WPA Transcriptions and Translations of Los Angeles City Archives Records

Clay Stalls
William H. Hannon Library
Loyola Marymount University
One LMU Drive, MS 8200
Los Angeles, CA 90045-8200
Phone: (310) 338-5710
Fax: (310) 338-5895
Email: special.collections@lmu.edu
URL: http://library.lmu.edu/
© 2012
Loyola Marymount University. All rights reserved.

WPA Transcriptions and Translations of Los Angeles City Archives Records

Collection number: CSLA-25

William H. Hannon Library

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, California
Processed by:
Clay Stalls
Date Completed:
2002 or 2003
Encoded by:
Clay Stalls
© 2013 Loyola Marymount University. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: WPA Transcriptions and Translations of Los Angeles City Archives Records
Dates: 1825-1850 (of the originals)
Collection number: CSLA-25
Collector: Morrison, Carroll
Collector: Morrison, Lorrin
Collection Size: 5 archival boxes
Repository: Loyola Marymount University. Library. Department of Archives and Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90045-2659
Abstract: This collection consists of transcriptions and translations of registers of Spanish-language legal documents from Los Angeles under the rule of Mexico, such as the Libro de resoluciones [y] de conciliaciones. This work of transcription and translation was project C-6975 of the Federal Works Progress Administration and was carried out from 1937 through 1938.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English Spanish

Access

Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount University.

Publication Rights

Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Series number, Box and Folder number, WPA Transcriptions and Translations of Los Angeles City Archives Records, CSLA-25, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Carroll Morrison, with Michael Engh, S.J., the intermediary. Accession number: 2002.83

Scope and Content of Collection

This collection consists of transcriptions and translations of registers of Spanish-language legal documents from Los Angeles under the rule of Mexico, such as the Libro de resoluciones [y] de conciliaciones. This work of transcription and translation was project C-6975 of the Federal Works Progress Administration and was carried out from 1937 through 1938. The CSLA Research Collection lacks the complete run of transcriptions and translations produced by this WPA project. Volumes of transcriptions in our holdings have a companion volume of translations, except for volume 1, which contains only translations of original documents. Volumes, whether of translations or transcriptions, consist of unbound carbon copies of typed sheets. Pages are unnumbered, and the number of pages for each volume is uncertain but probably averages around one thousand. Trappings of an apparatus criticus of a critical edition provide the modern orthography of words spelled in the Spanish of mid-nineteenth century Los Angeles, in brackets next to the word in the transcriptions. Reproduced in the transcriptions are the numerous abbreviated words found in the original registers (abbreviations were the normal notarial practice of the day); the full spelling of these words is provided in brackets next to their abbreviated form.
The titles for the volumes listed below are taken from those assigned by Caroll Morrison, who donated these materials to the CSLA Research Collection; she and her husband Lorrin Morrsion had collected them. Michael Engh, S. J., served as the intermediary for this transfer to LMU. Names of note found in these volumes include Andres and Pío Pico, Alexander Dunn, Agustín Machado, José and Juan Sepulveda, Abel Stearns, Benjamin Hayes, and Antonio Ignacio Avila.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in five boxes:
  • BOX 1:

    Volume A. Transcriptions. Dates: 1825-1850. This volume contains testimonies rendered before public officials and some letters to the latter. No indices; for which see Volume A. Translations.
  • BOX 2:

    Volume A. Translations. First and Second Courts of the City of [LA]. Dates: 1825-1850. With index of names and index of ranches, missions, pueblos, and vessels for both Transcriptions and Translations.
  • BOX 3

    Volume 1. Translations. Dates: 1833-1849. This volume consists of rulings on petitions submitted to city officials, letters to the same, and proclamations of United States military officers. With index of names and index of ranches.
  • BOX 4:

    Volume 2. Transcriptions. Dates: 1840-1850. This volume contains petitions, rulings, testimonies, letters, lists of shipping goods, proclamations of United States military officers. No indices; for which see Volume 2. Translations.
  • BOX 5:

    Volume 2. Translations. Dates: 1840-1850. With index of names, and index of pueblos, ranches, and vessels for both Transcriptions and Translations.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Legal documents -- California -- Los Angeles -- Translations into English
Law -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
California -- History -- To 1846 -- Sources
California -- History -- 1846-1850 -- Sources