Holliday, J. S

Jaquelin Smith Holliday II was born on June 10, 1924 in Indianapolis, and served in the United States Navy during World War II. He graduated from Yale University in 1948 with a degree in history and was prepared to enter his family's steel business when noted rare book dealer Ed Eberstadt showed Holliday William Swain's 1849 diary of his journey to California, suggesting that it could be the basis of an important book. Holliday took Eberstadt's advice and began work on what was originally titled "A Pocketful of Rocks," interspersing Swains account with other diaries, and other sources. Due to Holliday's tenures as a professor at San Francisco State, assistant director of the Bancroft Library, director of the Oakland Museum, and director of the California Historical Society, the book took thirty years to complete and was finally published as "The World Rushed In" in 1981. He subsequently wrote "Rush for Riches," another treatment of the California Gold Rush, and had several other projects partially completed before his death in Carmel on August 31, 2006.

From the description of J. S. Holliday papers, 1959-2006. (California State Library). WorldCat record id: 662502874

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