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company established many principles for oil and gas law in Texas.\n\nAs a young man, O'Brien served as Chief Deputy County and District Clerk for four years. In 1898, with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he was a member of a loal military company known as the Beaumont Light Guards. When he volunteered to serve his country in the war against Spain, he was made First Lieutenant of Company D, Third Texas United States Volunteers. After undergoing intensive military training at Fort Clark, Texas, he and his command were ordered to Cuba for active service, but to his disappointment, these plans were changed, and through the summer of 1898, his company saw service at Key West, Florida, and Montauk Point, New York, after which they were mustered out of the service, the war having ended. A Spanish-American War veterans camp was named in his honor.\n\nAfter the war, he was educated for the law, graduating from the University of Texas in 1900. O'Brien entered into law practice with I. R. Bordages and his father, George W. O'Brien, in a firm entitled O'Brien, Bordages, and O'Brien. After the death of Captain O'Brien, George Cave O'Brien and Robert A. John entered the firm. He later formed a practice with his brother-in-law George Chilton.\n\nHe was noted by the Jefferson County Bar Association as a \"forceful, brilliant and successful lawyer.\" Not only did he develop petroleum law but also irrigation law, involving riparian and other water-rights, due to the rice growing industry which began in Jefferson County about the same time that O'Brien was admitted to the bar.\n\nO'Brien was active in legal organizations, including the Jefferson County Bar Association, and Texas State Bar Association. He practiced law for over forty years. He also was a leader in the civic, religious, and business life of Beaumont. He was a member of Beaumont Masonic Lodge No. 286, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Ex-Students Association of the University of Texas, and a president of the Neches Club.\n\nO'Brien was a family man. He married Christine Chilton, the daughter of Horace Chilton, United States Senator from Texas, in 1904. They were the parents of two children, Eleanor Patricia \"Pat\" O'Brien Moor, and Chilton O'Brien.\n\nChenault O'Brien died in Beaumont in August 1940.","Chilton O'Brien followed in his father and grandfather's footsteps. He provided leadership to the Gladys City Company, a Texas corporation owning lands at Spindletop, as a director, secretary-treasurer, and vice-president and chief executive officer.\n\nO'Brien was born in 1911, and reared in Beaumont at the ancestral home on the bank of the Neches River. He graduated from Beaumont High School in 1929, where he lettered in football three years, and edited the school yearbook.\n\nO'Brien was educated at the University of Texas, where he was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity, and played football as a college freshman. He edited the 1934 Cactus, the university's yearbook. He earned a law degree from the University of Texas in 1936, and was a member of the University of Texas Ex-Students.\n\nDuring World War II, he served in the Navy, first as an intelligence oficer, and second as officer in command of a torpedo boat in the South Pacific. He was commended for outstanding performance of duty in action, and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant commander.\n\nOne of the outstanding land title authorities in his profession, O'Brien used his expertise on cases with subjects as varied as personal injury, oil and gas, trusts, probate, real estate, and corporate law. From 1936-1941 he was associated with the firm of Smith, Smith, and Boyd. He was made a partner in the firm in 1939. In 1941, he opened his own law office, and in October of that year, he was joined with Rupert R. Harkrider. Their partnership, which was interrupted by the Second World War, ended in 1949 when Harkrider left Beaumont. From 1969-1980, he was associated with Howard N. Richards.\n\nO'Brien's service to the legal profession included tenure on the Examining Committee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He was active in local and state legal organizations. He was a member of the Jefferson County Bar Association, serving as its president from 1952-1953. O'Brien was a long time member of the State Bar of Texas, and was selected as a charter fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation in 1966. O'Brien was a member of the American Bar Association.\n\nO'Brien inherited land in the Shelby Corzine Survey southwest of Beaumont. His interests here included a joint venture, with F. L. Yeates, of raising a herd of registered Santa Gertrudis cattle, a breed of cattle developed by the King Ranch. The name Santa Gertrudis is from Rincon de Santa Gertrudis, the name of the original land grant purchased by Captain Richard King from the heirs of Juan Mendiola. Santa Gertrudis cattle, which are a deep cherry red color, are approximately five-eighths shorthorn and three-eighths Brahman. The cattle's strengths include a high degree of heat and tick resistance, ease of calving, and good mothering ability. O'Brien was a member of the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International. The land in this survey was also used for raising rice, hay, and grass seed crops.\n\nO'Brien was a director of the First Security National Bank of Beaumont from 1962-1975. The bank merged with the First Security National Corporation, a Texas bank holding company headquartered in Beaumont in the early 1970s. In 1973, while he was a director of the First Security National Corporation, its wholly owned subsidiaries included the First Security National Bank of Beaumont, Security First Mortgage Company which had offices in Beaumont and Houston, and First National Bank of Colleyville in Tarrant County. Other subsidiaries were the Village State Bank and Gateway National Bank of Beaumont, People's State Bank of Kountze, and the Sour Lake State Bank. The bank was praised by the bank publication, Sheshunoff, in 1972 as a well-managed bank with fast growing deposits.\n\nO'Brien was also involved in civic affairs. As chairman of the Beaumont City Charter Commission from 1947-1948, O'Brien wished to make the governing body more directly responsible to the will of the people. O'Brien believed that a slate of five men should be elected for a two year term. This slate, including a mayor and four councilmen from the four wards of Beaumont, would pledge to carry out a specific program. Administrative work was to be in the hands of a city manager who would have executive control over city services.\n\nO'Brien was active in other civic activities, including serving on the Beaumont Planning and Zoning Commission from 1962-1965. He was a leader in organizations, serving as president of the Beaumont Community Council and Family Service, and as a director on the boards of the Salvation Army and Central YMCA. O'Brien served on the Regents Development Council of Lamar University. He received the Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was also active in St. Mark's Episcopal Church, where he served on the vestry, and as senior warden. He served on the first board of trustees of All Saints Episcopal School in Beaumont, and on the board of trustees of St. Stephen's School of Austin.\n\nO'Brien worked for the Democratic party. He was a member of the Jefferson County Young Democratic Club, and served as the chairman of the State Executive Committee of the Young Democratic Club. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1940. Lyndon Johnson and O'Brien were allies from the 1940s. During Johnson's first campaign for the United States Senate, O'Brien assisted him in Beaumont's Congressional district. He worked to help get Johnson the Democratic nomination in 1952, when O'Brien served as an alternate delegate from Texas at the Democratic National Convention. After 1960, because of being a trustee for the Texas Portland Cement Company, and the semi-public nature of the trusteeship, he believed he could not take an active role in politics. He continued to serve as a political liaison for Johnson in the Beaumont area.