Collection Number

2010.03

Contact Information

The University Library, Special Collections
Cal Poly Humboldt
One Harpst Street
Arcata, California 95521

Processed By

Edie Butler, MA, CA and Carmen Hamel

Date Collection Processed

2011

Language

English

Collection Creator

Ralph B. McCormick ( ? - 2009)

Dates Covered by Collection

1950s

Size of Collection

.5 cubic feet; about 200 slides

Abstract

Ralph B. McCormick took slides relating to his professional responsibilities as a biologist with the California Fish and Game Department during the 1950s and of other views that interested him. Most images are from Humboldt and Del Norte Counties in northern California. Subjects include: stream disruption/damage, logging, fisheries, fishing boats, Eureka street scenes, landscapes and wildflowers.

Access

The collection is open for research by appointment only.

Copyright

Copyright has been assigned to Cal Poly Humboldt by McCormick's son, William B. McCormick.

Acquisition Information

A City of Arcata employee (Diana Cooper) contacted Special Collections about reviewing a collection of slides that had found their way to the City offices. William B. McCormick (son of Ralph B. McCormick) had given them to the Friends of the Dunes in 2009. A phone conversation, in late 2010, with Denise Homer (Naturalist for the City of Arcata) yielded the information that she had put William McCormick in touch with the Friends of the Dunes' member Carol Van de Meer so that he could inquire about the plans for the collection, as he had sent it to them many months earlier. In the opinions of Diana Cooper and Denise Homer the collection is still intact and none had been retained by other entities or individuals along the way.

On March 28, 2011, William (Bill) McCormick was reached by phone and stated he was very pleased that the collection would be held at the Cal Poly Humboldt Library's Special Collections. He stated his father had a good relationship with several Cal Poly Humboldt employees and was good friends with Professor John Dewitt. He supplied biographical information and ideas about the reasons for some of the slides. His information has been incorporated into this finding aid.

Biographical Information

Ralph B. McCormick was employed by the California Fish and Game Department in Eureka from 1951 until 1960. In 1960 he took a position in Sacramento with the California State Parks, remaining there until he retired in 1976. He was a Fisheries Biologist. McCormick, born in Minnesota, moved to California for health reasons, attended Santa Monica Junior College, then graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Biological Sciences.

Scope and Content of the Collection

Ralph B. McCormick took slides relating to his professional responsibilities as a biologist with the California Fish and Game Department during the 1950s and of other views that interested him. Most images are from Humboldt and Del Norte Counties in northern California. Subjects include: stream disruption/damage, logging, fisheries, fishing boats, Eureka street scenes, landscapes and wildflowers, friends and colleagues.

Most slides have location notes and dates on them. William McCormick thinks that many of the slides were taken as part of investigations into law/regulation violations.

Arrangement of the Collection

The slides arrived in small Kodak slide boxes that hold about 16 slides. Some of the boxes held slides from a variety of dates but most were still grouped in batches that appeared to be original. The slides that pertain to Humboldt and Del Norte counties were moved to slide sleeve pages and put in a three-ring binder. Dividers separate the batches. The slides that do not pertain to Humboldt or Del Norte counties, or add additional views/information were left in the original boxes. All the materials are stored together in a single box.

Container List

Box 1

One three-ring binder holds about two-thirds of the collection; one envelope of 6 small slide boxes labeled "? process"; and one envelope of five small slide boxes labeled "do not process".

Bibliography

William B. McCormick (son); telephone communication on March 28 and email on April 4, 2011.

Subject Headings