The University of California, Santa Barbara is currently home to five colleges, offers more than 200 majors, degrees and credentials, and in 2012 had an enrollment of over 21,000 students with a faculty size of almost 1,000. Below is a timeline describing some major changes of our campus.
1889-1909 – The Anna S. C. Blake Manual Training School, located in Santa Barbara city (1898-1913), taught home economics skills like sewing and cooking. Sloyd, a Scandinavian system of handicraft education, was also offered at the training school.
1909-1919 – The training school changed its name to the Santa Barbara State Normal School of the Manual Arts and Home Economics. In 1913, it moved to the Riviera Campus (1913-1954) to house the growing number of students and the focused on teacher education and home economics.
1919-1920 – Shortened to the Santa Barbara State Normal School, the school continued to train teachers for all teaching positions in the elementary schools.
1921-1934 – Changed to the Santa Barbara State Teachers College, it began to expand its curriculum to become a more liberal arts college and became authorized to grant four-year degrees.
1935-1944 – The College changed its name once again and became known as the Santa Barbara State College, offering broader curricula in both teaching and the liberal arts.
1944-1958 – Became known as the Santa Barbara College of the University of California, where courses were taught at the Mesa Campus (1940s-1954) then moved to the Goleta Campus (1954-present). It was officially a campus of the University of California system and the title of the chief executive was changed to provost.
1958- Present – The University of California, Santa Barbara. UC Regents established Santa Barbara as a general University campus. The chief campus officer title changed from provost to “chancellor.”
Collections Relating to Predecessor Institutions
- University of California, Santa Barbara, Office of Facilities Management Records, 1874-1998 [bulk dates 1960-1980]. The records contain correspondence, maps, surveys, easements, deeds, lease agreements, photographs, meeting minutes and construction and planning documents pertaining to the facilities development of the University of California, Santa Barbara, focusing on its current Goleta location. Many of the documents pertain to the establishment of roads (in particular, Storke, Los Carneros and El Colegio), sewage lines and other utilities. Another portion of the documents pertain to land acquisitions which resulted in the establishment and maintenance of the Goleta campus, the Devereux Center, and the Isla Vista Sanitary District. (UArch 27).
- University of California, Santa Barbara, Office of the Chancellor, Chancellors' Records, ca. 1904-2003 [bulk dates 1962-1977]. Collection includes administrative records of the presidents, provosts, and chancellors of UCSB and its predecessor institutions, going as far back as Clarence Phelps, president of the Santa Barbara State Normal School. (UArch 17).
- University of California, Santa Barbara History and Antecedents Collection, 1880-2004. This collection brings together materials from multiple sources on the growth of the university from a small normal school at the turn of the 19th century to the large state university it is today. The collection is arranged generally chronologically and by subjects such as predecessor institutions, important figures in UCSB history, previous campuses, events, etc. (UArch 100).
- University of California, Santa Barbara, Office of Architects and Engineers Collection, ca. 1949-1986. Collection contains plans, reports, and committee minutes relating to the design and construction of Goleta campus buildings and facilities. (UArch 63).
- University of California, Santa Barbara, Division of Student Affairs Collection, 1926-1980. Collection contains a large amount of earlier materials from the UC Santa Barbara College period, such as student handbooks, rosters, orientation and welcome publications, and other related materials. (UArch 107).
- University Archives Photographs Collection, ca. 1891-1995. Collection is comprised of photographs culled from other collections in the University Archives. The dates of the photographs range from the 1890s to the present, with the majority being black and white photos from the 1920s and 1950s. Features photographs of predecessor institutions and the Riviera and Mesa campuses. (UArch 112).
- Community Development and Conservation Collection, ca. 1892-1995. Also known as the Pearl Chase Collection, focusing on Santa Barbara history in the 20th century. Includes files on UCSB and its predecessor institutions. Pearl Chase was one of the community members who pushed for the Santa Barbara College's inclusion in the University of California system. (SBHC Mss 1).
- Alfred W. Robertson Papers, ca. 1906-1979 [bulk dates 1934-1959]. Biographical files, correspondence, documents, clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, and sound recordings of a leading California State Assembly member from Santa Barbara, responsible for introducing and leading support of a bill to authorize transfer of Santa Barbara State College to the University of California system. (Mss 106).
