Early Los Angeles photograph album, ca. 1925

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Summary

Title:
Photograph album of early Los Angeles
Dates:
ca. 1925
Creators:
Forbes, A. S. C., Mrs.
Abstract:
Album belonging to Mrs. A.S.C. Forbes of Los Angeles, containing 87 black & white photographs documenting the early history and development of the city of Los Angeles.
Extent:
1 album (87 photographic prints) : b&w, albumen ; 21 x 30 cm (album)
Language:
Finding aid is written in English. and Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Photograph album of early Los Angeles (Collection 94/57). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Background

Scope and content:

The photos are copies, printed by the Graham Photo Co. possibly ca. 1920, of historic photographs taken between ca. 1873 and 1919, principally of buildings, homes, churches, schools and colleges, streets, and parks in early Los Angeles. Many of the photos are views of early downtown Los Angeles from Broadway, Grand, Spring, Figueroa, Hope, and Temple Streets, and include automobiles, horse carriages, bicyclists, and trolley cars. Several feature the Post Office, City Hall, and the Van Nuys building. There are also photos of the old YMCA Annex, the railroad station at 5th Street, First Congregational Church at 3rd and Hill, St. Vincent's College (later part of Loyola Marymount University), Ellis College, Los Angeles Orphan Asylum, Sawtelle Veterans Home (Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers), designed by Sanford White, the Times Building, and the Hodau Hotel at First and Spring. Also included are photos of various private residences, such as the homes of reformer and women's club pioneer Mrs. Caroline Severance (founder of the Friday Morning Club of Los Angeles, and in whose honor the Severance Club of Los Angeles was named), Capt. Erskine Cameron Thom (politician, mayor of Los Angeles, and developer of the city of Glendale, California), Los Angeles banker Irving H. Hellman, and California governor John Gately Downey; as well as historic photos of early Californians, such as wealthy Los Angeles landowner Mrs. Arcadia Bandini Stearns Baker, whose second husband, Col. Robert S. Baker, was a co-founder of Santa Monica. Several views document early parks in Los Angeles: East Lake, Central, and Hollenbeck Parks, and there are shots of elegant homes on Chester Place, and bicyclists on unpaved dusty Pico Boulevard and Western Ave. Scenes of surrounding areas include the Chinese cemetery in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, the Venice canals, and Ocean Boulevard in Santa Monica, and farther afield, yacht racing in La Jolla, rabbit drives in Fresno County, and the Ebell Club in Long Beach. Mrs. Forbes also included in the album photographs that she may have used in her books on California history and landmarks, with subjects such as the old capital at Monterey where Fremont was elected U.S. Senator; first home of Leland Stanford in California, in Placer; the Governor's Palace in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Mission St. Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Arizona. There are also photos of four paintings related to California history: Commodore Sloat's taking possession of California at Monterey, July 7, 1846; raising of the American flag at Sutter's Fort, July 11, 1846; and views of Rancho de la Laguna; and San Luis Obispo County. Laid in is one photo, dated May 1906, of the printing offices of Wilshire's magazine, a well-known socialist journal founded by millionaire socialist Gaylord Wilshire.

Biographical / historical:

California historian, author, and civic leader. Mrs. Armitage S.C. Forbes (1861-1951), born Harrie Rebecca Piper Smith, was a major leader in the preservation of California historical sites in the 1930s, namely the Campo de Cahuenga site. She was instrumental in identifying the historic road linking the 21 California missions, and determining its name--El Camino Real--and also designed and cast in her own foundry the first bells used to mark the historic highway; she was known as the "Bell Lady," and "America's First Woman Bell Maker." Her books include California Missions and Landmarks: El Camino Real (1903), and Mission Tales in the Days of the Dons (1909).

Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.
Physical facet:

Photographs (20 x 26 cm) are canvas-backed; photographed captions along lower edge of photo, usually with date; most include photographer's name, "Graham Photo Co" and stock number; verso of each photograph numbered in ms. and signed "Forbes", with one photo signed "Wills Forbes."

Bound in black grained leather album, secured with two large screw fasteners; owner's name and address gold-stamped on front cover: "Mrs. A.S.C. Forbes, 335 W. 31 St., Los Angeles"; manufacturer's label of Piltzer Mfg. Co. of Los Angeles on inside back cover; illustrated bookplate of Mrs. Forbes on inside front cover, signed by her.

Spec. Coll. copy: in modern beige clamshell box, with spine title "Los Angeles Photographs."

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Jane Carpenter with assistance from Simon Elliott; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
Date Prepared:
© 2013
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid derived from MARC record, encoding added via Notetab Pro. Date of source: 2013 . Supplementary encoding and revision by Caroline Cubé.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. 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 UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Photograph album of early Los Angeles (Collection 94/57). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website