William O. Hendricks (1927-2019)

I was sorry to hear of the passing of Bill Hendricks on May 18, 2019. He began working for the Sherman Foundation in 1965 and ran the Sherman Library in Corona del Mar until 2013.

We belonged to a number of the same historical and literary organizations, including, Los Compadres Con Libros, which still meets at the Sherman. The Compadres sent out a memorial note to members, which reads, in part,...

"William O. Hendricks was a founder and developer of the Sherman Library as its first Director, serving for forty-eight years. He developed the library around the personal files of Arnold Haskell and Moses Sherman. He personally secured most of its holding and was instrumental in placing the library's focus on the Pacific Southwest. He was active in and a contributor to both the Los Angeles and San diego Corrals of the Westerners and was Sheriff of the Los Angeles Corral in 1981.

"For about thirty years he served as the organizer of the yearly Baja California Symposium meetings that brought together scholars from both sides of the border who were active in studying the history and development of Baja California. He was also a member of the Book Collectors of Southern California and the Zamorano Club. He authored many texts, often related to the history of the Imperial and Mexicali Valleys and to the history of Corona del Mar, in particular."