Note: The Charles de Young Elkus Papers cataloging project at the California Academy of Sciences, has been completed since this article was written. Those interested in the results should visit The Elkus Indian Papers website. This article was written in 1987, and was accurate at the time of writing. It should in no way be taken to reflect present conditions at the Academy or its Library.

     The research libraries at the Academy are among its most underused resources. This is unfortunate in view of the interesting and varied mass of materials kept in them. In the main library, where I work, is a large body of unpublished and archival materials know[n] as the Special Collections. I help catalog one small portion of Special Collections, the Charles de Young Elkus Papers.
     Charles Elkus and his wife Ruth are best known for their Indian art collection, amassed between 1922 and 1967. This came to the Academy in 1972, and a portion can be seen on display in the Wattis Gallery. The Elkus Papers were brought here later, about 1980, through the efforts of their son, Ben Elkus. Accumulated over the same period as the collection, the papers provide valuable information on the modern development of Indian arts and crafts, the manner in which the Elkus Collection was accumulated, and the history of Indian administration and reform, particularly during the crucial decades of the 1930s and 1950s.
     Ben began the cataloging project as preparation for writing a book and to make the papers more accessible to researchers. He has had several volunteers assisting him over the years. Ben evolved our cataloging standards, procedures and subject categories through trial, error and much questioning of the library personnel. The goal is to catalog every document by author, cross-referencing subjects, people, organizations and legislation mentioned. It is a tremendous undertaking. There are about twenty boxes of papers, perhaps a third of which have been cataloged to date, and our early work requires continual revision as we refine our procedures. My own particular contribution, a comprehensive inventory of the papers, is nearly complete.
     The work requires dedication but is rewarding. The greatest reward is simply reading the documents. These show how whites and Indians alike lived and thought in a now bygone era, and how they struggled with the problems arising from the clash of their very different cultures. The Elkuses were intimately involved with the politics of the time. The papers include correspondence with such important figures as John Collier, reforming Indian Commissioner of the 1930s, and Harold L. Ickes, Franklin Roosevelt's Interior Secretary and "hatchet man." There are also newspaper clippings, ma[g]azine articles, government publications, legislative bills and acts, and home movies and diaries from Elkus' trips to the Southwest. A whole picture of the times emerges that doesn't appear in the history books.
     Additional applicants for the project are always welcome. Other materials in Special Collections also promise a fertile field for interested volunteers.

—Brian Kunde / Special Collections Volunteer