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Panoramic Photographs Collections
photPAN
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Collection of Panoramic Photographs
Identifier/Call Number: photPAN
Physical Description:
31.58 Linear Feet
(10 boxes,1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1851-2014; bulk
1920s-1930s
Abstract: The Huntington Library's Collection of
Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1995, depicts a wide variety of subjects and provides an
important resource for the visual history of the United States, with a particular emphasis
on California and the American West. Subjects include landscapes, group portraits, and
miscellaneous views. The collection also contains photographs by some of the better known
photographers and photographic firms of the first part of the twentieth century.
Photographers and publishers represented in the collection include Charles Z. Bailey; Bailey
and Ramsey; Bryant Studio; Bunnell Photo Shop; California Panorama Company; Bell Clements;
Fay Foto Service; R. J. Gallagher; George. R. Lawrence Company; J.D. Givens; Gordon
Panoramic Photo Company; Griffith Photo; Harris Photographic Company; Karen Halverson;
George W. Hazard; L. M. Hermance; Hiller; Hughes Photos; B. Isensee; William Henry Jackson;
Michael Kolster; I. L. Maduro; Mayhart Studio; C. R. Nock; Panorama Publishing Company;
Pettit's Studio; Photo News Service; C. C. Pierce; A.C. Pillsbury; Pillsbury Picture
Company; Prince Photo; G. H. Rice; H.H. Rideout; Sanford and Black Photo News Service;
Thompson; O.A. Tunnell; H.A. Varble; Miles F. Weaver; and West Coast Art Company.
Language of Material: English.
Advance arrangements for viewing the panoramas must be made with the Curator of
Photographs. The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through
the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
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.
Collection of Panoramic Photographs. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
This finding aid brings together information about the Huntington's panoramic photographs.
These images have been collected by or donated to the Huntington over the course of many
years. Acquired from James B. Barnes, August 1, 1947; Mark A. Chapman, November 11, 1949;
Collectors' Council, January 2003; Dawson's, April 6, 1979, September 10, 1979, and June
2013 (photPAN 120); Ben Field, March 9, 1956; Mrs. Grace M. Grafton, 1996; Barbara Greer,
January 1987; Hardy, 1946; Ernest and Elsie Heatherington, 2007; Jack Kemble, July 1987;
Robert Tyler Lee; Michael Harrison McCandless, 2002?; McLaughlin, July 13, 1946; James B.
McNair, May 5, 1956; Peter Palmquist; H.E. Roberts; Herman Smith, May 7, 1974; Paul Taylor,
September 5, 1991; Marifrances Trivelli, September 13, 2001; Julia A. Vinock.
(photPAN 113): Gift of Charles W. Staufenberg, January 2009.
(photPAN 118-119): Gift of Darryl Curran, April 2012.
(photPAN 120): Purchased from Dawson's Book Shop, June 2013.
(photPAN 121): Gift of Mrs. Helen Rice, 1996.
(photPAN 124-146): 23 panoramas, gift of Mary and Weston Naef, October 2015.
(photPAN 147): Purchased from Michael Kolster, August 2019.
This finding aid was first created in 2005, and all of the photographs were flattened and
encapsulated by the Huntington Library Preservation Department between 1988 and 2005.
Additional panoramic photographs have been added to this collection, and to the finding aid
in 2012, 2015, and 2019. In October 2023, Mari Khasmanyan updated the container information
and included the total linear feet of the collection.
The Huntington Library's Collection of Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1995, contains 117
panoramas that depict a wide variety of subjects and provide an important resource for the
visual history of the United States, with a particular emphasis on California and the
American West. Subjects include landscapes, group portraits, and miscellaneous views. The
landscapes include views of Los Angeles and vicinity (including central Los Angeles,
Hollywood, East Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Mount Lowe); views of San Francisco (including
balloon views of San Francisco after the earthquake and fire created by the George R.
Lawrence Company); miscellaneous landscapes (including Yosemite Falls; Tehachapi Loop; Los
Gatos, California; Camp Bowie, Texas; Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains; Furnace
Creek in Death Valley; Hoover Dam; Thermopolis, Wyoming; and unidentified views); views of
industry (including the Newport News shipyard and the Venice-Del Rey oil fields); desert and
mining towns (including Virginia City, Nevada; Bisbee, Arizona; and Ouray, Colorado); the
Panama Canal; and Norris Dam (Tennessee). The group portraits include clubs; employees;
school children; professional organizations; military personnel; pageant and play
participants (including two portraits of casts of the Mission Play); birthday parties; and
miscellaneous groups. The miscellaneous views include views of the Ascot Park Racetrack in
Gardena, California; a revival held by Aimee Semple McPherson in Balboa Park (San Diego);
opening ceremonies of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics; and the raising of the U.S.S.
