Jump to Content

> Home > Huntington Library > Photo Archives Collections
Collection Guide
∞ https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8pz5fd1/
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Ernest Marquez Photograph Collection: Finding Aid
photCL 555  
Online items available Online items available       Request items ↗
Collection location Contact Huntington Library::Photo Archives Collections
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Entire Collection Guide
Online Items
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Sources consulted
  • Scope and Content
  • Related materials in the Huntington Library
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

    • Overview of the Collection

    Title: Ernest Marquez Photograph Collection
    Dates (inclusive): 1860-2009
    Bulk dates: 1880s–1930s
    Collection Number: photCL 555
    Creator: Marquez, Ernest, 1924-
    Extent: Approximately 10,900 photographs and negatives + ephemera, in 97 boxes.
    Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Photo Archives
    1151 Oxford Road
    San Marino, California 91108
    Phone: (626) 405-2191
    Email: reference@huntington.org
    URL: http://www.huntington.org
    Abstract: The Ernest Marquez Photograph Collection contains photographic prints, negatives, photograph albums and ephemera compiled by collector Ernest Marquez, focused on the development of Santa Monica and Los Angeles from 1860s to 1980s, as well as other cities throughout California. The collection notably contains many 19th-century cabinet cards and stereographs, and a rare group of negatives, ca. 1890-1908, by early Los Angeles historian and amateur photographer George W. Hazard documenting the city at the turn of the century.
    Language: English.

    Access

    Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

    Administrative Information

    Publication Rights

    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.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Ernest Marquez Photograph Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    Purchased from Ernest Marquez, January 2014.

    Biographical Note

    Ernest Marquez (b. 1924) is a descendant of Mexican land grantees who owned the 6,656-acre Rancho Boca de Santa Monica, comprising what is now Santa Monica Canyon and parts of Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades, California.
    He grew up in Santa Monica Canyon and attended Canyon School and Santa Monica High School, then served in the Navy during World War II. For most of his professional career, he worked as a commercial artist for aerospace companies, retiring in the 1980s. He began collecting historical photographs in an effort to learn more about the history of his family and Santa Monica. His curiosity and interests soon reached beyond his own family's history, and he became a keen and well-known collector of images of Santa Monica, as well as early Los Angeles and Southern California. Over a period of 50 years, Marquez scoured flea markets, postcard shows and book fairs, and made discerning trades and purchases, amassing more than 10,000 photographs depicting the history of Southern California from 1860 through the 1980s.
    Marquez also devoted time to researching and writing several books about the region's history, including: Santa Monica Beach: A Collector's Pictorial History (Angel City Press, 2004); Port of Los Angeles: An Illustrated History from 1850 to 1945, with Veronique De Turenne, (Angel City Press, 2007); and Noir Afloat: Tony Cornero and the Notorious Gambling Ships of Southern California (Angel City Press, 2011).
    In 2015, Marquez completed a personal project to create 34 decorative crosses for the graves in the small, historic Marquez Family Cemetery on San Lorenzo Street in Santa Monica Canyon. Marquez and his family care for and maintain the cemetery, which was established in the late 1840s.

    Sources consulted

    Marquez, Ernest and Veronique De Turenne. Port of Los Angeles: An Illustrated History from 1850 to 1945 (Angel City Press, 2007)
    Marquez, Ernest. Santa Monica Beach: A Collector's Pictorial History (Angel City Press, 2004)
    Newmark, Harris; edited by Maurice Harris Newmark, Marco Ross Newmark. Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853-1913, Containing the Reminiscences of Harris Newmark (The Knickerbocker Press, 1926)
    Johnson, Michele, ed. The Topanga Story - Expanded edition (Topanga Historical Society, 2012)

