Biography
Elliott Taylor (1904-1986) met his future wife, Burta Beers (1908-1994), while both were students at the College of the Pacific in Stockton (Calif.). Following graduation from the College (1928), Elliott worked as assistant to the President at the Colegio Monte Mario in Rome (1928-29). Burta Beers graduated in 1929, then did a year of graduate work at Bryn Mawr. The two married in Rome (1930) and together they moved to Albania, where Elliott Taylor was Assistant Director of the men's section and Burta Taylor helped establish the women's school of the American Institute at Kavaje sponsored by the Near East Foundation of New York (1929-1935). The purpose of the two schools, which were separate in accord with Muslim practice, was to "train young people for leadership in villages and rural districts" through education in health, agriculture and homemaking. While living in Albania, the Taylors made films of the Albanian countryside and people. Burta and Elliott Taylor travelled widely during their years in Europe; both took summer courses at the University of Vienna. After six years in Albania Elliott Taylor moved to New York City, where he worked as a fund-raiser for the Near East Foundation (1935-1938). The Foundation operated schools, clinics, handicraft centers, libraries and playgrounds in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Syria. Burta Taylor briefly took a job in San Francisco to be nearer to her aging parents but eventually settled with her husband in New York City. In 1938 the Taylors moved to Reedley (Calif.), where Elliott taught, counseled and, ultimately, served as Dean of Reedley Junior College (1938-1947).
When Robert E. Burns became President of the College of the Pacific (1947), he hired Elliott Taylor as the school's first Dean of Admissions. The College had no admissions officer in those days and the Registrar's Office handled all applications. Burns created the new post for Taylor both to lighten the Registrar's workload and to facilitate active student recruitment. In addition to his admissions responsibilities, Burns entrusted Taylor with the task of developing and managing a program of C.O.P. tours for academic credit to various parts of the world. During the years that followed, Taylor traveled widely in support of this program, zealously photographing for publicity and recruitment purposes the lands he visited. Elliott Taylor was granted an honorary doctorate by Illinois Wesleyan University (1963) and received the Order of Pacific (1972) from the University of the Pacific. He retired in 1972.
From the guide to the Taylor (Elliott and Burta) Collection, 1922-1986, (University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections)
