To Keep, Protect, and Preserve

Caleb Lyon gave the following description of the Great Seal when it was proposed during California's Constitutional Convention of 1849:

"Around the bend of the ring are represented thirty-one stars, being the number of States of which the Union will consist upon the admission of California. The foreground figure represents the goddess Minerva having sprung full grown from the brain of Jupiter. She is introduced as a type of the political birth of the State of California, without having gone through the probation of a territory. At her feet crouches a grizzly bear feeding upon the clusters from a grape vine, emblematic of the peculiar characteristics of the country. A miner is engaged with his rocker and bowl at his side, illustrating the golden wealth of the Sacramento, upon whose waters are seen shipping, typical of commercial greatness; and the snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada make up the background, while above is the is the Greek motto 'Eureka' (I have found) applying either to the principle involved in the admission of the State, or the success of the miner at work."

The official design of the Great Seal was not codified into state law until 1937. Prior to that time, many different versions of the Seal appeared on the letterhead of various state agencies, such as the version shown here.

California Secretary of State March Fong Eu is shown here assisting First Lady Betty Ford with the use of the Great Seal Press housed by the Secretary of State. The press was manufactured by the Hoe Company in the early 1850s, and is commonly referred to as the "Inca Press," because the figure on the press is said to represent that of an Inca Indian Prince. Today, although the Inca Press is no longer used, it remains on display in the Secretary of State's Office.

A gold decal with the impression of the Great Seal, similar to the one shown here, is now used instead of the "Inca Press." All commissions, pardons, and other public documents that require the signature of the Governor, with the attestation of the Secretary of State certifying his or her signature, have the Great Seal affixed to them.

On March 3, 1966, Secretary of State Frank M. Jordan asked master quilter Pine Eisfeller to reproduce the Great Seal of the State of California after seeing her beaded replica of the San Mateo County Seal. Eisfeller used colored photographs of a stained glass state seal, which had once hung in the ceiling of the House of Representatives, as inspiration for her beaded reproduction made with more than 87,000 colored beads. When completed, the beaded replica was presented to Governor Ronald Reagan on July 2, 1968, and in turn given to the Secretary of State for safe keeping in the State Archives.

Charles Forrest Curry (1858 – 1930)
Secretary of State 1899 – 1910

Born on March 14, 1858 in Naperville, Illinois, Charles Forrest Curry came to San Francisco with his parents in 1873. For some time he worked in the agriculture, mining, cattle, and lumber businesses. He served as a member of the State Assembly in 1887 and 1888, was admitted to the bar of San Francisco in 1888, and was then the Superintendent of the San Francisco Station B post office from 1890 to 1894. From 1894 to 1898, Curry served as clerk for the city and county of San Francisco.

Curry was elected to the Office of Secretary of State in 1898. He is seated in the center foreground of this 1899 photograph of the Secretary of State offices in California's state capitol building.

Elected Secretary of State for three consecutive terms, Curry served during the early 20th century, when the Progressive Movement was gaining strength in California and in the nation's capital. Exceedingly popular, Curry attempted to win the Republican nomination for Governor in 1910, but lost by a small margin to Hiram Johnson, the more Progressive Republican. Curry went on to serve nine successive terms as U.S Representative for California's 3rd District from 1913 until his death in 1930.

Frank Chester Jordan (1860 – 1940)
Secretary of State 1911 – 1940

Frank C. Jordan was born on April 3, 1860 in Shasta County. At the age of twenty-four he served as secretary to State Senator, Henry Blooman. He was elected County Clerk of Alameda in 1894 and 1898 and as Clerk of the California Supreme Court in 1902. He moved to Auburn, Placer County in 1906 and lived there until his death in 1940.

In 1910, Frank C. Jordan was nominated as a Republican candidate for the office of Secretary of State in California's first direct primary election. He was undefeated as the incumbent in seven successive elections with little opposition. Jordan's twenty-nine consecutive years in office gave him a longer record of service than any other Secretary of State in the nation up to that time. Jordan's long tenure as Secretary of State was highly praised for his impartiality and the consistent efficiency and openness with which he led his office, known as "the office of the open door."

Jordan is pictured here with his son and future Secretary of State, Frank M. Jordan, who wears his World War I uniform.

