This collection contains the diaries kept by John A. Sanborn, a farmer and resident of Covina and Compton, California, for the years 1909-1942. For every day from January 1, 1909, until his death on July 24, 1942, Sanborn kept a brief record of his cash account, the weather and his activities. Most of the clippings and other ephemera found in the diaries have been separated into subject files and annotated with the date by which they were found. Included in the collection are clippings about the March 10, 1933, Long Beach earthquake and photographs documenting the collapse of buildings in Compton.