Structure Type: built works - public buildings - schools - university buildings; built works - social and civic buildings - libraries

Designers: Brown, Arthur, Jr., and Associates, Architect (firm); Arthur Brown Jr. (architect)

Dates: constructed 1948-1949

Berkeley, CA

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San Francisco architect Arthur Brown, Jr., (1874-1957) designed the Bancroft Library, the University of California's Special Collections repository. It was named for OH-born Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832-1918), a renowned 19th-century historian of CA and collector of Western Americana, books and documents. According to the Bancroft's web site: "First housed in the attic of California Hall, and then in the Doe Library, The Bancroft Library moved into its present quarters in 1973. At the same time, the original scope of the library was enlarged to include a number of other "special collections," including the former Rare Books Collection. The Bancroft Library now includes the Mark Twain Papers and Project, the Regional Oral History Office, the University of California Archives, the History of Science and Technology Program, the Pictorial Collection, and the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life. It has become one of the largest -- and busiest -- special collections in the United States." (See "Brief History,"Accessed 05/28/2014.)

This was the third home of the Bancroft Library on the UCB Campus. California Hall served as the first location, Doe Library the second.

PCAD id: 6787