    Scope and Content

    This is a collection primarily of negatives and photographic prints depicting the growth of Santa Monica and Los Angeles from 1860s to 1980s. Many views are cityscapes or street views, showing buildings, storefronts, homes and roads, and documenting the use of railroads, trolleys, streetcars, and automobiles. There are many card photographs by early professional photographers, and also a number of snapshots made by amateurs, some in personal photo albums. The collection's scope also includes early views of many other communities in Southern California (and a few in other states); the beginnings of aviation in Santa Monica, including the first Douglas Aircraft Company buildings; a photo album of residents in Topanga Canyon, ca. 1913; automobile racing in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, 1920s; maritime views; a photo album of U.S. troops in France during World War I; a 1949 real estate development in Apple Valley, California, and others. Besides photographs, a portion of the collection consists of scarce publications and historical ephemera, primarily related to Santa Monica and Los Angeles, including brochures, advertising cards, menus, event programs and other materials.
    Highlights of the Santa Monica images are aerial views of the buildings along the coast and pier (1920s); several views of the Arcadia Hotel (1880s); the Long Wharf and adjoining railroad and train depot; the first bath houses on the beach; the beach club culture of the 1920s and 1930s; the amusement piers of Santa Monica, Ocean Park and Venice; and the beginnings of the Douglas Aircraft Company. There is a large set of promotional photographs made late 1920s-1930s by Powell Press Service depicting people enjoying Santa Monica's beaches, clubs and outdoor recreation.
    An important subset within the collection is 407 negatives made ca. 1890 - 1908 by Los Angeles historian and amateur photographer George W. Hazard (1842-1914). Hazard travelled around Los Angeles and vicinity photographing the adobes, houses, streets and storefronts that told the early history of the city. Many of Hazard's negatives have handwritten identifications, naming streets, former homeowners, ranchos, and other historical details.
    There are a large number of cabinet cards and other card-mounted prints and stereographs. There are 1,264 stereograph prints, highlighted by the works of photographic pioneers William M. Godfrey, Francis Parker, Hayward & Muzzall, and Carleton Watkins. Other formats represented are: glass and film negatives; panoramic prints; 7 photograph albums, photographic postcards, 20th-century color prints and transparencies; and a small number of tintypes, cyanotypes and a set of chromolithographs.

    Alternative Form of Materials Available

    Visit the Huntington Digital Library: Photographs   to view digitized items from this collection.

    Related materials in the Huntington Library

    • California's Romantic Ranchos by Verne Dyson (unpublished manuscript and photographs, mssHM 26404)
    • Hazard-Dyson Photograph Collection (includes photographs by George W. Hazard)

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged in the following 10 series:
    • Series 01. Photographic prints (stereographs and panoramas are in separate series)
    • Series 02. Photograph albums and accompanying items
      • Vol. 1 Robert Hutton Topanga Canyon album, 1913-1921, + 5 folders of loose photographs
      • Vol. 2 Robert Hutton Santa Monica High School album and scrapbook, 1917-1921.
      • Vol. 3 Theresa Sletton Topanga Canyon album, ca. 1913
      • Vol. 4 Apple Valley Ranchos photograph album, 1949
      • Vol. 5 Travel album of San Diego and vicinity, ca. 1910s
      • Vol. 6 Photograph album of California and travels in the West, ca. 1915 -1933
      • Vol. 7 World War I photograph album: "Photographic History of the A.E.F. in France, 1917-1919" + 6 folders of photographic postcards (accompanying album)
    • Series 03. Stereographs
    • Series 04. Panoramas
    • Series 05. Glass negatives
    • Series 06. Film negatives
      • George W. Hazard negatives, ca. 1890-1908
      • Powell Press Service negatives, ca. 1930s
      • George Haley, "Los Angeles Evening Herald" negatives (bulk 1940s-50s)
      • Bob Plunkett negatives (ca. 1928–1953)
      • Other film negatives – various dates
    • Series 07. Ephemera and publications
    • Series 08. Copy prints
    • Series 09. Copy negatives
    • Series 10. Research files and original negative envelopes

