Finding Aid for the W.W. Hodkinson Papers, 1881-1971
Processed by Anne Caiger; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé and edited by Josh Fiala.
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2005
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: W.W. Hodkinson Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1881-1971
Collection number: 1171
Creator: Hodkinson, W.W. (William Wallace), 1881-1971
Extent: 27 boxes (13.5 linear ft.)
Abstract: W.W. (William Wallace) Hodkinson (1881-19710) opened one of the nation's first movie theaters in Ogden, Utah in 1907. He became
a leading West Coast film distributor, and founded Paramount company in 1914 for distributing films of Adolph Zukor's Famous
Players Company. He left the motion picture business in 1929 to form Hodkinson Aviation Corporation, and later formed the
Central American Aviation Corporation and Companía Nacional de Aviación in Guatemala. The collection consists of correspondence,
financial records, diaries, reports, notes, photographs, tape recordings, clippings, and other printed material related to
Hodkinson's involvement with the motion picture and aviation industries.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], W.W. Hodkinson Papers (Collection 1171). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, UCLA.
Biography
Hodkinson was born in 1881 in Pueblo, Colorado; worked as railroad telegrapher and correspondence school salesman; opened
one of the nation's first movie theaters in Ogden, Utah in 1907; became a leading West Coast film distributor; went to New
York in 1914 to negotiate film contracts, remaining to become one of the leading East Coast distributors; founded Paramount
company in 1914 for distributing films of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Company; company name changed in 1918 to Paramount
Pictures; left motion picture business in 1929 to form Hodkinson Aviation Corporation, and later formed the Central American
Aviation Corporation and Companía Nacional de Aviación in Guatemala; he died in 1971.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of correspondence, financial records, diaries, reports, notes, photographs, tape recordings, clippings,
and other printed material related to the involvement of William Wallace Hodkinson with the motion picture and aviation industries.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Original diaries (Boxes 1-4).
- Aviation (Boxes 5-8).
- Motion picture industry (Boxes 9-27).
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Hodkinson, W.W. (William Wallace), 1881-1971--Archives.
Paramount Pictures.
Motion pictures--Distribution--Archival resources.
Aeronautics, Commercial--Archival resources.
Genres and Forms of Material
Diaries.
Related Material
Pioneer film distributor
[oral history transcript] / W.W. Hodkinson, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1966-67. Available at Department
of Special Collections, UCLA.
Container List
Original Diaries
1920s-1960s
Box 1
1928-early 1930s; 1950s-early 1960s.
Box 4
1950s-1960s.
Scope and Content Note
[Also], clippings.
Note
[K]
Material
re WWH's Involvement in Aviation
Box 5
Correspondence
re Hodkinson Aviation Corporation Limited.
1929-1940s
Box 6
Correspondence and papers.
1920s-1930s
Scope and Content Note
Includes copy certificate of incorporation and Bylaws, 1929 for Hodkinson Aviation Corporation, and material
re proposed aerial survey of Guatemala and other Latin American countries.
Note
[V]
Box 7
Correspondence and papers
re Central American Aviation Corporation Limited.
1933-1935
Box 7
Correspondence with William Vogel.
1939
Box 7
Cassette tape recordings by WHH.
1966-1969
Scope and Content Note
For his autobiography[?].
Note
[F]
Box 8
Correspondence and papers.
1931-1935
Scope and Content Note
Including traffic reports and clippings
re Central American Aviation Corporation Limited, and Companía Nacional de Aviación, Incorporated, in Guatemala.
Note
[P]
Material Mostly
re Motion Picture Industry
Box 9
Correspondence, A - R.
circa 1928-1969
Scope and Content Note
Includes some material
re aviation.
Note
[R]
Box 10
Correspondence, S - Z and some miscellaneous.
circa 1924-1966
Box 11
Correspondence.
circa 1914-1940
Scope and Content Note
Includes material
re film marketing plans.
Note
[C]
Box 12
Correspondence.
mostly 1930s-1940s, some 1960s
Scope and Content Note
Includes monthly statements and correspondence
re airline company, 1935.
Note
[U]
Box 13
Correspondence.
circa 1925-1940s
Scope and Content Note
Includes a few clippings.
Note
[W]
Box 14
Clippings, notes and reminiscences.
1930s-1960s
Scope and Content Note
Includes a few letters.
Note
[B]
Box 15
Correspondence and papers.
1925-1930s
Scope and Content Note
re films “The True Noth,” and “Alaskan Adventures.”
Includes some clippings and material
re airline company.
Note
[AA]
Box 16
Correspondence, papers, clippings and notes, mostly
re television.
1945-1960s
Box 17
Correspondence, papers, clippings and notes.
1920s, 1950s-1960s
Scope and Content Note
Includes material
re “Alaskan Adventures,” correspondence and report
re airline company, and reminiscenes of WWH, 1960s.
Note
[Q]
Box 18
Clippings and notes.
mostly 1947-1952
Box 19
Correspondence, clippings and notes.
1920s-circa 1951
Scope and Content Note
Includes brochures.
Note
[BB]
Box 20
Clippings and notes.
1920s-1960s
Scope and Content Note
Includes a very few items of correspondence.
Note
[Y]
Box 21
Clippings and notes.
1920s-1950s
Scope and Content Note
Includes some correspondence and papers
re WWH's real estate.
Note
[Z]
Box 22
Correspondence and legal papers
re action involving real estate.
1942
Box 22
Correspondence, clippings and notes.
circa 1920s-1950s
Box 23
Correspondence, clippings and ephemera.
mostly circa 1914-1916
Note
[H “Pre-motion pic to Progressive and Paramount [1916]”]
Box 24
Government and other reports, and copy case papers.
1920s-1940s
Note
[J “Block booking law case, printed materials”]
Box 25
Correspondence and papers
re WWH Corporation.
1924-circa 1940
Scope and Content Note
Includes annual report, 1924 and brochures.
Note
[T]
Box 26
Correspondence, clippings and papers.
1930s-1940s
Scope and Content Note
Includes material for WWH's distribution plan and exhibits for meetings.
Note
[N]
Box 27
Writings by WWH.
1920s-1940s
Box 27
Issues of
The Saturday Evening Post.
1938, 1949
