Finding Aid for the John Downing Weaver collection of Los Angeles ephemera and research materials, 1960-1985

Processed by UCLA Library Special Collections staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.

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/

Descriptive Summary

Title: John Downing Weaver collection of Los Angeles ephemera and research materials

Date (inclusive): 1960-1985

Collection number: 1393

Creator: Weaver, John D. (John Downing), 1912-2002.

Extent: 96 boxes (8 linear ft.) 1 oversize box.

Abstract: A file composed primarily of newspaper and magazine clippings, but also containing some letters, notes, public documents and official reports, collected during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by the author of, among other books, Los Angeles: the Enormous Village (1980) and of the 1974 and 1985 Encyclopaedia Britannica articles on Los Angeles.

Language: Finding aid is written in English.

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: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

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.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of John Weaver, 1984.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], John Downing Weaver collection of Los Angeles ephemera and research materials (Collection Number 1393). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Biography

Weaver was born in Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 1912; attended Georgetown Univ. (1928-29); AB, College of William and Mary (1932); AM, George Washington Univ. (1933); worked for various federal agencies, including the National Recovery Administration (1933-35); reporter, feature writer, book reviewer, and copy editor, Kansas City star (1935-40); started freelance writing (1940); published works include: Wind before rain (1942), Another such victory (1948), Warren : the man, the court, the era (1967), The Brownsville raid : the story of America's "black Dreyfus affair" (1970), Los Angeles : the enormous village (1980).

Harriet Sherwood Weaver was born in Haigler, NE, Oct. 29, 1913; graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Univ. of Kansas (1934); contributed book reviews and feature articles to the Kansas City star (1936); married John Downing Weaver (1937); moved to Los Angeles ca. 1940; the 1961 Bel-Air fire prompted her crusade for both effective management of native brush in the Santa Monica Mountains and brush clearance legislation; headed the fire committee of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns.; served on LA Countywide Citizens Planning Council (1972-79); died Nov. 23, 1988.

Scope and Content

Collection consists primarily of newspaper and magazine clippings related to Los Angeles during the 1960s-1980s. Also includes letters, notes, public documents, and reports. Material was collected by John Weaver and Harriett Sherwood Weaver in the course of their work as writers and active members of various Santa Monica Mountain homeowner assns. Includes news clippings from the Los Angeles times and the Valley news and green sheet.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically.

Note

This file on the quirks and quiddities of Los Angeles was created and maintained for more than twenty years to serve the needs of a working writer and his civically active wife, Harriett Sherwood Weaver, both of whom came to the breakfast table each morning with scissors and staplers at the ready as they opened the Los Angeles Times (and, in later years, the Valley News & Green Sheet which in time resurfaced as the Daily News).

We clipped and filed news stories, feature articles, letters and editorials which might turn out to be useful. We also saved magazine articles, reports from official entities and letters from public servants and public scolds, along with other material that came our way in the course of our work as writers and as active members of various Santa Monica Mountain homeowner associations operating under the umbrella of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon associations (Cf. Collection No. 1244 ).

Our files were intended to provide quick, accurate answers to questions which might arise in the course of a day's work when, for example, one of us set out to write a magazine article on UCLA's sculpture garden or prepare a report for a City Council committee on the hazards of so-called "safe and sane fireworks."

Collection 1393 should be used in conjunction with not only the hillside federation's files, but also those of Harriett Weaver (Collection No. 1447) , who for many years presided over the Mayor's Brush Clearance Advisory Committee. She helped write the ordinances governing chaparral management in the city's mountainous areas in the 1960s, reformed the enforcement procedures twenty years later and served as a consultant to county and federal forestry officials dealing with the problems of what the bureaucracy called the "urban-wildland interface."

Both collections, 1447 and 1393, are eclectic, reflecting the interests and prejudices of the two collectors who, as I've noted elsewhere, "crossed the plains in a covered Chevrolet to homestead in the Hollywood hills (circa 1940)." 1 Like so many other Angelinos, we came to make a better life for ourselves, fleeing a 9-to-5 office world for which neither of us was properly equipped. We set up shop as free-lance writers and, then as now, the operative word was "free."

