Lou K. Ross Lantern Slide Collection of Southern California Missions: Finding
Aid
Finding aid prepared by Michelle Sanchez.
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
© 2013
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
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.
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], Lou K. Ross Lantern Slide Collection of Southern California Missions, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Provenance
Gift of Jane Calhoun in October 1987.
Biographical Note
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.
Scope and Content
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.
Arrangement
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.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
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.
Forms/Genres
Lantern slides.
Photographs.
Item 1
Fr. Junípero Serra [illustration]
Item 2
The first date palm in California. San Diego. [photograph]
Item 3
Cross built from the materials of the first mission, marking the spot on which San Diego de Alcala was founded in 1769. [photograph]
Item 4
Mission San Diego [illustration]
Item 5
Mission San Diego. Cross marking site where California’s first Christian martyr (Padre Jaymi) fell. [photograph]
Item 6
Mission San Diego [illustration]
Item 7/A
Mission San Diego. Ruins. [photograph]
Item 8
Mission San Diego. Church front and side walls. [photograph]
Item 9
Mission San Diego. Prickly pear cactus. [photograph]
Item 10
[Monks traveling on foot] [illustration]
Item 11
Mission San Luis Rey [illustration]
Item 12
Mission San Luis Rey. Secularization [photograph]
Item 13
Mission San Luis Rey. Church and ruins [photograph]
Item 14
Mission San Luis Rey. Chapel ruins [photograph]
Item 15/B
Mission San Luis Rey. Restored mission [Also corresponds to typescript page 27][photograph]
Item 16
Dana Point, California [photograph]
Item 17
Mission San Juan Capistrano at the height of prosperity [illustration]
Item 18
Mission San Juan Capistrano. Church ruins [photograph]
Item 19
Mission San Juan Capistrano. [Priest sitting and reading] [photograph]
Item 20
Mission San Juan Capistrano [photograph]
Item 21
Mission San Juan Capistrano [Ruins with two tourists][photograph]
Item 22
Mission San Juan Capistrano. Olive press [photograph]
Item 23
Mission San Juan Capistrano. [Ruined arch, part of church?] [photograph]
Item 24
Mission San Juan Capistrano. Bell court [photograph]
Item 25/C
Mission San Juan Capistrano [Also corresponds to typescript page 27][photograph]
Item 26
Mission San Gabriel [illustration]
Item 27
Mission San Gabriel. Eulalia Parez [Perez] de Guillen [photograph]
Item 28
Mission San Gabriel [Damaged] [illustration]
Item 29/D
Mission San Gabriel. Bell tower. [Also corresponds to typescript page 27] [photograph]
Item 30
Mission San Gabriel [photograph]
Item 31
Mission San Fernando Rey [Damaged] [photograph]
Item 32
Mission San Fernando Rey. Ruins [photographs]
Item 33
Mission San Fernando Rey. Ruined church [photograph]
Item 34
Mission San Fernando Rey [photograph]
Item 35
Mission San Fernando Rey [photograph]
Item 37
Mission San Fernando Rey [photograph]
Item 38/E
Mission San Fernando Rey [Also corresponds to typescript page 27] [photograph]
Item 39
Mission San Buenaventura [illustration]
Item 40
Secularization [colorized photograph of theatrical play]
Item 41
Mission San Buenaventura [photograph]
Item 42
Mission San Buenaventura [Slide does not correspond to typescript] [photograph]
Item 43
Mission San Buenaventura. Church interior [photograph]
Item 44/F
Mission San Buenaventura [Also corresponds to typescript page 27] [photograph]
Item 45
California coast [photograph]
Item 46
Mission Carmel [Slide does not correspond to typescript] [photograph]
Item 47
Mission Santa Barbara, 1875 [photograph]
Item 48
Mission Santa Barbara [illustration]
Item 49
Mission Santa Barbara [photograph]
Item 51
Mission San Gabriel [illustration]
Item 52
Mission San Juan Bautista [photograph]
Item 53
Mission San Juan Bautista [photograph]
Item 54
Mission San Miguel [photograph]
Item 55
Mission San Rafael [photograph]
Item 56
[Indian woman with baskets] [photographs]
Item 57
Indian woman splitting acorns near Fresno Flat [photograph]
Item 58
Chapman Park drive-in market [Los Angeles, California] [photograph]
Item 59
“Los Angeles today” [Aerial view of Los Angeles buildings and freeways][photograph]
Item G
Mission Santa Barbara [Corresponds to typescript page 27] [photograph]
