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Department courses for:
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 James C. Williams
History Department
Office: F31j (shared office with
Dr. Kline)
Fall quarters only. By
appointment.
About your instructor:
Jim Williams is a native Californian and emeritus professor at De Anza
College. He
will not be teaching during Winter or Spring 2008, but during Fall
2008, he
will teach two sections of: History 17C, Twentieth Century
U.S. . When he's not on campus, he can be found on
sailing somewhere around San Francisco Bay on Dog
Days, his Islander Bahama 28 (1981), or on Alizée,
his Cabo Rico 36 (2001), which is located in Oriental, North Carolina; or playing jazz piano, often with his group Article 19.
His latest publications include the online
essay “History of Energy,” Scientists and the Franklin
Institute: Making Their Cases (2006); and
“The
American Industrial Revolution,” in A
Companion to American Technology, ed. Carroll
Pursell (New York: Blackwell Publishers, 2005), pp. 31-51; later this
year is essay “Understanding the Place of Humans in
Nature” will appear as the lead chapter in Illusory Boundary: Technology
and the Environment (Charlottesville: University of
Virginia Press). Jim also maintains a sailing blog at
SFGate.com - “Messing
about on boats...” - for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Home page index:
A note on
history
Brief
description of courses taught
Curriculum Vitae:
Education
Teaching
and Related Experience
Honors
Professional
Activities
Publications
Technical
Reports and Exhibitions
A note on history: Those
of us who are fortunate to live long enough inevitably discover that we
do not own the world in which we live. We face our own
mortality and
realize that we are but runners in a relay race who happen for a little
while
to be carrying the baton. We discover that the values
embraced by our
parents, grandparents, and generations before them endure in us even as
the
material world changes. If we have gotten this far, even
though the
world sometimes seems to change at light-speed, we understand that life
is
evolutionary much more than it is revolutionary; we know the past is at
least
as important a part of the here and now as is the future.
Some of us
reach this stage understanding early in our chronological lives; others
take
longer. But for all of us, it is this understanding that will
make
studying history a fascinating undertaking. Are you ready?
Brief description of courses taught:
- U.S. History (History
17C) focuses on American political, economic, and social
life during the twentieth century.
My emphasis is on the development of the American urban, corporate, and
technological society and efforts to reconcile these phenomena with our
democratic, egalitarian, and constitutional traditions. We
will also investigate the place of
nature in American society and our national role in the world.
- Syllabus: History
17C
- Quarters taught: Fall 2008 (two sections)
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Curriculum Vitae:
Education:
Ph.D.,
University of California at Santa Barbara, 1984
M.A., San
Jose State University, 1971
B.A.,
University of Oregon, 1964
-
Intensive language studies: Inlingua, Santander, Spain,
- 1990;
Proyecto Linguistico
Francisco Marroquin, Antigua, Guatemala, 1989
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Teaching and Related Experience:
De Anza
College, Emeritus Professor, 2004 to present
De Anza
College, Professor, 1993 to 2004
California
History Center Foundation, Executive Director, 1985-1993
Gavilan
College, Professor, 1971-1985
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Honors
-
Vice
President, International
Committee for the History
- of Technology
(2001-present)
-
Who's
Who Among America's Teachers, 8th ed. (2003-2004) and 9th ed.
-
(2004-2005).
-
-
Contemporary
Who's Who, 2003.
-
-
Honored
by the California Council for the Promotion of History,
-
which names its annual distinguished service award the
-
“James C. Williams Award” (1999 and on-going).
-
-
American Association for State and Local History
- Certificate
of Commendation
for the book Energy and the Making of Modern California,
September 1998
-
California Council for the Promotion
of History,
- Distinguished
Service Award,
September 1994
-
California Historical Society Award of Merit for
- Interpretation,
1989, for “By the Sweat of Thy Brow: The Story of
Labor in Santa Clara County,” an exhibit at the California
History Center
-
California Council for the Promotion
of History, Award of
- Distinction,
October 1985
-
Sourisseau Academy Local History Award for general
- contributions
to a better
understanding of local and state history. Granted by the
Sourisseau Academy, San Jose State University, May 1984
Phi Alpha Theta,
Gamma-Iota Chapter, University of
California, Santa Barbara, 1977.
