Guide to the Dorothy Reynolds photograph collection CEMA 172
Finding aid prepared by Mari Khasmanyan, 2016
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California, 93106-9010
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu; URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/special-collections
Title: Dorothy Reynolds photograph collection
Identifier/Call Number: CEMA 172
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.834 linear feet
(2 document boxes)
Date: circa 1930's-1970's
Abstract: This collections consists of two document boxes filled with 363 black and white photographs, color slides, and essays documenting
Dorothy Reynolds' travels in South and Central America. Her images illuminate the colonial and traditional architecture, and
the cultural and religious lives of locals in Mexico, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. The photographs taken and described by Reynolds
are undated, but appear to be from around the late 1930's - 1940's. Reynolds was a Bay Area based photographer and writer,
as her San Francisco address is listed on many of the captioned photographs.
The collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Processed by Mari Khasmanyan, Husna Sayedi, and Sylvia Baldwin, 2016.
Source and dates of material are unknown.
[Identification of Item], Dorothy Reynold's photograph collection, CEMA 172. Department of Special Collections, UC Santa Barbara
Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
This collections consists of two document boxes filled with 363 black and white photographs, color slides, and essays documenting
Dorothy Reynold's travels in South and Central America. Reynolds' photographs illuminate the cultural and religious lives
of locals in Mexico, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. She also depicts scenery of colonial and traditional architecture throughout
the numerous areas she traveled.
The slides in this collection include 57 images dating around the 1970s of the Mexican American Engineering Society Symposium
conference held at the Hilton Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Reynolds' essays elaborate on the context of her older photographs, listing details of her pilgrimage from Managua, Nicaragua,
the market life in Guatemalan villages, and the ancient ruins in Mexico.
Reynolds published for the Pan American Union: America's division. In July 1941, her article "Rockets, Flutes and Marching
Saints" was published in the
Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Vol 75. No.7. The article has been digitized and can be found online through Archive.org at the following link:
https://archive.org/details/bulletinofpaname7541pana
The original order of the collection has been retained.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Reynolds, Dorothy
Black-and-white photographs
Folk dancing, Mexican
Guatemala
Guatemala--Pictorial works
Mexico
Mexico--Pictorial works
Nicaragua--Pictorial works
Photographers
Photographers--United States
Photographs
Photojournalism
Pyramids--Mexico
Pátzcuaro, Lake (Mexico)--Pictorial works
Travel photography
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1-19, Box 2, Folder 1-10
Photographs circa 1930's
The photographs in this collection are arranged in the original order they were found, they were enclosed within a folder
titled, "The Empire Desk File." Many have captions by Dorothy Reynolds of the location and events occurring. Below is a summarized
container list of the contents of each folder.
Box 1, Folder 2. 12 Photographs. These photographs consist of a chapel, a cathedral in Cobán Plaza, old Maya ruins, and various
village people. There are also a few photographs of Middle Eastern village people (possibly Afghani).
Box 1, Folder 3. 9 Photographs. These photographs contain many images of various churches throughout Mexico, such as The Royal
Chapel. Other images show church columns and statues.
Box 1, Folder 4. 12 Photographs. There are many photographs in Nicaragua, such as a flower seller in a market and native Guatemalans.
Other images include photographs of nature, such as tree branches, landscapes, and Las Casas wilderness. There are a few images
of churches, such as the Santa Maria Tonantzintla church and a Nicaraguan religious gathering.
Box 1, Folder 5. 12 Photographs. These images contain photographs of churches, such as the church at the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl
Cholula and the church bells at Lake Patzcuaro, in Mexico. Other photographs include Native women weaving, landscapes, and
an Asian crowd gathered around the floor of an outside building.
Box 1, Folder 6. 11 Photographs. These photographs include images of people and objects throughout Mexico, such as: landscapes
and fishing nets at Lake Patzcuaro, churches, a temple in Copán, hieroglyphics and figures found in the jungle, villagers
in Guadalajara, Sarapas at Huejuotzingo, and a group of organizers from Mexico City.
Box 1, Folder 7. 10 Photographs. These photographs contain images of Mexican unionists, the balcony of the Palace of Cortez
in Cuernavaca, landscapes, villagers, bells, and a Latino Americanas plane. There are also two photographs of San Francisco,
California: one is an airplane view of the city and the other is Baker's Beach.
Box 1, Folder 8. 12 Photographs. These photographs contain many images of sculptures/statues, such as the Dragon Seat statue,
a ceremonial sacrifice sculpture, life-size statues, a serpent sculpture in San Juan, and various hieroglyphic sculptures.
There are also photographs of churches, such as the church of Octolan in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Box 1, Folder 9. 12 Photographs. These photographs contain various large sculptures and hieroglyphic statues, majestic churches,
and a few landscapes. The locations of these images are not stated.