Frank C. Jordan passed away in 1940, having served as California's Secretary of State for almost 30 years. Out of respect for his memory, California Governor Culbert Olson urged all state agencies to close for the day of Jordan's funeral.

Frank Morrill Jordan (1888 – 1970)
Secretary of State 1943 – 1970

Born in Alameda, California in 1888, Frank M. Jordan was the son of former Secretary of State, Frank C. Jordan. He worked in the mining industry in Shasta County and Arizona, and for the Automobile Club of Southern California from 1911 to 1917. He served in World War I, and afterwards operated his own general insurance business.

Elected for the first time in 1942, Jordan was re-elected for six successive terms serving a total of twenty-seven years as Secretary of State. Like his father before him, he continued the "open-door policy" providing access to the public during business hours.

Adapting to the many changes occurring during his term, Jordan sponsored legislation to modernize the State Archives, as discussed in this exhibit's "California State Archives" section. In 1965, he was the first Secretary of State in the U.S. to use computers to process the work of the Uniform Commercial Code Division, and to tabulate election returns. Jordan also sponsored legislation to consolidate the separate Primary Presidential election with the regular Primary, thus saving California taxpayers millions of dollars every four years.

Edmund G. Brown Jr. (1938 –)
Secretary of State 1971 – 1975

Born in San Francisco on April 7, 1938, Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown attended the University of Santa Clara, the Sacred Heart Novitiate, and the University of California at Berkeley from which he graduated in 1961. He received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1964 and worked as a clerk at the California Supreme Court, and later for a private law firm in Los Angeles.

In this 1974 photograph, Jerry Brown is pictured with his father and former California Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown.

Brown was elected California Secretary of State in 1970. During his term, he sponsored legislation requiring the disclosure of campaign and lobbying activities, known as the Political Reform Act of 1974. He exposed President Nixon's use of falsely notarized documents to earn large tax deductions. He also argued before the state Supreme Court and won cases against Gulf, Mobile, and Standard Oil for election law violations.

This broadside, published by the California Citizens' "NO on Proposition 22" Committee in 1972, highlights controversy over that year's Farm Labor Initiative Proposition. The proposition set forth "permissible and prohibited labor relation activities of agricultural employers, employees, and labor organizations." Brown filed suit to have the proposition removed from the ballot. He claimed that massive fraud and misrepresentation were used to qualify the initiative for the ballot. The proposition was allowed to remain on the ballot for the General Election of November 7, 1972, but was defeated 4,612,642 votes to 3,348,176.

Running as the reform candidate in 1974, Brown won the first of his four terms as governor of California, was re-elected in 1978, and again in 2010 and 2014. Between his terms as governor, he served as the state's attorney general and as Mayor of Oakland.

Eu served as State Assembly member for the 15th District from 1966 to 1974, where she gained statewide recognition for her efforts on behalf of consumers and for education reform. Elected Secretary of State in 1974, Eu went on to win re-election four more times, serving almost twenty years in the office.

March Fong Eu (1922 – )
Secretary of State 1975 – 1994

The first woman and Asian American to be elected to the office of Secretary of State, March Fong Eu was born in Oakdale, California on March 22, 1922. Educated at the University of California at Berkeley, Eu received her Master's degree from Mills College and a Doctorate in Education from Stanford University.

As Secretary, Eu emphasized fraud-free elections, efficient election reporting, preservation of and access to the state's historical records, and international marketing of California products. Additionally, Eu broke ground for a new building and centralized location for the office of the Secretary of State.

In 1994, Eu resigned from office when President Bill Clinton appointed her as U.S. Ambassador to Micronesia.

Bill Jones (1949 –)
Secretary of State 1995 – 2003

William L. “Bill” Jones was born on December 20, 1949 in Coalinga, California and graduated from Fresno State University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agribusiness and Plant Science. Jones was elected to the State Assembly in 1982. He served for twelve years, introducing such bills as the three strikes law for repeat offenders.

In 1994, Jones was elected Secretary of State. He ultimately served for two consecutive terms from 1995 to 2003.

As Secretary of State, Bill Jones sought to achieve one hundred percent voter participation with zero tolerance for fraud, instituting numerous voter outreach progra