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UCLA Lab School records
UARC.0208
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: UCLA Lab School records
Creator:
UCLA Lab School
Identifier/Call Number: UARC.0208
Physical Description:
5.4 Linear Feet
(5 document boxes, 1 carton, 6 flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1920-1999
Abstract: Record Series 208 contains the
administrative files of the UCLA Lab School and its library, including reports, agendas and
minutes, correspondence, and materials documenting the development of the elementary
teaching program and credential. Also included are printed lesson plans and course
materials, yearbooks, and photographs and scrapbooks documenting the school and its faculty
and students.
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: Materials are in
English.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance using the request button located on this page.
Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to UCLA Library Special
Collections. The library can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the
copyright. Commercial use may require additional rights that must be determined and obtained
by the researcher. All requests for copyright permission to publish must be submitted in
writing to Library Special Collections. Credit shall be given as follows: The Regents of the
University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
[Identification of item], UCLA Lab School records (University Archives Record Series 208).
UCLA Library Special Collections, University Archives, University of California, Los
Angeles.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the UCLA Lab School, 1986, 2000, 2002.
Processed by University Archives staff, 1988; reprocessed by Lori Dedeyan, 2019.
Reprocessing included merging the contents of this record series with other records of the
UCLA Lab School, formerly contained in Record Series 596 (Administrative Files, processed in
1996), Record Series 702 (Library Administrative Files, processed in 2001), and Record
Series 728 (Scrapbooks, processed in 2002). Those record series numbers have now been
retired.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
4676105
Administrative/Biographical History
UCLA Lab School was founded in 1882, as the demonstration school of the California State
Normal School at Los Angeles. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Normal School prepared
teachers for educating the growing city. By 1914, enrollment at the Normal School had far
exceeded capacity, and the institution, along with the children's school, moved to a
Hollywood ranch off a dirt road that later became Vermont Avenue. In 1919, the regents
approved the establishment of the "Southern Branch of the University of California," a
two-year college located at the normal school. The two-year college expanded and officially
became the University of California, Los Angeles in 1927. Two years later UCLA moved to
Westwood and the children's school began leasing property owned by Los Angeles City Schools,
on Warner Avenue.
In 1929, the children's school was called University Elementary School (UES) and the
principal was Corinne A. Seeds. In 1945, the university lost its lease on the Warner Avenue
location and was told to vacate the site by the following year. From September 1946 to June
1947, UES was without a schoolhouse, but some classes continued in private homes. Supporters
of Seeds and progressive education successfully lobbied the state legislature to provide
funds to relocate the school to the UCLA campus. Wartime restrictions prevented new
building, but supporters found unused army barracks and transferred them to the Westwood
campus to be used as a temporary school facility.
The first permanent school buildings for the elementary school were completed in 1950. They
were designed by architects Robert Alexander and Richard Neutra. The architects worked
closely with Seeds and other members of the school community to create a campus that takes
advantage of the natural landscape and promotes children's movement and exploration through
the integration of indoor and outdoor space and flexible configurations of the learning
environment.
In 1982 the school was renamed the Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School. In 2009
the name was again changed to the UCLA Lab School, in order to better convey the school's
purpose as a laboratory for research and innovation in education.
Record Series 208 contains the administrative records of the UCLA Lab School and its
library, including reports, minutes, and correspondence; publications such as curricula,
yearbooks, and bulletins; and photographs and scrapbooks of the school, its classes and
students, and various events.
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1. Administrative files
- Series 2. Publications
- Series 3. Photographs and scrapbooks
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Education -- United States -- Experimental methods
Education, elementary -- California
Elementary school libraries -- California
Study and teaching (Elementary) -- United States
UCLA Lab School -- Archives