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    Subjects

    Biscailuz, Eugene W., 1883-1969 -- Photographs.
    Bowron, Fletcher, 1887-1968 -- Photographs.
    Douglas, Donald W. (Donald Wills), 1892-1981 -– Photographs.
    Gage, Henry Tifft, 1852-1924 – Homes and haunts – Photographs.
    Garfias, Manuel – Homes and haunts – Photographs.
    Guinn, J. M. (James Miller), 1834-1918 -- Photographs.
    Jones, John P. (John Percival), 1829-1912 – Homes and haunts – Photographs.
    King, Andrew Jackson, 1833-1923 -- Photographs.
    Machado family – Homes and haunts – Photographs.
    Oldfield, Barney, 1878-1946 -- Photographs.
    Peralta family – Homes and haunts – Photographs.
    Rolph, James, 1869-1934 -- Photographs.
    Sepulveda family – Homes and haunts – Photographs.
    Temple, Francis Pliny F., 1822-1880 – Homes and haunts – Photographs.
    Workman, William, 1799-1876 – Homes and haunts – Photographs.
    Adobe houses -- California -- Photographs.
    Airplane factories -- California – Santa Monica -- Photographs.
    Airplanes -- Photographs.
    Airports -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Airships -- United States -- Photographs.
    Amusement piers -- Photographs.
    Apartment houses -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Archery -- Photographs.
    Architecture, Domestic -- Photographs.
    Automobile racing -- California -- Photographs.
    Bathing beauties -- Photographs.
    Battleships -- United States -- Photographs.
    Beaches -- California -- Photographs.
    Beauty contests—California -- Photographs.
    Bernheimer Gardens (Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Bernheimer Gardens (Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Boats and boating -- Photographs.
    Brewing industry – California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Cemeteries -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Cemeteries -- California -- Santa Monica Canyon (Los Angeles County) -- Photographs.
    Chinese -- California -- Photographs.
    Chinese Theatre (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Criminals -- California -- Los Angeles.
    Douglas Aircraft Company -- Photographs.
    El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
    Estudillo House (San Diego, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Fire stations -- Photographs.
    Funeral rites and ceremonies -- Photographs.
    Girl Scouts of the United States of America -- Photographs.
    Golf courses -- California -- Photographs.
    Los Angeles evening herald and express -- Photographs.
    Los Angeles International Airport -- Photographs.
    High school students -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Horsemanship -- Photographs.
    Hotels -- California -- Photographs.
    Housing development -- United States -- Photographs.
    La Fiesta de Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Leisure -- California, Southern -- History.
    Los Angeles Railway -- Photographs.
    Los Angeles Transit Lines -- Photographs.
    Oil fields -- California -- Photographs.
    Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (San Gabriel, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Santa Barbara Mission -- Photographs.
    Missions, Spanish -- California -- Photographs.
    Motion pictures -- Setting and scenery -- Photographs.
    Motion picture industry -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Mount Lowe Railway -- Photographs.
    Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (Mission : Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Olympic Games (10th : 1932 : Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
    Pacific Electric Railway Company -- Photographs.
    Parades -- California -- Photographs.
    Parks -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Piers -- California -- Santa Monica -- Photographs.
    Pioneers -- California, Southern.
    Plaza Church (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Railroads -- Buildings and structures -- Photographs.
    Railroad stations -- California -- Photographs.
    Raymond Hotel (Pasadena, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Recreation – Southern California -- Photographs.
    Real estate development -- California – San Bernardino County -- Photographs.
    Ruins -- Photographs.
    Schools -- California -- Photographs.
    Schoolchildren -- Photographs.
    Shipwrecks -- California -- Honda, Point -- Photographs.
    Soldiers' homes -- California -- Santa Monica -- Photographs.
    Southern Pacific Railroad Company.
    Theaters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Tourism -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
    United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces -- Photographs.
    University of California, Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Van Nuys Airport -- Photographs.
    Water-supply -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- France -- Photographs.
    Agoura Hills (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Alhambra (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Apple Valley (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Arcadia (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Arrowhead Springs (Calif.)
    Artesia (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
    Azusa (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Bel Air (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Beverly Hills (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Brentwood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Chinatown (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Culver City (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Glendale (Calif.)--Photographs.
    Hermosa Beach (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Hollister Ranch (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Inglewood (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Laguna Beach (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Long Beach (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Los Angeles County (Calif.) -- History -- Photographs.
    Lowe, Mount (Los Angeles County, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Malibu (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Marina del Rey (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Monterey (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Newhall (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Olvera Street (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Oxnard (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Pasadena (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Piru, Lake (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana (Calif.) - Photographs.
    Rancho La Ballona -- Photographs.
    Rancho La Puente -- Photographs.
    Rancho Palos Verdes (Calif.)-- Photographs.
    Rancho San Antonio (Calif.)-- Photographs.
    Rancho San Pascual (Calif.)-- Photographs.
    Redlands (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Redondo Beach (Calif.)--Photographs.
    Riverside County (Calif.)--Photographs.
    San Bernardino County (Calif.)--Photographs.
    San Diego (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    San Diego County (Calif.)--Photographs.
    San Gabriel (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    San Fernando (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    San Fernando Valley (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    San Francisco (Calif.)--Photographs.
    San Pedro (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
    Santa Barbara (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Santa Catalina Island (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Santa Monica (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Santa Monica Canyon (Los Angeles County, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    South Pasadena (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Topanga (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Venice (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Ventura (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Ventura County (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Westwood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Wilmington (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
    Wilson, Mount (Calif. : Mountain) -- Photographs.
    United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Veterans -- Photographs.