For the first two decades, which included a three-year tour of duty in the pictorial services of the Army signal corps, I wrote fiction, while Harriett astonished us both by evolving into a master carpenter, bricklayer and rug-weaver. 2 In the 1960s, when she launched her attack on the fire-flood landslide problems of the hillside homeowner, I turned to the writing of nonfiction, which spawned the closet-filled monster that has evolved into Collection 1393. In the years Harriett and i were using our two files, they were never as well organized as they are now. In some instances we simply tossed clippings, letters and assorted documents into discarded canned fruit boxes from a Ralphs trashbin, planning to sort them out when we "had the time." Finally, in the mid-1980s, we took the time. On the spring afternoon we delivered the last carton of Collection 1393 to the loading dock of the University Research Library at UCLA (a banana box filled with MUSEUMS and HOLLYWOOD), Harriett ordered up an extra tot of gin for all hands and began to move closes into her liberated closets.

John D. Weaver

Encino

October 1986

----------------------------

1 Los Angeles: The Enormous Village (Capra Press, 1980)

2Cf. As I Live and Breathe (Rinehart, 1959)

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Weaver, John Downing, 1912- --Archives.

Weaver, Harriett E. --Archives.

Los Angeles (Calif.) --History.

Genres and Forms of Material

Clippings files.

Ephemera.

Related Material

Federation of Hillside and Canyon Associations Records (Collection 1244). Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.

Harriet Weaver Collection about Residential Development and Fire, Flood, and Landslide Management in the Santa Monica Mountains (Collection 1447). Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.

Container List

Box 1, Folder 1

General

Box 1, Folder 2

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

Box 1, Folder 3

Advertising

Box 1, Folder 4

Aerospace

Box 1, Folder 5

Agriculture

Airports

Box 1, Folder 6

General

Burbank

Box 1, Folder 7

1972-1975

Box 1, Folder 8

1976

Box 1, Folder 9

1977

Box 1, Folder 10

1978

Box 1, Folder 11

1979

Box 1, Folder 12

1980

Box 1, Folder 13

1981

Box 1, Folder 14

1982

Box 1, Folder 15

1983

Box 2, Folder 1

1984

Box 2, Folder 2

1985

Box 2

LAX

Box 2

1970s

Note

MISSING.

Box 2

1980s

Box 2

Noise

Box 2

Palmdale

Box 2

Van Nuys

Box 2

Angelino Heights (Spelling)

Box 2

Angels Flight

Animals

Note

Cf. Earthquakes

Box 2

General

Box 2

Birds

Box 2

Condor

Box 2

Coyote

Box 3

Deer, Elk, Antelope

Box 3

Horses

Box 3

Pets

Box 3

General

Scope and Content Note

Cats
Dogs
Dogs and Laws
Exotic
Population

Box 3

Raccoons, Rats, Squirrels

Box 3

Research

Box 3

Sea

Box 3

Shelters

Box 3

Sidelights

Box 3

Snakes

Box 3

Support Groups

Box 3

Urban Wildlife

Box 3

Annexation 1978

Box 3

Anthony, Earle C.

Box 3

Arabs

Box 3

Arboretum

Box 3

Archery

Box 4

Architecture 1970s

Box 4

Architecture 1980s

Box 4

Archives

Note

Cf. Bicentenary

Box 4

Archives, U.S.

Box 4

Art

Scope and Content Note

General
Artists
Collectors
Cultural Affairs Department
Economics of
Murals-Street Art
Otis-Parsons Merger

Box 4

Asians

Box 4

Assessor's Race 1970s

Note

Cf. Bernardi, Ernani

Box 4

Atlantic Richfield Plaza

Box 4

Austin, Mary

Box 5

Automobile

Scope and Content Note

General
History
Life-style, Influence on L.A.

