Lonnie H. Wilson photograph archive, approximately 1950-1985

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Summary

Creators:
Wilson, Lonnie H., 1917-1988 and Tribune Publishing Company (Oakland, Calif.)
Abstract:
Documentary photography by photojournalist Lonnie Wilson, chiefly comprising news negatives from Oakland, Berkeley, and other locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Extent:
115,000 photographs 100 boxes (approximately 115,000 items, chiefly negatives and 300 photographic prints)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Lonnie H. Wilson photograph archive, BANC PIC 1992.029, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Background

Scope and content:

Documentary photography by photojournalist Lonnie Wilson, chiefly comprising news negatives from Oakland, Berkeley, and other locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, arranged by year and month of assignment. Subjects include: accidents, crime, local events, politics, schools, sports, fashion, parades, labor strikes, protests and student activism of the Vietnam War era, and other images recording local news. Also present are negatives taken beyond the scope of Wilson's Oakland Tribune work, such as Parade Magazine news and human interest stories, work for or about the Oakland Department of Parks and Recreation, Republican Party images (in particular, the William F. Knowland campaign and bus tour of 1958), both the Democratic and Republican national conventions of 1960, and apparent freelance work for Perma Bilt Homes Inc. promoting suburban housing developments. In addition, there are photographs apparently shot out of personal interest, including woodworking images, family and friends, some travels, and other subjects.

While most images are black and white negatives, there are some 35mm color slides. There is a miscellany of large format photographic prints, including Oakland mud flats, Children's Fairyland, children petting animals, famous people, and other assorted subjects.

Biographical / historical:

Paraphrase from Wilson's obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle, Saturday, October 15, 1988: Lonnie Wilson, an award-winning photographer for the Oakland Tribune for 47 years, died October 14, 1988. He was 71. A native of Georgia's Henry County, Mr. Wilson joined the Tribune in 1940 after working as a wire photo operator for Associated Press. When he retired in January 1988, he had long been chief photographer for the Tribune. "Lonnie Wilson was an indefatigable warrior, an inspiration to his colleagues," said Robert C. Maynard, editor and president of the Tribune. "The work and presence of this great veteran will be sorely missed." Mr. Wilson grew up in Atlanta and attended the Georgia Evening School of Technology. After joining the Tribune, he was drafted into the Army in 1941. He served as a photographer for Yank magazine, traveling to Guadalcanal, Fiji, Okinawa, Samoa and other areas in World War II. During his career, he won awards from the National Press Photographers Association, San Francisco Press Club, California Press Photographers and numerous other groups.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mrs. Lonnie H. Wilson.
Processing information:

Processed by Bancroft Library staff in 2014-2020 and 2023.

Sleeve (or news story / job) descriptions are transcribed from very cursory notes made by the photographer on paper sleeves containing negatives. These notes are often illegible and contain many abbreviations. Little attempt has been made by the library to interpret or expand upon these annotations.

Note that there are 93 negative boxes (NEG boxes), but they are nnumbered 1 through 85, with some numbers having been split into multiple boxes such as 29a, 29b, etc.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Physical facet:
: chiefly b, some color
Dimensions:
; various sizes
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Access and use

Restrictions:

NEGATIVES and SLIDES: RESTRICTED. Available for use by appointment only. Inquiries should be submitted to Bancroft Reference via the Reference Inquiry form.

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS: UNPROCESSED. UNAVAILABLE FOR USE. Inquiries regarding these materials should be submitted to The Bancroft Library via the Notice of Interest in Unprocessed Collections form.

Terms of access:

Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Lonnie H. Wilson photograph archive, BANC PIC 1992.029, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
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