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THE SACRAMENTO HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY RECORDS: DEVELOPMENT IN DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO, 1960s TO 1990s A Project Presented to the faculty of the Department of History California State University, Sacramento Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History (Public History) by Jason Partida FALL 2018 © 2018 Jason Partida ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii THE SACRAMENTO HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY RECORDS: DEVELOPMENT IN DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO, 1960s TO 1990s A Project by Jason Partida Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Lee Simpson, Ph.D. __________________________________, Second Reader Dylan McDonald ____________________________ Date iii Student: Jason Partida I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the project. __________________________, Graduate Coordinator ___________________ Anne Lindsay, Ph.D. Date Department of Public History iv Abstract of THE SACRAMENTO HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY RECORDS: DEVELOPMENT IN DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO, 1960s TO 1990s by Jason Partida The practice of urban renewal in Sacramento has a long history, with the first signs of urban redevelopment taking place after natural disasters afflicted the city. Like the rest of the nation, urban renewal took center stage as a response to the spread of blight in cities. This thesis project explores the work of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, particularly in the second half of the twentieth-century. The work undertaken by the agency, reflects the city’s demand in preserving and redeveloping their West End and the downtown district. The resulting project produced a container list for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency Records Collections housed at the Center for Sacramento History; the information gathered from the collection and research presents the agency’s application of urban renewal practices. _______________________, Committee Chair Lee Simpson, Ph.D. _______________________ Date v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my readers, Dr. Simpson and Dylan McDonald for having the patience in dealing with me and helping me produce a readable thesis project. I feel indebted to John Allen, for allowing me to pick his brain and borrow his books. Special thanks go to my mother, Gloria Partida and sister, Jeannette Natalie Partida, the only two constants in my life. Finally, a special consideration for my cars, for continually making the journey back and forth between Merced and Sacramento. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... vi Chapter INTRODUCTION …..……………………………………………………………………….. 1 1. URBAN RENEWAL WITHIN SACRAMENTO .............................................................. 9 Initial Development of a City………………………………………………………... 10 A City Against the Natural Elements …………………………………………..…… 11 Urban Development in the West ……………………………………………………. 13 Sacramento Expands ………………………………………………………………... 14 Downtown ………………...………………………………………………………… 15 The West End ……………………………………………………………………….. 17 Leaving Downtown …………………………………………………………………. 19 Depression Era Downtown ………………………………………………………….. 21 City Response ……………………………………………………………………….. 26 Role of Housing Agencies ..…………………………………………………………. 27 Old Sacramento ……………………………………………………………………… 31 I-5 in Sacramento ……………………………………………………………………. 35 The Creation of SHRA ……………………………………………………….……… 39 SHRA in Action ………………………………………………………………...…… 41 2. PROCESSING THE COLLECTION…………………………………………………….. 46 MPLP …………………………………………………………………………………50 CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………………………. 56 vii Appendix CONTAINER LIST ......................................................................................... 59 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 255 viii 1 INTRODUCTION On June 27, 2017 thirteen-year-old Summer Santich approached the podium during a Sacramento City Council meeting. That Tuesday night, Summer proposed her idea for an Old Sacramento waterfront monument. City leaders were looking for a new way to attract tourists and accumulate revenue for Old Sacramento, Sacramento’s historic district established to preserve the history of the city. To address the problem, the city believed it necessary to build a monument that would reinvigorate interest in the historic district. Summer’s idea inspired by the “World of Color” show at Disney California Adventure Park, replicates this water show but introduces a Sacramento historical narrative. Whether this idea takes fruition remains to be seen. While it is uncertain what monument or attraction will occupy Old Sacramento next, the mission to revitalize the area is not a new endeavor taken by the city or its agencies. One such agency engaged in the city’s downtown district is the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA). SHRA works to ensure affordable housing and community revitalization by providing residents with safer neighborhoods. While the agency continues its agenda, records of previous projects remain.1 Documented in a series of project files, the SHRA maintained record files of their redevelopment work in the city. Specifically, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency Records acquired by the Center for Sacramento History (Center) in 1997 includes: correspondence and memorandums from SHRA to various Old 1 Ryan Lillies. “Old Sac Monument? A 13-year-old girl has a Disney-inspired idea – and the city loves it,” Sacramento Bee, June 28, 2017, accessed December 8, 2017, http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/city-beat/article158571864.html. 2 Sacramento redevelopers and property owners; parcel rehabilitation surveys; financial and lease agreements; various reports and studies regarding Old Sacramento redevelopment; parcel maps; and architectural drawings of buildings. Additional types of documentation present within this collection consists of files regarding the redevelopment of properties known as the Docks area, 111 Capitol Mall, the California State Railroad Museum, the Central Pacific Railroad, and other properties in the greater Sacramento area. The remainder of the collection consists of numerous SHRA coded redevelopment files. These files, in a large part, are associated with a wide array of redevelopment projects both within and outside the city of Sacramento. The extent of the collection encompasses approximately 320 boxes with records ranging circa 1950 – 2000 as dates of creation, with predating reports on the West End and Capitol Mall projects. The Center houses the collection at their McClellan Park offsite facility given the size needed for storage. Because of its size, the collection remains unprocessed with very little information as to what items are in the collection. This project will rectify the problem by providing a container and folder list that encompasses the contents of every box in the collection. Operating under the archival practice of “More Product Less Process” (MPLP), the project seeks to provide accessibility to the collection through a faster process with minimal archival preservation steps applied to the items. As the name suggests, MPLP refers to the theory that archivists need to adapt their approach in processing a collection in a flexible, simpler manner, to reduce the processing time. These efforts attempt to 3 remedy the continual backlog of collections plaguing archival institutions.2 Because the archival staff received no documentation pertaining to the collection during the accessioning process, the staff decided that in the interest of best archival practices, the records would be kept as received. Given the arrangement of the collection, followed by a filing system implemented by the agency, adequate description of the collection already existed within its files. Through this, combined with a container list, researchers will have an updated list to guide them in searching applicable information, while the archivists staffing the reference desk will have a more clear idea of how the collection provides information for a research request. Considering the scope of the collection and the relevance of the general areas it covers, the collection could see incremental use for any researcher pursuing knowledge about Sacramento’s downtown area, socioeconomic conditions in the heart of the city, and the urban renewal projects that took place in the latter half of the twentieth century. Capturing the city of Sacramento and its transition over time, this thesis examines the urban development of the city and the work of agencies like SHRA and those that preceded it. Starting with the arrival of pioneers after the discovery of gold in nearby Coloma in 1848, the city found permanence as a hub for all those testing their luck in search of riches. Although some did find wealth in the mines, it was those who provided services such as lodging, laundry, cooking, banking, and general goods that found their efforts rewarded in gold. It was here Sacramento became a city capable of expanding 2 Mark A. Green and Dennis Meissner, “More Product Less Process: Revamping Traditional Archival Processing,” The American Archivist,