Background
From: Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1914: George W. Hazard (1842-1914) was a historian who spent a lifetime compiling a
history of his adopted city of Los Angeles. Born in Evanston, Illinois, he came to the city with his family in 1853. His
brother, Henry T. Hazard, was city mayor. Hazard's historical research led him to amass the photograph collection. While
Verne Dyson was preparing Hazard's book for publication, Hazard died before his goal was realized. From UCLA Dept. of Special
Collections' Verne Dyson Papers, 1914-1962: Hazard began compiling his extensive collection of photographs of historical
persons and places relating to the history of Los Angeles in the 1880s, which he planned to use in writing his "History of
Los Angeles and vicinity." When Hazard died in 1914, Verne Dyson, a writer for the Los Angeles Times and manager of the Pasadena
News Bureau, purchased the collection from the Hazard family. Dyson continued to add to the collection, with the intention
of finishing and producing Hazard's work. Although Dyson did complete a manuscript (now in the Verne Dyson Papers, 1914-1962
(Collection 804) in UCLA Dept. of Special Collections), and issued a 30-p. prospectus for the work in 1914, it was never published.
Verne Dyson (1879- ) was a feature writer for the Kansas City Star (1907), and joined the staff of the Los Angeles Times as
manager of the Pasadena news bureau and Sunday editor. At the end of World War I, he went to Shanghai, China to become dean
of Williams College. In 1921, he became professor of English and Chinese history at the University of the Philippines in Manila
and helped to found the Philippine Academy of Social Sciences. The collection at UCLA consists of correspondence, research
notes, unpublished manuscripts, books, pamphlets, clippings, maps, articles, scrapbooks, student compositions, photographs,
postcards, and original prints of Verne Dyson, American journalist, teacher and author.