Finding aid to the Supreme Court of California Library Records MSS.1505
Marie Silva
CJCL Special Collections and Archives
2024
455 Golden Gate Avenue
Room 4617
San Francisco, CA 94102-7013
Telephone: 415-865-7178
archives@jud.ca.gov
Contributing Institution:
CJCL Special Collections and Archives
Title: Supreme Court of California Library Records
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 1505
Physical Description:
7.8 linear feet
(6 document boxes, 5 flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1880-1998
Language of Material:
English
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research upon approval of written request. Requests should be submitted to: California Judicial Center
Library, Special Collections and Archives, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, Room 4617, San Francisco, CA, 94102-7013, or by e-mail
to archives@jud.ca.gov. All researchers must sign the California Judicial Center Library Special Collections Access Agreement
form. This agreement can be sent electronically by request. Records in the collection may contain confidential information,
as defined in the Access Agreement. Publication or disclosure of such information is strictly prohibited.
Restricted Materials
Administrative Records (Series 1) contain confidential internal Supreme Court of California communications. This series is
restricted and closed to research use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This assembled collection is derived from a number of sources. Most materials were created or collected by California Supreme
Court librarians between 1908 and 1998. Justice Raymond Peters papers were transfered to the head librarian by Justice Peters.
Additional materials were donated in 2018 by a former staff librarian.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into five series: 1) Administrative Records, 1906-1998; 2) Collection Records, 1908-1991; 3) Archives,
1938-1987; 4) Supreme Court of California Library Centennial Records; and 5) Articles and Publications, 1943-1984.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]; California Supreme Court Library Records, MSS 1505; [box number, folder number]; California Judicial
Center Library.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by staff archivist Marie Silva in 2024.
Content Description
The Supreme Court of California Library Records, dated 1880-1998, contain administrative, collection-related, and historical
records created or collected by California Supreme Court librarians between the years 1908 and 1998. Collection records include
accession records, ledgers, catalogues, inventories, and distribution lists, dated 1908-1991, documenting the library's holdings
and the head librarians' efforts to rebuild the collection after the original library was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake
and fire. The collection also includes archival records collected by court librarians prior to the establishment of the California
Judicial Center Library's Special Collections & Archives unit in 2001. These archives include 1972 correspondence received
by Associate Justice Raymond Peters from the public concerning the court's death penalty ruling in
People v. Anderson (1972) 6 Cal.3d 628. Centennial records, dated 1880-1968, were collected by the head librarian to celebrate the library's
100-year anniversary. Included in this series are the 1880 rules of the California Supreme Court in manuscript form; director's
correspondence related to historic events; 1927 correspondence with the clerks of other state Supreme Court clerks regarding
the custom of wearing judicial robes; and library planning records.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California. Supreme Court -- History
Series 1
Administrative Records
1906-1998
Restricted Materials
Administrative Records contain confidential internal Supreme Court of California communications. This series is restricted
and closed to research use.
Series 2
Collection Records
1908-1991
box 7
Subject index
circa 1908-1920?
box 4
Accession record
1917-1937
box 4
Accessions compiled annually
1918-1938
box 8
Catalogue of text books
1918
box 8
Catalogue of text books
1923
box 8
Catalogue of text books
1937
box 9, folder 1
Inventory (fragments)
1933
box 9, folder 2
Inventory of volumes
1940
box 9, folder 3
Accession record
1937-1940
box 9, folder 4
Distribution notebooks
1964-1978
box 9, folder 5
Distribution notebooks
1964-1981
box 9, folder 6
Distribution notebooks
1967-1978
box 9, folder 7
Inventories and distribution lists
1965-1976
box 9, folder 8
Reports of the Commission on Judicial Qualifications
1970-1990
box 9, folder 10
Clerk's Guide to the Law of Habeas Corpus
1978
box 9, folder 11
Inventories and distribution lists
1982
box 9, folder 12
Inventory of justices chambers and clerks offices
1981
box 9, folder 13
California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal reports, date tables
circa 1980
box 9, folder 14
Miscellaneous book lists
circa 1986
box 9, folder 15
Books in locked cabinet
1989
box 9, folder 17
California Assembly and Senate Journals
circa 1990
box 9, folder 19
Law reviews held by the library of the Supreme Court of California
undated
box 10, folder 1-5
Reporter of Decisions correspondence
1938-1940
box 10, folder 6
Doodles made by California Supreme Court justices
circa 1968
Scope and Contents
"These doodles were made during oral arguments by California Supreme Court justices. They were collected by the bailiffs and
given to the librarian."