Battleship Maine in Havana Harbor.
The collection also contains photographs by some of the better known photographers and
photographic firms of the first part of the twentieth century. Photographers and publishers
represented in the collection include Charles Z. Bailey; Bailey and Ramsey; Bryant Studio;
Bunnell Photo Shop; California Panorama Company; Bell Clements; Fay Foto Service; R.J.
Gallagher; George. R. Lawrence Company; J.D. Givens; Gordon Panoramic Photo Company;
Griffith Photo; Harris Photographic Company; Karen Halverson; George W. Hazard; L. M.
Hermance; Hiller; Hughes Photos; B. Isensee; William Henry Jackson; I.L. Maduro; Mayhart
Studio; C.R. Nock; Panorama Publishing Company; Pettit's Studio; Photo News Service; C.C.
Pierce; A.C. Pillsbury; Pillsbury Picture Company; Prince Photo; G.H. Rice; H.H. Rideout;
Sanford and Black Photo News Service; Thompson; O.A. Tunnell; H.A. Varble; Miles F. Weaver;
and West Coast Art Company.
Titles in brackets are supplied; otherwise all titles come from the photographs
themselves.
The collection is arranged broadly by subject as follows: landscape; group portraits; and
miscellaneous. It is further subdivided by subject within each broad category.
- Collection of California and Southern California Panoramic Negatives photCL 402, photCL 470, photCL Whitt.
- Photographs: Raising of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba photCL 410.
- Henry E. Huntington Estate photograph collection photCL 107.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Balboa Park (San Diego, Calif.)--Photographs.
Belvedere Gardens (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs.
Big Bear Lake (Calif.)--Photographs.
Bisbee (Ariz.)--Photographs.
Camp Bowie (Fort Worth, Tex.)--Photographs.
Death Valley (Calif. and Nev.)--Photographs.
Gaillard Cut (Panama)--Photographs.
Gatun Dam (Panama)--Photographs.
Hoover Dam (Ariz. and Nev.)--Photographs.
Los Gatos (Calif.)--Photographs.
Lowe, Mount (Los Angeles County, Calif.)--Photographs.
Miraflores Locks (Panama)--Photographs.
Norris Dam (Tenn.)--Photographs.
Ouray (Colo.)--Photographs.
Panama Canal (Panama)--Photographs.
San Francisco--Photographs.
Thermopolis (Wyo.)--Photographs.
Virginia City (Nev.)--Photographs.
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)--Photographs.
Beauty contests--California--Ocean Park--Photographs.
Beauty contests--California--Redondo Beach--Photographs.
Birthday parties--California--Photographs.
Business districts--California--Los Angeles--Photographs.
Canals--Panama--Design and construction--Photographs.
Clubs--California--Los Angeles--Photographs.
Congresses and conventions--Lowe, Mount (Los Angeles County,
Calif.)--Photographs.
Country clubs--California--Pasadena--Photographs.
Dairy farms--California--Photographs.
Dam construction--Tennessee--Photographs.
Delegations--California--1912--Photographs.
Harbors--Photographs.
High school students--California--Los Angeles--Photographs.
Historic sites--California--Los Angeles County--Photographs.
Hotels--Lowe, Mount (Los Angeles County,
Calif.)--Photographs.
Junior high school
students--California--Pasadena--Photographs.
Los Angeles River (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Meetings--California--Los Angeles--Photographs.
Meetings--Ulster County (N.Y.)--Photographs.
Meetings--Washington (D.C.)--Photographs.
Mining camps--Photographs.
Nurses--Texas--Photographs.
Oil wells--California--Venice (Los Angeles,
Calif.)--Photographs.
Pageants--California--San Gabriel--Photographs.
Parades -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Parks--Photographs.
Picnicking--California--Photographs.
Railroad yards--California--Los Angeles--Photographs.
Railroads--Track--California--Tehachapi
Mountains--Photographs.
Real estate development--California--Los
Angeles--Photographs.
San Francisco Earthquake, Calif., 1906--Photographs.
School children--California--Eagle Rock (Los Angeles,
Calif.)--Photographs.
School children--California--Pasadena--Photographs.
Schools--California--Eagle Rock (Los Angeles,
Calif.)--Photographs.
Schools--California--Pasadena--Photographs.
Schools--California--Santa Monica--Photographs.
Shipyards--Photographs.
Soldiers--California--Photographs.
United States. Army -- Photographs.
Valleys--Photographs.
Panoramas.
Photographs.
Portraits.
Ambrotypes (photographs).
Art photography