HERITAGE HOUSE COLLECTION,
1847-1989
Finding aid prepared by Jennifer Allan Goldman
California State University, Dominguez Hills
Archives & Special Collections
University Library, Room G-145
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, California 90747
Phone: (310) 243-3895
URL: http://archives.csudh.edu/
©2006
Descriptive Summary
Title: Heritage House Collection
Dates: 1847-1989
Collection Number: Consult repository.
Creator:
Heritage House Museum
Extent:
3 boxes
3 linear feet
Repository: California State University, Dominguez Hills
Archives and Special Collections
Archives & Special Collection
University Library, Room G-145
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, California 90747
Phone: (310) 243-3013
URL: http://archives.csudh.edu/
Abstract:
A small collection of materials from and about the Heritage House Museum in Compton, California. Materials include correspondence,
ledgers, and paper from the Auxiliary; programs, booklets, and correspondence about the museum itself; and ephemera and journals
from the 19th century donated to the museum from citizens of Compton.
Language: Collection material is in English
Administration Information
Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Title of item], Heritage House Collection, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. University Library.
California State University, Dominguez Hills
Acquisition Information
The Heritage House Collection was donated to CSUDH after the City of Compton started the renovation of the city center in
the late 1980s. This required emptying the building and moving the Heritage House to another location. Members of the CSUDH
history department were crucial in obtaining this collection.
Processing Information
The collection was inventoried after being accessioned, but not processed.
Project Information
This finding aid was created as part of Early Los Angeles/Rancho San Pedro Manuscript Cataloging Project, a CSU Dominguez
Hills Library project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project started in 2005.
Project Director was Greg Williams. Project Archivists were Thomas Philo and Jennifer Allan Goldman.
History
The Heritage House was built in 1869 by A.R. Loomis and later became the property of the Gaines family. The house stood on
Lemon Street (later Main Street, then Compton Boulevard) until the 1950s, when the land was acquired by the city to be used
for a new fire station. By this time, the house had been deemed the oldest house in Compton, and the newspaper roused community
support to protect it from being demolished. The City of Compton provided a site onto which the house would be moved, an area
in the city center next to City Hall, the Police Station, and the Post Office. A large volunteer base donated money, labor,
and materials for moving the house, as well as the restoration and renovation required to make it into a museum. Members of
the community also donated items to be displayed in the museum, many actually used in Compton during the 1860s and 1870s.
The museum officially opened to the public on April 14, 1958. An auxiliary, sponsored by the Native Daughters of the Golden
West, was formed in the following months, and was responsible for the care and upkeep of the museum. In 1959, a year from
the opening day, the Heritage House was named California State Landmark No. 664. This was the first state landmark given in
the community.
In 1970, the City of Compton began development of a new Civic Center Complex to replace City Hall and the surrounding buildings.
Part of this plan would require the land on which the Heritage House stood. Under pressure from the Auxiliary, as well as
Judson Grenier, Professor of History at CSU Dominguez Hills, and members of the community, the City Council agreed to move
the Heritage House into storage instead of demolishing it. Attempts were made to return donated items to the original owners;
items that could not be returned were transferred to the Department of Archives and Special Collections at CSU Dominguez Hills.
After a few years in storage, CSU Dominguez Hills Professor of History Howard Holter petitioned the Compton City Council to
move the building back to the Civic Center at the corner of West Myrrh Street and South Willowbrook Avenue. The Council agreed,
and Holter began renovations on the house. Through the 1980s, Holter created plans for returning the Heritage House to a museum.
In 1989, the Compton Community Redevelopment Agency dropped discussion of the plans. The empty building is now used for receptions
and occasions by the City of Compton.
Scope and Content
Materials include donation forms, membership rosters, financial ledgers, newsclippings, correspondence, programs, booklets,
journals, and ephemera from the late 19th century, including pieces from “Godey’s Ladies Journal”. A majority of the documents
were created during the renovation and opening of the museum in the late 1950s.
