San Jose State College

Stereograph History

Stereocards were a very popular entertainment medium from the late 1880s to the 1970s. Many different photographic processes were used to produce stereographs, including dauerreotypes, ambrotypes, wet plate glass positives, salt paper prints, albumen prints, and gelatin prints. Stereographs were formed of two images placed side by side and were commonly produced with cameras that had two lenses side by side. This selection features only paper prints from wet collodion negatives.

The Keystone View Company was created in 1892 in Meadville, Pennsylvania by B.L. Singley as a company whose primary focus was to create a large variety of stereocards. By 1905 it was the largest sterographic company in the world. Keystone created and distributed millions of stereocards throughout the United States. In 1898 they organized their highly successful Education Department which produced boxed sets for school instruction of images and descriptive text illustrating culture, industry, commerce and politics world-wide. Stereocards came in different sets marked by a letter. Customers could buy stereocards by the "book", a box shaped like a book which contained 50, 100, or 200 stereocards. This collection prominently features set "P", the educational set designed for elementary school-aged children. While stereocards had been losing popularity shortly after cinema became one of the most popular entertainment mediums, the Keystone Company continued to produce stereocards until 1972 when it went out of business.

From the guide to the Keystone Stereocard Collection, 1895-1905, (San José State University. Library.)

Organizational History

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created in 1933 as one of the first programs headed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) to alleviate youth unemployment during the Great Depression. Young men, ages 18 to 24 provided unskilled manual labor supporting reforestation and building the National Parks System. The Department of Labor recruited the men into the program and set up the outdoor camps they would be living at. Upon joining, they were provided clothing by the U.S. Army which also managed the camps. Over three million young men joined the CCC in the nine years it was active. They were paid one dollar per day and were offered free room and board. The majority of the projects the young men worked on involved planting forests, setting up state parks, and building roads that made accessing the parks easier. They built more than 1000 national, state, county and city parks and planted over three billion trees across the nation. To this day, the CCC remains the only government conservation program that worked to save our country's environment on a national scale. There were CCC camps located in every state in the U.S., and this program provided important work relief for these young men and their families.

The CCC was disbanded by President Roosevelt in 1942 when the nation's resources focused on the war effort and the economic state of the nation significantly improved. Originally, the program was designed to create jobs for unemployed young men during the depression. The onset of World War II meant an abundance of jobs all over the country, which rendered the original purpose of the CCC irrelevant. The CCC left behind a legacy that would be felt for years to come through the improvement of the country's forests and environment, as well as the hard work the young men performed through their enlistment with the CCC. Since then, several states, including California, have created their own Conservation Corps programs. Similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps, the California Conservation Corps allows young men and women to work for a year for the National Park System. The Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni Association continues working for historical recognition and education of the mass achievements of CCC workers and their families.

From the guide to the Civilian Conservation Corps Collection, 1933-1997, 1933-1997, 1933-1942, (San José State University. Library.)

Biography / Administrative History

On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 providing broad powers for the War Department to create exclusion zones and to initiate an evacuation program for the Western Defense Command (WDC). Under the leadership of General John Dewitt of the WDC, the Civil Affairs Division (CAD) and the Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) were created in order to provide for the transition of voluntary evacuees, enemy aliens and United States citizens alike, from exclusion areas to other parts of the country. The failure of the voluntary evacuation plan led President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9102, which established the civilian run War Relocation Authority (WRA). The WRA was mandated to institute enforced evacuations. Due to the recalcitrance of states on the interior of the country to accept the Japanese evacuees or to provide for their safety, the WRA also constructed internment centers in order to house the evacuees. Between 1942-1945 the WRA, the WCCA, the CAD and the Office of the Commanding General of the Western Defense Command segregated and housed approximately 110,000 Japanese-American men, women and children.

Though the initial exclusion plan put forth by General Dewitt included both German and Italian citizens, the Japanese Americans bore the brunt of Executive Order 9066.

From the guide to the Flaherty Collection: Japanese Internment Records, 1921-1966, bulk 1942, (San José State University Library, Special Collections & Archives)

Biographical History

John Byrne was born circa 1866 on a small farm 25 miles south of Dublin near Asford, Wicklow County, Ireland. In 1906 Byrne moved to Los Angeles, California and became instrumental in helping to fund the Irish nationalist movement. Friends of Irish Freedom (FOIF) emerged in California in 1916, becoming the state's primary Irish American organization. Its main purpose was to gain independence for Ireland. John Byrne was the Secretary-Treasurer of the Southern California chapter of the FOIF and worked to promote the cause by writing letters and distributing pamphlets. When the FOIF of California merged with Eamon De Valera's newly founded American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic (AARIR), Byrne became the Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles chapter. Although returning only once to Ireland, John Byrne devoted his life to the Irish nationalist cause.

From the guide to the John Byrne Collection, 1886-1987, (San José State University Library, Special Collections & Archives)

Organizational History

In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San José, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes, Minns' Normal School is now San José State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations, and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.

From the guide to the The San Jose State University Spartan Sports Collection, 1908-2004, (San José State University Library.)

Organizational History

In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San Jose, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes, Minns' Normal School is now San José State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations, and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West

From the guide to the San Jose State College Football Film Collection, 1968-1972, (San José State University. Library.)

Japanese-American Internment History

On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 providing broad powers for the War Department to create exclusion zones and to initiate an evacuation program for the Western Defense Command (WDC). Under the leadership of General John Dewitt of the WDC, the Civil Affairs Division (CAD) and the Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) were created in order to provide for the transition of voluntary evacuees, enemy aliens and United States citizens alike, from exclusion areas to other parts of the country. The failure of the voluntary evacuation plan led President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9102, which established the civilian run War Relocation Authority (WRA). The WRA was mandated to institute enforced evacuations. Due to the recalcitrance of states on the interior of the country to accept the Japanese evacuees or to provide for their safety, the WRA also constructed internment centers in order to house the evacuees. Between 1942-1945 the WRA, the WCCA, the CAD and the Office of the Commanding General of the Western Defense Command segregated and housed approximately 110,000 Japanese-American men, women and children.

From the guide to the San José State University Japanese-American Internment Research Collection, 1935-2010, 1942-2010, (San José State University. Library.)