Rockefeller Fellow, Public Historical Studies Graduate
- Program,
University of
California, Santa Barbara,
1976-1977
-
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer
- Studies
Fellowship, in
“Technology, Society and Values in the Twentieth
Century,” University of California, Los Angeles, 1973
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page
Professional Activities:
-
Registered Professional Historian (#518), California
- Council
for the Promotion of
History.
-
Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Envirotech, the Technology
-
and Environment Special Interest Group of the Society
-
of the History of Technology and the American
-
Society of Environmental History (2000-2004).
-
-
International Committee for the History of Technology:
- Executive
Committee Member
(1998-2001),
-
Society
for the History of Technology: Treasurer
- (1992-2000)
-
American Society for Environmental History: Sites
- Committee
Chairperson
(1999-2000)
-
California Council for the Promotion
of History: State
- Chairperson
(1982-1985,
Executive Secretary (1985-1994), Board Member (1982-1988, 1995-1997)
-
California Historical Society: Member of the Board
- of
Trustees (1989-1992)
-
California History Center Foundation: Executive Director
- (1985-1993);
Board Member
(1985-1993 and 2000-present)
-
California Studies Association: Steering Committee
- Member
(1990-1992)
-
Heritage Council of Santa Clara County: Founding
- Member
of the Steering
Committee (1989-1990)
-
National Council on Public History: Member of the Board
- of
Directors (1988-1991)
-
Sourriseau Academy for State and Local History, San
- Jose
State University: Board
Member (1989-2001).
-
Preservation Action Council of San Jose: Advisory
- Board
Member (1991-present)
California on Stage:
Board Member (1987-1989).
-
Morgan
Hill Historical Society: President (1978-1979),
- Board
Member (1979-1983,
1988-1989)
-
Member
of the California Heritage Task Force Review
- Board,
Economic Development
Committee, California
State Assembly (1987-1988)
-
Association for the Improvement of Community College
- Teaching
and Community
College Social Science Association: Vice President and Board Member
(1982-1984)
-
Gilroy
Historical Society: President
and Board Member
- (1982
to 1984)
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Publications
Books
-
 Energy
and the Making of Modern California (Akron, Ohio:
University of Akron
Press, 1997).
-
The
Rise of Silicon Valley (Cupertino: California
History Center, 1993). Click
here for an on-line version of this essay.
Articles
“History of Energy,” Scientists and the Franklin
Institute: Making Their Cases,
an online
essay
(Philadelphia, PA: The Franklin Institute, 2006).
“Recent
Symposia of the International Committee for the History of Technology,
2002-2004,” with
Susan
Horning, Technology and Culture, 46 (July 2005):
594-603.
“From
Forests and Wetlands to Industry and Recreation: Changing
Landscapes of a Maritime Community,” The Carson:
Journal
of
Environmental Studies, 2 (2005): 75-90.
“Technology
and Engineering in the American Experience: A Survey
of Literature,” http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/resedu/bb_williams.htm,
National Park Service and the Organization of American
Historians, 2004
“Waterpower and Nature in California's Sierra
Nevada,”
The Carson: Journal of Environmental Studies, 1
(2004):
103-116.
-
“Faulty Construction: Earthquakes and the Culture of
- Prevention
in
California,” Geojournal, 52 (July 2001):
59-62.
-
“Strictly Business: Notes on Deregulating
Electricity,”
- Technology
and
Culture, 42 (July 2001): 626-630. A shorter,
revised version appeared as “Strictly Business:
California’s Energy
Crisis,” California Studies: The Newsletter of the
California Studies Association, 10 (Spring/Summer 2001): 1-2,
6.
