Conditions Governing Access
Acquisition Information
Arrangement
Biographical / Historical
Custodial History
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Related Materials
Scope and Contents
Separated Materials
Conditions Governing Use
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Los Angeles Times records
Creator:
Los Angeles Times (Firm)
Identifier/Call Number: mssLAT
Physical Description:
1,209 Linear Feet
(802 boxes, 68 volumes, 2 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1869-2002
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.
Language of Material: The records are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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.
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
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.
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
.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Los Angeles Times records, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
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."
Related Materials
This collection contains only a reprinted copy of the first edition of the newspaper on
December 4, 1881. For the original newspaper, see:
-
Los Angeles Daily
Times, December 4, 1881,
494297.
-
Los Angeles Daily
Times, December 4, 1881 and others through June 5, 1884,
56959.
Scope and Contents
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.
Separated Materials
Duplicate copies of printed matter.
Material related to personnel matters, including resumés.
A box of records related to the Pfaffinger Foundation was returned to the Pfaffinger
Foundation in June 2013.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Newspaper publishing - California - Los Angeles
Journalism - California - Los Angeles
Demographic surveys--California--Los Angeles County
Tourism - California - Los Angeles County
Advertising departments
Sales promotion
Bombings--California--Los Angeles--History--20th century
Los Angeles (Calif.) --
Newspapers
Correspondence
Photographs
Publicity photographs
Administrative reports
Theses
Commercials
Newspapers
Magazines (periodicals)
Promotional materials
Chandler, Otis, 1927-2006
Conrad, Paul, 1924-2010
Otis, Harrison Gray,
1837-1917
Los Angeles Times (Firm)