California Travel Photograph Album MC345

Contributing Institution: University of California, Davis Library, Dept. of Special Collections

Title: California Travel Photograph Album

source: McBride Rare Books

Identifier/Call Number: MC345

Physical Description: 1 item Contemporary black cloth photograph album, string tied. Forty-four leaves, illustrated with 221 photographs in corner mounts, measuring 3.5 x 5.75 inches or slightly larger, all captioned in white ink on album leaves.

Date (inclusive): 1915-1919

Abstract: A collection of annotated vernacular images documenting the West Coast travels of a family vacationing in California and Oregon during the time of the First World War.

Physical Location: Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.

Language of Material: English .

Collection is open for research.

Purchased from McBride Rare Books, 2022.

[Identification of item], California Travel Photograph Album, MC345, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

A collection of annotated vernacular images documenting the West Coast travels of a family vacationing in California and Oregon during the time of the First World War. The men, women, and children spend the great majority of their time on the Pacific coast, mostly in or near San Francisco, at various locations such as Land's End Beach, Golden Gate Park, Ingleside Beach, Paradise Cove, Moss Beach (including a nice view of the village of Moss Beach), Mussel Rock, Oceanside Beach, and other locales. In 1918, the scene shifts further inland when the family visits Grass Valley, where almost forty images record the family in a mountain cabin, camping, and enjoying Olympic Lake. This section also includes a series of photographs featuring various subjects on horseback, such as "Bronco Jack," "Irma the Great," and "Zulu Chief 'Henry.'" The latter is dressed in traditional African attire, and it is unclear for what purpose. During the summer of 1918, the family also visits Sacramento before returning to the San Francisco Bay Area, where they spend some time in Mill Valley, take a boat past Alcatraz Prison, and visit San Francisco City Hall. There are also several images picturing the travelers while birding and camping in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, including one showing the "Natives of Oregon," which is actually just a picture of two of the Anglo children the family visited. Another image in this section shows East Portland, Oregon from the steel bridge in October 1915. The subjects in the pictures are sometimes identified by name; the dates and locations of the photos are almost always captioned.

All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.