Guide to the Katherine B. Higgins Photograph Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Katherine B. Higgins Photograph Collection
Creator:
Higgins, Katherine Banfield, 1880-1967
Identifier/Call Number: TBC.KBH
Physical Description:
2.67 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1870-1963
Abstract: Katherine Banfield
Higgins was a missionary worker for La Plaza United Methodist Church and Community Center in
downtown Los Angeles, California. The Katherine B. Higgins Photograph Collection documents
her personal life, her career, and her travels during the first half of the twentieth
century. Locations are mostly in southern California and also include Minnesota, Indiana,
and Lake Tahoe. The collection also documents her role in the founding of Goodwill Southern
California. The emphasis of the collection is on her family, her colleagues in the field of
social work, the Latin American families that she helped, and professional and personal
activities at places such as residences, the beach, and the Spanish-American Institute.
Higgins began her work in Los Angeles in 1915 and retired in 1949. The collection consists
of two photograph albums, small prints, cabinet cards, cartes de visite, and a shawl owned
by Katherine Higgins. Dates span from the 1870s to the 1960s.
Language of Material:
English.
Biographical / Historical
Katherine Banfield Higgins was born on December 23, 1880 in Bilston, Staffordshire,
England. Her father, Joseph Higgins, was born November 18, 1845, in Highlands,
Staffordshire, England, and died of typhoid fever November 5th, 1881 in Bilston. Her mother,
also named Catherine Banfield Higgins, was the daughter of George and Sarah Banfield.
Catherine was born March 15th, 1847, in Allfields, Staffordshire, England, and died May 16,
1922 in Los Angeles, California. When Katherine was only 11 months old, her father Joseph
died. Her mother Catherine decided to move with her five children to Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, where her own parents had already moved.
While Katherine was still young, her family moved to Elwood, Indiana, a small manufacturing
town in central Indiana. Although she had originally been brought up in the Episcopal
Church, Katherine and her mother joined The Methodist Episcopal Church, where Catherine
dedicated to commit her life to service. Higgins was trained in social work at Chicago
Commons, University of Chicago, Olivet Institutional Church, and Hull House in Chicago.
In 1915, Higgins accepted a position with the Methodist Church to start welfare work for
Latin Americans in the Los Angeles area. Higgins served on the Methodist Board of Latin
American Missions and founded a medical and dental center, an employment office, and the
first Goodwill Store in Los Angeles, located on the site of La Plaza United Methodist
Church. Katherine Higgins died in 1967.
Scope and Contents
Katherine Banfield Higgins was a missionary worker for La Plaza United Methodist Church and
Community Center in downtown Los Angeles, California. The Katherine B. Higgins Photograph
Collection documents her personal life, her career, and her travels during the first half of
the twentieth century. Locations are mostly in southern California and also include
Minnesota, Indiana, and Lake Tahoe. The collection also documents her role in the founding
of Goodwill Southern California. The emphasis of the collection is on her family, her
colleagues in the field of social work, the Latin American families that she helped, and
professional and personal activities at places such as residences, the beach, and the
Spanish-American Institute. Higgins began her work in Los Angeles in 1915 and retired in
1949. The collection consists of two photograph albums, small prints, cabinet cards, cartes
de visite, and a shawl owned by Katherine Higgins. Dates span from the 1870s to the
1960s.
Collection folders are arranged alphabetically by title.
Prints and envelopes are marked with an alphanumerical unique identifier. The Tom and Ethel
Bradley Center created this identification system for internal reference.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Nancy L. Taylor, 2016
Preferred Citation
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style
manual, or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information
Keith Rice, Tina Gharai, 2019
Related Materials
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographs
Textiles
Box 1, Folder 1
Photograph Album 1,
ca. 1900-ca.
1949
Box 1, Folder 2
Photograph Album 2,
ca. 1900-ca.
1949
Box 2
Prints and Cabinet Cards,
ca. 1880-ca.
1949
Box 3
Prints and Cabinet Cards,
ca. 1890-ca.
1949
Box 4, Folder 1
Prints and Cartes de Visite,
1870-1963
Box 4, Folder 2
Prints from Photograph Album 1,
1914