\n\nO'Brien was an acknowledged authority on Texas history, who provided leadership to prominent historical organizations. He served on the board of the Texas Library and Historical Commission, later known as the Texas Library and Archives Commission, from 1978-1983. He was appointed chairman of the commission in 1982. O'Brien was a regional director of the Atascosito Historical Society, which is the friends group of the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center. The Sam Houston Regional Library, located in Liberty, Texas, is a division of the Texas State Library. He was a founding member of the Texas Gulf Historical Society, serving as its president in 1968-1969. He was a director of the Texas Historical Foundation, and he was a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, Sons of the American Revolution, and the Philosophical Society of Texas.\n\nO'Brien researched and wrote articles on Texas history topics including the O'Brien family; John Allen Veatch, who acquired parcels of land from the Mexican government which included Spindletop and Sour Lake; the Ashworth family, a pioneer family in Jefferson County; and the Jefferson County Bar Association.\n\nO'Brien married Barbara Ann Miller of Springfield, Illinois, in 1937. They were the parents of two children, Ann and Ellen, and the grandparents of five."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eItem, Folder, Box, O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987, AC-108, Tyrrell Historical Library, Beaumont, Texas.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Item, Folder, Box, O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987, AC-108, Tyrrell Historical Library, Beaumont, Texas."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Chenault O'Brien Family Papers, 1865-1931, AC-091.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Materials"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Chenault O'Brien Family Papers, 1865-1931, AC-091."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe O'Brien papers document the remarkably parallel lives of three generations of the O'Brien men. George, Chenault, and Chilton O'Brien were leaders who improved Southeast Texas by their service in the military, political, business, religious, and organizational life of Beaumont, Texas. The collection includes diaries, maps, agendas, photographs, newspapers, legal documents, abstracts, deeds, title opinions, jury lists, jury instructions, court transcripts, leases, company board of directors minutes, company bylaws, correspondence, artifacts, and scrapbooks.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe collection contains papers documenting the O'Brien men's service in three wars. George Washington O'Brien's Civil War diary contains a balanced account of wartime experiences, including the grinding boredom of marching, the excitement of battle, the scarcity of food, deprivations of civilians, and anguish over the death of his comrade and brother-in-law Henry Rowley. Cooper K. Ragan, a Houston attorney who edited the diaries for publication in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1963 and 1964, praised O'Brien for his legible handwriting and excellent spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The diaries are small in size, approximately 3 x 5 inches, and include information such as the serial number of his revolver, record of money loaned, and a recipe to alleviate diarrhea. Chilton O'Brien's papers include his application for a commission to the Intelligence branch of the United States Navy, information on navigational theory, and a naval glossary.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe collection documents agricultural life of Jefferson County in the 1860s, and from 1910 through the 1980s. George W. O'Brien's ledger book lists his financial transactions. He also listed the commodities that he provided such as tobacco, and the credits that farmers earned by producing agricultural commodities. His descendants, Chenault and Chilton O'Brien, kept records of the agricultural transactions in the land they owned in the Shelby Corzine Survey, southwest of Beaumont. These records include farm leases spelling out the rights and responsibilities of both tenant and landlord. Chilton O'Brien's papers from the Shelby Corzine Survey in Jefferson County include pedigree charts of the Santa Gertrudis cattle raised there.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe collection also includes the papers of Irma John Gordon Orr, and Alfred John, Jr., the grandchildren of George W. O'Brien. These papers document their extensive landholding, including land in Jefferson county, which was leased for rice, and Hardin County land, which was leased for its lumber. The papers document the type and diameter of timber harvested.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eChenault O'Brien's papers include documentation of the history of the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company from 1901-1939, including barrels of petroleum produced, average price per barrel, and dividends paid from the financial bonanza which resulted from the deep sands oil discoveries of the 1920s. His correspondence to friends and family report on the development of the Second Spindletop, John Henry Kirby's control of the company in the 1930s, and O'Brien's attitude toward Kirby. His papers document the 1935 sale of John Henry Kirby stock in Chicago, the price the O'Brien family was prepared to pay, and the price actually paid for the stock.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eChilton O'Brien's papers document his personal and legal involvement in the petroleum industry. His papers include mineral leases, company bylaws, and correspondence from companies such as the Texas Oil Royalty Company. As a bank director for the First Security National Bank between the years 1962-1975, Chilton O'Brien collected papers which document the bank's stock splits, dividends, investment income, portfolio of investments, organizational structure, mergers, statements of condition, and lists of directors and officers.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eChilton's civic papers document not only his dynamic personality but also provide detailed information on many Beaumont groups, such as the Magnolia Cemetery Company's annual audits.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe personal papers of Chilton O'Brien provide many insights into his life and personality, including a keen sense of humor. His 1925 schoolboy diary details school expenses, football plays, cattle raising, and hunting trips. O'Brien's personal papers document the construction of his house and its furnishings, including rugs, draperies, and furniture.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe O'Brien family papers chronicle the rich heritage of the family, including the acquisition and changes in the O'Brien home. George W. O'Brien purchased five acres of land along the Neches River in 1883. The land had been previously owned by his father, George Bryan. Three of the five acres were used to create the Bryan Addition, the first residential addition n Beaumont, leaving two acres for the O'Brien home. Chilton O'Brien's papers document the relocation of part of the O'Brien home to land in the Shelby Corzine Survey where it was used by the family as a weekend home. This acreage gave the family room for not only a beautiful house, but all the necessary outbuildings such as servants' quarters, poultry house, and barn. On the grounds of the O'Brien family land was a large oak tree known as the \"O'Brien Oak\" which George W. O'Brien said was planted by Cave Johnson in 1849, the year of the California gold rush and O'Brien's move to Beaumont. The papers include newspaper clippings and correspondence discussing the age of the tree, activities which took place in the shade of the oak, and its eventual decline and destruction.