    Forms/Genres

    Photographs.
    Negatives.
    Postcards.
    Chromolithographs.
    Tintypes.
    Cyanotypes.
    Panoramic photographs.
    Stereographs.
    Photograph albums.
    Ephemera.

    Contributors

    Allen, D. C. (Darwin C.), photographer.
    Bailey, Chas. Z. (Charles Z.), photographer.
    Bartlett, Adelbert, 1887-1966, photographer
    Bierstadt, Charles, 1819-1903., photographer.
    Blanchard, James B., photographer.
    Bonine, Elias A., 1843-1916, photographer.
    Bonine, R. (Robert K.), photographer.
    Brewster, John Calvin, photographer.
    Brigandi, Philip, 1873-1945, photographer.
    Clarke, William M., photographer.
    Davis, James M., photographer.
    Ellis, Lemuel S., approximately 1842-1902, photographer.
    Fletcher, W. H. (William H.), photographer.
    Frese, Adolf, photographer.
    Godfrey, W. M. (William Mollock), 1825-1900, photographer.
    Haley, George W., 1879-1963, photographer
    Haynes, F. Jay (Frank Jay), 1853-1921, photographer.
    Hazard, George Washington, 1842-1914, photographer.
    Hazeltine, M. M. (Martin Mason), 1827-1903, photographer.
    Houseworth, Thomas, 1829-1915, photographer.
    Jackson, B. D., 1850 or 1851-1937, photographer.
    Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942, photographer.
    Johnson, C. W. J. (Charles Wallace Jacob), 1833-1903, photographer.
    Kilburn, B. W. (Benjamin West), 1827-1909, photographer.
    Morrison, E. G., -1888, photographer.
    Muybridge, Eadweard, 1830-1904, photographer.
    Parker, F. (Francis), photographer.
    Parker, Joseph C. (Joseph Chamberland), 1834-1910, photographer.
    Payne, H. T., approximately 1845-, photographer.
    Pierce, C. C. (Charles C.), 1861-1946, photographer.
    Pierce, Edward W., photographer.
    Plunkett, Bob, photographer
    Putnam, J. R., photographer.
    Rea, William J., photographer.
    Reilly, John James, 1838-1894, photographer.
    Rieder, M., photographer.
    Rile, H. F., 1860-1949, photographer.
    Schumacher, Frank G., 1861- photographer.
    Stanton, T. E. (Thomas E.), photographer.
    Taber, I. W. (Isaiah West), 1830-1912, photographer.
    Tuttle, W. N., photographer.
    Tyler, O. E., active 1883-1884, photographer.
    Varela, A. C. (Alexander C.), 1839-1915, photographer.
    Waite, C. B. (Charles Betts), 1861-1927, photographer.
    Watkins, Carleton E., 1829-1916, photographer.
    Weaver, M. F. (Miles F.), 1879-1932, photographer.
    Wesner, H. B., photographer.
    Westervelt, James D., 1844-, photographer.
    Withey, Henry F., architect.
    California Art Foto Company, photographer.
    Charles Beseler Co., photographer.
    Continent Stereoscopic Company, photographer.
    E. & H.T. Anthony (Firm), photographer.
    Ellis & Son (Los Angeles, Calif.), photographer.
    F. H. Rogers & Co., photographer.
    Garden City Photo Co., photographer.
    Graham Photo Co. (Los Angeles, Calif.), photographer.
    Griffith & Griffith, photographer.
    H. C. White Co., photographer.
    Hayward & Muzzall, photographer.
    Jarvis (Firm : Pasadena, Calif.), photographer.
    Kelley & Chadwick, photographer.
    Keystone View Company, photographer.
    Payne, Stanton & Co., 1881-1886, photographer.
    Powell Press Service, photographer.
    Putnam & Valentine, photographer.
    Spence Air Photos (Firm), photographer.
    Strohmeyer & Wyman, photographer.
    Underwood & Underwood, photographer.
    Universal Photo Art Co., photographer.
    Webster & Albee, photographer.

