Finding aid for the All Nations Foundation Child Welfare Clinic photograph album 7156
Bo Doub -- with collection-level notes adapted from the seller, Johnson Rare Books and Archives, and from related USC collection
finding aids
USC Libraries Special Collections
2024 January
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0189
specol@usc.edu
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: All Nations Foundation Child Welfare Clinic photograph album
Creator:
All Nations Foundation (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Creator:
Child Welfare Clinic
Identifier/Call Number: 7156
Identifier/Call Number: /repositories/3/resources/3453
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
1 box
Date: 1935
Abstract: A photograph album from 1935 showing the work of the Child Welfare Clinic, a project of the Los Angeles-based All Nations
Foundation, then one of the largest non-governmental social welfare organizations in Los Angeles. The All Nations Foundation,
founded in 1918, purchased land and buildings and equipped gymnasiums, playgrounds, libraries, and medical clinics in East
Los Angeles for a community where three-fourths of the families were on public assistance. The album also documents a five-year
clinical study funded by an anonymous donor, during which the Child Welfare Clinic prescribed what was likely experimental
"endocrine treatment" to some of the children treated at the Clinic. The album includes photographs showing the children engaged
in activities such as camping, hiking, performances, and play. There are also many images with typed captions explaining the
background of the children and the Clinic's assessment of the child's prospects, along with broad generalizations about the
children based on race and other characteristics. The album is accompanied by two letters addressed to the anonymous donor
who provided financial support for the project.
Physical Description: The album contains 127 black-and-white photographs, most of which measure 4.5 by 2.75 inches. The photographs are affixed
to the album pages with black photo corners, while the typed captions are pasted on the leaves. The album is bound with string
between flexible black leatherette boards.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: 1
The All Nations Foundation, in its heyday the largest non-governmental social welfare organization in Los Angeles, was established
in 1918 in an east-central section of the city known as "Eastside." The City Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, under
pastor Bromley Oxnam, established and ran the church settlement, gathering donations, organizing volunteers, buying land and
buildings, and equipping gymnasiums, playgrounds, libraries, and clinics for a community where three-fourths of the families
were on public assistance and where much of the population consisted of immigrants from Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Oxnam
initially developed the physical facilities for All Nations, acquiring a complex of buildings at 810-816-824 E. Sixth Street
just before his resignation from the organization in 1927.
Oxnam's successor was the Reverend Robert A. McKibben, whose work as administrator, social worker, fund raiser, and collaborator
with other social welfare agencies, including the Federal and Los Angeles Relief Administrations and the National Youth Administration,
ensured the continued success of All Nations. Character-building activities for the children, a vacation bible school, the
library, and medical programs--including medical and dental clinics served by a cadre of approximately fifty volunteer doctors,
optometrists, and dentists--were critical services in the work of All Nations. Especially noteworthy was All Nations' extraordinarily
successful Boys' Club, which became a Boys' Club of America in 1927 with some 950 members from thirty nationalities and fifteen
religions. All Nations also operated two other community centers: the Sunset Community Center at 1001-1005 Sunset Boulevard,
and the Hollenbeck Heights Social Center at 200 North St. Louis Street. These branches of All Nations concentrated on work
with youths. When McKibben began his work with All Nations, the Eastside had the highest delinquency rate in the city, but
within the next three years, that rate would drop by 65 percent.
Reverend McKibben left All Nations in 1952, and was succeeded by James Mixon. By the 1960s, new industrial development in
the area and slum clearance had reduced the area's population. Such changes led to questions about the usefulness of traditional
settlement programs in this area; at the same time, All Nations' principal support began to come from the United Way rather
than from the Methodist Church.
Information in this note is based on the Historical Note for the All Nations Church and Foundation records (Collection no.
0403) finding aid, developed by Jane Adler and Clay Stalls, with additional information and editing by Sue Tyson and Bo Doub.
All information in this history comes from material in the All Nations Church and Foundation records; from Robert McKibben's
With The Master into the Heart of the City: First Forty Years of All Nations Foundations ([S.l.] [s.n.], 1977?); and from Mark H. Wild's
Street Meeting: Multiethnic Neighborhoods in Early Twentieth-Century Los Angeles (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005). The founding date of 1918 is referenced in Wild's book.
