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Olive Percival Collection of Photographs: Finding Aid
photCL 217  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Related materials in the Huntington Library
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

  • Overview of the Collection

    Title: Olive Percival Collection of Photographs
    Dates (inclusive): approximately 1880-1941
    Bulk dates: approximately 1899-1939
    Collection Number: photCL 217
    Extent: Approximately 875 photographs in 6 boxes : chiefly cyanotypes and some gelatin silver and sepia prints ; prints various sizes, 21 x 26 cm (8 x 10 in.) and smaller, chiefly 10 x 12 cm (4 x 5 in.) and smaller, 1 mounted photograph mount 31 x 26 cm. (12 x 10 in.), print 21 x 15 cm (8 x 6 in.).
    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 Olive Percival Collection of Photographs contains approximately 875 photographs of California and Mexico, chiefly of locations in Los Angeles and environs and in Mexico City, taken chiefly by Olive Percival (1869-1945) from approximately 1880-1941. The photographs, mostly cyanotype snapshots and also gelatin silver prints and some sepia prints, depict San Pedro; Chinatowns in Los Angeles and San Francisco; Percival's home and garden along the Arroyo Seco in Los Angeles County; cemeteries in Los Angeles; various people and locations in Los Angeles and Southern California; various views of Mexico City; and other locations in Mexico.
    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], Olive Percival Collection of Photographs, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    Gift of the estate of Olive Percival via Florence G. Moore Kreider, March 26, 1946 and March 3, 1948. Items 754 and 755 gift of Friends of South Pasadena Library, 1999.

    Biographical Note

    Olive May Graves Percival (1869-1945) was an American author, gardener, artist, poet, book collector, photographer, suffragist, designer, and toy and paper doll maker. She was born July 1, 1869, near Sheffield, Illinois, and moved to Los Angeles in 1887 with her mother, Helen Percival, and sisters, living initially in the Women's Christian Temperance Union building at Temple and Broadway and working as a sales clerk at Hamburger's Department Store. In 1891, she began her 38-year career in the insurance industry to support herself and her mother while engaging in her many interests, working initially for fire insurance agents McLellan and Golsh and then, from 1895 until her retirement in 1929, as a sub-agency clerk with the Home Insurance Company.
    In the 1890s, Percival built a modest cottage along the Arroyo Seco in Los Angeles County, a dwelling without electricity, but with a wood stove and windmill, that she named "Down-hyl Claim." The home, which she filled with her collections of ten thousand books, hats, dolls, daguerreotypes, porcelain, silver, textiles, quilts, fans, bookplates, Lalique glass, and Asian art, became the site of frequent gatherings for artists, writers, bibliophiles, and gardeners. An avid gardener herself, who grew over 250 varieties of plants, Percival wrote The Children's Garden Book: Instructions, Plans & Stories: A Voice from a Gentle Age (published posthumously by the Huntington Library in 2005). She was especially fond of roses, a cherry red variety of which was patented as the Olive Percival Rose; this rose has been planted in the White House Garden.
    An avid amateur photographer, Percival was particularly interested in documenting scenes of Southern California including San Pedro, Chinatown in Los Angeles, and her own garden, as well as her visits to Mexico in 1899. She used her own photographs to illustrate her book, Mexico City: An Idler's Notebook, as well as a series of articles by this name for the Los Angeles Times, in 1900-1901. She was a member of many clubs, including the Friday Morning Club, the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the American Society of Colonial Families. Percival spoke out against the California Alien Land Law of 1913 and was also a member of the Japan Club in London and New York. She died in Pasadena on February 19, 1945.