    [Online Content] Collection Contents
    [Online Content] Series 01. Photographic prints
    Los Angeles
    Los Angeles County: Cities and communities
    Other Southern California
    Central and Northern California
    California Missions
    Other United States
    Foreign
    Portraits. Arranged by photographer; most sitters unidentified.
    Portraits. Arranged by sitter
    Sports
    Aviation
    Maritime
    Trains
    Miscellaneous
    [Online Content] Series 02. Photograph Albums
    [Online Content] Robert Hutton photograph albums (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2)
    [Online Content] Theresa Sletton Topanga Canyon album.
    [Online Content] Apple Valley Ranchos album.
    Travel album of San Diego and vicinity.
    Photograph album of California and travels in the West
    World War I photograph album: "Photographic History of the A.E.F. in France, 1917-1919."
    World War I photographic postcards
    [Online Content] Series 03. Stereographs.
    [Online Content] Stereographs by identified photographers
    [Online Content] Stereographs by unidentified photographers
    [Online Content] Series 04. Panoramas
    [Online Content] Los Angeles County
    [Online Content] Other Southern California
    [Online Content] Central and Northern California
    [Online Content] Other
    [Online Content] Series 05. Glass negatives
    [Online Content] Artesia, Ca. - First National Bank building
    [Online Content] Santa Monica and Venice
    [Online Content] Other California
    [Online Content] Miscellaneous
    [Online Content] Glass negatives by George Haley, "Los Angeles Evening Herald" newspaper photographer, ca. 1922-1932
    [Online Content] Series 06. Film negatives
    [Online Content] George W. Hazard negatives of Los Angeles and vicinity.
    [Online Content] Powell Press Service negatives of Santa Monica and vicinity.
    [Online Content] George Haley film negatives.
    [Online Content] Bob Plunkett film negatives.
    Other film negatives
    Series 07. Ephemera and publications
    Series 08. Copy prints
    [Online Content] Series 09. Copy negatives
    Series 10. Research files and original negative envelopes
    Research files.
    Original negative envelopes.
    Home | Contributing Institutions | Collection Guides | Browse Map | About OAC | FAQs | Contact Us | Privacy Statement | Terms of Use | Accessibility
    The Online Archive of California is a service of the UC Libraries, powered by the California Digital Library.