Holliday, J.S. 1924-2006 (Jaquelin Smith Holliday, II, Jim Holliday)

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Holliday, J.S. 1924-2006 (Jaquelin Smith Holliday, II, Jim Holliday)

PERSONAL:

Born June 10, 1924, in Indianapolis, IN; died of pulmonary fibrosis, August, 31, 2006, in Carmel, CA; married Nancy Adams (divorced); married Belinda Vidor Jones, 1983; children: Timothy Holliday, Martha Brett Holliday, W.J. Holliday. Education: Yale University, B.A., 1948; University of California at Berkeley, Ph.D., 1958.

CAREER:

Writer, historian. San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, history teacher; Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley, assistant director; Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, founding director, 1967-69; California Historical Society, executive director. Military service: Attended midshipman school at Northwestern University during World War II; U.S. Navy, officer on an escort aircraft carrier.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, fellowship; Silver Medal, the Commonwealth Club of California; Oscar Lewis Award for Achievement in Western History, the Book Club of California.

WRITINGS:

The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1981.

Rush for Riches: Gold Fever and the Making of California, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1999.

(With Robert H. Hirst and James J. Rawls) From the Bancroft Library: History of Early California (sound recording; includes Mark Twain in the West), Regents of the University of California (Berkeley, CA), 2000.

SIDELIGHTS:

J.S. Holliday was considered one of the foremost historians of the California gold rush. He studied history at Yale University, where he first encountered the letters and diary of William Swain, who had chronicled his experiences during the gold rush in the mid-1800s. Holliday graduated in 1948, and the following year headed west to California, inspired by what he had read in Swain's papers and intent on learning more about the gold rush. He went on to earn a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, and worked under a fellowship at the Huntington Library. He then began working both as a teacher at San Francisco State University and as director of the Bancroft Library at Berkeley. He became the founding director of the Oakland Museum of California, and eventually he was named executive director of the California Historical Society. Holliday continued to research the gold rush and California history through all of his positions.

The result was The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience, a book heavily influenced by the writings of William Swain. Holliday's goal was to present the reality of the gold rush to his readers, and show the experiences of real people. The volume took him thirty years to write. Wayne C. Leicht, in a review for Rocks & Minerals, wrote: "I think Holliday is one of the greatest researchers and writers currently working in the West. There are more than two hundred books currently in publication on the California gold rush, but for those who have any interest in the subject I would highly recommend you start with this book."

Holliday followed up with Rush for Riches: Gold Fever and the Making of California, which provided a broader history of California and its citizens' fascination with gold. Luc Nettleton, in a review for Wild West, wrote: "The evolution of gold mining is handled masterfully by Holliday, who writes as if he were experiencing it all firsthand."