San Joaquin Valley History

Developed by Connie Fly, Librarian
August, 2002

Websites - General | Websites - Water & Agricultural Issues | Subject Headings, Keyword & Phrases to use to locate books & magazine articles | A sampling book located in the COS Library about the "San Joaquin Valley",  Visalia, Tulare & Fresno | Local Museums & Libraries | Searching for Magazine Articles

A sampling of websites about some aspect of the San Joaquin Valley

• The Great Valley Center - This organization's mission is to support the economic, social and environmental well-being of California's Great Central Valley.
• The State of the Great Central Valley of California [.pdf] - Several documents on five indicators that track and measure the changing economic, demographic, social, and political conditions of the 19-county Central Valley
• Azoreans to California - A History of Migration and Settlement
• California Historical Museums
• Ceres:  Historical and Cultural Resources Tulare County
• Challenge Dairy History
• Citrus and Avocado Program
• Citrus Research Board
• CSUFresno Madden Library Special Collections- San Joaquin Valley and California
• Fruits and Nuts - Research and Information
• Kern Junction Railway Webpage
• Migrant Labor Camp Photographs from the Harry Everett Drobish Papers, 1935-1936 - - Migrant Labor Camp Photographs from the Harry Everett Drobish Papers, 1935-1936 "This collection of 63 photographic prints of  migrant labor camps in California.  Included are photographs of groups and buildings at the Arvin Migratory Labor Camp and other camps in Kern County, California.
• National Register of Historic Places:  Tulare County
• Rescuing the San Joaquin River:  A Fresno Bee Special Report
• San Joaquin Valley: Selected Statistics on Population, Economy and Environment - This report is a statistical overview of the eight counties of the San Joaquin Valley, based on data published by sate and federal agencies. The report shows that the San Joaquin Valley is a region of rich and diverse agriculture and of a varied economy with a growing population in every county. The San Joaquin Valley counties, although diverse in many ways, tend to fall below state averages on measures of education, income, and health/medical care. The report includes many charts and tables summarizing selected data. It also cites published sources of current and historic data about California and the characteristics of its counties and their populations.
• San Joaquin Valley & Sierra Foothills Photo Heritage - This growing collection of thousands of historic photographs from the nine libraries of the San Joaquin Valley Library System (SJVLS) in California is browse able by subject or participating library, or searchable by keyword. Some images are annotated with information such as photographer, date, and description. Site includes contact information for questions about particular images.
• Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
• San Joaquin Valley:  Selected Statistics on Population, Economy, and Environment - This report is a statistical overview of the eight counties of the San Joaquin Valley, based on data published by sate and federal agencies. The report shows that the San Joaquin Valley is a region of rich and diverse agriculture.  The report includes many charts and tables summarizing selected data. It also cites published sources of current and historic data about California and the characteristics of its counties and their populations.
• A Statistical Tour of California's Great Central Valley, 1997
• Tachi Yokut Tribe
• Tulare County Index to Federal Land Records
• Virtual San Joaquin Valley
• Weedpatch Camp - Published in 1939, John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath drew attention to the hardships faced by the "Okies": poor farmers who moved from the Dust Bowl area to California in search of work.  While writing the book, John Steinbeck visited Bakersfield, California and based his book on Arvin Federal Government Camp which he portrayed as "Weedpatch Camp."

Water and Agriculture Issues

        Books (Examples) 

• Central Valley Basin:  A comprehensive Report on the Development of the Water and Related Resources of the Central Valley Basin for Irrigation, Power Production and other Beneficial Uses in California, 1949... - Call # O 631.7 Un83
• Salt Dreams:  land and water in low-down California - Call # 333.9164 D289
• Water and the Shaping of California - Call # 331.91 M128

        Web Sites (Examples)