-
“The Technology Junction: Exploring Technology and the
- Environment,”
ICON:
Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology,
6 (2000): 7-20.
-
“History Advocacy in California,” The
Public Historian,
- 22
(Spring 2000):
29-38. Reprinted in California History
Action, 18 (Fall 2000): 10-13.
-
“Faulty Construction: Earthquakes and the Modern
City,”
- The
Carson:
Environmental History Research Journal, 1 (Fall 1999):
143-158.
-
“Hydroelectricity and the FERC 106 Process--A View
- from
the West,” CRM,
21 (1998): 2-6, 52.
-
“Frederick E. Terman and the Rise of
Silicon Valley”
- (1990),
reprinted in International
Journal of Technology Management, 16:8 (1998): 751-760;
reprinted in American
Heritage of
Invention and Technology, 6 (Spring/Summer, 1990):
18-24;
revised and
reprinted as The Rise of Silicon Valley, Cupertino:
California History
Center, 1993.
-
“California’s First High-Head Turbine
Installation,” IA:
- The
Journal of the
Society for Industrial Archeology, 22:1 (1996): 50-64.
-
“Fuel at Last: Oil and Gas for California,
1860s-1940s,”
- California
History,
75 (Summer 1996): 114-127, 180-181.
-
“Earthquake Engineering: Designing Unseen
- Technology
against Invisible
Forces,” ICON: Journal of the International
Committee for the History of Technology, 1 (1995): 172-194.
-
“The California Energy Experience,” The
Californian,
- 17
(December 1995): 6-10.
-
“Cycling Came to California,” California
Historian, 39
- (June
1993): 7-11, 30.
-
“Otherwise a Mere Clod: California Rural
- Electrification,”
IEEE
Technology and Society Magazine, 7 (December 1988): 13-19.
-
“Technology and Technical Sciences in History --
- ICOHTEC
Symposium, Dresden,
August 25-29, 1986,” with Karen J. Freeze, Technology
and Culture, 28 (October 1987): 842-849.
-
“Science, Technology and Society in the Community
- College,”
Bulletin
of Science, Technology and Society, 6:2/3 (1986): 259-260.
-
“Standards of Professional Conduct in California,” The
- Public
Historian,
8 (Winter 1986): 57-59.
-
“Cultural Conflict: The Origins of American Santa
- Barbara,”
The
Southern California Quarterly, 60 (Winter 1978): 349-377.
-
“Relics Are History: Teaching Technology’s Past at a
- Community
College,” Humanities Perspectives on
Technology(December 1978): 6-7.
-
“The Trolley: Technology and Values in Retrospect,”
- San
Jose Studies,
3 (November 1977): 74-90.
-
“Contributive Survival: Technology and Values in
- Education,”
Community
College Social Science Quarterly, 5 (Summer-Fall 1975):
118-122.
-
“Horace Greeley in California, 1859,” Journal
of the
- West,
8
(October 1969): 592-605.
-
“The Long Tom Rebellion,” The Oregon
Historical
- Quarterly,
67 (March 1966): 54-60.
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Book
Chapters
 “The
American Industrial Revolution,” in A
Companion to American Technology, ed. Carroll
Pursell (New York: Blackwell Publishers, 2005), pp. 31-51.
-
“Getting Housewives the Electric
- Message:
Gender and Energy
Marketing in the Early
Twentieth Century,” in His
& Hers: Gender, Consumption, and Technology,
eds. Roger Horowitz and Arwen Mohen (Charlottesville, Virginia:
University of Virginia Press, 1998), pp. 149-170 [+ notes].
-
“Energy and the Making of
California,”
- in Green
Versus Gold: Sources in California's Environmental History,
ed. Carolyn
Merchant (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1998), pp. 333-338.
