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Historical Society of Southern California Collection -– Frank Rolfe Collection of Negatives and Photographs: Finding Aid
photCL 400 volume 12  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Related materials in the Huntington Library
  • Biographical and Historical Notes
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement
  • Index Terms

    • Overview of the Collection

    Title: Historical Society of Southern California Collection – Frank Rolfe Collection of Negatives and Photographs next hit
    Dates (inclusive): 1899-1959
    Bulk dates: 1905-1907, 1925-1932
    Collection Number: photCL 400 volume 12
    Creator: Rolfe, Frank, 1874-
    Extent: 8 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: The Rolfe collection consists of 325 previous hit photographs next hit (the majority of which are housed in two previous hit photograph next hit albums), 574 negatives, one book, and ephemera, created and collected by Los Angeles civil engineer and local history enthusiast Frank Rolfe between 1899 and 1959 that depict locations throughout California and the Western United States. Many of these were locations where Rolfe worked on various surveys, including the Los Angeles aqueduct survey. The collection comprised on portion of the Historical Society of Southern California Collection, donated to the Huntington Library in 1992.
    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

    Historical Society of Southern California Collection – Frank Rolfe Collection of Negatives and previous hit Photographs next hit . The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    Donated to the Huntington Library by the Historical Society of Southern California, 1992.
    The collection, identified by Huntington Library catalogers as "Volume 12," was received as part of the Historical Society of Southern California Collection.

    Processing Information

    Prior to 2006, volunteers rehoused the negatives and the majority of the previous hit photographs next hit . In March 2006, Sue Luftschein completed the rehousing and created this finding aid. Some items have been photocopied for preservation purposes.

    Related materials in the Huntington Library

    The sub-collections of the Historical Society of Southern California Collection (photCL 400) are individually cataloged in the Huntington Online Catalog.  

    Biographical and Historical Notes

    Biographical Note of Frank Rolfe

    Frank Rolfe was born in Gold Hill, Nevada, in 1874, where his father was working as a miner on the Comstock Lode. In 1881, the family settled on a ranch in the Temescal Valley in Riverside County, California, near what is now Corona, and in 1890, in order to further her children's education, Rolfe's mother moved herself and the children to Los Angeles; they spent winters in the city and summers on the family ranch. Rolfe graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1894, and earned a degree in geology from Stanford University in 1898. He worked on the Los Angeles aqueduct survey, and possibly on the construction of the Ludlow and Southern Railway. He was a long-time member of the Historical Society of Southern California, and authored articles on California history and geology that appeared in Historical Society publications and the Los Angeles Times in the 1930s; he was also the author of Commercial Geography of southern California, published by Biola Press, c.1915. Rolfe died in January 1967.

    Historical Note of HSSC

    Founded in 1883, the Historical Society of Southern California (HSSC) is the oldest historical society in California. As part of its mission to collect and preserve Southern California's history, the HSSC amassed a photo archive over many decades. The HSSC shifted its emphasis to programs and publications in the 1980s and, in 1992, the organization donated its photo archive to The Huntington Library.
    The Historical Society of Southern California Collection contains approximately 15,000 previous hit photographs next hit and negatives focused on Southern California from approximately 1870 to 1980. As such, it is an important visual record of the growth and history of the region. The collection represents a variety of donations made to the Society over many years. It is organized into discrete sub-collections (each with a unique "volume" number) within the overall collection, which is identified by call number photCL 400.

