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A Brief History of the NCHS Bulletin (Circa 2003-2018) (2 pages)
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Page: of 2
A Brief History of the Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin
By David A. Comstock
The Bulletin appears to have been an afterthought, for the first issue did not appear until March 1948,
long after the Society was formed in 1945. The word “Bulletin” does not appear on the publication until Peter
van der Pas took over as editor in 1978, thirty years later. Nevertheless, in April 1950, Doris Foley (the first
editor) referred to it as the “Historical Bulletin” in a small footnote, and so presumably did everyone else in the
Society.
Unlike today’s quarterly publication, the earliest issues were released on a not-quite random basis. At first
they came out each month, with a break in the summer. In 1948 there were six, 1949 had eight, and during the
first decade the number varied between two and seven per year. There was similar inconsistency with regard to
content as the young organization struggled to define itself and attract new members.
The first Bulletin, dated March 15, 1948, contained four pages printed on a single 9 by 12'-inch-sheet of
paper, folded once. The cover (page 1) contained a photograph of the Firehouse Museum (with the Main Street
bridge and plaza in the background). This photo was used for three years before finally being credited to
members Frank and Harriet Jakobs of Grass Valley. Page two was full of announcements about activities
scheduled for the following month. The third and fourth pages contained a pair of stories about Chinese
pioneers, as recalled by unnamed contributors—eventually it became apparent that one had been written by
Wendell W. Kallenberger and the other by Doris E. Foley, for these two members added to their accounts in
later issues, some of which bore bylines.
The second Bulletin, issued one month later, had the same general format. This time a single story
occupied pages three and four, with Elmer Stevens identified as the author. Other Bulletins came out in May,
June, October and November 1948, the latter one establishing a tradition that would be followed for many
decades thereafter: a Centennial Edition devoted to events of “100 Years Ago in Nevada County.”
Although Doris Foley was the first editor, this fact was not mentioned in any Bulletin until November
1949, when it was suggested that “manuscripts for publication on Nevada County history” should be sent to
her address. In 1950 the Society created a Membership and Publications Committee “to prepare and publish
historical publications and through its publication increase the membership,” and Doris was listed as its
chairman.
For some undisclosed reason, the numbers skipped from volume 3 to volume 5, the first number of which
appeared in February 1951 with a changed cover photo—this time a historic view of hydraulic monitors at
work in the diggings. That same cover was repeated until October 1952 when the practice was abandoned in
favor of new illustrations for each Bulletin, each bearing some relationship to the content.
The early Bulletins were set with metal type and printed on a flatbed press with low-resolution metal
engravings on plain paper. The last half of Volume 18 and first number of Volume 19 were set with electric
typewriters and printed by offset lithography, apparently as an experiment before returning to the traditional
letterpress until October 1967, when a permanent changeover to offset printing became the norm.
A major change to the Bulletin format occurred in 1976 when the page size grew to 8’ by 11 inches, and
the number of pages since then has varied from four to ten per issue. The increased size made it possible to
include many more illustrations. At first this larger format was two columns wide, and then it was altered to
three columns per page.
When Peter van der Pas took control of the Bulletin in 1978 he said he lacked experience an editor.
However, his scholarly instincts and scientific training endowed the publication with professional standards
and a willingness to experiment with content. He introduced new features, such as regular and substantive
reviews of new books about the northern mines region. At the same time, he was a faithful adherent to the
time-honored tradition of Centennial editions. Peter introduced a new author, Theo Reidt, who penned an
assortment of interesting articles before van der Pas revealed the truth: the author’s name was an anagram of
“The Editor.”
Peter’s method of preparing each Bulletin began with submitting original copy to a professional
typesetter, who then supplied the editor with long galley proofs to proof read. Peter then cut apart the proofs
and pasted them onto a page layout, leaving spaces for the illustrations where appropriate. It was then the job
of the printer to arrange the actual type so it adhered to Peter’s instructions. In October 1980 this system failed
miserably, and the Bulletin mailed out to members had four correct pages and four badly scrambled ones that