Arrangement
Arranged in two series:
- Series I. Auxiliary (1957-1973)
- Series II. Museum (1953-1989)
Indexing Terms
Subjects
California -- Division of Beaches and Parks
Cottages -- California
Historic buildings -– California -- Compton
Small houses -- California -- 19th century
Personal Names
Dollarhide, Douglas
Corporate Names
Native Daughters of the Golden West
Geographic Areas
Compton (Calif.)
Genre/Form
Magazine illustrations -- 19th century
Women's periodicals -- American -- 19th century
Related Material
The following collections are available in the CSUDH Archives and Special Collections:
- Compton History Collection
- Robert C. Gillingham Working Papers
- South Bay Photo Collection
Auxiliary
1957-1973
Physical Description: 4 folders, 2 books
Scope and Content Note
Materials created and collected by the Auxiliary, including by-laws, membership cards, receipt book, membership lists, and
correspondence, including letters from the 1970s on the removal of the Heritage House from the Civic Center.
Box 1
Record book, with minutes, notes, membership lists, and correspondence
1957-1971
Box 1, Folder 1
By-laws, blank letterhead, blank membership cards, meeting minutes
1959
Box 1, Folder 2
Auxiliary financial ledger (cover removed) and duplicate receipt book
1959-1973
Box 1, Folder 3
Correspondence and newsclippings
1957-1970
Box 1, Folder 4
Membership lists
1958-1969
Box 2
Heritage House Scrapbooks of clippings and photos (photos removed to box 3)
1957-1959
Museum
1953-1989
Physical Description: 12 folders14 artifacts and books
Scope and Content Note
Materials not related specifically to the Auxiliary, including the Native Daughters of the Golden West Compton Parlor Pioneer
book; donation records and receipts; details on the renovations made to the Heritage House; dedication programs; items from
the dedication as State Landmark No. 664; and correspondence and plans from the 1980s renovation. Also, items donated to the
museum that were not returned, including railroad tickets, a report card, coursework for classes including sewing, ladies
journals, and rare books, which have been cataloged separately.
Box 1, Folder 5
Native Daughters of the Golden West, Compton Parlor, Pioneer Roster and record book, including histories, membership rosters,
and minutes
1953-1968
Box 1, Folder 6
Lists of donations and donors
1957-1958
Box 1, Folder 7
Compton piano - history, correspondence, and research materials
circa 1958
Box 1, Folder 8
Renovation history, "Construction and Furnishing of Heritage House," and correspondence
1958
Box 1, Folder 9
Heritage House Dedication - programs
1958
Box 1, Folder 10
State Landmark dedication, correspondence, programs, landmark maps
1958-1959
Box 1, Folder 11
"Heritage House Speaks" book, by Maude Walton Cleland and Margaret M. Forsythe
1958
Box 1, Folder 12
"Heritage House Treasures" booklet
1958, 1962
Box 1, Folder 13
"The Story of the Heritage House" by Margaret Forsythe, in California Historian, Vol 7, No 3
1961
Box 1, Folder 14
Slideshow script and correspondence
1959, 1964
Box 1, Folder 15
Ephemera, including early railroad tickets, invitations, report card, and timeline of Compton history
no date
Box 1, Folder 16
Redevelopment/renovation correspondence, reports, plans, and sketches
1982-1989
Box 2
Scrapbook of engravings from Peterson's Ladies Journal, 1876
made 1934
Box 2
Easter project by Gertrude Lofthouse at 6th St. Kindergarten
1897
Box 2
Composition book of poems, Gertrude Lofthouse, 6th St. School
no date
Box 2
Sewing book, with examples, Gertrude Lofthouse, 5th grade
circa 1902
Box 2
Godey's Ladies Book, April
1870
Box 2
Godey's Ladies Book, April
1868
Box 2
Small tin-type portrait album
no date
Box 2
Small daguerreotype in case
no date
Compton Piano (in reading room)
circa 1860
Frank Hann violin (in reading room)
1889