The California State Archives holds over 10,000 cubic feet of records from the Governor's Office. Types of records include executive clemency files, pardons, proclamations, executive orders, speeches, press releases, and enrolled bill files. Governors Earl Warren and Goodwin Knight donated additional records to the State Archives that are available to researchers.
Available Finding Aids
Governor's Records since 1991
Chapter 503, Statutes of 1988, dictates the management and retention of Governors' Records in California. This legislation enacted Government Code §6268 and added gubernatorial records to the California Public Records Act. Under Government Code §6268, all administrations following George Deukmejian are required to transfer gubernatorial records to the State Archives. The enrolled bill files, press releases, and speech files are open to the public as soon as the Governor leaves office. Writings related to applications for clemency or extradition are available for research after the cases has been closed for a period of at least 25 years. The Governor may restrict all other records for up to 50 years or the death of the Governor, whichever is later.
Prior to this legislation, California Governors were required to preserve only a small group of records that were considered to be "public". Most Governors, though not all, transferred these records at the State Archives. See finding aid, Records of the Governor's Office for descriptions of those records transferred by each governor for the years 1849–1975.
Earl Warren and Goodwin Knight Papers
The first comprehensive collection of Governor's records came to the State Archives in 1953. Before Governor Earl Warren left California for the United States Supreme Court, former Secretary of State Frank M. Jordan persuaded him to voluntarily donate an unprecedented amount of his gubernatorial records to the State Archives. This substantial donation includes correspondence, administrative files, and subject files of the Governor's office. Today, the Earl Warren papers are thoroughly processed and described in the Earl Warren papers finding aid.
Earl Warren's successor, Governor Goodwin Knight, followed Warren's example and deposited all of his gubernatorial records in the State Archives in 1958 and 1959. The Goodwin Knight papers are also processed and described in the Goodwin Knight papers finding aid.
Proclamations and Executive Orders
Governors are required to file all Proclamations and Executive Orders with the Secretary of State. The State Archives maintains an index of Proclamations filed since 1849 and Executive Orders filed since 1947. Researchers need to provide at least an approximate date and title of the Proclamation or Executive Order for staff to locate the correct record.
The Archive of the California Government Domain on the Wayback Machine has text versions of Executive Orders and Proclamations from 1999 to 2010.
Visit the Governor's website for the current administration's Executive Orders and Proclamations.
Click here to see the first Thanksgiving proclamation, filed in 1859, by Governor John B. Weller.
Governor's Records at Other Archives
California Governors from 1959–1991 chose to donate the remainder of their records to the following institutions.
- Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley
- Ronald Reagan, Hoover Institution at Stanford University, however the records are now located at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
- Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, University of Southern California
- George Deukmejian, Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Deukmejian's papers are now located in the Library at California State University, Long Beach.
Under Government Code §6268 all administrations following George Deukmejian are required to transfer all gubernatorial records to the State Archives.
More information on California's Governors is available on the California State Library's Governors' Gallery website.