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Contents"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The O'Brien papers document the remarkably parallel lives of three generations of the O'Brien men. George, Chenault, and Chilton O'Brien were leaders who improved Southeast Texas by their service in the military, political, business, religious, and organizational life of Beaumont, Texas. The collection includes diaries, maps, agendas, photographs, newspapers, legal documents, abstracts, deeds, title opinions, jury lists, jury instructions, court transcripts, leases, company board of directors minutes, company bylaws, correspondence, artifacts, and scrapbooks.","The collection contains papers documenting the O'Brien men's service in three wars. George Washington O'Brien's Civil War diary contains a balanced account of wartime experiences, including the grinding boredom of marching, the excitement of battle, the scarcity of food, deprivations of civilians, and anguish over the death of his comrade and brother-in-law Henry Rowley. Cooper K. Ragan, a Houston attorney who edited the diaries for publication in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1963 and 1964, praised O'Brien for his legible handwriting and excellent spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The diaries are small in size, approximately 3 x 5 inches, and include information such as the serial number of his revolver, record of money loaned, and a recipe to alleviate diarrhea. Chilton O'Brien's papers include his application for a commission to the Intelligence branch of the United States Navy, information on navigational theory, and a naval glossary.","The collection documents agricultural life of Jefferson County in the 1860s, and from 1910 through the 1980s. George W. O'Brien's ledger book lists his financial transactions. He also listed the commodities that he provided such as tobacco, and the credits that farmers earned by producing agricultural commodities. His descendants, Chenault and Chilton O'Brien, kept records of the agricultural transactions in the land they owned in the Shelby Corzine Survey, southwest of Beaumont. These records include farm leases spelling out the rights and responsibilities of both tenant and landlord. Chilton O'Brien's papers from the Shelby Corzine Survey in Jefferson County include pedigree charts of the Santa Gertrudis cattle raised there.","The collection also includes the papers of Irma John Gordon Orr, and Alfred John, Jr., the grandchildren of George W. O'Brien. These papers document their extensive landholding, including land in Jefferson county, which was leased for rice, and Hardin County land, which was leased for its lumber. The papers document the type and diameter of timber harvested.","Chenault O'Brien's papers include documentation of the history of the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company from 1901-1939, including barrels of petroleum produced, average price per barrel, and dividends paid from the financial bonanza which resulted from the deep sands oil discoveries of the 1920s. His correspondence to friends and family report on the development of the Second Spindletop, John Henry Kirby's control of the company in the 1930s, and O'Brien's attitude toward Kirby. His papers document the 1935 sale of John Henry Kirby stock in Chicago, the price the O'Brien family was prepared to pay, and the price actually paid for the stock.","Chilton O'Brien's papers document his personal and legal involvement in the petroleum industry. His papers include mineral leases, company bylaws, and correspondence from companies such as the Texas Oil Royalty Company. As a bank director for the First Security National Bank between the years 1962-1975, Chilton O'Brien collected papers which document the bank's stock splits, dividends, investment income, portfolio of investments, organizational structure, mergers, statements of condition, and lists of directors and officers.","Chilton's civic papers document not only his dynamic personality but also provide detailed information on many Beaumont groups, such as the Magnolia Cemetery Company's annual audits.","The personal papers of Chilton O'Brien provide many insights into his life and personality, including a keen sense of humor. His 1925 schoolboy diary details school expenses, football plays, cattle raising, and hunting trips. O'Brien's personal papers document the construction of his house and its furnishings, including rugs, draperies, and furniture.","The O'Brien family papers chronicle the rich heritage of the family, including the acquisition and changes in the O'Brien home. George W. O'Brien purchased five acres of land along the Neches River in 1883. The land had been previously owned by his father, George Bryan. Three of the five acres were used to create the Bryan Addition, the first residential addition n Beaumont, leaving two acres for the O'Brien home. Chilton O'Brien's papers document the relocation of part of the O'Brien home to land in the Shelby Corzine Survey where it was used by the family as a weekend home. This acreage gave the family room for not only a beautiful house, but all the necessary outbuildings such as servants' quarters, poultry house, and barn. On the grounds of the O'Brien family land was a large oak tree known as the \"O'Brien Oak\" which George W. O'Brien said was planted by Cave Johnson in 1849, the year of the California gold rush and O'Brien's move to Beaumont. The papers include newspaper clippings and correspondence discussing the age of the tree, activities which took place in the shade of the oak, and its eventual decline and destruction."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_84912b8875f7cf9e369b6c7f7d9f13e7\" label=\"Creator Abstract\"\u003eThe O'Brien Family Papers document the remarkably parallel lives of three generations of the O'Brien men. George, Chenault, and Chilton O'Brien were leaders who improved Southeast Texas by their service in the military, political, business, religious, and organizational life of Beaumont, Texas.\u003c/abstract\u003e","\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_350785400c98d4c1af4e00975b959e74\" label=\"Content Abstract: \"\u003eThe collection includes diaries, maps, agendas, photographs, newspapers, legal documents, including abstracts, deeds, title opinions, jury lists, jury instructions, court transcripts, leases, company board of directors minutes, company bylaws, correspondence, artifacts, and scrapbooks.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The O'Brien Family Papers document the remarkably parallel lives of three generations of the O'Brien men. George, Chenault, and Chilton O'Brien were leaders who improved Southeast Texas by their service in the military, political, business, religious, and organizational life of Beaumont, Texas.","The collection includes diaries, maps, agendas, photographs, newspapers, legal documents, including abstracts, deeds, title opinions, jury lists, jury instructions, court transcripts, leases, company board of directors minutes, company bylaws, correspondence, artifacts, and scrapbooks."],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections","O'Brien, George W. , 1833-1909","O'Brien, Chenault ,  1874-1940","O'Brien, Chilton, 1911-1983","Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007","Johnson,  Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973","Hogg, James Stephen, 1851-1906"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Special Collections"],"names_coll_ssim":["O'Brien, George W. , 1833-1909","O'Brien, Chenault ,  1874-1940","O'Brien, Chilton, 1911-1983","Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007","Johnson,  Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973","Hogg, James Stephen, 1851-1906"],"persname_ssim":["O'Brien, George W. , 1833-1909","O'Brien, Chenault ,  1874-1940","O'Brien, Chilton, 1911-1983","Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007","Johnson,  Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973","Hogg, James Stephen, 1851-1906"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":16,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:12:54.887Z","bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cemph\u003eGeorge W. O'Brien, 1833-1909\u003c/emph\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eWhile George W. O'Brien is best known for his role as a founder of the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company, the company which began Spindletop oil exploration, he had a full life which greatly impacted the history of Southeast Texas. Attaining the rank of captain in the Confederate Army, he was a leader in Democratic politics, the legal profession, and as a financier and organizer of businesses and organizations in Beaumont.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien recognized the potential for petroleum production in Southeast Texas long before 1901. While camped at Spindletop Springs as a Confederate soldier, in the 1860s, he noticed globules of petroleum on the water and heard the hiss of escaping gas. In 1865 he received a letter from A. B. Trowell, an attorney at Liberty, Texas, who had served in the Confederate Army with members of the O'Brien family. Trowell advised him to purchase land which had petroleum deposits. O'Brien put Trowell's advice in practice when he and his son-in-law and legal partner, Alfred S. John, represented the family of John Allen Veatch in a suit to recover a large tract of land from the State of Texas. Veatch, a scientific Renaissance man, had realized there was economic potential from the strange substances emitted at Sour Lake and Spindletop and carefully chose parcels from the Mexican and Texan governments which had mineral deposits. O'Brien and John were deeded a portion of the John Allen Veatch Survey which included land at Spindletop for their legal assistance.