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Historical Society of Southern California Collection -- Ana Bégué
de Packman Collection of Photographs and Papers
photCL 400 volume 33
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Historical Society of Southern California Collection -- Ana Bégué de Packman
Collection of Photographs and Papers
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 400 volume 33
Physical Description:
2.6 Linear Feet
(3 boxes)
(209 photographs: 179 prints, 18 film negatives, 9 stereographs, 2 tintypes, 1
glass plate negative) ; prints 25 x 35.5 cm (10 x 14 in.) and smaller + correspondence,
maps, ephemera, notes, and a name index.)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1820-1955
Date (bulk): 1930s
Abstract: This collection contains photographs
related to Southern California history that were collected by Ana Bégué de Packman
(1882-1973), a descendant of early Spanish-Mexican landowners in the region and the
Secretary of the Historical Society of Southern California from the 1930s to 1950s. The
collection dates from 1820 to 1955 (bulk 1930s) and includes photographs, as well as
correspondence, maps, ephemera, and newspaper clippings related to Southern California
ranchos, the Spanish-Mexican families who owned them, and Los Angeles during the late 1800s.
The majority of the collection consists of portraits of rancho families and their
descendants, as well as photographs of the town of San Juan Capistrano and its environs,
including Mission San Juan Capistrano and the adobe houses surrounding the mission.
Photographers include: Charles C. Pierce, Charles J. Prudhomme, Charles C. Puck, and Edward
Vischer.
Language of Material: English.
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.
Historical Society of Southern California Collection -- Ana Bégué de Packman Collection of
Photographs and Papers. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of the Historical Society of Southern California, ca. 2008.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
The sub-collections of the Historical Society of Southern California Collection (photCL
400) are individually cataloged in the
Huntington Online Catalog.
Historical Society of Southern California -- Charles Prudhomme
Collection of Photographs
(photCL 400 volume 4).
Related materials in other repositories
The UCLA Library Department of Special Collections holds the
Ana Bégué de Packman Papers, 1870-1960,
which contain
photographs, newspaper articles, manuscripts, genealogies, maps, ephemera, and
correspondence pertaining to the California missions, Southern California adobes and
ranchos, and the city of Los Angeles.
Biographical Note of Ana Bégué de Packman
Ana Bégué de Packman (1882-1973), a descendent of Juan Francisco Reyes, the alcade of the
Pueblo de Los Angeles, served as the Secretary of the Historical Society of Southern
California from the 1930s through the 1950s; she was involved in educational outreach
programs, took part in speaking engagements, and supported restoration efforts for various
California landmarks. Packman was also the curator of Casa Figueroa from 1934 to 1941, an
historic Los Angeles adobe built by Don Ramon Figueroa prior to the arrival of
Anglo-Americans that was later demolished in 1965.
Founded in 1883, the Historical Society of Southern California (HSSC) is the oldest
historical society in California. As part of its mission to collect and preserve Southern
California's history, the HSSC amassed a photo archive over many decades. The HSSC shifted
its emphasis to programs and publications in the 1980s and, in 1992, the organization
donated its photo archive to The Huntington Library.
The Historical Society of Southern California Collection contains approximately 15,000
photographs and negatives focused on Southern California from approximately 1870 to 1980. As
such, it is an important visual record of the growth and history of the region. The
collection represents a variety of donations made to the Society over many years. It is
organized into discrete sub-collections (each with a unique "volume" number) within the
overall collection, which is identified by call number photCL 400.
This collection contains 209 photographs and negatives related to Southern California
history that were collected by Ana Bégué de Packman, a descendant of early Spanish-Mexican
landowners in the region and the Secretary of the Historical Society of Southern California
from the 1930s to 1950s. The collection dates from 1820 to 1955 (bulk 1930s) and includes
photographs, as well as correspondence, maps, ephemera, and newspaper clippings related to
Southern California ranchos, the Spanish-Mexican families who owned them, and Los Angeles
during the late 1800s. The majority of the collection consists of portraits of rancho
families and their descendants, as well as photographs of the town of San Juan Capistrano
and its environs, including Mission San Juan Capistrano and the adobe houses surrounding the
mission.
The photographs include a variety of formats and sizes, and photographers include: Charles
C. Pierce, Charles J. Prudhomme, Charles C. Puck, and Edward Vischer.
The collection includes a small number of the California rancho families are pictured in
both professional and amateur portraits, with a focus on the Dominguez, Machado, Sepulveda,
and Yorba families. Other portraits include those of Los Angeles mayors and pioneers, such
as Matthew Keller, Cameron Erskine Thom, and Elijah H. Workman.