Box 5

Aviation

Scope and Content Note

General
Airlines
History
Howard Hughes (Spruce Goose)
Manufacturing

Box 5

Banking

Box 5

Beaches

Note

Cf. California - Beaches

Box 5

Beaudry, Prudent

Note

Cf. Bunker Hill

Box 5

Bel-Air

Box 5

Bel-Air Hotel

Box 5

Bernardi, Ernani

Note

Cf. Assessor's Race, 1970s.

Box 5

Bernson, Hal

Box 6

Beverly Hills

Scope and Content Note

General
Travel and Leisure (JDW, 1971)
Anniversary, 1964
Beverly Hills Hotel - MISSING
Crime and Police
Fowler Museum - MISSING
Freeway Proposal
Government
Harold Lloyd Estate
History

Box 7

Beverly Hills

Scope and Content Note

Restaurants
Schools
Shiek's Mansion (1970s)
Shopping
Sidelights
Sightseeing
Statistical
Verses (unpublished MSS)

Box 7

Bibliography

Scope and Content Note

General
Notes, JDW

Box 7

Bicentenary, United States (1976)

Note

Missing - picks up with "Bicycles"

Box 7

Bicentenary, Los Angeles (1981)

Note

Cf. Founding - Bicentennial Proposal

Box 7

LA 200

Scope and Content Note

1978 Clippings
Incorporation, By-laws
1979 Records
1979 Clippings
1980 Records

Box 8

LA 200

Scope and Content Note

1980 Clippings
1981 Records
1981 Clippings
Bicentennial Stamp Proposal
King of Spain visit (cancelled)
Closing Day Pageant (cancelled)
History Committee
Miscellaneous
Expo '81
Son et Lumiere Proposal

Box 9

JDW Talks

Box 9

JDW Dramatic Reading Worksheets September 4, 1981

Box 9

JDW Dramatic Reading, Cassette and Printed Text

Box 9

LA Archives 1875 and 1975

Box 9

LA Archives 1977, 1978, 1979

Box 9

LA Archives 1980, 1981+

Box 9

LA 200 Conference (1981)

Box 9

Oversize Bicentennial Items

Note

Ends missing material.

Box 9

Bicycles

Box 9

Billboards and Signs

Box 9

Blacks

Box 9

General

Box 9

Notes and Correspondence (JDW)

Box 9

History

Scope and Content Note

General
to 1900
1900-1930
1930-1960
1960s
1970s
1980
1981 ( L.A. Times series)
1982 ( L.A. Times series)

Box 9

Agencies, Public and Private

Box 9

Arts and Letters

Box 9

Churches

Box 9

Collections

Box 9

Crime and Courts

Box 9

Dunbar Hotel

Box 9

Economics

Box 9

Education

Box 9

Elite

Box 9

Heritage

Box 9

Leaders

Box 9

Organizations

Box 9

Politics

Box 9

Population

Box 9

Press

Box 9

Watkins, Ted

Box 9

Women

Box 9

Youth

Box 9

Blocks and Buildings

Box 9

Boating

Box 9

Boddy, Manchester

Box 9

Books on

Box 9

Bookstores

Box 9

Bowron, Fletcher

Box 9

Bradley, Tom

Scope and Content Note

1969
1972-1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1984 - Commission Shakeups
1985 - Harbor Appointment

Box 9

Braude, Marvin

Box 9

Budgets

Box 9

Bunker Hill

Box 9

Burke, Yvonne Braithwaite

Box 9

California Institute of the Arts

Box 9

California Institute of Technology (Cal-Tech)

Box 9

Campaign Funds

Scope and Content Note

1970s
1980
1981
1982
1983-1984
1985

Box 9

Carroll Avenue

Box 9

Catalina

Box 9

Catholics

Scope and Content Note

General
Archival Center

Box 9

Cemeteries

Box 9

Census Data 1970s

Box 9

Century city

Box 9

Chamber of Commerce

Box 9

Channel Islands

Box 9

Chinese

Scope and Content Note

General
Chinatown
Chinatown Library
Chinese Historical Society
Chinese Massacre - General (1)
Chinese Massacre - (Grand Jury, etc.) (2)
Chinese Massacre - (Trials) (3)