    Scope and Content

    The Rolfe collection consists of 325 previous hit photographs next hit (the majority of which are housed in two previous hit photograph next hit albums), 574 negatives, one book, and ephemera, created and collected by Los Angeles civil engineer and local history enthusiast Frank Rolfe between 1899 and 1959 that depict locations throughout California and the Western United States. Many of these were locations where Rolfe worked on various surveys, including the Los Angeles aqueduct survey. The majority of the previous hit photographs next hit appear to have been taken by Rolfe, but there are a few, in the previous hit photograph next hit album in Box 2, credited to Charles J. Prudhomme.
    The collection begins with Rolfe's previous hit photographs next hit of the initial Los Angeles aqueduct survey, the majority of which are housed in an album. These previous hit photographs next hit depict Owens Valley and Black Rock Springs. The collection also contains a published work on the aqueduct.
    A second album contains previous hit photographs next hit taken primarily by Rolfe; these are previous hit photographs next hit of Los Angeles (central Los Angeles and neighborhoods where Rolfe and his wife lived); the San Gabriel Valley and other locations in Los Angeles County (Devil's Gate Dam, the San Gabriel Mountains, the St. Francis Dam and San Francisquito Canyon); San Bernardino County (the San Bernardino Mountains, Big Bear Lake); Riverside County (the Coachella Valley, Tahquitz Canyon, the Temescal Valley, Riverside, the San Jacinto Mountains); Kern County; and commercially produced images of Yosemite.
    Boxes 3 and 4 contain negatives depicting street scenes in central Los Angeles, including the wrecking of the Temple Block, the Amestoy Block, the Hall of Records, and Bunker Hill. Also included are views of the West Adams neighborhood; houses where Rolfe and his wife lived in the 1920s and 30s; the snowstorm of 1932; and the 1920 Inglewood earthquake. The collection also includes images of Hollywood and vicinity (including a number of previous hit photographs next hit of the Mulholland Dam and images of Brentwood and Bel Air); Santa Monica (including the Santa Monica Mountains and Decker Canyon); Santa Catalina Island; north Los Angeles County (including the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, the ruins of the Saint Francis Dam and San Francisquito Canyon, and the "golden spike" celebration at Lang); the San Gabriel Valley (including many views of the San Gabriel Mountains); Orange County (including Modjeska's home, Santiago Canyon, San Juan Capistrano, the Puente hills, and Santa Ana Canyon); San Diego County; San Bernardino County (including a number of previous hit photographs next hit of mining camps, including Ivanpah and Camp Roach; construction of the Ludlow and Southern Railway; and mining operations, such as the Bagdad Chase Mine and the Bagdad Mining and Milling Company); Riverside County (including the Temescal Tin Mine, Temescal and the Temescal Valley, Hog Lake, the San Jacinto River, Mount San Jacinto, and Idyllwild); Ventura County; Kern County (images of the Kern River); Inyo County; Yosemite; northern California (including Stanford University and Susie Lake); Nevada (Truckee River dam projects); Oregon; Washington; Utah; Glacier Park, Montana; people (Rolfe, his family and friends); and miscellaneous previous hit photographs next hit (a number of desert views, mostly Southern California).
    The collection also contains commercial previous hit photographs next hit of the Rolfe family, many in carte-de-visite format. These were produced by California photographers Bradley and Rulofson, Ellis and Son, Frank G. Schumacher, George Steckel, Carleton Watkins, Michael A. Wesner, and James D. Westervelt, as well as A.J. Beals and Sutterly and Company (Nevada), A.F. Burnham (Faribault, Minnesota), E. Balch (New York City), Charles C. Hartwell (Maine), and Hart's Arcade Photographic Gallery (Watertown, NY).
    The ephemerial materials consist of a letter written in 1862 from Sutter Creek by Rolfe's father Ovid to his brother Alfred in Dorchester, Massachusetts; biographical sketches of members of the Rolfe family; clippings compiled by Rolfe; Rolfe's high school and college diplomas; card files on Rolfe family history, covered wagons in Los Angeles, and Temescal history; and negative books.
    Some previous hit photographs next hit exist in duplicate. The majority of the negatives are unprinted. Some negatives have deteriorated or are damaged. Original negatives exist for 15 of the previous hit photographs next hit in the second album; 2 copy negatives exist of previous hit photographs next hit in the first album.

    Arrangement

    The collection begins with the two previous hit photograph next hit albums. These are followed by the negatives, which are arranged in geographic order, beginning with Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. Rolfe family previous hit photographs next hit and the ephemeral materials can be found at the end of the collection.
    The negatives were originally housed in negative books; these contain itemized lists of Rolfe's original notations and can be found in Box 8.

    Index Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    Persons:

    Balch, E., photographer.
    Beals, A. J., b. ca. 1821
    Burnham, A. F., photographer.
    Hartwell, Charles C., photographer.
    Prudhomme, Charles J., 1854-1934.
    Schumacher, Frank G., b. 1861
    Steckel, Geo. (George), b. 1864
    Watkins, Carleton E., 1829-1916.
    Wesner, Michael A., photographer.
    Westervelt, James D., b. 1844

    Organizations:

    Bagdad Mining and Milling Co. (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Bradley and Rulofson.
    Ellis and Son (Los Angeles, Calif.), photographer.
    Hart's Arcade Photographic Gallery (Watertown, N.Y.), photographer.
    Ludlow and Southern Railway -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Mission San Juan Capistrano -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Stanford University -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Sutterly and Co. (Virginia City, Nev.), photographers.

    Places:

    Bel Air (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Big Bear Lake (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Black Rock Springs (Humboldt County, Nev.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Brentwood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Bunker Hill (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Camp Roach (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Coachella Valley (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Decker Canyon (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Devil's Gate Dam (Pasadena, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Glacier National Park (Mont.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Idyllwild (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Inyo County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Ivanpah (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Kern County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Kern River (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    La Puente (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Los Angeles (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Los Angeles aqueduct (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Modjeska Ranch (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Mulholland Dam (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Orange County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Oregon -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Owens Valley (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Riverside (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Riverside County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Saint Francis Dam (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Bernardino County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Bernardino Mountains (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Diego County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Fernando Valley (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Francisquito Canyon (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Gabriel Mountains (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Gabriel River Valley (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Jacinto Mountains (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Jacinto Peak (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Jacinto River (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Santa Ana Canyon (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Santa Catalina Island (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Santa Clarita Valley (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Santa Monica (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Santa Monica Mountains (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Santiago Canyon (Orange County, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Susie Lake (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Tahquitz Canyon (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Temescal Valley (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Truckee River Watershed (Calif. and Nev.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Utah -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Ventura County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Washington (State) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    West Adams (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Yosemite National Park (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .

    Subjects:

    Cityscapes -- California -- Los Angeles -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Earthquakes -- California -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Inglewood Earthquake, Calif., 1920 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Mines -- California -- Bagdad -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Surveying -- California -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Winter storms -- California -- Los Angeles -- previous hit Photographs next hit .

    Document Types:

    previous hit Photographs next hit .
    previous hit Photograph next hit albums.
    Portraits.
    Cartes-de-visite.
    Clippings.
    Books.
    Manuscripts.

    95 Search hits
    Clear search hits
    Collection Contents
    Container List
    Photographs and Photograph Albums [6 hits]
    Negatives [1 hit]
    Rolfe family portraits
    Ovid Rolfe photographs and ephemera [1 hit]
    Clippings and publications
    Diplomas
    Card File
    Negative Books
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