In Focus

by Dave Milbrandt
photos by Don Milici

To the untrained eye, the assortment of books, maps, files, and artifacts housed in the Hugh and Hazel Darling Library's Mrs. Irving Stone Room may appear totally unrelated. But to Ken Otto, M.S., MLIS, special collections librarian, everything is connected. In describing the more than 13,000-piece Special Collections, Otto sheds his role as librarian and becomes a historian. With enthusiasm, he explains how California's history is connected to the beginning of the city of Azusa and the Azusa Foothill Citrus Association. He then shares how the city's history is tied to the history of Azusa Pacific University, which is, of course, linked to longtime President Cornelius P. Haggard.

Otto currently maintains and grants access to this collection, one that Tom Andrews, Ph.D., former APU professor of history, began in 1975. Until his departure from the university in 1978, Andrews collected the books and other materials and stored them in the William V. Marshburn Memorial Library. The holdings remained in the library until they were moved to the Hugh and Hazel Darling Library in February 1998. In addition to the thousands of books, there are unique items including pencil drawings of the Hoover Dam by one of the project's architects, railroad stock certificates signed by famed railroad tycoon Jay Gould, and an assortment of colored glass slides.

By the time Otto began working with the 12 separate Special Collections compilations in 1998, things had fallen into a state of disarray, with most items scattered across campus. "Much of what is now the University Archives collection simply had been stored in boxes in back rooms for the last 100 years," Otto said. He has spent two years organizing the holdings, which are now considered as important as the collections at the Huntington Library and the Claremont College's Honnold/Mudd Library. "We have come a long way, but it's a work in progress, and there is still much to do," he said.

The largest single collection in the room is the Special Collection or SpecColl, a 6,300-item holding of American West and California history items. The university purchased the majority of these pieces in 1977-78 from book collector George Fullerton. SpecColl includes books and other materials on the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-06, the California Gold Rush, and the California missions. SpecColl also has two copies of the 1850 book Six Months in the Gold Mines by E. Gould Buffum, which is considered by scholars as the most important narrative of a California '49er. The California and American West components are worth nearly $900,000. One item alone, a two-volume history of the Lewis and Clark expedition written in 1814 by Meriwether Lewis which includes an original map of the trip, was recently valued at $55,000.

The Stone Room also houses the Azusa Foothill Citrus Collection. The 4,000 pieces document the beginnings of the city of Azusa, from the Rancho Azusa days through 1974. Part of the collection is an 1858 wall map showing the original boundaries of Rancho Azusa, then owned by Henry Dalton. When Dalton had financial problems, banker Jonathan Slauson loaned him money. Slauson foreclosed on Dalton in 1880, taking ownership of Rancho Azusa. Seven years later, Slauson set up a variety of companies, including the Azusa Foothill Citrus Association. The collection describes how Slauson, along with a group of developers, founded the city of Azusa. The room also holds all of the company's records until it closed in September 1974. These documents record water usage, land development, and the growth and decline of Azusa's citrus industry.

The descendants of Dalton and Slauson have each contributed family deeds, diaries, letters, photographs, and wills. These two collections, in addition to the Azusa Foothill Citrus items, present a detailed, personal history of Azusa.

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