University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

MEDIA RELEASE

CSUN Archivist Robert Marshall Receives Honor
for Helping to Preserve Los Angeles’ Heritage

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Dec. 14, 2007) — Cal State Northridge’s head archivist in the university’s Urban Archives Center and University Archives, Robert Marshall, has been awarded the David G. Cameron Preservation Award by the Los Angeles City Historical Society for his "significant contributions to the preservation of our city’s heritage."

Marshall, who has worked at the university for nearly 23 years, received the honor at the historical society’s annual gala dinner on Dec. 12.

Marshall was honored to receive the award. He said it reflected Cal State Northridge’s increasing prominence in preserving Southern California history.

"We’re not talking about preserving the history of just the famous figures of Los Angeles’ past, but the history of the people who make up its communities. That’s been our goal, and we are succeeding," said Marshall, pointing to the creation of CSUN’s San Fernando Valley History Digital Library as well as the recent completion of a five-year federal grant to collect and archive memorabilia that chronicles Southern California’s Latino and Chicano history as only two examples of the University Library’s efforts to preserve Los Angeles history.

Susan Curzon, dean of the University Library, said Marshall’s award was well-deserved.

"We’re very proud that our head archivist, Robert Marshall, is receiving this prestigious award from the Los Angeles City Historical Society," she said. "It is recognition of his lifetime commitment to the importance of preserving the history of cities, organizations and associations. Without archivists like Robert Marshall, so many compelling stories of growth, development, achievement, struggles and change would be lost."

In addition to his work at the university’s archives, Marshall until this past August chaired for 10 years the LA as Subject Archives Forum, which brings together those repositories, large and small, of Los Angeles history—museums, libraries, archives and private collections—to preserve the documentary heritage of Los Angeles. The organization has sponsored preservation workshops as well as an archival bazaar.

Marshall was recently asked by Los Angeles City Clerk Frank Martinez to be part of a citywide committee, the Historical Records Preservation Committee, to ensure historical records created by city government are kept safe for future scholars and other researchers.

"It’s quite a compliment," Marshall said. "Our campus is now being recognized as having an important role in the preservation of Los Angeles’ history."

The David G. Cameron Preservation Award, named for the preservationist and attorney who helped found the Los Angeles Conservancy and was instrumental in preserving the Los Angeles Central Library, is bestowed annually by the Los Angeles City Historical Society on an individual or organization that has made a lasting contribution to the preservation of Los Angeles’ physical heritage.

Past recipients include John Wellborne, one of the founders of the Los Angeles Conservancy and restorer of Angel’s Flight; KCET host Huell Howser; the Los Angeles Conservancy; Jean Bruce Poole, retired manager of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument; developer and preservationist Tom Gilmore; Project Restore, a non-profit government organization in charge of the restoration of the Los Angeles City Hall; archaeologist Roberta Greenwood, who has done extensive work excavating what lies beneath the surface of the old pueblo of Los Angeles; Ken Bernstein, an advocate with the Los Angeles Conservancy for architectural preservation; the Los Angeles Public Library; and AC Martin Partners, a leading Los Angeles architectural firm for more than 100 years.

The university’s archives, located on the second floor of the west wing of the Oviatt Library, are divided into three distinct units: a special collections department, which contains many rare and out-of-print books; university archives, which document Cal State Northridge’s history; and the urban archives, which document Southern California history with materials from voluntary associations and community leaders who have had an impact on the development of the state.

Together, they make up one of the largest and most used archive centers in Southern California, and bring together research collections from around the world on a variety of subjects—from education, city growth and development, labor movements, and journalism to minority, ethnic and women’s studies.

It is the Urban Archives Center that drew the attention of the historical society. The center is rich in materials that chronicle Los Angeles’ development over the years—from educational movements, including efforts to stop the busing of African American students to mostly white neighborhoods in the 1970s, to cultural and demographic changes such as Latino and Chicano history as well as the history of the San Fernando Valley and the rest of California. The archives also are home to the largest collection on the labor movement on the West Coast.

"The role of the Urban Archives Center at California State University, Northridge in the preservation of the city’s history and the historical scholarship, which has been done in the archives, makes our campus a recognized leader in the field," Marshall said.