Terminal Island/Port of Los Angeles Collection, 1938-December 1947

Collection context

Summary

Abstract:
This collection contains of over 400 black-and-white negatives and photographic prints of Terminal Island, Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, Port Hueneme, and Catalina Island, taken between 1938 and 1947. Photographs include businesses, residences, airports, warehouses, coastlines, railroads, and neighborhoods.
Extent:
5 boxes 3 boxes of photographic negatives, 2 boxes of photographic prints and 2.42 Linear Feet
Language:
English and Collection material is in English.
Preferred citation:

[title of item] Terminal Island/Port of Los Angeles Collection, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. University Library. California State University, Dominguez Hills

Background

Scope and content:

The Terminal Island/Port of Los Angeles collection (1938-1947) contains over 400 black-and-white negatives and photographic prints of Terminal Island, Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, Catalina Island, Cerritos Channel and Port Hueneme, California. The bulk of the negatives are of Terminal Island taken between March-April 1942, just weeks after the citizens were removed as a result of Executive Order 9066 and before the entire area was demolished. Despite the beginnings of some overgrown foliage, the residences appear as they were when the settlement was evacuated. In front of each dwelling is a sign that states "East San Pedro Tract." Other images in the collection include roads, local businesses, residences, buildings, warehouses, aerials, and other additional photos. Notable photos include the Union Pacific Railroad near the Cerritos Channel, the Catalina Airport, the Oxnard Cannery, and the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation, and the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation.

Biographical / historical:

About 3,500 Japanese Americans lived on Terminal Island before World War II, in a community called East San Pedro. In 1942, the island's residents were forcibly removed from their residences by the United States government and relocated to incarceration camps. Their neighborhoods on Terminal Island were destroyed. This was the first incarceration of a Japanese American community during World War II in the United States.

Processing information:

This collection was processed by Kathryn Brunet, 2019.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred citation:

[title of item] Terminal Island/Port of Los Angeles Collection, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. University Library. California State University, Dominguez Hills

Location of this collection:
University Library, 5th Flr (5039)
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, CA 90747, US
Contact:
(310) 243-3895