Melendy, H. Brett (1924-2008)
Date Updated
10-18-2019
Department
History
Academic Rank
Professor
Year Retired from SJSU
1993
Facebook or Website URL
San Jose State University Oral History Project
San Jose State University Faculty Papers of H. Brett Melendy
Educational Background
Stanford University, History, 1952 Ph.D.
Stanford University, Education, 1948 MA
Stanford University, English ,1946 AB
Humboldt State College, 1945
Teaching Experience
San Jose State University, 1979-1993
University of Hawaii, 1970-1979
San Jose State College, 1955-1970
Fresno City College, Fresno, CA, 1954-1955
Theo. Roosevelt High School, Fresno, CA, 1950-1954
Selected Publications
Walter Francis Dilhingham, 1875‑1963 (Mellen Press, 1996).
Chinese & Japanese Americans (Hippocrene Books, 1984).
Asians in America (Twayne Press, 1977).
The Oriental Americans (Twayne Press, 1972).
Governors of California (Talisman Press, 1965).
"Filipino Americans," Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, 1995.
"The Tydings‑McDuffie Act of 1934," Asian Americans and Congress, 1995
"Labor and Ethnicity in Hawaii," Politics in the Postwar American West, 1995.
"Filipinos in the United States," Dictionary of Asian American History, 1987.
"Pearl Harbor," United States and Marine Corps Bases, Domestic, 1985.
"Asians in the Lumber Industry," Encyclopedia of American Forest and Conservation History, 1983.
"The Controversial Appointment of Lucius Eugene Pinkham, Hawaii's First Democratic Governor," Hawaiian Journal of History, 1983.
"Filipino, Korean and Vietnamese Immigration to the United States," Contemporary American Immigration, 1982.
Plus seven others from 1959 to 1980.
Files
Personal Commentary
I came to San Jose State College in 1955 as an instructor in Social Science and Education. In the spring of 1958, the History faculty wanted its own department. President Wahlquist agreed and I became the first chairman of a free‑standing History Department. I remained in that position for 10 years during which time the faculty expanded to 35 members.
I was elected Secretary of the reorganized Faculty Senate in 1964 and served on the search committee that brought Robert D. Clark to the campus.
I spent 10 years at the University of Hawaii, serving as University Vice President for Community Colleges and a Professor of History. I returned to SJSU in 1979 as Dean of Undergraduate Education. The then President summarily dismissed me from this position; I divided my final years between working with the Dean of Engineering as his Special Advisor, a Professor of History and University Archivist.
Date Completed: 6/96
Adapted from: Biographies of Retired Faculty San Jose State University 1997: A Project of the Emeritus Faculty Association of San Jose State University. San Jose, CA: The University, 1997.