Kenny Collection of Photographs of South Pasadena: Finding
Aid
Finding aid prepared by Sue Tyson.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2016
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Title: Kenny Collection of Photographs of South Pasadena
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1908-1937
Collection Number: photCL 281
Creator:
Kenny, Herbert J.
Extent:
799 photographs in 26 boxes: chiefly glass-plate negatives; plates chiefly 13 x 21 cm. (5 x 8 in.) and 20 x 26 cm (8 x 10
in.) + 798 later prints in 2 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains 799 photographs (chiefly glass-plate negatives, with 798 corresponding later prints) of people and
places primarily in South Pasadena, California, taken by photographer Herbert J. Kenny (1863-1956) from approximately 1908-1937.
The collection chiefly comprises studio portraits and images of people in outdoor settings; photographs also depict residences,
commercial and other buildings, and landscaping and agriculture.
Language: English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Kenny Collection of Photographs of South Pasadena, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Gift of the City of South Pasadena, 1985.
Biographical Note
Herbert J. Kenny (1863-1956) was an American photographer who owned a photography studio located at 1007 El Centro Street
in South Pasadena, California,
where he also repaired frames and retouched photographs and oil and watercolor paintings.
Scope and Content
This collection contains 799 photographs of people and places in South Pasadena, California, taken by photographer Herbert
J. Kenny (1863-1956) from approximately 1908-1937. The collection chiefly comprises studio portraits of individuals and images
of people posing in outdoor settings.
Portraits depict women; men; children and young adults; and groups, including couples, families, Boy Scouts, students, sports
teams, lodge members, and
a church congregation. Most people are unidentified, though some captions identify professions including minister or dancer,
and two photographs identify a sitter by name (Peggy Ryan, Items 405 and 406). Many of the photographs feature early twentieth
century fashion, including formal wear, various types of uniforms, graduation gowns, and other forms of dress.
The collection also includes photographs depicting residences, commercial and other buildings, and landscaping and agriculture
in and around South Pasadena, chiefly in the early 1920s.
A few photographs show house interiors, and several depict automobiles and roads. Notably, several photographs show retail
establishments holding
clearance or going-out-of-business sales (Items 62 and 79-82). There are also a few photographs showing imagery from outside
of South Pasadena and
other miscellaneous items, including beach scenes and single images of a desert home, a harbor, a driving glove, a set of
business school materials,
and a trophy and first prize ribbon from 1922. The photographs are later prints chiefly from glass-plate negatives and, to
a lesser extent, from copy film negatives; these prints were made by the Huntington photo lab between 1985 and 1989.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
Arrangement
Photographs appear to be generally arranged by photograph number, and were grouped according to general topic volunteer Jane
Apostol. The collection is arranged in the following two series:
- Series I. Later Prints
- Subseries A. Residences and views (Items 1-86, 94-105, 182-183)
- Subseries B. Portraits (87-93, 106-181, 184-778)
- Subseries C. Miscellaneous (Items 779-800)
- Series II. Glass-plate Negatives and Copy Film Negatives
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Kenny, Herbert J. -- Photographs.
Boy Scouts of America -- Photographs.
Agriculture -- California -- South Pasadena -- Photographs.
Clothing and dress -- United States -- Photographs.
Clergy -- United States -- Portraits.
Commerce -- United States -- South Pasadena -- Photographs.
Commercial buildings -- California -- South Pasadena -- Photographs.
Couples -- Portraits.
Dancers -- United States -- Portraits.
Dwellings -- California -- South Pasadena -- Photographs.
Families -- Portraits.
Gardens -- California -- South Pasadena -- Photographs.
Hotels -- California -- South Pasadena -- Photographs.
Individuals -- Portraits.
Landscape architecture -- California -- South Pasadena -- Photographs.
Landscape design -- California -- South Pasadena -- Photographs.
Men -- Portraits.
Municipal buildings -- California -- South Pasadena -- Photographs.
Photography of families -- Photographs.
Portrait photography -- United States -- 20th century.
Sports teams -- Photographs.
Women -- Portraits.
Young adults -- Portraits.
South Pasadena (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Forms/Genres
Photographs.
Portraits.
Later Prints
Scope and Content
Photographs include residences and views in and around South Pasadena; studio and outdoor
portraits of unidentified people including various groups and individuals, women, men, and
children and young adults; and a few photographs showing views outside of South Pasadena and
of miscellaneous items.
Box 1, Folders 1-4 (Items 1-86, 94-105, 182-183)
Residences and views
Physical Description: 100 photographs
Related Material
There are some additional images of unidentified residences and views in Series III.
Scope and Content Note
Includes photographs depicting residences, commercial and municipal buildings, streets, and
gardens, landscaping and agriculture in and around South Pasadena, chiefly in the 1920s.
Views of the exteriors of residences include the Adobe Flores, with several people posing near the entrance, one of whom is
an African American woman (Items 1-2); the home of Mrs.
G. W. Childs on Buena Vista Street (Item 3); the building of hand weaver LuVerne S. Reid
(Item 5); and Casa de Helecho (Items 6-7), as well as some interior views of an unidentified
home (Items 21). There are also street views, often showing road work, including an image of
construction on Pacific Electric train tracks on Huntington Drive (Item 25).
