Cambria Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 2018-M-1-Bentz

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Cambria Collection is arranged at the Series Level. The collection primarily consists of paper documents, including: research papers and notes, letters and emails of correspondence, census data, newspaper articles, deed and tax information pertaining to the Red House, and oral history transcripts. Also included are photographs and maps in both color and black and white of the Red House and the city of Cambria.

Dates

1870-2001

Creator

Language of Materials

English .

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to researchers and to the public for access. Please contact the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California for more information.

Biographical / Historical

The Cambria Collection was donated by Linda Bentz. Bentz completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California Los Angeles, and went on to obtain her Masters in Anthropology at San Diego State University. In addition to her research on the Chinese population of Cambria, Bentz's research interests include Chinese fishermen and Chinese American women. Her essays have been published in various books, newsletters, and journals, and she recently co-authored the book Hidden Lives: A Century of Chinese American History in Ventura County with William Gow, which explores the Chinese communities of Ventura County. Bentz is the Archives Chair at the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.1

1. "Board of Directors and Staff - CHSSC," Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, n.d., https://chssc.org/board-of-directors-and-staff/.

Extent

0.58 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Abstract

The Cambria Collection is a research project conducted by Roberta S. Greenwood, Dana N. Slawson, and Linda Bentz on the Chinese population in Cambria, San Luis Obispo County, California. Most of the research focuses on the Chinese Center, namely the Red House, where the Chinese residents of Cambria would gather for social events. An adjoined room to the Red House is also believed to have functioned as a Chinese temple. The collection is arranged at the Box-Level and Folder-Level. Materials include oral history transcripts, correspondences, photographs and maps, newspaper articles, census data, research papers and deed and tax information pertaining to the Chinese population of Cambria and the Red House, circa 1870-2001. The Cambria Collection is significant to the CHSSC not only because it was conducted by the Society's Archives Chair Linda Bentz, but also because it provides information pertaining to a Chinese American population within California. The collection offers historical, archeological, and cultural insight to the Chinese American community of Cambria and their ways of life, interactions, economies, and religious practices. Additionally, as the last surviving physical evidence of the Chinese Center in Cambria, the preservation of information about the Red House is of great importance.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged at the Series-Level. It is separated into eleven (11) series: Research Papers; Book Chapters; Photographs; Maps; Notes; Correspondence; Oral Histories; Newspapers; Reports; Deeds, Tax and Tenant Information; and Primary Sources.

SERIES I: Research Papers, 1966-1999, undated

Box 1: 1992, undated Folder 2: undated Folder 3: 1992, undated Folder 5: undated

Box 2: 1966, 1999

Folder 2: 1966, 1999

SERIES II: Book Chapters, 1986, undated

Box 1: 1986, undated

Folder 3: 1986, undated

SERIES III: Photographs, 1895-2001, undated

Box 1: undated

Folder 6: undated

Box 2: 2001, undated

Folder 1: 2001, undated Big pictures (no box): 1895, 1906, undated

SERIES IV: Maps, 1874–1959, undated Box 1: 1874-1959, undated Folder 1: undated Folder 6: 1874-1959

SERIES V: Notes, 2001, undated

Box 1: 2001, undated

Folder 5: 2001, undated,

Box 2: 2001, undated

Folder 3: 2001, undated

SERIES VI: Correspondence, 1990-2001 Box 1: 1990-2001 Folder 4: 1990-2001 Folder 1: 2000

SERIES VII: Oral Histories, 2000-2001 Box 1: 2000-2001 Folder 1: 2000-2001

SERIES VIII: Newspapers, 1899-1994, undated Box 1: 1899-1994, undated Folder 3: 1899-1994, undated

SERIES IX: Reports, 1993-2001, undated Box 2: 1993-2001, undated Folder 2: 1993-2001, undated Folder 3: undated

SERIES X: Deeds, Tax, and Tenant Information, 1870-2001

Box 2: 1870-2001

Folder 2: 2000

Folder 3: 1870-2001

SERIES XI: Primary sources, 1870-1992, undated

Box 1: 1870-1992, undated

Folder 3: 1968, 1992

Folder 5: 1870-1910

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Received as a donation from Linda Bentz on January 9, 2018.

Processing Information

Following the completion of the research project conducted by Roberta S. Greenwood, Dana N. Slawson, and Linda Bentz on the Red House of Cambria, California, Linda Bentz donated their reports, research, correspondences, and other resources used to the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California. The Cambria Collection was processed by archivist interns Taylor Burnett and Daisy Cabot as a part of CHSSC's ongoing mission to preserve resources on Chinese Americans and to make them accessible to the public. The boxes and folders retained their original labels. The original folders were already labeled via the creator, and the names given to the folders were included and listed as files within the series. Burnett and Cabot numbered each folder for the purpose of maintaining original order and locating files. Additional oversized photographs were placed into a clear sleeve for preservation. Although Oral Histories is its own series, the Oral Histories folder appears in several series in order to follow the consistency of the collection. The Oral Histories folder is listed under the Maps series because three copies of floor plans are located in the Oral Histories folder. Similarly, The Oral Histories folder is listed under the Correspondence series because the third of three pages of a letter from Wayne Attoe is in Oral Histories, while the first two pages can be found in the Correspondence folder. These pages remain in the Oral Histories folder to maintain the integrity of the collection and how it was donated.