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Lou K. Ross Lantern Slide Collection of Southern California Missions: Finding
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photCL 516
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Title: Lou K. Ross Lantern Slide Collection of Southern California Missions
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1920s
Collection Number: photCL 516
Creator:
Ross, Lou K., 1878-1962.
Extent:
58 photographs in 3 boxes : lantern slides + 1 typescript document.
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: This collection includes lantern slides of eleven California missions, all of which are portrayed through artists’ renderings
or through photographs.
The missions are shown in states of past affluence and of then present disrepair. The slides are meant to accompany a slideshow
lecture given by Mrs. Lou K. Ross to educate
Los Angeles club groups about the condition of the missions in the 1920s.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on March 20, 2015.
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.
[Identification of item], Lou K. Ross Lantern Slide Collection of Southern California Missions, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Gift of Jane Calhoun in October 1987.
Lou K. Ross (1878-1962) was born in Michigan and later lived in Pasadena, California, with her husband, Clarence Ross, an
auditor for a lumber company.
Lou Ross used to give lectures on the California Missions, accompanied by lantern slides, to club groups.
This collection includes lantern slides of eleven California missions, all of which are portrayed through artists’ renderings
or through photographs.
The missions are shown in states of past affluence and of then present disrepair. The slides are meant to accompany a slideshow
lecture given by Mrs. Lou K. Ross to educate
Los Angeles club groups about the condition of the missions in the 1920s
The lantern slides in this collection depict both photographs and artistic renderings of some California missions in various
constructional states. The missions that are shown on the
slides include San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo, San Gabriel Arcángel, San Juan Capistrano, San Miguel Arcángel, San Buenaventura,
San Diego de Alcalá, San Fernando Rey, San Juan Bautista,
San Luis Rey, San Rafael Arcángel, and Santa Barbara. Scenes of the missions portray their ruins, restoration, interiors,
and artistic imaginings of mission life in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The slides also show Indian women with baskets, the secularization of the missions, Dana Point, cactus plants, memorials,
Los Angeles, a drive-in market, the California coast, a
date palm, an olive press, Father Junípero Serra, and Eulalia Pérez de Guillén.
“Missions and Romance of Southern California,” a typescript lecture written by Mrs. Lou K. Ross in 1929, is included in the
information file for this collection. The lecture was designed to educate
Los Angeles club groups on the condition of the California missions at the time; it also notes which lantern slides correspond
to certain points in the lecture.
The lantern slides are arranged according to their corresponding points in the accompanying lecture, "Missions and Romance
of Southern California," followed
by slides not referenced in the lecture.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Missions, Spanish--California--Photographs.
Missions, Spanish--California--Pictorial works.
Indians of North America--California--Photographs.
Mission San Carlos Borromeo (Carmel, Calif.)--Photographs.
Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (San Gabriel, Calif.)--Photographs.
Mission San Juan Capistrano--Photographs.
Mission San Miguel Arcangel (San Miguel, Calif.)--Photographs.
San Buenaventura Mission--Photographs.
San Diego Mission--Photographs.
San Fernando, Rey de España (Mission : San Fernando, Calif.)--Photographs.
San Juan Bautista (Mission : San Juan Bautista, Calif.)--Photographs.
San Luis Rey Mission (Calif.)--Photographs.
San Rafael Mission (Marin County, Calif.)--Photographs.
Santa Barbara Mission--Photographs.
Secularization--California--Photographs.
Serra, Junípero, 1713-1784--Pictorial works.
Dana Point (Calif.)--Photographs.
Los Angeles (Calif.)--Photographs.
Lantern slides.
Photographs.