Views of the exteriors of commercial and civic buildings in South Pasadena include: the
Graham and Mohr Opera House (with the Minier Gas Heater Co. storefront) at 913-917 El Centro
Street (Items 50-51); the W.S. Adamson Co. real estate office at 1019 El Centro Street (Item
51); the Home Bank building (Item 52); the Hotel Capitola (Item 53); crowds at the Rialto
Theatre (Items 54-55); the Fair Oaks Public Market and Martin & Lane car dealership
(Item 56); the Willard Garage, advertising Hupmobile service (Item 57); the South Pasadena
Garage and Daily Record building (Items 58-59); the Harry W. Weber radio store at 1009 1/2
Fair Oaks Avenue (Item 60); the Zane Drug Company and South Pasadena Public Market
storefronts in the A.C. Ong building at Fair Oaks Avenue and Mission Street (Item 61); the
Live Hardware Co. storefront in the A.R. Graham Building on Mission Street (Item 62 and Item
82); the storefront of E.A. Merritt, Jeweler, at 1524 Mission Street (Item 63); the interior
of a tailor shop (Item 64); the Mission Hotel building under construction (Item 65);
interior and exterior views of a restaurant (Items 66-67); Turner, Stevens & Berry
undertakers building (Item 68) and funeral home (Items 69-70); the South Pasadena Library,
including a photograph of a drawing of the floorplan for an addition (Items 84-86); the
Memorial Baptist Church at El Centro and Mound Street (Items 94); and the South Pasadena City
High School (Items 95-96). In addition there are photographs featuring a salt works (Items 75-76) and a few views of storefronts
in Pasadena,
including: the James H. Kindel car dealership at 1095 Colorado Street (Items 77-78); Bagnard
Hardware at 152 East Colorado Street (Item 79); and the Rust Furniture Co. (Items
80-81).
Notably, several photographs show crowds at retail establishments holding clearance or
going-out-of-business sales, including hardware stores and the Rust Furniture Company (Items
62 and 79-82). Other single images include a sign for the
Oneonta Hills subdivision (Item 24); a desert home (Item 48); two men posing in front of a
produce truck with "N. Nishimoto" on the door (Item 71); a California Transfer and Storage
truck (Item 72); a dairy and the Arroyo Verde Springs in the Arroyo Seco (Items 73 and 74); and laborers
with a wagon loaded with orange crates (Item 83). There are also a few views of orchards,
fields, and the seacoast in unidentified locations. There are two copy images of Moxhull Hall, the residence of Henry Fisher,
in Warwickshire, England (Items 182-183).
Item 39 does not exist; the number was unintentionally skipped.
Portraits
Physical Description: 677 photographs
Scope and Content Note
Consists of portraits of various groups and individuals; men; women; children and young adults; and family groups.
Portraits are chiefly traditional studio portraits, as well as some portraits with multiple views and images taken outside.
Almost all of the sitters are unidentified; only two photographs identify their subject by name (Peggy Ryan, Items 405 and
406)
Images consist of group portraits, including Boy Scout troops and a Boy Scout band, lodge members from an
unidentified lodge, and a congregation outside a Christian church bungalow (Items 87-93);
and portraits of unidentified men (Items 106-120 and 184-322), women (Items 121-151, 323-400, and 777),
children and young adults (Items 152-156, 686-776), and families, including couples and parents with children (Items 157-179,
778). A few images depict South Pasadena High School students, including girls' and boys'
sports teams, students in costumes, and class photographs (Items 97-105).
A few photographs depict ministers (Items 106-109) and women dancers (Items 133-141). Many photographs feature various styles
of clothing, including wedding and confirmation dresses; military, housekeeper's or Red Cross uniforms; graduation gowns;
and other depictions of formal as well as informal wear. Also includes single images of a woman artist at work (Item 127),
a multi-ethnic group portrait (Item 162), an African American woman (Item 777),
and a Japanese American family (Item 778), as well as a few photographs from drawings (Items 179-181).
Box 1, Folders 4-14
Items 87-93, 106-181, 184-400
Box 2 , Folder 15 (Items 779-800)
Miscellaneous Views
Physical Description: 21 photographs
Scope and Content Note
Photographs include four views of unidentified residences (Items 779-782); wisteria (Items 787-789); a South Pasadena parade
float (Item 790);
beach scenes including beachgoers at Redondo Beach (Items 792-797); a heating driving glove invented by the father of John
Dewar (Item 798); a set of business school materials developed by South Pasadena resident Asa Bushnell Zu Tavern (Item 799);
and a trophy and first prize ribbon from 1922 (Item 800).
There is no later print for Item 791, a second image of a South Pasadena parade float.
[RESTRICTED] Glass-plate Negatives and Copy Film Negatives
Access Information
[RESTRICTED] Use later prints. Original negatives available with advance curatorial approval only.
Scope and Content Note
Twenty-six boxes chiefly containing glass-plate negatives, as well as some copy negatives.
The glass negatives in boxes 1-8 (Items 1-183) measure 20 x 25 cm (8 x 10 in.); the negatives in boxes 9-26 measure 11 x 16
cm (4.25 x 6.5 in.)
Neg. box 2
Items 24-49
Note
Item 39 does not exist; number unintentionally skipped.
Neg. box 13
Items 298-338
Items 299-322 are copy film negatives.
Neg. box 16
Items 401-441
Items 405-423 are copy film negatives.
Neg. box 26
Items 763-800
Item 791 is a copy film negative of a South Pasadena parade float with no corresponding later print.
