Bess (David E.) Collection of California Songs, 1850-2020

Summary

Creators:

Bess, David E.

Abstract:

The David E. Bess Collection of California Songs contains materials related to Dr. Bess's "California City Song" Project, including sheet music for songs about California, a small amount of sheet music for songs about other places, research materials, sheet music cover artwork, and presentations on the project.

Extent:

2.42 linear feet and 578 Megabytes

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materialsguide.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains materials related to Dr. David E. Bess's "California City Song" Project including sheet music for songs about California, a small amount of sheet music for songs about other places, research materials, sheet music cover artwork, and presentations on the project.

The collection is mostly facsimiles of sheet music, but there is also a small number of originals included. Some originals are autographed. The songs are about California cities, California counties, California geographical landmarks, and the State of California. There are also songs that refer to a California city in their title, but are not necessarily about that city.

Bess provided an index listing all songs, including those he researched but was not able to obtain a copy of. The collection also includes Dr. Bess's introduction and summary to the project, his research and planning, as well as his presentations including a paper he presented on the subject at the Eighth Annual Conference on Planning History in Washington D.C. Bess collected most of these songs during the period from 1985 to 2000. The collection is organized alphabetically.

Biographical / historical:

David E. Bess is Professor Emeritus at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He taught in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning for over thirty years beginning in 1967 and served as Chair of the Department. Dr. Bess is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP). Dr. Bess is an alumnus of Stanford University and holds a Master of City Planning degree from University of California, Berkeley where he was a Richard King Mellon scholar. He also earned a Ph.D. in Government at the Claremont Graduate School.

Processing information:

Carri Frola, 2025.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Documents

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materialsguide.

Location of this collection:

California State University, Northridge, Urban Archives

18111 Nordhoff Street

Northridge, CA 91330, US

Contact:

(818) 677-4594

Website