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eWhen Pattillo Higgins, a visionary who dreamed of building an industrial city fueled by the mineral deposits at Spindletop, planned to drill for oil, and Higgins' former employer, George W. Carroll, a local businessman who owned the Beaumont Lumber Company, approached O'Brien about selling his land at Spindletop, O'Brien declined. Instead he proposed joining them as a partner in the venture. Higgins and Carroll accepted O'Brien's offer, and in 1892, the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company was incorporated with the following charter subscribers and directors: George W. O'Brien, George W. Carroll, Pattillo Higgins, J. F. Lanier, and E. E. John. Each of the incorporators put in certain lands in the John A. Veatch Survey at a value of twenty dollars per acre. George W. O'Brien and his daughter Emma E. John conveyed 1350 acres for 270 shares of stock, the other 270 shares of stock were issued to George W. Carroll and Pattillo Higgins who conveyed 1077 acres and J. F. Lanier conveyed 273 acres of land. The Company made several futile attempts to obtain oil at Spindletop, financing its oil drilling attempts by selling off a part of their acreage.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eAt the turn of the century, the Gladys City Company took action which ushered in a new era. Pattillo Higgins contacted Anthony F. Lucas, an engineer and former captain in the Austrian navy, in 1899 for assistance. Lucas had experience in salt mining along the Gulf Coast. He recognized that many salt domes, such as Spindletop, contained not only salt but also sulphur and petroleum. He leased land from the Gladys City Company and drilled a well. While the well did strike oil, the pipe collapsed from the pressure of the gas before a large amount of oil could be collected. Lucas contacted oil prospectors James Guffey and John Galey for financial assistance, who turned to the Andrew Mellon family for backing. Guffey and Galey hired a team, the Hamill brothers, from Corsicana to conduct the drilling for petroleum. Historians disagree on the reasons for the Hamills' success, some believing that they possessed a heavier and more efficient rotary bit, while other scholars believe it was expertise, not equipment, that was essential.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eThe efforts to produce petroleum reached fruition on January 10, 1901, when the Lucas gusher erupted, spewing a column of oil 200 feet high for nine days. Although the Lucas gusher was located on land owned by McFaddin-Wiess-Kyle, another group of prominent Beaumont businessmen, and not on Gladys City land, it initiated an unprecedented boom of prospecting for and processing petroleum.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eThe Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company never again tried operating wells, choosing instead to lease the land to others and collect mineral royalties from them. The land at Spindletop produced not only petroleum, but also vast quantities of sulphur and salt. George W. O'Brien and his descendants retained stock in the company, and continued to provide leadership in the company for many decades.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien was born in Vermillion Parish, Louisiana, in 1833, to George Bryan and Elizabeth Ann Bryan. O'Brien and his family migrated to Galveston, Texas, in 1849. He moved to Beaumont, Texas, in 1852. As a teenager he carried mail on horseback between Morgan City, Louisiana, and Galveston, Texas, along the Bolivar Peninsula.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien was active as a Jefferson County official and attorney. He was elected District and County Clerk in 1854, and Justice of the Peace for Precinct One in 1858. O'Brien was admitted to practice law in 1861.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eAlthough O'Brien had opposed slavery, had never owned a slave, and had opposed secession as a member of the Jefferson County Secession Convention, he defended his native South by serving in the Confederacy during the Civil War. He initially fought under the leadership of his kinsman, Captain King Bryan in Company F of the Fifth Texas Infantry Regiment in battles east of the Mississippi, but following an outbreak of measles, was discharged for disability, and returned on foot to Beaumont. While returning home, he regained his health, and in Beaumont in 1862, he recruited an additional company and was elected Captain of Company E, Likens Battalion, Texas Volunteers, later known as Speights Texas Regiment.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eHis company, during its preparation and march toward the Mississippi River, participated in several important military events. They established a fort at Port Neches to control the Neches River against Federal gun boats which had been dispatched to take beef cattle and other supplies to the Union Army. The company later took part in the Battle of Fordoche in Louisiana, and a battle at Mansfield, Louisiana. During 1863, he maintained a meticulous diary of his wartime experiences. His diary was edited by Houston attorney Cooper K. Ragan, who published them in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1963 and 1964.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eAfter the war, O'Brien became one of the most influential men in Southeast Texas. An ardent Democrat, he expressed his opposition to Radical Republicanism by purchasing the press of the Liberty Gazette in 1869 and serving as editor and publisher of the Neches Valley News and its successor, the Beaumont News Beacon, from 1869 to 1874. The newspaper served as a voice for the Democratic party. O'Brien acted as a delegate from Texas at the 1872 Democratic National Convention.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien was active in business ventures. He was a subscriber of the Beaumont, Sour Lake, and Western Railroad, later the Gulf Coast and Missouri Pacific System. O'Brien helped finance the Central Asphalt and Refining Company at Port Neches, and the Beaumont Ice, Light, and Refrigerating Company.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien was prominently identified with the community welfare of Beaumont. He founded and financed many organizations, including the Beaumont Temperance Hall Company in 1880, the Beaumont Academy, and the Methodist Church. He belonged to Albert Sydney John Camp of the United Confederate Veterans. A thirty-second degree Mason, he also served as master of the local lodge from 1877-1878, and 1880-1882.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eHe died in 1909, and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery, which he had founded in 1887. A Beaumont newspaper wrote in his obituary that he had \"One of the most notable, most beautiful and calmly peaceful careers of any man who [had] ever lived in southeast Texas.\"\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien was married twice, and was the father of nine children. Sarah E. Rowley married O'Brien in 1854. They were the parents of Emma E. John Smith, Minnie G. Starke, Lillie E. Townsend, George Cave O'Brien, who served as District Judge and District Attorney in Jefferson County, Kaleta B. James, Sarah Alice O'Brien, and Olive O'Brien, who died as an infant. After Sarah Rowley O'Brien's death in 1873, O'Brien married Ellen Peebles Chenault in 1874. This marriage produced two children, Chenault O'Brien and Robert Peebles O'Brien.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eO'Brien changed the spelling of his last name from O'Bryan to O'Brien between 1868 and 1871.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eChenault O'Brien was born on October 16, 1874, at Beaumont. A brilliant attorney, his legal research during his tenure as secretary/treasurer of the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company established many principles for oil and gas law in Texas.