California's Archivists and Historians

In 1949, Archivist Paul O’Brien (far left) succeeded the previous "Keeper of the Archives" Bart Greer after his over 30 years of service. O'Brien served as the Keeper of the Archives until 1966. He is shown here in the photograph at the left, circa 1960, reviewing a volume of the Secretary of State's "Records of Corporations." Identification Number: F3938:133.

Dr. J.N. Bowman, a University of California, Berkeley professor of history and expert on the Spanish Land Grants (far right, top), joined the growing archives staff in 1948 as Historian, and greatly increased its caliber of scholarship and professionalism. After Bowman retired in 1955, Dr. William Davis, another UC Berkeley professor of history of the American West (far right, bottom), was hired as Historian and continued the process of professionalizing the Archives. This photograph dates to 1955. Identification Number: F3757:20