Photographs of Mission San Juan Capistrano show the mission complex in ruins, with views
of the church, courtyard, bell tower, and outside workspaces. The interior of the restored
Serra Chapel are also shown, with an emphasis on the altarpiece and its statuary. Other
missions that are shown in the collection are Missions Santa Barbara, San Antonio de Padua,
and San Gabriel Arcangel.
Another emphasized portion of the collection concerns adobe houses, specifically ones that
are or had been located in the western and southern parts of San Juan Capistrano. Among
these adobes are the Blas Aguilar Adobe, Casa de Los Rios, the Burruel Adobe, the Manuel
Garcia Adobe, and the Domingo Yorba Adobe. Other Southern California adobes that are also
included are the Yorba-Slaughter Adobe, the Dana Adobe, and the Workman-Temple Homestead.
Oversized photographs show La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles (Plaza Church)
and the statue of Felipe de Neve in Los Angeles Plaza.
Notable photographs include an interesting photograph of Plaza Church shows Don Antonio F.
Coronel surveying the church exterior. Another photograph relating to the Los Angeles area
is one of the Beverly Hills Centennial Parade with Eugene W. Biscailuz, Leo Carrillo, and
William Boyd on horseback. Of particular interest are two tintypes related to photographer
Charles J. Prudhomme. The first is of his mother, Maria Merced Tapia de Prudhomme, and the
other is of Prudhomme's daughter.
The rest of the collection contains correspondence, maps, notes, ephemera, and negatives.
Noteworthy items from these materials include: a manuscript letter written by Manuel
Dominguez; postcards from Bruce Condé (Alfonso de Bourbon Condé) to Ana Bégué de Packman;
death notices for Isaac Williams and Henry Mellus; a glass plate negative of Horton House in
San Diego; a film negative of Juan Bandini and his daughter Ysidora; and an index book with
the names of rancho families written in Packman's hand. Photographs with corresponding film
negatives are: (12), (26), and (29).
Sources used in the creation of this finding aid
Braun Research Library.
Photograph of the Tomas Ramos Adobe in San Juan
Capistrano, California, 1933.
Accessed June 5, 2013.
http://collections.theautry.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=M38294;type=101
California State University, Dominguez Hills.
American History through the Eyes
of a California Family, 1780s-1920s.
Accessed June 4, 2013.
http://csudh.edu/csl/dominguez/default.shtml
Engstrand, Iris Wilson, and Thomas L. Scharf. "Rancho Guajome: A California Legacy."
The Journal of San Diego History. 20 (1974). Accessed June 5, 2013.
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/74winter/index.htm
Fink, Augusta.
Palos Verdes Peninsula: Time and the Terraced Land.
Santa Cruz: Western Tanager Press, 1987.
Rush, Alan. "Obituary: Bruce Conde,"
The Independent, August 5, 1992.
Accessed June 4, 2013.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-bruce-conde-1538240.html
State Office.
Sixth Annual Catalogue and Circular of the State Normal School,
at Los Angeles, California, for the School Year Ending June 28, 1888.
Sacramento:
J.D. Young, Supt. State Printing, 1888.
UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.
Finding
Aid for the Ana Bégué de Packman Papers, 1870-1960.
Accessed June 3, 2013.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt4870174x/
University of Southern California Digital Library.
California Historical
Society Collection, 1860-1960.
Accessed June 5, 2013.
http://cdm15799.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15799coll65
Water and Power Associates.
Early Los Angeles Plaza. Accessed June 5,
2013. http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Plaza_of_LA_(Page_2).html
Yorba Linda Public Library.
Yorba Linda Public Library California History
Collection.
Accessed June 5, 2013.
http://oac4.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt8x0nd5m4/
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Adobe houses -- California -- Photographs.
Building, Adobe -- Photographs.
California missions -- Photographs.
Dana adobe -- Photographs.
Mayors—California—Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (San Gabriel, Calif.) --
Photographs.
Mission San Juan Capistrano -- Photographs.
Pioneers—California -- Photographs.
Plaza Church (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Ranches—California, Southern -- Photographs.
Rancho La Puente -- Photographs.
Rancho Los Cerritos -- Photographs.
San Antonio de Pádua (Mission) -- Photographs.
Santa Barbara Mission -- Photographs.
Yorba-Slaughter Adobe -- Photographs.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Gabriel River Valley (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Pedro (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Clippings.
Ephemera.
Film negatives.
Glass negatives.
Tintypes.
Letters (correspondence) California 19th century.
Maps.
Photographs.
Portrait photographs.
Postcards.
Tintypes (photographs)
Avila family
Machado family
Sepulveda family
Yorba family