\n\nAs a young man, O'Brien served as Chief Deputy County and District Clerk for four years. In 1898, with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he was a member of a loal military company known as the Beaumont Light Guards. When he volunteered to serve his country in the war against Spain, he was made First Lieutenant of Company D, Third Texas United States Volunteers. After undergoing intensive military training at Fort Clark, Texas, he and his command were ordered to Cuba for active service, but to his disappointment, these plans were changed, and through the summer of 1898, his company saw service at Key West, Florida, and Montauk Point, New York, after which they were mustered out of the service, the war having ended. A Spanish-American War veterans camp was named in his honor.\n\nAfter the war, he was educated for the law, graduating from the University of Texas in 1900. O'Brien entered into law practice with I. R. Bordages and his father, George W. O'Brien, in a firm entitled O'Brien, Bordages, and O'Brien. After the death of Captain O'Brien, George Cave O'Brien and Robert A. John entered the firm. He later formed a practice with his brother-in-law George Chilton.\n\nHe was noted by the Jefferson County Bar Association as a \"forceful, brilliant and successful lawyer.\" Not only did he develop petroleum law but also irrigation law, involving riparian and other water-rights, due to the rice growing industry which began in Jefferson County about the same time that O'Brien was admitted to the bar.\n\nO'Brien was active in legal organizations, including the Jefferson County Bar Association, and Texas State Bar Association. He practiced law for over forty years. He also was a leader in the civic, religious, and business life of Beaumont. He was a member of Beaumont Masonic Lodge No. 286, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Ex-Students Association of the University of Texas, and a president of the Neches Club.\n\nO'Brien was a family man. He married Christine Chilton, the daughter of Horace Chilton, United States Senator from Texas, in 1904. They were the parents of two children, Eleanor Patricia \"Pat\" O'Brien Moor, and Chilton O'Brien.\n\nChenault O'Brien died in Beaumont in August 1940.\u003c/blockquote\u003e","\u003cblockquote\u003eChilton O'Brien followed in his father and grandfather's footsteps. He provided leadership to the Gladys City Company, a Texas corporation owning lands at Spindletop, as a director, secretary-treasurer, and vice-president and chief executive officer.\n\nO'Brien was born in 1911, and reared in Beaumont at the ancestral home on the bank of the Neches River. He graduated from Beaumont High School in 1929, where he lettered in football three years, and edited the school yearbook.\n\nO'Brien was educated at the University of Texas, where he was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity, and played football as a college freshman. He edited the 1934 Cactus, the university's yearbook. He earned a law degree from the University of Texas in 1936, and was a member of the University of Texas Ex-Students.\n\nDuring World War II, he served in the Navy, first as an intelligence oficer, and second as officer in command of a torpedo boat in the South Pacific. He was commended for outstanding performance of duty in action, and was discharged with the rank of lieutenant commander.\n\nOne of the outstanding land title authorities in his profession, O'Brien used his expertise on cases with subjects as varied as personal injury, oil and gas, trusts, probate, real estate, and corporate law. From 1936-1941 he was associated with the firm of Smith, Smith, and Boyd. He was made a partner in the firm in 1939. In 1941, he opened his own law office, and in October of that year, he was joined with Rupert R. Harkrider. Their partnership, which was interrupted by the Second World War, ended in 1949 when Harkrider left Beaumont. From 1969-1980, he was associated with Howard N. Richards.\n\nO'Brien's service to the legal profession included tenure on the Examining Committee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He was active in local and state legal organizations. He was a member of the Jefferson County Bar Association, serving as its president from 1952-1953. O'Brien was a long time member of the State Bar of Texas, and was selected as a charter fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation in 1966. O'Brien was a member of the American Bar Association.\n\nO'Brien inherited land in the Shelby Corzine Survey southwest of Beaumont. His interests here included a joint venture, with F. L. Yeates, of raising a herd of registered Santa Gertrudis cattle, a breed of cattle developed by the King Ranch. The name Santa Gertrudis is from Rincon de Santa Gertrudis, the name of the original land grant purchased by Captain Richard King from the heirs of Juan Mendiola. Santa Gertrudis cattle, which are a deep cherry red color, are approximately five-eighths shorthorn and three-eighths Brahman. The cattle's strengths include a high degree of heat and tick resistance, ease of calving, and good mothering ability. O'Brien was a member of the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International. The land in this survey was also used for raising rice, hay, and grass seed crops.\n\nO'Brien was a director of the First Security National Bank of Beaumont from 1962-1975. The bank merged with the First Security National Corporation, a Texas bank holding company headquartered in Beaumont in the early 1970s. In 1973, while he was a director of the First Security National Corporation, its wholly owned subsidiaries included the First Security National Bank of Beaumont, Security First Mortgage Company which had offices in Beaumont and Houston, and First National Bank of Colleyville in Tarrant County. Other subsidiaries were the Village State Bank and Gateway National Bank of Beaumont, People's State Bank of Kountze, and the Sour Lake State Bank. The bank was praised by the bank publication, Sheshunoff, in 1972 as a well-managed bank with fast growing deposits.\n\nO'Brien was also involved in civic affairs. As chairman of the Beaumont City Charter Commission from 1947-1948, O'Brien wished to make the governing body more directly responsible to the will of the people. O'Brien believed that a slate of five men should be elected for a two year term. This slate, including a mayor and four councilmen from the four wards of Beaumont, would pledge to carry out a specific program. Administrative work was to be in the hands of a city manager who would have executive control over city services.\n\nO'Brien was active in other civic activities, including serving on the Beaumont Planning and Zoning Commission from 1962-1965. He was a leader in organizations, serving as president of the Beaumont Community Council and Family Service, and as a director on the boards of the Salvation Army and Central YMCA. O'Brien served on the Regents Development Council of Lamar University. He received the Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was also active in St. Mark's Episcopal Church, where he served on the vestry, and as senior warden. He served on the first board of trustees of All Saints Episcopal School in Beaumont, and on the board of trustees of St. Stephen's School of Austin.\n\nO'Brien worked for the Democratic party. He was a member of the Jefferson County Young Democratic Club, and served as the chairman of the State Executive Committee of the Young Democratic Club. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1940. Lyndon Johnson and O'Brien were allies from the 1940s. During Johnson's first campaign for the United States Senate, O'Brien assisted him in Beaumont's Congressional district. He worked to help get Johnson the Democratic nomination in 1952, when O'Brien served as an alternate delegate from Texas at the Democratic National Convention. After 1960, because of being a trustee for the Texas Portland Cement Company, and the semi-public nature of the trusteeship, he believed he could not take an active role in politics. He continued to serve as a political liaison for Johnson in the Beaumont area.