Collection Guide
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A. C. Brown Photographs Collection
2008.162
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Title: A. C. Brown Photographs Collection
Dates: c. 1950 - c. 1980
Collection Number: 2008.162
Creator/Collector:
A. C. Brown
Extent: 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.
Online items available
Repository:
Historical Society of Long Beach
Long Beach, California 90807
Abstract: 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.
Language of Material: English
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.
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.
[Identification of item]. A. C. Brown Photographs Collection. Collection Number: 2008.162. Historical Society of Long Beach
The collection was donated to HSLB by Marilyn Stryker, A. C. Brown’s daughter, in 2008. Partial processing of the collection
and creation of this finding aid was done by HSLB staff in 2020 and 2021, thanks in part to support from the Long Beach Navy
Memorial Heritage Association.
Biography/Administrative History
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
The A. C. Brown Photographs Collection contains around 70 photographic prints and thousands of 4x5 and 2x2 photographic negatives,
all taken by commercial photographer A. C. Brown. These images consist mainly of scenes of Long Beach, CA, but also include
some neighboring areas such as Signal Hill, Seal Beach, Carson, Anaheim, and Los Angeles from the 1950s to the 1980s. Many
of the images were taken for various businesses and companies, including Shell Oil Company, Hartford Accident and Indemnity
Company, General Telephone Company of California, Kit Manufacturing Company, Allstate Insurance Company, Travelers Insurance
Company, and others. The images cover a variety of life in and around Long Beach, such as street intersections, the Pacific
Coast Club, the Long Beach Pike, construction projects, insurance claims photographs, stores and businesses, houses, events,
oil operations, beauty pageants, and more. See attached inventories for full scope of collection. The prints, which arrived
unnumbered, were identified and described by HSLB staff, while the original order of the negatives was preserved as much as
possible by using the numbers and descriptions on Brown's original sleeves.
Streets
Accidents
Businesses
Homes
Buildings
Dwellings
City Officials
Employees
Events
People
Beach
Weddings
Trailers and Mobile Homes
Insurance Photographs
Oil
Oil Operations
Construction
Beauty Pageants
Long Beach Pike
Intersections
Politicians
A. C. Brown
Austin C. Brown Jr.
Shell Oil Company
Shell Chemical Corporation
Kit Manufacturing Company
General Telephone Company (GTE)
Travelers Insurance Company
Allstate Insurance Company
American Institute of Banking
General Mills Inc.
El Bekal Shrine
Brown Brothers Adjusters
Pacific Drive In Theaters
Riley-Nelson Company
Environmental and Development Laboratories Inc.
Pacific Coast Club
Pacific Indemnity Company
Johnny Gillette Tire Company
General Insurance Company
Garland Crane Company
Farmers and Merchants Bank
Agate Club
Toplis and Harding
Long Beach Amusement Company
Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union
Culinary Alliance
Long Beach (Calif.)
Signal Hill (Calif.)
Lakewood (Calif.)
Carson (Calif.)
Los Angeles (Calif.)
Compton (Calif.)
California
Photographic Prints
Negatives
Photographs