ABOUT US

The W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library is a collection of Arabian horse materials located at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. The collection mainly consists of books and periodicals, both current and out-of-print, dealing with the Arabian horse. The Library attempts to collect and preserve all types of Arabian horse information whether in printed or non-printed format, and includes books, pamphlets, art work, brochures, newsletters, videotapes, DVDs, magazines, newspapers, photographs, letters, manuscripts, and reports. The collection is intended to be used as a research facility by University students and personnel as well as interested persons outside the academic community.

HISTORY

The campus location has long been associated with the Arabian horse. In 1925 breakfast food millionaire W. K. Kellogg purchased 377 acres for $250,000 in Pomona as the site of his Arabian Horse Ranch. Mr. Kellogg acquired only the best of stock, many head coming from Lady Wentworth's historic Crabbet Stud in England. The high quality animals together with the striking architecture of the facilities created an attraction that prompted many notable personalities to visit. The Ranch featured an airport which was "christened" in 1927 when flown over by Charles Lindbergh in the Spirit of St. Louis. Will Rogers and future world leaders Ronald Reagan and Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia were visitors. Hollywood peronalities flocked to Pomona to have their pictures taken with the horses. Mary Pickford, Clara Bow, Gary Cooper, Olivia de Havilland, Tom Mix, and Loretta Young were among them. The celebrities often made use of the Kellogg Arabians in feature films. Tyrone Power rode *Barakat in Suez. Other horses appeared in Under Two Flags starring Ronald Colman and Claudette Colbert, and The Garden of Allah starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer. The most significant film for the Ranch was Son of the Sheik in which Rudolph Valentino rode Jadaan.

The Ranch began a period of change in 1932 when Mr. Kellogg donated the then 750 acre W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch and 87 Arabian horses to the University of California. From 1943 to 1948 the Ranch was owned by the War Department and was known as the Pomona Quartermaster Depot (Remount). In 1948 the Ranch was transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and in 1949 the Ranch was deeded to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was later in 1949 when title to the Ranch and the horses was passed to the State of California with the provision that the herd of Arabian horses must be maintained. The Ranch then joined with the nearby Voorhis Campus as a branch of California Polytechnic State College, San Luis Obispo. In 1966 the one-time ranch became a state college in its own right, and in 1972 a state university.

Given these developments it was only natural that a collection of Arabian horse books should evolve. Although no exact date can be specified as the official beginning of the collection, the first volumes were obtained from the Kellogg Stables and some were acquired for the Voorhis Campus Library. After Cal Poly Pomona's first library opened, the Arabian horse collection was moved there from Voorhis. The materials were shelved in a glass case and were permitted to circulate. By the early 1970s, more materials arrived from the Kellogg Stables, and it was decided the collection merited special facilities and would no longer circulate. In 1975 a separate room was constructed in the University Library to house the Arabian horse collection. However, because the collection consisted of only about 70 volumes, a concerted effort was made to expand it. Advice from breed experts was solicited, and want lists were sent to out-of-print bookdealers. As a result, the Arabian horse collection became one of the world's largest public collections of Arabian horse materials. In 1982, in recognition of this, and in view of the continued financial support of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Arabian horse collection was given an appropriate name--the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library.

Katherine Staab, MS/MS, ABD
Arabian Horse Subject Specialist
W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
3801 West Temple Avenue
Pomona, CA 91768
+1 909 869 3092
kestaab@csupomona.edu