State Government Oral History Program (Calif.)

Administrative History

Documentation of California state government with the use of oral history techniques began in 1969 with the Earl Warren Era Oral History Project. It was initiated by the Regional Oral History Office of the Bancroft Library and "centered on key developments in politics and government administration at the state and county level, innovations in criminal justice, public health, and social welfare from 1928-1953."

Interviews in the second phase, Goodwin Knight-Edmund G. Brown Era, "continued the earlier inquiries into the nature of the governor's office and its relations with executive departments and the legislature, and explored the rapid social and economic changes in the years 1953-1966, as well as preserving Brown's own account of his extensive political career. Among the issues documented are the rise and fall of the Democratic party, establishment of the California Water Plan; election law changes, reapportionment and new political techniques; education and various social programs.

"Work began on the Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Series in 1979 [covering the period 1966 through 1974]. . . . Interviews in this series deal with the efforts of the administration to increase government efficiency and economy and with organizational innovations designed to expand the management capability of the governor's office, as well as critical aspects of state health, education, welfare, conservation, and criminal justice programs." 1

Initial funding came from the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from public and private sources. The three series collectively became the Governmental History Documentation Project.

Eventually the California State Legislature established the State Government Oral History Program (1985 stats. ch. 965) "to provide through the use of oral history a continuing documentation of state policy development as reflected in California's legislative and executive history." Under the administration of the California State Archives, oral history programs at Claremont Graduate School; California State University, Fullerton; California State University, Sacramento; University of California, Berkeley; and the University of California, Los Angeles conduct the interviews. The interviews "offer insights into the actual workings of both the legislative and executive processes and policy mechanisms. They also offer an increased understanding of the men and women who create legislation and implement state policy. Further, they provide an overview of issue development in California state government and of how both the legislative and executive branches of government deal with issues and problems facing the state.

"Interviewees are chosen primarily on the basis of their contributions to and influence on the policy process of the state of California. They include members of the legislative and executive branches of the state government as well as legislative staff, advocates, members of the media, and others who played significant roles in specific issue areas of major and continuing importance to California."

The program is "one of the most significant commitments made by any state toward the preservation and documentation of its governmental history. It supplements the often fragmentary historical written record by adding an organized primary source, enriching the historical information available on given topics and allowing for more thorough historical analysis." 2

1: Preface to the Governmental History Documentation Project - Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Era. 2: Preface to the State Government Oral History Program.