Los Angeles Times records, 1869-2002

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Summary

Creators:
Los Angeles Times (Firm)
Abstract:
Originally maintained as the Los Angeles Times History Center, the Los Angeles Times Records contains documents and objects related to the business life of the Los Angeles Times and its owners - both corporate and personal.
Extent:
1,209 Linear Feet (802 boxes, 68 volumes, 2 oversize folders)
Language:
The records are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Los Angeles Times records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Originally maintained as the Los Angeles Times History Center, the Los Angeles Times Records contains documents and objects related to the business life of the Los Angeles Times and its owners - both corporate and personal. Every attempt was made to retain the organization created by the History Center. The business material is roughly organized by Times department; research material collected by the History Center to document the Times and the Otis/Chandler families is organized by subject. The records include accounting forms, legal documents, correspondence, directories, memoranda, reprints of articles, supplements to the newspaper, manuscripts, oral history transcripts, ephemera, newspaper clippings, and objects. The collection does not contain a complete run of the employee magazine Among Ourselves, however, there may be scattered issues throughout employee files.

The collection includes a significant amount of audio-visual material, including photographs, film, and audio tapes. There is also a small sampling of printed newspapers.

Biographical / historical:

The Los Angeles Times was first published on December 4, 1881, under the name Los Angeles Daily Times. When the original founders ran into financial problems the following year, the fledgling paper was inherited by its printer, the Mirror Printing Office and Book Bindery. The company hired as editor former military officer Harrison Gray Otis, who quickly turned the paper into a financial success. Otis and a partner purchased the entire Times and Mirror properties in 1884 and incorporated them as the Times-Mirror Company. Two years later, Otis purchased his partner's interest in the company. In October 1886, the word "Daily" was removed from the title and the newspaper became the Los Angeles Times.

As the city grew, so did The Times. However, competition among local newspapers was fierce, and it was not until the mid-1940s that The Times became the leading newspaper in Los Angeles. During its growth, the Times was owned and published by members of Harrison Gray Otis's family, including his son-in-law, Harry Chandler (publisher, 1917-1944); his grandson, Norman Chandler (1944-1960); and his great-grandson Otis Chandler (1960-1980). The Chandler family continued to own The Times until June 2000, when Tribune Company acquired Times Mirror, former parent of the Los Angeles Times.

In 2013, The Times was the largest metropolitan newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 1.5 million and 2.6 million on Sunday, more than 23 million unique latimes.com visitors monthly, and a combined print and online local weekly audience of 4.1 million.

Acquisition information:
On deposit from the Los Angeles Times, July 2003. The Huntington Library provides access to and stewardship of the collection, which is owned by the Los Angeles Times.
Custodial history:

Two Eliza A. W. Otis diaries, dated from 1860 to 1863, and a transcription of the diaries were previously in Box 555(5-7) and were on deposit. In 2018, the diaries were gifted to The Huntington by Gwendolyn Babcock and, in 2021, the diaries and transcription were removed from mssLAT and cataloged separately. See Eliza A. W. Otis diaries, 1860-1663.

Processing information:

The folders of the collection are labeled "Los Angeles Times Company Records" but the name of the collection is "Los Angeles Times Records."

Due to the symbiotic and at times complicated relationship between the Los Angeles Times and the Times Mirror Company, we have chosen not to separate the two. Items specifically from Times Mirror are labeled as such, as are items specifically from the Los Angeles Times. Also, in an attempt at consistency, we did not included the hyphen between Times and Mirror in Times Mirror Company. The hyphen was removed in the late 1960s.

Some of the items in the collection are facsimiles, collected by the History Center staff in the course of their research. In most cases, these were retained. A few institutions requested we remove the facsimiles of items from their collection. Details about these institutions can be found in the description of the appropriate series. Remaining facsimiles may not be duplicated or published.

Abbreviations used during cataloging have not been removed. The most common is LAT for "Los Angeles Times."

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 20 series, many with sub-series. Each series and sub-series follows its own arrangement, which is defined in the series description. Organized in 20 series:

  • Series 1. Accounting Department
  • Series 2. Advertising Department
  • Series 3. Business Department
  • Series 4. Circulation Department
  • Series 5. Employee Relations
  • Series 6. Legal Department
  • Series 7. Marketing Research
  • Series 8. Promotions and Public Relations
  • Series 9. Publishers
  • Series 10. Editors
  • Series 11. Reprints and Publications
  • Series 12. Awards
  • Series 13. Olympics
  • Series 14. Otis/Chandler Family
  • Series 15. Other Collections
  • Series 16. Histories and Outside Publications
  • Series 17. Reference Files
  • Series 18. Los Angeles Times History Center
  • Series 19. Los Angeles Times Addenda
  • Series 20. Kitchen, JoEllen Addenda

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Los Angeles Times records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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