box 10, folder 7
Justice Raymond Peters papers: Encampment for Citizenship report
1958
box 10, folder 8-13
Justice Raymond Peters papers: correspondence regarding the death penalty
1972
box 10, folder 14
Justice Raymond Peters papers: articles regarding the death penalty
1972
box 10, folder 15
Judicial Council records
1978-1979
box 10, folder 16
Hearing in the Matter of Commission Proceedings concerning the Seven Justices of the Supreme Court of California, vol. 23
1979
box 10, folder 17
Report of the Chief Justice's Special Committee on the Courts and the Media
1979 October 1
box 10, folder 18
Extern manual for the staff of Justice Otto Kaus
1981-1982
box 10, folder 19
Extern manual for the staff of Justice Cruz Reynoso
1984
box 10, folder 20
Supreme Court policy and procedure guidelines
1986
box 11, folder 1
State of California memorandum to Karen Toran regarding special Supreme Court session
1987
box 11, folder 2
Photographs of the Supreme Court of California justices
circa 1970-1987
Series 4
Supreme Court of California Centennial Records
1880-1968
box 11, folder 3
Open house, labels and background information
1968
box 11, folder 4
Rules of the Supreme Court of California
1880
box 11, folder 6
Planning the Library for Protection and Service
1916
box 11, folder 8
Chief Justice Lucien Shaw and Thomas F. Dunn correspondence
1918
Scope and Contents
Correspondence includes discussion of the influenza pandemic and World War I.
box 11, folder 10
Anti-Saloon League of America letter to California Supreme Court librarian
1919
box 11, folder 11
Library furnishings
1921-1922
box 11, folder 13
Correspondence regarding the wearing of judicial robes
1927
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between librarian Thomas F. Dunn and the clerks of other state Supreme Courts regarding the custom of wearing
judicial robes.
box 11, folder 14
Report on the library of the Supreme Court of the State of California
1940
Scope and Contents
Prepared by Thomas Dabaugh, librarian of the law library of the University of California.
box 11, folder 15
Memorandum concerning cataloging of the library collection
1941
box 11, folder 16
Roy Wilkins, editor of
The Crisis, letter to Justice Roger Traynor
1946 May 6
box 11, folder 17
Original edition of California Reports bibliography
undated
Series 5
Articles and Publications
1943-1984
box 11, folder 20
Oliver Wendell Holmes bibliography
1943
box 11, folder 21
Rapid Transit (BART digest)
1961 November
box 11, folder 22
Legislative intent clipping
1962
box 11, folder 23
Administrative Office of Courts articles
1962
box 11, folder 24
Articles about Bakke case
1977
box 11, folder 25
"The vendetta-ridden Supreme Court"
1979 October
box 11, folder 26-27
Newspaper clippings
1980-1984
box 11, folder 28
Cross Street Directory of San Francisco
1982
box 11, folder 29
The Filben Report on the California Supreme Court's painting "The Commonwealth," by Arthur Mathews
1984
box 11, folder 30
Storied San Francisco
undated
box 11, folder 31
"Sources of legislative intent in California," by Bertha Rothe White
undated
box 11, folder 32
"Politeia and adjudication in fourth-century B.C. Athens," by Dennis Peter Maio
undated