-
“Energy, Conservation, and Modernity: The
- Failure
to Electrify
Railroads in the American West,” in Technology
and Western Landscapes, ed. Stephen Tchudi (Reno:
Nevada Humanities Committee, Halcyon Imprint, 1998), pp. 51-69.
-
“Engineering California Cities,” in Science-Technology
- Relationships/Relations
Science-Technique, ed. Alexandre Herlea (San
Francisco: San Francisco Press, 1993), pp. 394-400.
-
“Frederick E. Terman and the Rise of
- Silicon
Valley,”
in Technology
in America, 2nd ed., ed. Carroll Pursell
(Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, 1990).
-
“Standards of Professional Conduct in California”
- (1986),
reprinted in Ethics
and Public History: An Anthology, ed. Theodore J.
Karamanski (Malabar, FL: Robert E. Krieger Publishing Co., 1990).
-
“Civil Engineering on the Spanish Frontier: Alta
- California
Water
Systems,” in XVI Simposio Internacional
I.C.O.H.T.E.C. Libro de Phonencias, September 5-9, 1988 (Madrid:
Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Urbanismo, 1988).
-
“Regional Development in the Technical Sciences in
- California’s
Electric Power Industry, 1890-1920,”
in Technik und Technikwissenschaften in der Geschichte,
Proceedings
of the 12th Symposium of the International Committee for Cooperation in
the History of Technology (ICOHTEC), Dresden, August 25-29, 1986
(Berlin:
VEB Deutshcer Verlag der Wissenschaften, 1987).
-
“California Energy Supply Systems: Two Cases In
- Regional
Development,” in Energie in der Geschichte (Energy
in History): The Topicality of the History of Technology, Proceedings
of the 11th Symposium of the International Committee for Cooperation in
the History of Technology (ICOHTEC), September 2-7, 1984, Vol.
II (Dusseldorf, Federal Republic of Germany, 1984).
-
“Television--Reflection of American Society,” in
- The
Evolution of
Mass Culture in America, 1877
to the Present, ed. Gerald Baydo (St. Louis: Forum Press,
1982).
-
“The Christian Church of Gilroy,” in Sketches
of
- Gilroy,
ed. James C. Williams (Gilroy, CA:
Gilroy Historical Society, 1980).
-
“Hispanic California” and “Cultural
Tensions: The
- Origins
of Old
Town,” in Old Town Santa Barbara: A Narrative
History of State Street from Gutierrez to Ortega, 1850-1975,
ed. James C. Williams. Public History Monograph #1, The
Graduate History in Public Historical Studies. (Department of
History, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1977).
Limited publication.
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Other Publications
- Guest
editor with Reinhold Bauer and Wolfhard Weber, Technik
- zwischen artes und arts: Festschrift fur Hans-Joachim Braun.
- Munster, Germany: Waxmann, 2008.
- Guest
editor with Wolfhard Weber and
Hans-Joachim Braun,
-
ICON: Journal of the International Committee for the
-
History of Technology, 10 (2004).
-
- “Technology
and the Environment in America –
-
Course Syllabus,” Science, Technology &
Society:
-
Curriculum Newsletter of the Lehigh University STS
-
Program (Spring/Summer 2003): 2-4.
-
- “Introduction,” Passing
Farms, Enduring Values:
- California’s
Santa Clara Valley by Yvonne Jacobsen, 2d ed. (Cupertino:
California History Center, 2001).
-
“An Energy Policy for You,” distributed to roughly
90
- metropolitan
daily
newspapers in the United States and North America by the History News
Service on March 28, 2001. Appeared as
“Bush’s Oil Industry Favoritism,” Sacramento
Bee, April 2, 2001; “An Energy Policy for You:
Environmentalism and Renewable Energy be Damned, Fossil Fuel is Still
King,” TomPaine.com: A Journal of Opinion,
April 6, 2001; “Has Bush Got a Plan for You,”
Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL, Broward
Metro
Edition), April 16, 2001.
