Pacific directory of Amateur Radio stations, June 1, 1911. (thanks to Erv W6YPM)
List of San Jose Amateur Radio stations (HAMs), from the Callbook 1913-14. (thanks to Erv W6YPM)
SCCARA's first years
The first meeting was held in the barn of our first President, Harry Engwicht 6HC (later W6HC), 
in the Winter of 1921. We don't know exactly when, probably January or February. Thus was born the San Jose Radio Club, SJRC.
List of Amateur Radio stations in San Jose in 1921, when the club formed. PDF version with searchable text
Back then radio was regulated by the Department of Commerce, Navigation Service. The SJRC was part of the process. Here are some communications in 1922 between them, us, and individuals regarding licensing and violations.
One of our first club activities was a dance, July 8, 1922. Note there was still a war tax then.
The SJRC applied for ARRL affiliation on November 6, 1922, and was declared an affiliate of and by the ARRL February 17, 1923. The ARRL (American Radio Relay League) formed in 1914, so it wasn't much older at the time. We've been an affiliated club ever since.
And look who signed it: Hiram Percy Maxim 1AW (later W1AW), who was the ARRL's first President and co-founder, and sometimes called "The Father of Amateur Radio." 
And Kenneth Warner 1EH (later W1EH) the ARRL's first Secretary.
A Membership card from 1924 or 1925. Armand Humburg 6BON was one of the founding members.
It was felt that we should be more inclusive of the surrounding communities. In 1925 we changed our name from the San Jose Radio Club to the Santa Clara County Amateur Radio Association. We notified the ARRL of our name change from SJRC to SCCARA on November 9, 1925.
Station equipment of the 1920's
Mid 1920's activities
A temporary staton was set up on Mt. Hamilton, March 23-28, 1926. Today we'd call this a special event station.
The club call was 6SV. The contacted station 6OI is Brandon Wentworth, member and student at Stanford University, CA.
Orrin Brown 6CKV, Clair Foster 6HM, Brandon Wentworth 6OI, Philip Scofield 6JK, and Harry Engwicht 6HC.
Here's the log of the event. (21.6 MB pdf)
In October 1926 we sponsored the seventh annual ARRL amateur radio convention.
(1.8 MB pdf)
Transcripts from the San Jose Mercury on our 1926 convention. (0.2 MB pdf) There were several articles on our convention over the space of a few days.
Harry Engwicht 6HC/6ZAJ, Mel Nelson 6APS, and Orrin Brown 6CKV/6HB in 1927.
Even with adjustments to the image, it's hard to read what's written on the back of Orrin's car, except his call sign.
At least one thing is clear -- he is a dedicated HAM!
.jpg "QSL card of 6CKV to 6BON, Dec. 20, 1923")
.jpg "QSL card of 6CKV to 6BON, Aug. 28, 1924")
QSL card of 6HC to 6LC and 6HY, July 12, 1921. The club was only a few months old at the time. QSL card of 6CKV to 6BON, Dec. 20, 1923 QSL card of 6CKV to 6BON, Aug. 28, 1924 QSL card of 4CW to 6XE, March 2, 1924 QSL card of W6AAZ Ron Gordon, 1928
The date is Feb. 1924 and he mentions SJSC. It still wasn't SCCARA yet. This "radiogram" looks like it might be a test. It's hard to know. Orrin may have just been writing down 7IT's address and used one of his QSL cards.
Not much remains from the 20's, but here's some club info.
1926 SCCARA membership roster. (0.7 MB pdf)
1927 SCCARA membership roster. (1.1 MB pdf) This was just before call signs had the 'W' prefix added in 1928.
1927 SCCARA membership dues list. (1.7 MB pdf)
Constitution of SCCARA circa 1926. It was our "constitution" then, instead of "bylaws."
Correspondences:
1922 Feb. 9 letter from F. Thomson 7ZV to Harry Engwicht 6HC. (2.8 MB pdf)
1927 Jan. 24 thank you letter from Sane Grey to Orrin Brown 6CKV (2.0 MB pdf) One of the big things for Amateur Radio was traffic handling (passing messages), and we still do it today. Here's a thank you letter from appreciative person for such a message, with a request for sending a reply. And this follow-up letter, 1927 Feb. 15 from Sane Grey to Orrin Brown 6CKV.
1929 Nov. 12 letter by Engwicht 6HC promoting Dr. Watters for Pac. Div. Dir. (2.0 MB pdf) We're not above a little politics. Harry Engwicht 6HC makes the case for electing Dr. Waters W6EC as our ARRL Pacific Division Director.
1927 May 4 letter from Orrin Brown 6CKV to ARRL HQ. (4.6 MB pdf) This is a good one. Here Orrin describes some of the activities and accomplishments the club has made. San Jose has a population of 50,000, SCCARA is the first member of the WAC club (worked all countries), we have one of the first crystal controled stations on the West Coast, etc. It's possible his description of the club staion is some of the same equipment proudly shown off by members in our 1925 film.
Newspaper:
Transcripts from the San Jose Mercury 1921-1923. (0.1 MB pdf) Back in the early days it was common for club activities to be reported in the paper. We'd send them the info and they'd publish it.
MOVIE!
We have a 16 mm film from 1925! It's in our video archives.
Stills from the 1925 film and information on the members (what little we could determine).