Letters, municipal records, business records and some personal papers of Oakland, California, mayor Frank K. Mott. The letters relate primarily to his job as mayor (1905-1915), including several that discuss the city's acquisition of the harbor from the Southern Pacific Company in 1909 and the subsequent harbor improvements. There is no discussion of the 1906 earthquake. City of Oakland records include official deeds, grants, and other legal documents, including the Certificate of Election for Mott's first mayoral election in 1905, Official Bonds of the City of Oakland of George Gross as Auditor and Ex Officio Assessor in 1907 and 1909, Mott's brief statement --given that afternoon -- to the people of Oakland regarding the earthquake of 1906, contracts with the Contra Costa Water Company and the Oakland Water Front Company, and financial statements regarding the Grove and Webster Street sewers. Mott's campaign materials consist of blank letterhead and an election mailer. The campaign and recall folder also includes two pieces of ephemera from F. F. Jackson's failed 1911 run against Mott, poems favoring the 1911 recall, a written statement from United States Representative Joseph Knowland against the recall, a list of union men instrumental in the recall effort, and mailers from The Tax-payer's League of Oakland. His personal papers include life insurance policies, leases and receipts for multiple properties, a 1910 Alameda County poll tax receipt, stock certificates for several mining and oil companies, an inventory of household goods for the Mott's home on Lee Street and the accompanying home insurance policy (1935). Bills from the Frank K. Mott Co. and stock transactions and lists of assets of the Suburban Development Co. round out the collection.
(OHC MSS MOTT)
7 folders, .2 linear feet
Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents.
Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
