Negatives (4x5 and 2x2) and photographic prints (mostly 8.5x11) taken by commercial photographer A. C. Brown, showing images of Long Beach, California and surrounding areas from the 1950s to the 1980s. With a few exceptions, the images are mostly in black and white.

A. C. Brown, full name Austin C. Brown Jr., was a commercial photographer located in Long Beach, California. Brown was born in Sacramento and grew up in Los Angeles. His father was a landscape artist. His parents separated when he was about two years old, and Brown had an assortment of stepmothers growing up. In the 1930s, Brown worked as an assistant for Dick Whittington Photography, the largest commercial firm in Los Angeles. During the Second World War, Brown was a photographer in the Signal Corps. In 1947, Brown joined the studio of commercial photographer Lawrence Inman in Long Beach, and worked there for six years before he started his own studio. In the 1940s, Brown became a photographer for the Pacific Coast Club, photographing parties and other activities at the PCC. Other clients Brown worked for included insurance companies, attorneys, the Shell Oil Company, the City of Signal Hill, the Lakewood Country Club, and various businesses and individuals. HSLB volunteers, Zona Gale Forbes and Dr. Kaye Briegel, interviewed Brown on August 2, 1981 at his home at 5535 Orange Avenue, Long Beach. This interview is also available at HSLB.

Approx. 19 Boxes, 9.5 Linear Feet. Approx. 13200 negatives currently processed. Collection is approx. half processed, inventoried and available. HSLB hopes in the future to make the rest available as well.

Collection open for research. Property rights of the physical materials in the HSLB collection resides with the Historical Society of Long Beach. Users are responsible for obtaining any other applicable copyright information. To reproduce, publish, or purchase the images in this collection, please contact HSLB Staff.

Collection open for research. Users may search the attached collection inventories for images of interest. Please summit a research request to HSLB in advance to access the materials. Reproductions of images may also be purchased, contact HSLB for details.