The Ralph Bowers Bowman San Diego Photographs Collection (1922-1937) includes scenes of the San Diego metropolitan area. Subjects of the photographs include landmarks, waterfront scenes of fishing boats, freights ships and naval ships; Balboa Park; La Jolla; Point Loma; aerial views; street scenes; football games; visiting dignitaries; and personal photographs of Bowman's children and family. Also documented by the photographs are several road trips to St. Louis, the Imperial Valley, Phoenix and Prescott, Arizona, and the Yosemite Valley.

Ralph Bowers Bowman (1878-1937) was a businessman who sold industrial machinery. After the death of his first wife he remarried and moved his family from St. Louis to Phoenix to live with his mother, eventually settling in San Diego. His two daughters by his first wife were Julia Bowman Robinson (1919-1985), an eminent mathematician and the first woman president of the American Mathematical Society, and Constance Bowman Reid (1918-2010), a biographer of mathematicians. Around the time of his first wife's death, Bowman took up photography, a hobby that would produce thousands of photographs. For a more detailed history of Ralph Bowers Bowman and his family, see document titled "Ralph Bowman Photographs" by Julia E. Reid in the James E. Lunbeck Donor File.

5.33 Linear Feet

The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.

This collection is open for research. Any photograph with an identifiable family member may not be made use of by a third party or licensed for commercial use without the permission of Julia E. Reid or her brother, Stewart Reid, during their lifetimes.