\n\nO'Brien was an acknowledged authority on Texas history, who provided leadership to prominent historical organizations. He served on the board of the Texas Library and Historical Commission, later known as the Texas Library and Archives Commission, from 1978-1983. He was appointed chairman of the commission in 1982. O'Brien was a regional director of the Atascosito Historical Society, which is the friends group of the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center. The Sam Houston Regional Library, located in Liberty, Texas, is a division of the Texas State Library. He was a founding member of the Texas Gulf Historical Society, serving as its president in 1968-1969. He was a director of the Texas Historical Foundation, and he was a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, Sons of the American Revolution, and the Philosophical Society of Texas.\n\nO'Brien researched and wrote articles on Texas history topics including the O'Brien family; John Allen Veatch, who acquired parcels of land from the Mexican government which included Spindletop and Sour Lake; the Ashworth family, a pioneer family in Jefferson County; and the Jefferson County Bar Association.\n\nO'Brien married Barbara Ann Miller of Springfield, Illinois, in 1937. They were the parents of two children, Ann and Ellen, and the grandparents of five.\u003c/blockquote\u003e"]}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/e0ac3cb271612cc6b261f500_aspace_72323ac3100993772b1845d88eb71685"}},{"id":"81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2_aspace_ref2425","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Miscellaneous reports and publications","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2_aspace_ref2425#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"ref_ssi":"aspace_ref2425","ref_ssm":["aspace_ref2425","aspace_ref2425"],"id":"81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2_aspace_ref2425","title_filing_ssi":"Miscellaneous reports and publications","title_ssm":["Miscellaneous reports and publications"],"title_tesim":["Miscellaneous reports and publications"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Miscellaneous reports and publications"],"text":["Miscellaneous reports and publications","Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993","Reports and publications, 1984-1993","/repositories/4/archival_objects/3642"],"component_level_isim":[2],"parent_ids_ssim":["81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2","81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2_aspace_ref1229"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993","Reports and publications, 1984-1993"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993","Reports and publications, 1984-1993"],"parent_levels_ssm":["collection","Series"],"unitid_ssm":["/repositories/4/archival_objects/3642"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Corporate Archives"],"collection_ssim":["Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":56,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":4285,"_nest_path_":"/components#5/components#2","_nest_parent_":"81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2_aspace_ref1229","_root_":"81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:16:28.659Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2","title_ssm":["Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records"],"title_tesim":["Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records"],"ead_ssi":"81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2","unitdate_ssm":["1984-1993"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1984-1993"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["0246.001","/repositories/4/resources/61"],"text":["0246.001","/repositories/4/resources/61","Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993","Lyrasis Corporate Archives","English"],"unitid_tesim":["0246.001","/repositories/4/resources/61"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1984-1993"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993"],"collection_title_tesim":["Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993"],"collection_ssim":["Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993"],"repository_ssm":["Lyrasis Corporate Archives"],"repository_ssim":["Lyrasis Corporate Archives"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["266.0 Cubic feet"],"extent_tesim":["266.0 Cubic feet"],"date_range_isim":[1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993],"names_ssim":["Lyrasis Corporate Archives"],"corpname_ssim":["Lyrasis Corporate Archives"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":4518,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2","timestamp":"2026-04-04T01:16:28.659Z"}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/81f4c1874461e904201ebbd2_aspace_ref2425"}}],"included":[{"type":"facet","id":"collection_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Collection","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993","value":"Mayor Raymond L. Flynn records, 1984-1993","hits":22},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Mayor+Raymond+L.+Flynn+records%2C+1984-1993\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","value":"Ben Yellen Papers, 1945-1994","hits":14},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Ben+Yellen+Papers%2C+1945-1994\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","value":"Harold Scheffler Papers, 1926 - 1981","hits":14},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Harold+Scheffler+Papers%2C+1926+-+1981\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Jerome Rothenberg Papers, bulk 1944-1985","value":"Jerome Rothenberg Papers, bulk 1944-1985","hits":8},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Jerome+Rothenberg+Papers%2C+bulk+1944-1985\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987","value":"The O'Brien Family Papers, 1835-1987","hits":5},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=The+O%27Brien+Family+Papers%2C+1835-1987\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Franklin College, 1787-1852, 1787-1852","value":"Franklin College, 1787-1852, 1787-1852","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Franklin+College%2C+1787-1852%2C+1787-1852\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"V - Certificated Staff (Faculty \u0026 Admin), bulk 1900s","value":"V - Certificated Staff (Faculty \u0026 Admin), bulk 1900s","hits":3},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=V+-+Certificated+Staff+%28Faculty+%26+Admin%29%2C+bulk+1900s\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","value":"Joe Brainard Archive, 1960-1992","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Joe+Brainard+Archive%2C+1960-1992\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Leona Strickland Hudson Collection, 1870-2007, bulk 1870-2007","value":"Leona Strickland Hudson Collection, 1870-2007, bulk 1870-2007","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Leona+Strickland+Hudson+Collection%2C+1870-2007%2C+bulk+1870-2007\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Louisa May Alcott collection, 1868-1888","value":"Louisa May Alcott collection, 1868-1888","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Louisa+May+Alcott+collection%2C+1868-1888\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Richard D. Altick Papers, bulk 1942-2008, 1948-1997","value":"Richard D. Altick Papers, bulk 1942-2008, 1948-1997","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Richard+D.+Altick+Papers%2C+bulk+1942-2008%2C+1948-1997\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/facet/collection_ssim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"facet","id":"date_range_isim","attributes":{"label":"Date