Volunteer Activities

This series includes papers created while Whitehead was on the board of the Trust, as well as his activities as President and Vice-President during 1972-73. It covers such activities as working with the Presidio Volunteers, raising money for land acquisition, establishing a research center and library of material about the presidio, with the foundation being his personal library. The correspondence concerns the Trust activities that took place in 1972 and 1973, such as the acquisition of El Paseo and Casa de la Guerra, and the purchase of the chapel site by the state. Also included are Whitehead’s resignation from the board (twice) and some of his opinions on the management of El Paseo in the early 1980s. Oral history interviews called “Conversations with Dick Whitehead” were conducted in 1986 by Linda Moore at Whitehead’s home and at the Presidio. In the interviews, they discussed most of the historical research materials that Whitehead was intended to give the Research Center and other materials that were already there. This valuable resource is helpful in understanding the intent of Whitehead’s research, how he acquired many of the historic documents in the collection, his gifts to the Trust, and his hopes for the continuation of his research projects. Subseries 2 documents some of Whitehead’s activities while he was on the board of the SBMAL including the publication of the Voyage of the Frigate Princesa to Southern California in 1782. Subseries 3 includes resource files from a Santa Barbara County survey headed by Whitehead in 1974 to determine historic sites, part of a state parks resource inventory.