Entertainment / Grateful Dead Dead Archives Head to UC Santa Cruz Collection valued at millions fits with crunchy campus' 'community spirit' By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff Posted Apr 24, 2008 11:42 AM CDT Copied In this Feb. 4, 2008 file photo, Phil Lesh, right, performs during a fundraising concert in San Francisco while Grateful Dead band mate Bob Weir, standing at left, looks on. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, file) The thousands of pieces that make up the Grateful Dead archive are truckin’ to a new home at UC Santa Cruz, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The materials—worth millions and ranging from the band’s first record contract to life-size skeletons of members—currently occupy 2,000 square feet in a warehouse; in Santa Cruz, they’ll become the school’s biggest collection. The band chose Santa Cruz over other institutions—Stanford and UC Berkeley—closer to its hometown, and “I think it's a perfect fit,” says a school rep. “The ethos of the band, the whole idea of community sharing, is really well matched with our campus.” (More Grateful Dead stories.) Report an error