This series consists of approximately 5,580 envelopes of acetate and nitrate negatives that provide a rich visual representation of everyday life in San José and Santa Clara County, California. The range of subjects covered illustrate change over time in a variety of industries, with a particular emphasis on agriculture and manufacturing industries, as well as small and medium local businesses such as Hart’s Department Store and the Hippodrome Theater. Other images include the Winchester Mystery House, the Lick Observatory, the San José Light Tower, San José State University, parks and parades, funerals, weddings, and mixed groups and local organizations. While the bulk of the collection documents industry, there are some fine representations of landscapes and historic sites including churches and missions, museums, and views of the Monterey Bay, the town of New Almaden, and Yosemite National Park. In addition, Gordon was very active in the Grange as well as the Knights of the Round Table Youth, and a small portion of the collection is devoted to the Grange movement in California.

While all of the photographic negatives have a specific historical value, the negatives documenting agriculture and the canneries provide the foundation for understanding the changes in the San José and Santa Clara County region’s transformation from the “Valley of Hearts Delight” to that of the Silicon Valley. Fruit production brought prosperity and opportunity to the county, which brought diverse ethnic groups to the area. This same prosperity and immigration to the region would be replicated with the formation of high-tech industries in the 1960s forward. Researchers interested in tracing the diversity of life in this region will thus find examples of urban life, education, politics, religion, ethnicity and race, transportation, industry, art, and culture.