Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Oxnard Press Courier records, circa 1890-1990
MVC082
No online items
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Museum of Ventura County
Title: Oxnard Press-Courier records
Creator:
Oxnard Press-Courier (circa 1940-1994)
Identifier/Call Number: MVC082
Physical Description:
114.57 Cubic Feet
(128 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1890s-1990
Date (bulk): circa 1970-1990
Abstract: The
Oxnard Press-Courier was a newspaper located in Oxnard, California from roughly 1899-1994. The paper ceased publication in June 1994 due to stiff
competition from the
Los Angeles Times. This collection consists of the paper's morgue and negatives. A newspaper morgue is a reference collection that includes
clippings, old files, notes, and photographs kept by reporters for quick reference. Materials include clippings, photographs,
subject files, and negatives.
Physical Location: Stored off-site and advance notice required for timely retrieval. Please contact the Research Library reference desk prior
to your visit.
Language of Material:
English
.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Open for research. All requests to access materials must be made in advance by contacting the
Research Library staff via email: library@venturamuseum.org.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Museum of Ventura County. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where the museum does not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item],
Oxnard Press-Courier, (Collection MVC082), Museum of Ventura County, Research Library, Ventura, California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Kirk A. Davis (publisher); gift; 1994.
Processed by Krystell Jimenez, 2022.
Our collections are processed using MPLP methods so that we can prioritize access for users and identify potential priorities
for more detailed processing. If while using our collections you think there is something that should be added or amended
in the finding aid, we welcome your input. You can notify staff in the reading room or send us an email at library@venturamuseum.org
Be sure to include the collection number and name and the box number you were working with in your email.
The
Oxnard Press-Courier was a newspaper located in Oxnard, California. It ceased publication in the summer of 1994, ending a 95-year run. The paper
first started publication as a weekly titled the
Oxnard Courier in 1899. The paper adopted the title
Oxnard Press-Courier in 1940, following the consolidation of the
Oxnard Evening Press,
Oxnard Daily Courier, and
Oxnard News.
The paper was purchased in 1945 by George and Eva Grimes, and David Calvert and his wife. Then in 1963, the Brush-Moore Newspapers
group bought the paper. In 1967 Toronto-based Thomson Newspapers purchased the paper. Thomson owned the paper until it ceased
publication in June 1994. The paper largely closed due to pressures to secure advertising funding and competition from larger
regional papers. The
Los Angeles Times began publishing a daily Ventura County edition in 1990, which competed with the paper for readership. In 1994 the
Press-Courier was the third Ventura County paper that ceased publication due to competition with the
Los Angeles Times during that time. In fact, the Los Angeles paper reported on June 14, 1994 that "in addition to the
Press-Courier, the
Camarillo Daily News and the
Santa Paula Chronicle have ceased publishing recently, the result of what Editor and Publisher magazine calls one of the hottest newspaper wars
in the nation."
This collection consists of the Oxnard Press-Courier's morgue and negatives. A newspaper morgue is a reference collection
that includes clippings, old files, notes, and photographs kept by reporters. Prior to the widespread use of online and computerized
databases, a newspaper morgue served as a quick reference collection. A morgue may also include post-production content.
The paper's morgue consists of clippings on both persons and subjects, mugs, photographs, and subject files. Mugs here refers
to photos of people and not necessarily to a criminal mug shot. The negatives were images taken by photographers for the newspaper.
Some negatives may not be found in this collection as freelance photographers retained ownership of their work and may be
in possession of some negatives.
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: Morgue, circa 1890-1990
- Series 2: Negatives, 1982 August - 1993 July 18
The morgue portion of the collection was originally in filing cabinets. The cabinet contents are arranged in alphabetical
order. Original order has been maintained, and items in the same drawers and cabinets have been kept together. Folder labels
are either the original labels or shortened forms of the original label. Descriptive labels created by the archivist appear
in brackets "[]". There is a more detailed contents list available for certain portions of the morgue.
The negatives were originally stored in yellow boxes and labeled by year. The negatives are organized chronologically. Original
order has been maintained and negatives that were in the same boxes have been kept together. Many of the negatives have cards
attached that describe the image, what it was used for, the date it was taken, and the photographer.
A listing of envelope labels is available for the Clippings and portions of the ViewPoint, Harbor Views, and Plain Views mugs
in the
Clippings Label and
Mugs Label document.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Newspaper archives
Morgues (Newspaper libraries)
Newspapers -- California -- Ventura County
Newspapers -- California -- Oxnard
Oxnard (Calif.)
Ventura County (Calif.)
Photographs
Photography -- Negative
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Maps
Oxnard Press-Courier (circa 1940-1994) -- Records and correspondence