Carl Gellert & Celia Berta Gellert Foundation Memorial Library

The Gellert Library houses more than 100,000 volumes of books and over 15,000 volumes of periodicals. The library currently subscribes to more than 280 periodicals. The main reference room, on the first floor of the library, houses standard theological materials and current periodicals. The lower floor of the library, along with the mezzanine, houses the McKeon Collection, the circulating collection of books, and the non-circulating collection of periodicals. Audio-visual and non- book materials form a growing part of the library's holdings. Photocopying equipment is available on both floors of the library. Public access computers are available on both levels for accessing the internet, including access to the on-line web catalog. This catalog contains records for all materials added since 1991, along with some earlier materials ( The lower library level also houses the C. Albert Shumate Collection of California and Western Americana, a 6,000+ volume collection focusing on the history of California and the West. This collection is a part of the Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

The library holdings are enriched by a close association with the 442,000 volume collection at the Graduate Theological Union Library in Berkeley, CA. Borrowing privileges are granted by the GTU to all students and faculty of St. Patrick's Seminary & University.

Charles A. Shumate, M.D., Collection of Californiana

Carl Gellert & Celia Berta Gellert Foundation Memorial Library

Saint Patrick's Seminary and University

The Charles Albert Shumate, M.D., Collection of Californiana consists of over 6,000 items on Western history, literature, book collecting, and fine printing. It reflects Dr. Shumate's areas of interest and was a resource for his writing. It is rich in Pre-Spanish California, the Spanish and Mexican eras of California and the Southwest and the missions, the discovery of gold and the Gold Rush, journeys to California both overland and by sea, Indian life, the rapid growth of late nineteenth century California, and the development during the early twentieth century. The works of early California novelists and poets are well represented. There are many examples of books by small and fine presses of the San Francisco and the Bay Area. There are 75 works of the Zamorano 80.

The Collection is primarily books, but there are early historic journals, historical society journals, maps, and sheet music. A separate part of the collection is the ephemera material in the Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. These items add much to the understanding of California history and the interplay of historians and writers.

Albert Shumate, M.D., (1904-1998) was a dermatologist in San Francisco whose avocation was the West, its history and literature. The books are a collector's library, a historian's library, and a personal library. He used them as a resource for his own writings. Many works indicate his help to other authors. He wrote on California history, especially about San Francisco.

Shumate was very involved in philanthropic endeavors, particularly for Catholic institutions, and was a member of the Seminary's Board of Trustees. He was president of the California Historical Society and a member and an officer of the Book Club of California and E Clampus Vitus. He had an excellent collection of early California paintings, separately held, which were shown in a special exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California.

Dr. Shumate bequeathed his collection to the Archives of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. By agreement between the Archives and the Library, it is housed as a separate collection in the Seminary Library. The Library collects new works that will supplement the Collection. The Shumate Collection is best seen by visiting the Seminary. The catalog is available on line through the Seminary's website or directly at:

http://72.244.93.70/starweb/CCSI-STP/servlet.starweb?path=CCSI-STP/STARLibrariesMultiMARC.web

See the ECV obituary for Dr. Shumate: http://www.ecvgazette.com/lostdutchman/AlShumateObit.htm

23 August 2007