A photograph album from 1935 showing the work of the Child Welfare Clinic, a project of the Los Angeles-based All Nations
Foundation, then one of the largest non-governmental social welfare organizations in Los Angeles. The album also documents
a five-year clinical study funded by an anonymous donor, during which the Child Welfare Clinic prescribed what was likely
experimental "endocrine treatment" to some of the children treated at the Clinic.
The album is accompanied by two letters written by Robert A. McKibben, then superintendent of the All Nations Foundation,
and Everett W. Duvall, director of the Child Welfare Clinic, addressed to an anonymous donor who provided financial support
for the project. In the second letter, Everett DuVall writes: "The children pictured on the following pages were selected
from the more than six hundred whose lives you have touched through four years of clinic service you have made possible. Activities
such as those illustrated were a part of the individual plan for each member of All Nations Foundation studied by the Child
Welfare Clinic."
The album is filled with 127 black-and-white photographs (most 4.5 x 2.75") of the children who were served by the organization.
A caption on one of the first few pages reads, "That the All Nations Foundation is well named is shown in the pictures on
this and succeeding pages. Many races and nationalities are represented by the parents of the girls and boys studied by the
Child Welfare Clinic."
The unnumbered album pages show the children engaged in activities such as camping, hiking, performances, and play. There
are also many images with typed captions explaining the background of the children and the Clinic's assessment of the child's
prospects, along with broad generalizations about them based on race. For example, on one page there are two images of young
men, one labeled "Turkish Spanish" and the other "American Negro". The caption reads: "Both of these boys wish to become
radio entertainers." Under the image of the Turkish-Spanish youth, it further states: "President of the student body of his
junior high school, this boy has potential ability which is now being developed. He sings, plays guitar, and has written a
song which has been sent to a publisher." Under the photo of the other boy, the caption reads: "Always in trouble Lonnie 'clowns'
his way through and is never as happy when he is the center of attention. Without much intelligence and limited talent, his
ambition is a liability rather than an asset."
Another page includes two photographs of Japanese boys. "These Japanese brothers are both leaders in the club programs in
which they participate. Japanese children are usually well behaved but do have difficulty in being both American and Japanese
at the same time."
While most of the album shows the children engaged in activities, there is evidence that the Clinic was providing psychological
and medical treatments. For example, on another page, two teenage boys are pictured who received "endocrine treatment" through
the clinic. One of the young men suffered from baldness and the other lacked energy. A caption reads: "Known to his clubmates
as the 'horizontal kid' because he seldom showed enough energy to engage in regular activities, this boy was so pleased with
results obtained through endocrine treatment that he wrote back for 'more pills' throughout his nine months service at the
Civilian Conservation Camp."
A few pages later, two younger boys are pictured, one with a caption noting that when the thyroid gland doesn't secrete adequately,
mental development is subnormal. Another says "malfunctioning of certain of the sex glands is causing this boy to develop
an effeminate body and abnormal personality traits. He is now having difficulties in his relationships with other boys and
girls."
On the final two pages of the album, there are images of 12 boys in the "chipmunks" program: "Discovery by the Clinic that
there were a number of eight-year-old boys of very superior mentality - the average mental age in better than ten years -
led to the formation of a special club for them."
Young women are also pictured in the album. Next to four images of two sisters, the caption reads: "Having a pretty older
sister is very hard when misshapen, protruding teeth so deform your mouth that other children nickname you 'horse teeth.'"
Collection stored off-site. Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special
Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Johnson Rare Books and Archives, November 15, 2023.
Related archival collections held by the USC Libraries:
- All Nations Church and Foundation records, Collection no. 0403, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
- All Nations Church and Foundation photographs, Collection no. 0421, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
- Robert A. McKibben papers, Collection no. 0489, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
[Box/folder no. or item name], All Nations Foundation Child Welfare Clinic photograph album, Collection no. 7156, Regional
History Collection, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Clinics -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs
Community health services -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Hormone therapy -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- Photographs
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Social conditions -- Photographs
Social work with youth -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Youth -- Services for -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Correspondence
Photograph albums
All Nations Clinic -- Archives
All Nations Foundation (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Archives
Child Welfare Clinic -- Archives
DuVall, Everett W. -- Correspondence
McKibben, Robert A. (Robert Anderson) -- Correspondence