Dawn Wirth punk ephemera collection LSC.2377
Finding aid prepared by Kelly Besser, 2020.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2020 May 12.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Dawn Wirth punk ephemera collection
Creator:
Wirth, Dawn, 1960-
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2377
Physical Description:
.2 linear feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1977-2008, bulk 1977-1978
Abstract: Dawn Wirth bought her first camera in 1976, a Canon FTb, with the money she earned from working at the Hanna-Barbera animation
studio. She enrolled in a high-school photography class and began taking photos of bands. While still in high school, Wirth
captured on film, the beginnings of an underground LA punk scene. She photographed bands such as The Germs, The Screamers,
The Bags, The Mumps, The Zeros and The Weirdos in and around The Masque and The Whiskey a Go-Go in Hollywood, California.
The day of her high school graduation, Wirth took all of her savings and flew to the United Kingdom where she lived for the
next six months and took color photographs of The Clash before they came to America. Dawn Wirth's photographs have been seen
in the pages of fanzines such as
Flipside,
Sniffin' Glue and
Gen X and featured in the
Vexing: Female Voices from East LA Punk exhibition at Claremont Museum of Art and at DRKRM. Gallery in Los Angeles, California for the
Destroy All Music: The Masque and Beyond Photos from the Early LA Punk Scene 1977-1978 exhibition. The Dawn Wirth punk ephemera collection ranges in date from 1977-2008 with the bulk of the materials created
between 1977-1978 and contains The Weirdos flyers and postcards,
Punk Rock by Virginia Boston,
1988 The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion by Caroline Coon, a Blondie press kit, an issue of
New Wave News, clippings, and the documentary
Ghost on the Highway: A Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: 1
Container: 1-7
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS PROCESSED AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: Special equipment will be required for viewing. All requests to access special collections
materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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 UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Dawn Wirth, 2018.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
9992843183606533
[Identification of item], Dawn Wirth punk ephemera collection (Collection 2377). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Dawn Wirth compiled the bulk of this collection from 1977-1978 when she was a senior in high school and immediately following
her high school graduation while she was living in the United Kingdom.
Processed by Kelly Besser in 2020 March. Audiovisual material processed by Allie Whalen in 2018 October.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
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existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit
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Dawn Wirth bought her first camera in 1976, a Canon FTb, with the money she earned from working at the Hanna-Barbera animation
studio. She enrolled in a high-school photography class and began taking photos of bands. Although the photography teacher
told her that the work was "crap," she continued to follow her passion. "I was going to these punk shows; the music was exciting,
new and different. I thought that taking pictures of the bands might be a lot of fun." Dawn captured on film, the beginnings
of an underground LA punk scene.
Wirth shot, up close and in action, bands such as The Germs, The Screamers, The Bags, The Mumps, The Zeros and The Weirdos
in and around The Masque and The Whiskey a Go-Go in Hollywood, California. In addition, Dawn snapped out-of-town bands such
as Devo and Talking Heads and took color photographs of The Clash before they came to America. "I saved up all my money and
flew to the United Kingdom the day I graduated from high school and lived there for six months."
Though she shot a few things in color, black and white was her preference. Dawn states, "I was influenced at the time by Alfred
Stieglitz and George Hurrell." Dawn Wirth's photographs have been seen in the pages of fanzines such as
Flipside,
Sniffin' Glue and
Gen X. Additionally, her work was featured in the
Vexing: Female Voices from East LA Punk exhibition at Claremont Museum of Art and at DRKRM. Gallery in Los Angeles, California for the
Destroy All Music: The Masque and Beyond Photos from the Early LA Punk Scene 1977-1978 exhibition with Louis Jacinto.
Source:
http://www.drkrm.com/punk.html
Accessed 2020 March 5.
The Dawn Wirth punk ephemera collection ranges in date from 1977-2008 with the bulk of the materials created between 1977-1978.
The collection contains The Weirdos flyers and postcards,
Punk Rock by Virginia Boston,
1988 The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion by Caroline Coon, a Blondie press kit, an issue of
New Wave News, clippings, and the documentary
Ghost on the Highway: A Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club.
The collection is arranged according to the existing order of the materials.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Punk rock music
Punk rock musicians
Punk culture -- California -- 20th century
Wirth, Dawn, 1960- -- Archives