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Rothstein (Connie) Collection of California Missions, The Mission
Play, and Southern California
photCL 496
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Connie Rothstein Collection of California Missions, The Mission Play, and Southern
California
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 496
Physical Description:
42.96 Linear Feet
(37 boxes, 2 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1862-2004
Date (bulk): 1880s-1920s
Abstract: A collection of photographs and
ephemera of California Missions, collected by Southern California educator Connie Rothstein,
with an emphasis on the San Gabriel Mission and the history of the city of San Gabriel,
California, and the production of
The Mission Play by John Steven McGroarty.
The collection also includes late-19th and early-20th century photographs of Los Angeles and
Southern California, and postcards and ephemera related to the Southern California region.
Notable in the collection are 391 stereographs of missions and Los Angeles, including some
by photographers William Godfrey and H. T. Payne, A. C. Varela, and Carleton
Watkins.
Language of Material: English.
Finding aid last updated on October 31, 2014.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item], Connie Rothstein Collection of California Missions, The Mission
Play, and Southern California, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of Connie Rothstein, 2010.
Connie Rothstein (born 1940) taught elementary through high school and continuation school
for 36 years in the San Gabriel School District and was a college instructor for three years
at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and California State University, Long
Beach. She began collecting historical photographs of missions as teaching materials for her
4th grade pupils, gradually collecting other topics of personal and classroom interest. She
built her collection over decades by combing swap meets, flea markets and thrift stores, and
acquiring specific items from dealers. Rothstein also devoted her time to civic and
community affairs and was sought out for her knowledge of the history of the city of San
Gabriel in Los Angeles County.
A collection of approximately 1,500 photographs and various ephemera and publications of
California Missions, with an emphasis on the San Gabriel Mission, the history of the city of
San Gabriel, and the production of
The Mission Play by John Steven McGroarty.
The collection also includes late-19th and early-20th century photographs of Los Angeles and
Southern California, and postcards and ephemera related to the Southern California region.
Notable in the collection are 391 stereographs of missions and Los Angeles, including some
by photographers William Godfrey and H. T. Payne, A. C. Varela, and Carleton Watkins.
All of the California Missions are represented in the collection, plus the "sub-missions"
or Asistencias of California. The mission photographs include many unusual views and
details, and are a mixture of snapshots made by tourists and commercial photographs.
There are many views in and around Southern California, most dating from 1880s-1920s, by
various photographers. Specific topics emphasized in and around Los Angeles are: Olvera
Street, Chinatown, La Fiesta de Los Angeles celebration; and the Mount Lowe Railway. There
are many cabinet cards and stereographs, and six large panoramic photographs of the Los
Angeles area.
The ephemera include hundreds of postcards and photographic postcards, scrapbooks, and
many small publications on the history of the missions and California, as well as ephemera
related to
The Mission Play.
The Mission Play, first performed in 1912 in Southern California, portrayed
the establishment of the California Missions under the leadership of Father Junipero Serra,
and the converting of Native Americans into Christianity by Franciscan friars. The San
Gabriel Mission Playhouse, dedicated in 1927 in San Gabriel, was built to stage the play.
There is a binder of programs and ephemera on the play and its various performances, as well
as a group of lantern slides and postcards of the play.
Other topics in the collection are: photographs and ephemera of Monterey, California;
Oregon and the Columbia River Highway; and a group of photographs of cowboys and Western
culture (mid-20th century).
The collection is arranged in the following series and subseries:
- Los Angeles and vicinity
- San Gabriel, City of
- Other San Gabriel Valley
- Other California
- Oregon and Columbia River Highway
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Adobe houses -- Photographs.
Missions, Spanish -- California -- Photographs.
Chinese -- California -- Photographs.
Cowboys -- 20th century -- Photographs.
Historic sites -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Horsemen and horsewomen -- Photographs.
Hotels -- California -- Photographs.
Parades -- California -- Photographs.
Parks -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Ruins -- Photographs.
Schools -- California -- Pasadena -- Photographs.
Schoolchildren -- Photographs.
Stockyards (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Theater -- California -- History.
Azusa (Calif.) -- History -- Photographs.
California, Southern -- History -- 20th century --
Photographs.
Chinatown (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Colorado -- Photographs.
Columbia River Highway (Or.) -- Photographs.
El Camino Real (Calif.) -- History. -- Photographs.
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
La Crescenta (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Long Beach (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- History -- Photographs.
Monterey (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Olvera Street (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Oregon -- Photographs.
Pasadena (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Portland (Or.)
Redlands (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Bernardino County (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Gabriel (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Gabriel River Valley (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Juan Bautista (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Marino (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Santa Anita Rancho (Los Angeles County, Calif.) --
Photographs.
Santa Barbara (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Santa Ysabel (San Diego County, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Ephemera
Lantern slides.
Panoramas.
Photograph albums.
Photographs
Portraits
Postcards
Sheet music.
Stereographs.
Theater programs.
Pacific Electric Railway Company.
Blanchard, James B., photographer
Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942, photographer
Lamson, Joseph Harrison, 1840-1902, photographer
Weaver, M. F. (Miles F.), 1879-1932