Holliday's narrative drew heavily from the diaries and correspondence of William Swain, a farmer in Youngstown, New York who made a seven-month trek to California in 1849.
Most diaries from the Gold Rush were "little more than daily recitations of miles traveled and weather conditions, with an occasional complaint or observation about food, dust or some other discomfort," Holliday once wrote.
Holliday's attempt to involve members of Oakland's African American community in the governance of the museum resulted in his dismissal two months before the facility's opening in 1969.
During his first term with CHS, Holliday was responsible for launching the photographic exhibit of Executive Order 9066, concerning the Japanese American incarceration during World War II.
The exhibition catalog carried an introduction by the late Edison Uno, one of the two Japanese-Americans who started the drive for the repeal of Title II of the Internal Security Act.