Box 9

City Administrative Officer (Piper)

Box 9

City Administrative Officer (Post-Piper)

Box 9

City Attorney 1970s

Box 9

City Attorney 1980s

Box 9

City Controller

Scope and Content Note

General - Missing
1977
1978
1980
1981
1985 - Missing

Box 9

City Hall

Box 9

Civic Center

Scope and Content Note

General
Mall
Triforium

Box 9

Climate

Box 9

Clubs

Box 9

Coliseum

Note

Cf. Raiders

Box 9

Comments on

Scope and Content Note

General
English
Robinson, W.W.
Russian
Smith, Jack

Box 9

Conflict of Interest

Box 9

Consumers

Box 9

Convention Center

Box 9

County 1980s

Box 9

Courthouse Records

Box 9

Courts

Box 9

Courts - 9th Circuit

Box 9

Crenshaw Area

Box 9

Crime

Note

Cf. Police.

Scope and Content Note

General
Early days
1950s-1972
1973
1974-1978
1979
1980
1981
1982+
Chessman, Caryl
Cohen, Mickey
Murder
- General
- "Black Dahlia" (Elizabeth Short)
- Finch, Bernard
- Hillside Strangler
- Kirschke, Jack
- Manson Family
- Scott, L. Ewing

Box 9

Crystal Cathedral

Box 9

Cults

Scope and Content Note

General
Jonestown (1978)

Box 9

Cultural Heritage Board

Box 9

Culture

Scope and Content Note

General
Proposition 13 Impact

Box 9

Culver City

Box 9

Curb, Mike

Box 9

Dance

Box 9

Defenses

Box 9

Design

Box 9

Disasters

Box 9

Disneyland

Box 9

District Attorney

Box 9

Dodgers

Box 9

Downtown

Scope and Content Note

General
1970
1971
1972 (Central City Plan, folder and booklet)
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1977 (JDW article, unpublished)
1978
1979
Artists
Hotels
- General
- Alexandria
- Biltmore
- Bonaventure
- New Otani

Box 9

Drugs

Box 9

Dubnoff School

Box 9

Dymally, Mervyn

Box 9

Earthquakes

Scope and Content Note

General
Animals
Faults
Insurance
Predictions
Preparedness
Richter
Warnings
World-wide
1971 (Sylmar)
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1980 (Italy)
1981
1982
1983 (Coalinga)
1984
1985

Box 9

Echo Park

Box 9

Economics 1970s

Box 9

Economics 1980s

Box 9

Education

Scope and Content Note

General
Bilingual
Colleges
History
1970
1971
1972
1973-1975
1976
1977
1978 (July - 7 September)
1978 (8-9 September)
1978 (10-12 September)
1978 (13 September)
1978 (14-15 September)
1978 (16-30 September)
1979
1980 (January - June)
1980 (July - August)
1980 (September - December)
1981 (January - March)
1981 (April - August)
1981 (September - December)
1982
1983+

Box 9

Election, City (1973)

Scope and Content Note

March (1)
April (2)
May (3)

Box 9

Election (7 November 1978)

Box 9

Election, Primary April 9 (1985)

Box 9

Employment 1970s

Box 9

Encylopaedia Britannica

Scope and Content Note

General
Los Angeles Entries, Past
JDW, 1971
JDW. 1972
JDW, 1973
Final Article (1974 edition)
Worksheets, Final Article
1974 - Letters
1974 - Reaction
JDW - Los Angeles, Correct name of
JDW - Revision, 1982
JDW - Revision, 1983
JDW - Revision - Text (1985 edition)
JDW - Revision - Notes
Correspondence
- 1981
- 1982
- 1983
- 1984 (Japan)
Energy Crisis, 1973
English Colony
Environment
- General
- Nixon

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