Pearl Chase

Pearl Chase
Sculpture of Pearl Chase at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse
Born	November 16, 1888 Boston, Massachusetts
Died	October 24, 1979 Santa Barbara, California
Education	Santa Barbara High School University of California at Berkeley (1909) Santa Barbara State Normal School of Manual Arts and Home Economics (later University of California, Santa Barbara)

Pearl Chase was a civic leader in Santa Barbara, California. She is best known for her significant impact on the historic preservation and conservation of that city.

Santa Barbara High School University of California at Berkeley (1909)

Chase was born in Boston, Massachusetts and moved to Santa Barbara at the age of 12. After graduating from Santa Barbara High School in 1904, she attended the University of California at Berkeley where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. She graduated with a Bachelors in the History of Letters in 1909.

Upon returning to Santa Barbara after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, Chase was appalled at the state of her hometown:

Despite having a significant influence on the architecture of the city of Santa Barbara, Chase never held political or government office of any sort. Chase was largely responsible for the recasting of Santa Barbara architecture in the Spanish Colonial Style in the wake of the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake. She founded a number of civic institutions in Santa Barbara, including the local chapter of the American Red Cross, the Community Arts Association, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Indian Defense Association.

She was involved in advocacy for the protection of multiple local landmarks, including Chase Palm Park (which bears a plaque memorializing Chase and her brother), as well as the Moreton Bay Fig Tree.

In addition, she was part of an interest group which successfully lobbied the State Legislature, Governor Earl Warren, and the Regents of the University of California to move the Santa Barbara State Teachers College to the University of California system in 1944.