Harold A. Parker Studio Collection of Lantern Slides and Transparencies, approximately 1900-1930

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Summary

Creators:
Parker, Harold A. (1878-1930)
Abstract:
The Harold A. Parker Studio Collection of Lantern Slides and Transparencies consists of 96 hand-colored lantern slides and autochrome lantern slides, and 52 color transparencies, ca. 1904-1930, depicting, for the most part, unidentified houses, landscapes, plants and gardens in and around Pasadena; the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena; aerial views, presumably of Pasadena; mountain lakes and landscapes; desert landscapes and flora; the Grand Canyon, Pueblo ruins, and the Petrified Forest; unidentified landscapes; and the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Extent:
148 photographs in 4 boxes : lantern slides and color transparencies
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

The Harold A. Parker Studio Collection of Lantern Slides and Transparencies consists of 96 hand-colored lantern slides and autochrome lantern slides and 52 2 x 2 in. color transparencies (copies of earlier hand-colored photographs), ca. 1900-1930, depicting, for the most part, unidentified houses, landscapes, plants and gardens in and around Pasadena; the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena; aerial views, presumably of Pasadena; mountain lakes and landscapes; desert landscapes and flora; the Grand Canyon, Pueblo ruins, and the Petrified Forest; unidentified landscapes; and the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Many of the unidentified landscape images may depict Lake Tahoe and its environs.

The collection does not contain any of Parker's Tournament of Roses photographs.

It is not known whether Harold Parker traveled to San Francisco after the earthquake, and thus the attribution of the transparencies is questionable.

Biographical / historical:

Harold A. Parker (1878-1930) was born in Iowa and immigrated to Pasadena, California, with his parents in 1892 at the age of 14. He became interested in photography at an early age, and began working professionally in 1900. He opened his Pasadena studio in 1904 and operated it until his death in 1930 at the age of 52. Parker also operated a studio in the Tahoe Tavern at Lake Tahoe between 1908 and 1910, where he produced a number of images of the Tavern, Lake Tahoe, and the surrounding areas. Parker was noted for his photographs of California, especially his images of the California Missions and the Tournament of Roses parades; he was also responsible for the earliest aerial images of Pasadena. A commercial photographer, Parker worked as a contract photographer for the Pasadena Star-News Tournament of Roses edition, and took pictures of civic and social organizations, local retailers, and private individuals who commissioned him to record their gatherings, buildings, and various rites of passage.

After Parker's death in 1930, the studio was operated by his wife, Marjorie. Sometime in the 1930s, Dickson and Thurber Studios purchased the business and operated it until shortly after World War II when it was subsequently purchased by Lee and Mac. J. Allen Hawkins, who had worked for Parker as a teenager, purchased approximately 35,000 glass plates and negatives from Lee and Mac and moved them to his studio on North Lake Avenue, Pasadena. They were stored there until construction began for the 210 Freeway, when a large number were destroyed. Hawkins sold the remainder to a movie photographer who later gave them to Donald Parker, Harold Parker's son.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Roy Dickson in 1999.
Arrangement:

The images are arranged first by format into two series:

  • Lantern slides and autochromes
  • Color transparencies

Within each series, items are arranged by subject beginning with identifiable images of Pasadena followed by images of mountain landscapes, desert landscapes, sites outside of California, and unidentified and miscellaneous images.

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Advance arrangements for viewing the collection must be made with the Curator of Photographs. The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please visit the Huntington's website: www.huntington.org.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2129
reference@huntington.org
Website