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Lemus Photograph Collection
P-279
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Title: Lemus Photograph Collection
Dates: 1919-1941
Collection Number: P-279
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 1/2 letter; 1 ov folder
Repository:
Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles, California 90007-4057
Abstract: Photograph copy prints of some of the residents of Simons Brick Company in Montebello, California, including group portraits
of the musicians. One copy print of a panoramic group portrait of workers at Murphy Ranch in Whittier, California. circa
1919 - 1941, undated
Language of Material: English
Research is by appointment only
Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder
Lemus Photograph Collection. Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Biography/Administrative History
Simons Brick Company had a well-publicized plant in present-day Montebello, California, from 1905 to 1952. Their common red
bricks were used to construct many well-known extant structures, including the original 1913 building of the Natural History
Museum and UCLA's Royce Hall. Known as plant number three, it operated as a company town, whereby workers and their families
lived on site. The town, Simons, had a school, post office, stores, restaurants, and cultural outlets, such as musical groups.
The donor's father was employed there for a time, as well as at a citrus farm, Murphy Ranch, in nearby Whittier, California.
Scope and Content of Collection
Photograph copy prints of some of the residents of Simons Brick Company in Montebello, California, including group portraits
of the musicians. One copy print of a panoramic group portrait of workers at Murphy Ranch in Whittier, California. circa
1919 - 1941, undated
Mexican American agricultural laborers--Pictorial works.
Simons Brick Company
Murphy Ranch
Montebello (Calif.)
Whittier (Calif.)