range","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"1984","value":"1984","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1984\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1985","value":"1985","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1985\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1986","value":"1986","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1986\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1987","value":"1987","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1987\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1988","value":"1988","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1988\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1989","value":"1989","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1989\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1990","value":"1990","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1990\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1991","value":"1991","hits":3},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1991\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1992","value":"1992","hits":3},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1992\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1993","value":"1993","hits":3},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1993\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1960","value":"1960","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1960\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2019","value":"2019","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2019\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1919","value":"1919","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1919\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1920","value":"1920","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1920\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1921","value":"1921","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1921\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1922","value":"1922","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1922\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1923","value":"1923","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1923\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1924","value":"1924","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1924\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1925","value":"1925","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1925\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1926","value":"1926","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1926\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1927","value":"1927","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1927\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1928","value":"1928","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1928\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1929","value":"1929","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1929\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1930","value":"1930","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1930\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1931","value":"1931","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1931\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1932","value":"1932","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1932\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1933","value":"1933","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1933\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1934","value":"1934","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1934\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1935","value":"1935","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1935\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1936","value":"1936","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1936\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1937","value":"1937","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1937\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1938","value":"1938","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1938\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1939","value":"1939","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1939\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1940","value":"1940","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1940\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1941","value":"1941","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1941\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1942","value":"1942","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1942\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1943","value":"1943","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1943\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1944","value":"1944","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1944\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1945","value":"1945","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1945\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1946","value":"1946","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1946\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1947","value":"1947","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1947\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1948","value":"1948","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1948\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1949","value":"1949","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1949\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1950","value":"1950","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1950\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1951","value":"1951","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1951\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1952","value":"1952","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1952\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1953","value":"1953","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1953\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1954","value":"1954","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1954\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1955","value":"1955","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1955\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1956","value":"1956","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1956\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1957","value":"1957","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1957\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1958","value":"1958","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1958\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1959","value":"1959","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1959\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1961","value":"1961","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1961\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1962","value":"1962","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1962\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1963","value":"1963","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1963\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1964","value":"1964","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1964\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1965","value":"1965","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1965\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1966","value":"1966","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1966\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1967","value":"1967","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1967\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1968","value":"1968","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1968\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1969","value":"1969","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1969\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1970","value":"1970","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1970\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1971","value":"1971","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1971\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1972","value":"1972","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1972\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1973","value":"1973","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1973\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1974","value":"1974","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1974\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1975","value":"1975","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1975\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1976","value":"1976","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1976\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1977","value":"1977","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1977\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1978","value":"1978","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1978\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1979","value":"1979","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1979\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1980