Deukmejian moves his gubernatorial archives to Cal State Long Beach

The 2,863 boxes of papers and memorabilia recently moved to Cal State Long Beach’s library represent a hefty portion of late 20th century California’s political history. The archives of former Gov. George Deukmejian’s administration cover many key state issues, including the death penalty, education reform and the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

In the large storage room where the cardboard boxes are shelved, framed photographs show Deukmejian with superstars of politics, entertainment and sports: Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Tommy Lasorda, Sylvester Stallone and John Travolta, among others. Also displayed is a pen that then-Gov. Ronald Reagan used in 1973 to sign a bill reinstating the death penalty in California; Deukmejian, the state senator who wrote that law, is shown next to Reagan at the ceremony.

The many letters, studies, speeches and appointment calendars cover Deukmejian’s two terms as governor, as well as his prior positions as state attorney general, assemblyman and senator. For nearly two decades they were held at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, until Deukmejian decided to move them earlier this year, delighting Cal State Long Beach.

“I think there are potentially some very interesting things for California historians to use,” said Roman Kochan, Long Beach’s library dean. “These were eight years of a governorship at time when California was at its heyday.”

Under a 1988 state law, however, Deukmejian is the last governor who can select a school or research center to house his collection. All subsequent governors have to deposit their records with the state archives in Sacramento.

The much-debated law also allows governors, or their designated representatives, to restrict access to their files for up to 50 years, except for documents that were already public, such as speeches, news releases and legislation. That restriction, which is much longer than rules for presidential papers, angers freedom-of-information advocates who say it gives former governors censorship power.

Deukmejian, a Republican from Long Beach who was governor from 1983 to 1991, said researchers at Stanford infrequently used his collection. He has personal ties to the state university and decided to move the documents there. In 2005, he and his wife, Gloria, established a scholarship fund for disabled students at Cal State Long Beach; the school awarded him an honorary degree in 2008.

“It always was a difficult situation since I live in Long Beach and all those documents and papers were in Stanford,” Deukmejian, who turns 83 on Monday, said in a recent telephone interview. “It seems they really belong here.”

Deukmejian expects to approve all reasonable requests for research, although he said he had not thought much about the issue when he opted to restrict access. “It’s sort of following the tradition and past practice,” he said, citing similar arrangements for the papers of his predecessor, Jerry Brown. The documents from Brown’s first two terms are stored at USC.

Asked whether he might declare his archive totally open, Deukmejian said: “I haven’t had such a request but I guess I’d consider it.”

Peter Gottlieb, past president of the Society of American Archivists and former Wisconsin state archivist, said the California rules are overly restrictive. Aside from some personal records — dealing with health matters, for example — the collection should be open by now, he said.

“These are public records by definition and the public paid for them through taxes,” Gottlieb said.

Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, said he had not heard of any journalist or scholar being denied access to gubernatorial archives, but he said it was “bad public policy” to allow former governors to control access for so long.

Besides illuminating special interests’ influence on policies, the archives are “an important source of information for better understanding of history and a better understanding of the whole state at a particular time,” Scheer said.

Librarians don’t know yet exactly what is in the Deukmejian boxes. Only a generalized summary exists and Kochan said he hopes to hire an archivist or train students for the massive cataloging that will be required.

A recent visit to the Long Beach library showed the mixed nature of the documents: News releases listed routine appointments with the Fish and Game Commission and hospital boards. Other boxes contain Deukmejian’s daily schedules and briefings; the one for March 6, 1989, shows that he had coffee with former President Reagan in Los Angeles before returning to Sacramento for legislative conferences. There are memos about sheltering earthquake victims and Republican fundraising strategies.

The state law covering governors’ papers grew out of a protracted fight between Brown and March Fong Eu, then secretary of state, who wanted the governor’s records at the state archive, not at USC as Brown had chosen. The subsequent requirement for a Sacramento location will affect documents from Brown’s current term, but his two previous ones are exempted.

The three governors since Deukmejian — Pete Wilson, Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger — all have opted to maintain control over their papers, according to Shannan Velayas, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office, which runs the archives. She described researchers’ visits to those collections as relatively rare.

Deukmejian said he has received about five requests a year, usually for specific documents that are photocopied and released. No one so far has asked to look through it all. “There hasn’t been much interest in my papers,” he said. “Nobody is looking to write a book.”

larry.gordon@latimes.com