Theodore Payne papers, 1879-1988, bulk 1903-1962

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Summary

Creators:
Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, Incorporated and Payne, Theodore, 1872-1963
Abstract:
Theodore Payne was a horticulturalist, nurseryman, and expert on California native plants. Materials in the Theodore Payne papers include personal and business records, records pertaining to his professional interests and activities, photographic material, publications on horticulture and gardening, landscaping records, Payne's writings and speeches, herbarium specimens, and artifacts.
Extent:
58.75 linear feet (62 boxes, 2 cartons, 19 flat boxes, 21 shoe boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Theodore Payne papers (Collection 2368). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

The Theodore Payne papers consists of records created or collected by Payne during the course of his life and career. Materials include personal papers, business records, records pertaining to his professional interests and activities, photographs, lantern slides, glass plate negatives, publications on horticulture and gardening, landscaping records, drafts and final publications of Payne's writings and speeches, and herbarium specimens and other artifacts belonging to Payne.

Biographical / historical:

Theodore Payne (1872-1963) was a horticulturalist, nurseryman, and expert on California native plants. He was born in 1872 in Church Brampton, Northamptonshire, England. He moved to California in 1893 and owned and operated a nursery in Los Angeles from 1903 through 1960.

Theodore Payne's education started at Ackworth Academy, a Quaker boarding school in West York, England. In 1888 Theodore Payne apprenticed with J. Cheal & Sons for training in the nursery and seed business. John Cheal was a horticulturist, offering a full line of services, and Payne spent time in each of the departments, learning all elements of the nursery business.

In 1893, Payne began working as head gardener at the ranch of Madame Helena Modjeska, a stage actress located in Santiago Canyon, Orange County. In 1896 Theodore Payne moved to Los Angeles and obtained a position at Germain Fruit and Seed Company as a flower seedsman. Before opening his own nursery, Payne traveled to England and Europe, including Germany and France. On his travels he made contacts with several nurseries and maintained many of those relationships throughout his career. In 1903, Theodore Payne purchased Evans nursery at 440 South Broadway, Los Angeles. The Payne Nursery offered a variety of plants, seeds, and bulbs, as well as landscaping services. Two years later the Payne Nursery moved the office to 345 South Main Street and stayed there until 1931 when he moved his nursery to Los Feliz Blvd. In 1907 Payne married Alice Noyes, and they remained married for 56 years, until Theodore Payne's death.

Throughout his career as a nurseryman, Payne kept active with community outreach and education. He taught horticulture and gardening in many schools around the Los Angeles area and planted educational gardens on school grounds. He was also an active member of many committees and clubs, among them the Southern California Academy of Sciences and the board for Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Payne was also contracted on many jobs for state and federal projects, and acted as an advisor for maintaining California's native landscape. He actively researched native plants throughout his life and became an expert on the subject. In order to continue his life's work, he worked to start a foundation dedicated to the preservation and promotion of native plants of California. Although he first started working toward setting up a foundation in the early 1940s, it did not come into fruition until the late 1950s. He worked on the foundation and other endeavors relating to native plants up until his death. Theodore Payne died May 6, 1963 at 91 years old.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, Inc., 2018.
Processing information:

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

Prior to accession at UCLA Library Special Collections, this collection was arranged several times, and the original order of the papers was not maintained. In 2016, it was reprocessed by Amelia Parks, LA as Subject Visiting Archivist at the Theodore Payne Foundation. During this reprocessing project, Amelia Parks arranged and described the materials to the subseries level. Additionally, preservation photocopying on materials with water damage and mold was undertaken, and the damaged originals were not retained due to their poor condition. Some ledger covers have been removed due to their degradation or high acidity. Where appropriate, the ledger covers were photocopied and placed with contents.

Revisions to the description, physical arrangement, and post-processing activities were undertaken by Kathryn Brunet, Collection Management student assistant under the supervision of Jasmine Jones, in 2019.

Materials that were previously housed in a box 26 were rehoused, and there is no longer a box 26 in the collection.

We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.

Arrangement:

This collection has been arranged in the following series:

  1. Series 1: Personal materials, 1892-1964
  2. Series 2: Professional materials, 1907-1969
    1. Subseries 2.1: Correspondence
    2. Subseries 2.2: Writings and presentations
    3. Subseries 2.3: Associations and committees
    4. Subseries 2.4: Consultations
    5. Subseries 2.5: Research notes
    6. Subseries 2.6: Reference files
    7. Subseries 2.7: Awards
    8. Subseries 2.8: Nursery-related books
  3. Series 3: Theodore Payne Nursery records, 1907-1962
    1. Subseries 3.1: Administrative records
    2. Subseries 3.2: Correspondence
    3. Subseries 3.3: Public relations
    4. Subseries 3.4: Nursery catalogs
    5. Subseries 3.5: Horticulture
    6. Subseries 3.6: Seed sales books
  4. Series 4: Project files, 1914-1961
  5. Series 5: Artifacts, undated
  6. Series 6: Photographs, slides, and film, 1893-1988
  7. Series 7: Correspondence, 1906-1963
  8. Series 8: Books, 1879-1962
  9. Series 9: Nursery catalogs, 1895-1969

Physical / technical requirements:

CONTAINS UNPROCESSED AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: Audiovisual materials are not currently available for access and will require further processing and assessment. If you have questions about this material please email spec-coll@library.ucla.edu.

Physical location:
Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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], Theodore Payne papers (Collection 2368). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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