","value":"1980","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1980\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1981","value":"1981","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1981\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1982","value":"1982","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1982\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1983","value":"1983","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1983\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1994","value":"1994","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1994\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1995","value":"1995","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1995\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1996","value":"1996","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1996\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1997","value":"1997","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1997\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1998","value":"1998","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1998\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"1999","value":"1999","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1999\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2000","value":"2000","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2000\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2001","value":"2001","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2001\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2002","value":"2002","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2002\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2003","value":"2003","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2003\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2004","value":"2004","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2004\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2005","value":"2005","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2005\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2006","value":"2006","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2006\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2007","value":"2007","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2007\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2008","value":"2008","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2008\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2009","value":"2009","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2009\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2010","value":"2010","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2010\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2011","value":"2011","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2011\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2012","value":"2012","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2012\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2013","value":"2013","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2013\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2014","value":"2014","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2014\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2015","value":"2015","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2015\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2016","value":"2016","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2016\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"2017","value":"2017","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=2017\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/facet/date_range_isim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"facet","id":"level_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Level","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Subseries","value":"Subseries","hits":87},"links":{"remove":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/facet/level_ssim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"facet","id":"names_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Names","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Hubley, John ","value":"Hubley, John ","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Bnames%5D%5B%5D=Hubley%2C+John+\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Rush, Benjamin ","value":"Rush, Benjamin ","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Bnames%5D%5B%5D=Rush%2C+Benjamin+\u0026view=compact"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/facet/names_ssim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"facet","id":"repository_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Repository","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Lyrasis Special Collections","value":"Lyrasis Special Collections","hits":58},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Lyrasis+Special+Collections\u0026view=compact"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Lyrasis Corporate Archives","value":"Lyrasis Corporate Archives","hits":29},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=Lyrasis+Corporate+Archives\u0026view=compact"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/facet/repository_ssim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"facet","id":"access","attributes":{"label":"Access","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Online access","value":"online","hits":4},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Baccess%5D%5B%5D=online\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/facet/access.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"all_fields","attributes":{"label":"All Fields"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026search_field=all_fields\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"keyword","attributes":{"label":"Keyword"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026search_field=keyword\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"name","attributes":{"label":"Name"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026search_field=name\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"place","attributes":{"label":"Place"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026search_field=place\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"subject","attributes":{"label":"Subject"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026search_field=subject\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"title","attributes":{"label":"Title"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026search_field=title\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"container","attributes":{"label":"Container"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026search_field=container\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"search_field","id":"identifier","attributes":{"label":"Identifier"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026search_field=identifier\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"sort","id":"score desc, title_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"relevance"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026sort=score+desc%2C+title_sort+asc\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"sort","id":"date_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"date (ascending)"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026sort=date_sort+asc\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"sort","id":"date_sort desc","attributes":{"label":"date (descending)"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026sort=date_sort+desc\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"sort","id":"creator_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"creator (A-Z)"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026sort=creator_sort+asc\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"sort","id":"creator_sort desc","attributes":{"label":"creator (Z-A)"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026sort=creator_sort+desc\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"sort","id":"title_sort asc","attributes":{"label":"title (A-Z)"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026sort=title_sort+asc\u0026view=compact"}},{"type":"sort","id":"title_sort desc","attributes":{"label":"title (Z-A)"},"links":{"self":"https://arclight.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026page=6\u0026sort=title_sort+desc\u0026view=compact"}}]}