Guide to the Harry Fryman Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Harry Fryman Collection
Creator:
Fryman, Harry, 1876-1946
Identifier/Call Number: URB.HFC
Extent:
0.42 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1880-1947
Abstract: The
Harry Fryman
Collection
documents Fryman's work in the early 20
th
century hospitality industry through maps, receipts, and photographs related to Los Angeles
hotels and cafes. Both his work as a Southern California land developer and the role of
Fryman Ranch in silent film production are documented through photographs and
advertisements.
Language of Material: English
Biographical Information:
Harry C. Fryman (1876-1946) was born in Ohio and moved to Los Angeles in 1893. He began his
career in the local hotel business as a bellboy at the Mount Lowe Hotel, but eventually
worked his way up to manager. After working at Mount Lowe Hotel, he managed Hollenbeck Café,
Hotel Vincent (later Hotel Palms), Gordon Arms Hotel (later Brighton Beach Hotel at Terminal
Island), Van Nuys Hotel on Broadway, and the Lankershim Hotel. He married Mae A. Fox in
1900. In 1905 he constructed Hotel Hayward at the former location of the original Ralph's
grocery store, at 6th and Spring in downtown Los Angeles. Its early success led to the
building of additions in the late 1910s and mid 1920s. His Wagener nephews worked with him,
with Russell H. Wagener managing Hotel Hayward for a number of years.
In addition to his work in the hospitality industry, he was also engaged with Los Angeles
land developments, including Commonweath Home Builders (Watts), Cudahy Walnut Land Company
(Huntington Park), Washington Square Land Company, Sunnybrook Land Company (adjacent to
Culver City), as well as developments in Lytle Creek, Calabasas, and Briarcliff Manor in
Studio City near Laurel Canyon and Mulholland. He was civically engaged, and served as a
member and in leadership roles for a number of organizations, including the Civil Service
Commission and the Police Commission. He retired in 1943 after selling the Hayward
Hotel.
Scope and Contents
Harry C. Fryman rose to prominence through his work in the Los Angeles hospitality
industry, first as a bellboy, then as hotel manager, and finally as owner of Hotel Hayward.
The
Harry Fryman Collection documents Hotel Hayward through
press clippings, photographs, promotional ephemera, and a small number of financial
documents. Correspondence, menus, and promotional ephemera document his time before Hotel
Hayward at the Echo Mountain House at Mount Lowe, Palms Hotel, Hotel Vincent, and Brighton
Beach Hotel at Terminal Island.
Parallel to his success at Hotel Hayward, Fryman managed and invested in a number of real
estate ventures in the metropolitan Los Angeles area. Fryman Ranch, located in the area near
Laurel Canyon and Mulholland Drive, was often rented as a location for silent films.
Photographs that depict filming in the Fryman Ranch area include production stills for The
Tower of Lies (1925), Annie Laurie (1927), The Enemy (1927), The Cossacks (1928), and an
unidentified western. Actors include Bill Haines, Lillian Gish, Ralph Forbes, Norma Shearer,
John Gilbert, Renee Adoree, Nils Asther, and Lon Chaney.
In the late 1930s Fryman began developing land in the area of Fryman Ranch, subdividing
the property into Briarcliff Manor and Briarcrest. Beverly Crest Realty Company managed the
subdivision comprised of land formerly owned by the Lankershim Ranch, Land and Water
Company, and originally part of the Spanish Rancho Mission de San Fernando. Newspaper
advertisements billed Briarcliff Manor as the "Beverly Hills of the Valley," and a number of
prominent film production and local community members purchased lots and built homes in the
real estate development. Photographs and newspaper advertisements document the development
of Briarcliff real estate.
Collection materials were removed from a scrapbook assembled posthumously, and the loose
original thematic and chronological order was echoed in this arrangement.
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Lynette Berg Robe. 12/15/2017.
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
Mallory Furnier, 2018
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ephemera
Maps
Documents
Photographs
Box 1, Folder 1
Fryman, Harry Photographs and Biographical Clippings,
ca. 1880-1945
Box 1, Folder 2
Fryman, Harry, Family, and Friends Photographs,
ca. 1900-1935
Box 1, Folder 3
Hotel Correspondence, Ephemera, and Photographs,
1897-1901
Box 1, Folder 4
Fryman, Harry Community Leadership Ephemera and Photographs,
ca. 1932-1935
Box 1, Folder 5
Landscapes [Fryman Ranch] and Harry Fryman Photographs,
ca. 1928-1938
Box 1, Folder 6
Hotel Hayward Clippings, Ephemera, and Photographs,
ca. 1905-1932
Box 1, Folder 7
Fryman Ranch Deed, Photographs, Production Stills, and Rental
Agreement,
1925-1939
Box 1, Folder 8
Briarcliff Manor and Briarcrest Development Clippings, Loan Document, Maps, and
Photographs,
ca. 1931-1942
Box 1, Folder 9
Fryman, Harry and John Wagener Obituaries,
1927, 1946-1947
Box 1, Folder 10
Briarcliff Manor Clippings and Photographs,
ca. 1939-1941
Box 1, Folder 11
Briarcliff Manor Clippings and Photographs,
ca. 1939-1941
Box 1, Folder 12
Briarcliff Manor Clippings and Photographs,
ca. 1941-1943
