Ian McMillan Papers, MS 111

Pages: Collection Summary | Biographical Note | Scope and Content

Scope and Content Note

Image © Ian McMillan Papers, Cal Poly.

This collection contains the extant professional papers of naturalist, environmental activist, and author Ian McMillan of eastern San Luis Obispo County, California.

When originally appraised in September 1992, the McMillan materials consisted of an estimated 81 linear feet, including visual media. During processing, efforts were made to return personal items to the family and to eliminate duplicates, damaged materials, and items not directly related to McMillan and environmental activism, which reduced the collection size to 32.1 linear feet.

Family members gathered the papers in 1994 for the Cuesta College Environmental Archives from the storage places on the McMillan family ranch, where some of the records had sustained weather and rodent damage. Visual materials, including photographic prints, slides and negatives were not donated with the original gift and remain at the McMillan ranch.

The provenance, or original organization, of the papers has been preserved for the most part. However, in the years after 1970, the growing volume of material and McMillan's overlapping involvement with different groups lobbying on similar issues created numerous small files. In order to simplify access to the collection for researchers, most materials were refoldered and adhere to McMillan's original subject categories, while some were shifted and renamed to more accurately reflect the contents.

The collection is divided into four series:

The Ian McMillan Papers are housed in 26 Paige boxes, with Series 1 Personal and Professional Papers, and Series 2 Watchdog Efforts containing the most extensive and unique portions of the collection, each filling 10 boxes.

Series 1. Subseries D. contains manuscripts, correspondence, field studies, photographs, and research material relating to McMillan's book, Man and the California Condor, located in. Also included are decades of McMillan's field notes and survey data on condors, long-term correspondence on condors with naturalists Aldo and Starker Leopold, soil scientist William A. Albrecht, author and activist W.H. Ferry, and New York Times theater critic Brooks Atkinson.

Series 2. Watchdog Efforts contain records documenting McMillan's efforts to research, educate, and effect legislative change on specific issues, such as nuclear power, sustainable agriculture, Compound 1080 poison, endangered species, and wildlife management. This series consists of correspondence, legal documents and reports, research data, press releases, photographs, slides, and maps. Subseries C, D, and E of this series contain materials from McMillan's tenure with the California Parks and Recreation Commission and are comprised of correspondence, subject files, and administrative documents such as bylaws, minutes, and agendas.

Also included in Series 2 are McMillan's testimony before various local, state, and national political bodies, including the United States Congress on the threats to the Golden Eagle, as well as correspondence with numerous public officials, including California Governors Earl Warren and Ronald Reagan.

Pages: Collection Summary | Biographical Note | Scope and Content