• Association of California Water Agencies/Water Facts
• California Agriculture - This is a journal that is in print in the Periodicals room and is also online. It allows you to search past articles and bring them up full text.
• California Department of Water Resources 
• California Rivers Assessment - Search for watershed information by County, Basin,  Assembly or Congressional District.  Includes number of dams, river miles, number of special status animal and plant species and much more.
• Irrigation Districts - Lower Tule River,  Fresno, Kings,
• U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Quality Assessment Program National assessment of pesticides in the streams, rivers, and ground water of the United States: Pesticide National Synthesis Project. To search for information locally type in such key words indicating the region such as:  "San Joaquin Valley", Tulare, Fresno or the name of the river or canal such as Friant, Kern, etc
• Water Fact Book: California Agriculture and Its Use of Water - (.PDF Format) A 68-page comprehensive guide to agriculture's use of water including information on irrigation technology, irrigation efficiency, water projects, agriculture and the economy and agriculture and the environment.
• Water Education Foundation - California issues.
• Water Quality Information Center - Electronic access to information about water and agriculture
• Water Resources Center Archives UC Berkeley Archives - Use their search engine and search for "San Joaquin Valley," or Tulare or Fresno, etc.

Some Suggested Subject Headings, Key WORDS and Phrases to use to locate books and Magazine articles are:  

Agriculture, Farming, Water

Agriculture --Economic aspects --California;  Agricultural laborers --California; Chavez, Cesar; Cortez (Calif.) --Social life and customs; Farm life --California --Del Rey; Fruit-culture --California --History --20th century; Fruit industry --California; Nuts --California --History --20th century; Labor camps --California;  Trade-unions --Agricultural laborers --California --History Water, Mexican American migrant agricultural laborers --History; Underground --California --San Joaquin River basin; United Farm Workers of America; Agricultural ecology --California --San Joaquin River basin --Handbooks, manuals, etc; Water resources development --California --History; Water-supply --California --Management --History

Great Depression/Dust Bowl

Depressions--1929--California; Fruit trade --West (U.S.) --Employees.;  Labor camps --California.; Migrant agricultural laborers --California --Social conditions; Migrant agricultural laborers --West (U.S.); Migration, Internal --United States --History --20th century.

Ethnic Groups

Armenians --California --Fresno --History; Azoreans; California--Emigration and immigration; California--Ethnic relations; Chinese Americans --California; Indians of California; Japanese Americans --Civil rights; Japanese Americans --Education --History --20th century; Japanese Americans --Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945; Portuguese Americans --History; World War, 1939-1945;  --Japanese Americans; Mexican Americans --California; Chavez, Cesar; Indians of North America--California--History; Mexican American migrant agricultural laborers --History; Miwok Indians;  Yokut Indians

Geographic Areas

Subject Headings: Tulare County, Fresno County, Kings County, Kern County, Visalia, Tulare, Fresno, Bakersfield, Hanford, etc.
Phrases/Keywords:  "San Joaquin Valley," "Central Valley", "Great Valley"

Social Issues

Abused Women-alcohol use; Abusive men-alcohol use; Battered Women; Battered Women's Shelters; Domestic Violence; Family Violence;  Drinking of Alcoholic Beverages; Spouse/Spousal Abuse; Wife Abuse; Women, Battered; Post-traumatic stress

Books in the College of the Sequoias Library

This is just a sample listing of books you will find in the COS Library

Keyword Search "San Joaquin Valley"

Keyword Search - Visalia

Keyword Search - Tulare

Keyword Search - Fresno

Local Museums and Libraries

Annie Mitchell History Room:  The Visalia Public Library has a room that is dedicated to the history of our surrounding area. The hours are not the same as the rest of the library so be sure to call and find out when it is open. A wealth of information can be found here.

Tulare Historical Museum: 444 W. Tulare Ave., Tulare  Phone number:  686-2074

Hanford Carnegie Museum:  109 E 8th,  Hanford    Phone number: 584-1367

Porterville Museum:  257 North D,  Porterville   Phone number: 784-2053

for more museums check in the yellow pages of the phone directory under museums.

Searching for magazine articles

The COS Library subscribes to a number of online periodical databases that can be accessed at: http://www.cos.edu/library/electronic.htm.  To use these databases off-campus you will need  logins and passwords for each database.  This information  will be listed on the College of the Sequoias Electronic Resources Handout you received in class.

Databases that will be especially useful for this assignment are:  The Fresno Bee, Los Angeles Times, InfoTrac and Academic Abstracts

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This page was created:   August 20, 2002.   This page was last updated: November 13, 2006
For questions and comments, please mail to: connief@cos.edu