Box 1, Folder 10. 11 Photographs. These photographs are vastly of majestic and domed buildings, extravagant church doors,
and hieroglyphic buildings/walls. There is also one photograph of a female worker wearing many white worker hats.
Box 1, Folder 11. 12 Photographs. These photographs consist of images of hieroglyphic walls and an inscription and portrait
of the Tepozteco stenciled on the side of a cliff in Tepoztlan. Other photographs contain village people and a landscape of
Las Casas, Mexico, an annual fiesta celebration, and natives in Guatemala at steps of a church.
Box 1, Folder 12. 13 Photographs. These photographs consist of images of people, landscapes, and churches in the Mexican cities
of Hermosillo and Cholula. Other photographs include churches and a high-arched foot-bridge in the streets of Quetzaltenango,
Guatemala. Lastly, included is a photograph of the Santa Maria volcano.
Box 1, Folder 13. 28 Photographs. These photos consist mainly of people on the streets or in scenic landscapes. Some photos
included are of a mother and her children at a festival in Yucatan, a vegetable seller in the Mexicaltzingo market in Guadalajara,
Mexico, and Huichol Indians with donkey-trains in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Box 1, Folder 14. 12 Photographs and handwritten notes. These photos consist mainly of Guatemalan locals in their daily lives.
Some images include drum and flute players in Momostenango, masked dancers at Santa Cruz Quiche, incense venders in Chichicastenango,
and Todos Santeros hiking to a fiesta at Santiago Chimaltenango.
Box 1, Folder 15. 12 Photographs. These photos continue to highlight the daily lives of locals in Guatemala. Some images included
are of the pyramid of Ome Tochtli, traveling merchants of Guatemala, the mountain village of Todos Santos, and Culebra dancers
in Santa Cruz Quiche.
Box 1, Folder 16. 12 Photographs. These photos are mainly of colonial buildings, ancient hieroglyphic walls, and locals. Some
images included are of fruit sellers in Chichicastenango market, oxcarts and locals in Oaxaca, Mexico, and the pyramid of
Ome Tochtli.
Box 1, Folder 17. 12 Photographs. These photos highlight the daily life of locals in Guatemalan markets and city centers.
Some images included are of a church at Quezaltepeque, a market at Santiago Chimaltenango, and venders in Jacaltenango.
Box 1, Folder 18. 13 Photographs. These photographs highlight the religious life in Guatemala through images of shrines, churches,
and cemeteries. Some images included are of momostecos having a costumbre in church, an image of the church of Santa Maria
Candelaria, Jacaltenango, and two crosses in a churchyard at Todos Santos.
Box 1, Folder 19. 12 Photographs. These photographs consist mainly of portraits of locals in traditional and ceremonial costumes
in the Guatemalan cities of Quetzaltenango, Momostenango, and San Juan Sacatepequez.
Box 2, Folder 1. 12 Photographs. These photographs highlight the religious life in the countryside of Guatemala. Some images
included are of two women praying at Tiger Shrine in Coban, a churchyard in San Juan, and women in costumbre in the city of
Todos Santos.
Box 2, Folder 2. 12 Photographs. These photographs are mainly of churches and locals in the countryside of Guatemala.
Box 2, Folder 3. 12 Photographs. These photographs highlight the religious lives of the Guatemalan countryside. Some images
included are of the ruins of Zaculeu, a Catholic Indian at a church in Chichicastenango, and principals of Santiago Atitlán.
Box 2, Folder 4. 11 Photographs. These photographs consists of images of locals and architecture in the streets of Antigua,
Guatemala.
Box 2, Folder 5. 11 Photographs. These photographs include images of villagers, churches, and corn crops.
Box 2, Folder 6. 11 Photographs. These photographs expose the traditional arts and culture of locals in the Oaxaca and Yucatan
region of Mexico. Included are images of pottery, traditional clothing, colonial architecture and a festival.
Box 2, Folder 7. 9 Photographs. These photographs consist of portraits of locals and colonial architecture in the capital
city, Managua in Nicaragua, as well as the two Guatemalan towns of Esquipulas and Antigua.
Box 2, Folder 8. 12 Photographs. These photographs consists of ancient Maya ruins in the Mexican cities of Quiriguá, Copán,
Tula, and Tepoztlán.
Box 2, Folder 9. 11 Photographs. These photographs consist mainly of group portraits of locals in traditional clothing. Also
included are images of a market day and the jungle scenery of the Guatemalan town, El Estor.
Box 2, Folder 10. 13 Photographs. These photographs vary in location. Some images highlight the village life surrounding Polochic
River and Lake Izabal in Guatemala. Other images document life in the Guatemalan villages of Chiché and Momostenango. Another
image highlights the village life around Lake Pátzcuaro in Mexico. Lastly, included in this folder is an image of the San
Francisco bay.
Box 2, Folder 11
Box 2, Folder 12
Patterns of Mexico - writings, notes, and photographs
Box 2, Folder 13
Box 2, Folder 14
Box 2, Folder 15