1933 Treasurer’s Office

The 1933 Treasurer’s Office was divided into two sections separated by a seven-foot-high metal grill. A central door allowed passage between the two sections. One side housed the vault officers’ desks. These officers were responsible for delivering and receiving authorized bonds and maintaining the security of the vault and its contents. On the other side, a deposit officer kept track of the daily sales and receipts of bonds and securities. They also prepared a monthly report for the State Controller that listed the state’s investments and the contents of the vault. Charles G. Johnson, whose office has been recreated here, served as the State Treasurer from 1922 to 1956. He was the only State Treasurer born outside of the United States to occupy the position. Ivy Baker Priest, the first female State Treasurer, served from 1967 to 1975 and was the last Treasurer to occupy these rooms at the State Capitol.

A two-story steel vault was constructed in 1928. By that time, a series of California Bank Acts had allowed for the deposit of state funds into commercial banks. State bonds and securities, rather than gold and silver, soon occupied most of the available space within the vault. 

The California economy was devastated by the Great Depression in the 1930s. On March 1st, 1933, the state withdrew all of its unsecured funds from private banks and placed them into the Treasurer’s vault. Two days later, Governor James Rolph, Jr., declared a mandatory three-day banking holiday in an effort to prevent a “bank run.” This term refers to widespread, sudden, and simultaneous withdrawals from banks in response to financial panic. The day-to-day operations of the Treasurer’s Office were deeply affected by the financial crises of the Great Depression.