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Fritz Family Collection1996.M.1.Fritz
1996.M.1.Fritz  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Arrangement
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing Information
  • Scope and Contents

  • Contributing Institution: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California
    Title: Fritz Family Collection
    Creator: Fritz
    Creator: Fritz, Fred
    Creator: Fritz-Whiting, Louise
    Creator: Whiting, Otta
    Identifier/Call Number: 1996.M.1.Fritz
    Physical Description: 11.375 Linear Feet 4 Bankers boxes, 4 Flat boxes, 1 File box, 15 loose objects
    Date (inclusive): 1930-1980
    Abstract: The Fritz Family collection consists of photographs, papers, and artifacts left behind by three generations of the Fritz Family in Los Angeles. It is arranged at a series level. This collection is importatnt to CHSSC because it gives a glimpse into the life of Angelenos who lived in the area of Chinatwon before it was known as such, revaling hidden connections between French American and Chinese American communities in Los Angeles. French immigration was at a high during the 1850s to 1860s, making the French the fastest-growing immigrant population in L.A. at the time. Many of these immigrant French Angelenos settled east and southeast of the Pueblo Plaza. Around the same period, the Chinese immigrant communtiy also grew in response to poor conditions in China, and America's demand for cheap labor. The construction of Union Station in the 1930s destoryed the city's original Chinatown and many French boarding houses and hotels around Alameda and Aliso streets. Many Chinese-Americans moved into the old French quarter, and the area soon transformed into today's Chinatown.
    Language of Material: English , German .

    Arrangement

    This collection is arranged on a series and subseries level. It is seperated into eight (8) series: Financial records, personal records, property documents, photographs, aartifacts, clippings, ephemera, and miscellaneous. Both the Photography series and Artifacts series are arranged on a subseries level: personal and professional photographs, and household items, appliances and decuration, and assorted.
    Series I. Financial records
    Series II. Personal records
    Series III. Property documents
    Series IV. Photographs
    Subseries IV.A: Personal Subseries IV.B: Professional Series V. Artifacts
    Subseries V.A: Household Items Subseries V.B: Appliances and Decoration Subseries V.C: Assorted Series VI. Clippings
    Series VII. Ephemera
    Series VIII. Miscellaneous

    Biographical / Historical

    The Fritz Family is a French family who lived in the French Quarter of Los Angeles prior to it becoming New Chinatown. Philip Fritz was born in 1844 in Alsace, France, and immigrated to America in 1873. A few years later, he brought over his wife Louise Schnaffer and their sons. He was a carpenter and worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad, eventually reaching the position of Foreman in the S.P.'s Bridges and Buildings. Philip and Louise had three sons- Philip William, born in 1868, George C., born in 1870, and Fred Henry, born in 1872.
    He purchased the Bernard lots from Jean (Juan) Bernard, a Freach-Swiss immigrant, in 1886 for $1,050. The 411 Bernard Street home was built in 1886, and the 415 Bernard Street home was built six years later in 1892.
    The eldest son, Philip William Fritz, married and had one cild, Louise Madeleine Fritz born in 1891. Louise Fritz married three times and eventually inherited the entire Bernard property. She continued to live at the Fritz family home for the rest of her life. She lived the remainder of her life as Louise Whiting, taking her 3rd husband's last name. She died as a centenarian in 1992. Her heirs sold the Bernard properties to CHSSC in 1994.

    Conditions Governing Access

    This collection is open to researchers and to the public for access. Please contact the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California for more information.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    The Fritz Collection was passed on to the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California upon the purchase of the property located at 411 and 415 Bernard Street in Los Angeles in 1994.

    Preferred Citation

    [Item], Fritz Collection, Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.

    Processing Information

    The Chinese Historical Society of Southern California purchased the Fritz Family Property located at 411 and 415 Bernard Street in Los Angeles in 1994, and inherited the Fritz Family Collection.
    As part of the CHSSC Archive's mission to pursue, preserve, and communicate knowledge of the history of Chinese Americans in Southern California, the Fritz Collection serves as a valuable addition for future resesarchers, scholars, and community members who are intersted in the historical transition of New Chinatown and some of the original French immigrants in this area. In addition, this collection serves as a backbone for CHSSC's own history, where these properties are now our main headquarters.
    Kristy Phan primarily processed the collection circa 2017, with the starting point of categorizing the items into loose groups that eventually became our series headings. She developed 8 series and placed most materials into numbered folders inside the boxes where they were originally found. Intern, Amanda Galvez, continued processing the collection in 2021, to complete the series and subseries organization by creating more numbered folders and processing two boxes of materials previously labeled "uncategorized." With Collections Manager, Coryn Hardison's help, we decided to move two photographs from this box into Box 5, where all the other photographs are stored, as well as moved a small chalkboard into Box 8, where other artifacts are stored.
    Once all the materials were identified, the boxes underwent a labeling and numbering process, and were moved accordingly. Many of the documents are housed in their original order, which is important to the integrity of the collection.

    Scope and Contents

    This collection includes photographs, artifacts, newspaper and magazine clippings, maps, letters, and other ephemera from the Fritz Family. There is a large amount of documents revolving around the Los Angeles Fritz property including papers on construction, renovation, expenses, and reports; and other financial documents personal to the family inclduing taxes, expenses, and employment records. Three-dimensional objects found inside the Fritz household or used as decoration are also included. Personal medical, administrative, and education records, as well as Otta Whiting's masonic materials, and personal correspondences are also a part of the collection.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Employment
    Cost and standard of living
    Income tax deductions for taxes
    Medical records
    Education
    Correspondence
    Social security records
    Freemasonry
    Property
    Construction
    Chinatowns
    Buildings- repair and reconstruction
    Renovation (architecture)
    Photographs
    Family vacations
    Family
    Landscapes
    Nature
    Firemen
    Dwellings- maintenance and repair
    Garden tools
    Home furnishings
    Household appliances
    Decoration
    Notebooks
    Clippings
    Newspapers
    Los Angeles (Calif.)- Newspapers
    Death notices
    Newspapers- sections, columns, etc.- Front pages
    Maps
    Roads- California- Los Angeles Metropolitan Area- Maps
    Historical geography- maps, Los Angeles (Calif.)- maps
    Business cards
    Voting- United States
    Membership cards
    Bank notes
    Textbooks
    German language