-
“Energy, Deregulation and Prosperity,” distributed
to
- roughly
90 metropolitan
daily newspapers in the United States and North America by the History
News Service on January 3, 2001. Appeared as
“Energy and Prosperity are linked in California
History” in San Diego Union-Tribune,
December 28, 2000; “Deregulation Ends in Failure,” Eugene
Register-Guard, January 5, 2001; “Deregulation
Becomes ‘Big Mistake’ for State’s
Residents,” The Bakersfield Californian,
January 14, 2001; “Take Warning from Deregulation,”
The Idaho Statesman, February 11,
2001. Broadcast on “Talking History,”
distributed by
Creighton Web Radio to over 400 National Public Radio stations,
February
5, 2001. Broadcast as a “Perspective” on
KQED FM, February 5, 2001.
-
“Electricity” and “Civil Engineering:
Sewage and
- Sanitation,”
Encyclopedia
of the United States
in the Nineteenth Century, ed Paul Finkelman (New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons Reference Books, 2000).
-
“Active Solar Energy,” “Geothermal
Energy,” “Passive
- Solar
Design,”
“Photovoltaics,” in The Facts on File
Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society, 3 vols, ed
Rudi Volti (New York: Facts on File, 1999).
-
Compiler and Editor. Science, Technology, and Society
- in
Community
Colleges. Gilroy, CA: Social Science Division, Gavilan
College, July 1981. Summary reports in Science, Technology
& Society: Curriculum Newsletter of the Lehigh University
STS Program (September 1981): 16-17; and CCSSA
Newsletter,
No. 3, 1982, pp. 7-8.
-
“Heritage and Preservation: Reflections on the 1989
- Earthquake,”
The
Californian, 11 (December
1989): 10-11.
-
“Grace Carpenter Hudson: The Artist,” in Pomo
Dawn of
- Song
by
Lois Prante Stevens and Jewell Malm Newburn (Cupertino: California
History Center Foundation, 1987).
-
“Civilizing the Machine: History of American
- Technology,”
The
Machine in the University: Sample Course Syllabi for the History of
Technology and Technology Studies,
ed Stephen H. Cutcliffe and the Technology Studies and Education
Committee
for the Society for the History of Technology (Lehigh University:
Science,
Technology and Society Program, June 1983): 85-89.
-
“Local Sources for Independent Research,”
Science,
- Technology
& Society: Curriculum Newsletter of the Lehigh University STS
Program (February 1983): 5-6, 21.
-
“So You’ve Got Some Old Ruins--Now What?”
AHA
- Newsletter,
18 (January 1980): 6-7.
-
“The Division Chairman: An Incumbant’s
View,”
- Community
College,
1 (January 1977): 14-15.
-
“Tomorrow,” in The Best of Poetry,
ed Barbara Fischer
- (New
York: J. Mark Press,
1972).
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Book Reviews Published In
Good Old
Boat Magazine (on-line)
Technology
and Culture
Journal of American History
Environmental History
Good Old Boat
The Public Historian
California History
Journal of San Diego History
The Californians
Teaching History
Californians for Preservation Action Newsletter
Heritage Shared - Perspectives (San Luis Obisopo)
Community College Social Science
Quarterly
Dissertation and Thesis
-
“Energy Resources and Uses in Rural California:
- An
Historical
Overview.” Ph.D. dissertation. University
of California, Santa Barbara, 1984.
-
“The Economic Impact of Defense Spending in the
- San
Francisco Bay Area Since
World War Two.” Masters thesis. San Jose
State University, 1971.
Technical Reports and Exhibitions
Unpublished Technical Reports
-
“Gilroy Hot Springs Resort,” National Register
- Nomination
and California
State Landmarks Application. Cupertino: Public History Services for
Fukuyama International, Inc., January 1995.