    Scope and Content

    The Olive Percival Collection of Photographs contains approximately 875 photographs of California and Mexico, chiefly cyanotype snapshots and gelatin silver prints of locations in Los Angeles and environs and Mexico City, taken chiefly by Olive Percival (1869-1945) from approximately 1880-1941; many of the photographs contain captions written on versos by Percival.
    The photographs of California depict San Pedro scenes including fishing shacks, boats, and squatters' huts on Terminal Island and East San Pedro; Chinatowns in Los Angeles and San Francisco, including street scenes and images of the first Fiesta de Los Angeles (1894) and the Feast of the Dead in Los Angeles (1902); exterior and interior views of Percival's home, collections, and garden, including many photographs with captions identifying particular plants; and cemeteries in Los Angeles, including the Calvary Cemetery, the Fort Hill Cemetery, and the San Gabriel Mission Cemetery. The collection also includes two sepia portraits of Percival as a young woman, one dated 1895 (Items 754-755); one photograph of Percival with her mother (Item 753); images of Indian basket collections that she used in writing articles (photPF 3940-3945); and photographs depicting various people and locations, chiefly in Los Angeles and environs, taken by Percival and by commercial photographers, including a set of studio portraits featuring various sitters.
    Photographs of Mexico depict various views of Mexico City, including the Flower Market, the Thieves' Market, the market at Viga Canal, and others; the Mexico City Cathedral and various other buildings; and street and courtyard scenes. Photographs depicting other areas of Mexico include views of churches, rural scenes, and images of various towns and regions including Juarez; Toluca; Guadalupe; Teotihuacan, including images from journeys to the Pyramid of the the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon; Tocuba; Vera Cruz; Texcoco; Tlaxcola; and other locations.

    Related materials in the Huntington Library

    • Friday Morning Club papers  (Friday Morning Club Scrapbook Collection, Albums 33-35, 1903-1941, belonged to Olive Percival, who pasted in program notices and added comments on speakers)

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged in the following two series:
    • Series I. California, Views, approximately 1880-1941
      • Subseries A. San Pedro (Items 1-57)
      • Subseries B. Chinatowns, Los Angeles and San Francisco (Items 58-164)
      • Subseries C. Olive Percival, House and Garden (Items 173-347 and 721-749)
      • Subseries D. Cemeteries, Los Angeles (Items 348-394)
      • Subseries E. Miscellaneous Views (Items 165-172 and 753-755)
      • Subseries F. Various People and Locations (Photofile Items 3714-3718; 3720-3769; 3900-3933; 3935; 3937-3948; 3950-3957; 3966; and 10,959)
    • Series II. Mexico, Views, 1899
      • Subseries A. Mexico City, Various Views (Items 395-528 and 548-570)
      • Subseries B. Mexico, Other Locations, (Items 529-547 and 571-720)

    Indexing Terms

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

    Subjects

    Percival, Olive, 1869-1945 -- Photographs.
    Catedral de México -- Photographs.
    Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (San Gabriel, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Mission San Juan Capistrano -- Photographs.
    Plaza Church (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    San Fernando, Rey de España (Mission : San Fernando, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Adobe houses -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Book collecting -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Cemeteries -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Courtyards -- Mexico -- Mexico City -- Photographs.
    Church buildings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Church buildings -- Mexico -- Photographs.
    Dwellings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Fishing boats -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Flea markets -- Mexico -- Mexico City -- Photographs.
    Gardening -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Gardens -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Indian baskets -- California -- Photographs.
    Market towns -- Mexico -- Photographs.
    Parades -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Parades -- California -- San Francisco -- Photographs.
    Plants -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Women book collectors -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
    Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Chinatown (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Chinatown (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Highland Park (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
    Los Angeles Plaza (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Mexico -- Photographs.
    Mexico -- Mexico City -- Photographs.
    Mexico City (Mexico) -- Photographs.
    Pasadena Region (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    San Francisco (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    San Gabriel (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    San Pedro (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Santa Catalina Island (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Teotihuacán Site (San Juan Teotihuacán, Mexico) -- Photographs.
    Terminal Island (Calif.) -- Photographs.

    Forms/Genres

    Cabinet photographs.
    Cyanotypes.
    Photographs.
    Studio portraits.

    Contributors

    Kreider, Florence G. Moore, 1878-1963, donor.
    Ellis, Lemuel S., approximately 1842-1902, photographer.
    Percival, Olive, 1869-1945, compiler.
    Percival, Olive, 1869-1945, photographer.
    Steckel, Geo. (George), 1864- photographer.
    Waite, C. B. (Charles Betts), 1861-1927, photographer
    Friends of South Pasadena Library, donor.