Pimentel Archive at UC Berkeley

After George died in 1989, I offered his papers to the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, according to his wishes. The gift was accepted with alacrity; not only was the Bancroft the repository for university archives, including the papers of distinguished faculty members, but it had a fairly new division of Science and Technology. I was assured the Pimentel collection would be a valuable source for scholars of several aspects of George's life, including research, education, and public service, and that they would be processed in a timely manner. 

But the years brought changes, not only in personnel, but in budgets, and consequently in policy, and now such projects need private funding. Neither George nor I had family money, nor did we have the talent or inclination for amassing a fortune.

So the Pimentel Collection has never been open to the public except with special permission, and indeed it was impossible to navigate through the 138 cartons of papers brought straight from George's shelves with no attempt at organization!

Eventually I began to work with the College of Chemistry on raising the necessary funds, and with a little help from my friends including George’s former students, I went through most of the papers to reduce the volume and bring some order and identification (see article: as graphic, as PDF). When the Bancroft Library moved into its magnificent new home in fall 2008, the archivists began work cataloguing the Pimentel Papers. In 2009, the processing was completed, and his papers are finally accessible to the public. The Finding Aid is at the Bancroft Library website. Please take a look at the summary there; better still, come and browse among the files themselves.

To those who contributed to the appeal for funds, my heartfelt thanks. Truly, we couldn’t have done it without you.

Copyright © 2003 - 2018 Jeanne Pimentel