-
“Resource Inventory and Statement of
Significance,” A
- History
and Significance
Evaluation of the Kaweah
Hydroelectric System, Tulare County, California. Santa Cruz,
CA: Biosystems
Analysis, Inc., February, 1990.
-
“Evaluation of the Historic Resources of the Lee Vining
- Creek
(FERC Project Number
1388) and Rush Creek (FERC Project Number 1389)”
Hydroelectric Systems, Mono County, California. Fair Oaks,
CA: Theodoratus Cultural Research, Inc., July 1989. Reviewed
in The Public Historian, 13 (Winter 1991): 115-117.
-
“De Sabla Historical Report,” An Archaeological and
- Historical
Investigation of
Site CA-But-868H at the De Sabla Powerhouse Butte County,
California. Prepared by Alfred Farber. Paradise, CA:
Professional Archaeological Services, April 1988, pp. 99-144.
-
“Centerville-DeSabla Project Historical Report and
- Project
Significance and
Recommendations,” Cultural Resources Inventory and Management
Plan for the Proposed Improvements to
the DeSabla-Centerville Hydroelectric System, Butte County, California,
FERC
No. 803. Prepared by Mary L. Maniery, et. al.
Sacramento: Public
Anthropological Research, 1985, pp. B1-B27.
-
“Historical Significance of Lilly’s Auto Camp,
Gilroy,
- California.”
Gilroy, CA: Public History Services, 1984.
-
“Pre-1940 Hydroelectric Developments
Historic
- Evaluation
Survey.” Pacific Gas and Electric Contract
17-83. Gilroy, CA: Public History Services, 1983.
-
“A Critical Analysis of the Practice
of History in the
- Pacific
Southwest Region of
the U.S. Forest Service.” Gilroy, CA: Public History
Services, 1983.
-
“The Downtown Morgan Hill Historic Preservation
- Survey,”
with
Larry Scettrini. Gilroy, CA: Public History Services [1980].
-
“Jens Jensen’s General Merchandise Store: A
History.”
- Gilroy,
CA: Public History
Services, 1979.
Exhibitions
-
“The Early Edition: The Story of Newspapers in Santa
- Clara
County.” March-June 1991, California History
Center, Cupertino, California.
-
“Santa Clara County--A Half Century of Change.”
- October
1990-January 1991,
California History Center, Cupertino, California.
-
“A Century of Cycling in the Santa Clara Valley.”
- October
1989-February 1990,
California History Center, Cupertino, California.
-
“By the Sweat of Thy Brow: The Story
of Labor in Santa
- Clara
County.” Design and curation by Anna Koster,
additional research by George Gastil. October 1988-March
1989, California History Center, Cupertino, California.
Reviewed in The Public Historian, 11 (Fall 1989):
148-150.
-
“Shipwrights and Sailors.” Design and
curation by
- Jean
Eckert.
April-June 1987, California History Center, Cupertino, California.
-
“California Woman Suffrage 75th Anniversary.”
- Research
by Judith Adams,
text by Jeanne McDonnell, design by Anna Koster, curation by Madeline
Crawford. October 1986-March 1987, California History Center,
Cupertino, California. Traveled to various U.S.
venues. Co-sponsored by the Women’s Heritage
Museum,
Palo Alto, California. Reviewed in The Public
Historian, 9
(Fall 1987): 70-73.
-
“California Consumerism.” April-June
1986, California
- History
Center, Cupertino,
California.
-
“Living the California Dream.”
January-March 1986,
- California
History Center,
Cupertino, California.
Other Activities
Jazz
and stride piano for over 40 years.
Currently plays with Article 19.
Sailor (Dog
Days, Islander Bahama 28, and Spindrift,
Cal 39 II) and member of Encinal Yacht Club, Alameda, CA.
Bicycling
and foreign travel.
Two years
active and five years active reserve with the U.S. Army.
Highest grade attained: Captain.
Pi Kappa
Alpha, Gamma Pi Chapter, University of Oregon.
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