Errol Wayne Stevens
September 7, 1944 — January 17, 2020
ERROL WAYNE STEVENS, a reader at the Huntington Library for almost thirty-five years, passed away in Rosemead, California, on January 17, 2020.
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1944, Errol graduated from Indiana University in 1966. After serving in the Peace Corps as a teacher in Ethiopia from 1966-1968 he earned his PhD in History at Indiana University. After a few years with the Indiana Historical Society for which co-authored Indiana: A New Historical Guide (1989), he was hired by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 1985 as head of the new Seaver Center for Western History Research. In that position he oversaw the foundation of the Center’s infrastructure and the future of its growth and policies. He also organized several history exhibits, contributed to many History Department projects, and published a book and several articles in history journals at the same time.
In 1994, Errol left the museum to become head of the Special Collections Department of the Charles Von der Ahe Library at Loyola Marymount University, where he expanded the collections there, contributed to LMU programs, and continued to publish.
After his retirement from LMU in early 2006, he spent much of his time conducting further research on the history of greater Los Angeles and the history of American radicalism. In these years he published Radical L.A.: From Coxey’s Army to the Watts Riots, 1894-1965 (University of Oklahoma Press, 2009), and completed a book manuscript on Los Angeles politics in the 1930s.
Errol leaves behind his loving wife, Ellen Stevens, his daughters Erin Miyo Stevens-Gandara and Tracy Emiko Condeso and their husbands, four grandchildren, his brother, David Joseph Stevens (Suzi) of Brownsburg, Indiana, and many friends, family, and former colleagues at the Natural History Museum, Loyola Marymount University, and the Huntington Library who love and miss him dearly.
Condolences may be sent to the family through our website.
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1944, Errol graduated from Indiana University in 1966. After serving in the Peace Corps as a teacher in Ethiopia from 1966-1968 he earned his PhD in History at Indiana University. After a few years with the Indiana Historical Society for which co-authored Indiana: A New Historical Guide (1989), he was hired by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 1985 as head of the new Seaver Center for Western History Research. In that position he oversaw the foundation of the Center’s infrastructure and the future of its growth and policies. He also organized several history exhibits, contributed to many History Department projects, and published a book and several articles in history journals at the same time.
In 1994, Errol left the museum to become head of the Special Collections Department of the Charles Von der Ahe Library at Loyola Marymount University, where he expanded the collections there, contributed to LMU programs, and continued to publish.
After his retirement from LMU in early 2006, he spent much of his time conducting further research on the history of greater Los Angeles and the history of American radicalism. In these years he published Radical L.A.: From Coxey’s Army to the Watts Riots, 1894-1965 (University of Oklahoma Press, 2009), and completed a book manuscript on Los Angeles politics in the 1930s.
Errol leaves behind his loving wife, Ellen Stevens, his daughters Erin Miyo Stevens-Gandara and Tracy Emiko Condeso and their husbands, four grandchildren, his brother, David Joseph Stevens (Suzi) of Brownsburg, Indiana, and many friends, family, and former colleagues at the Natural History Museum, Loyola Marymount University, and the Huntington Library who love and miss him dearly.
Condolences may be sent to the family through our website.
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