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Finding Aid for the All Nations Church and Foundation photographs
0421
0421
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Title: All Nations Church and Foundation photographs
Collection number: 0421
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
5.0 linear ft.
6 boxes
Date: circa 1924-1967
Abstract: The All Nations Church and Foundation photographs (circa 1924-1967) consist of photographic material in a variety of formats;
the collection provides a rich view of the people, community, and activities associated with the All Nations Foundation's
operations in Los Angeles. Among the subjects documented in the photographs are All Nations centers and community life; arts
and education; recreation and leisure; groups and individuals; and publicity materials. The collection complements the All
Nations Church and Foundation records, also held in the California Social Welfare Archives at USC.
creator:
All Nations Foundation (Los Angeles, Calif.).
creator:
Church of All Nations (Los Angeles, Calif.).
creator:
Dick Whittington Studio. -- Photographs
Gift of James Blaine, former Director of All Nations Boys Club.
All Nations Church and Foundation records, Collection no. 0403, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections, USC
Libraries, University of Southern California
Advance notice required for access.
The use of archival materials for on-site research does not constitute permission from the California Social Welfare Archives
to publish them. Copyright has not been assigned to the California Social Welfare Archives, and the researcher is instructed
to obtain permission to quote from or publish manuscripts in the CSWA's collections from the copyright holder.
[Box/folder# or item name], All Nations Church and Foundation photographs, Collection no. 0421, California Social Welfare
Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
The photographs are organized into seven series: Centers and Community; Arts and Education; Recreation and Leisure; Groups
and Individuals; Statistical Maps (Slides); Publicity Picture Packets; and Films and Film Materials. Grouping of images is
based on their main subject matter.
All Nations, in its heyday the largest and most effective social welfare organization in Los Angeles, was begun in 1918 in
an east-central section of the city known as "Eastside." The City Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, under pastor
Bromley Oxnam, established and ran the church settlement, gathering donations, organizing volunteers, buying land and buildings,
and equipping gymnasiums, playgrounds, libraries, and clinics for a community where three-fourths of the families were on
public assistance and where much of the population consisted of immigrants from Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Oxnam initially
developed the physical facilities of All Nations, acquiring a complex of buildings at 810-816-824 E. Sixth Street just before
his resignation from the organization in 1927.
Oxnam's successor was the Reverend Robert A. McKibben, whose work as administrator, social worker, fund raiser, and collaborator
with other social welfare agencies, including the Federal and Los Angeles Relief Administrations and the National Youth Administration,
ensured the continued success of All Nations. Character-building activities for the children, a vacation bible school, the
library, and medical programs--including medical and dental clinics served by a cadre of approximately fifty volunteer doctors,
optometrists, and dentists--were critical services in the work of All Nations. Especially noteworthy was All Nations' extraordinarily
successful Boys' Club, which became a Boys' Club of America in 1927 with some 950 members from thirty nationalities and fifteen
religions. All Nations also operated two other community centers: the Sunset Community Center at 1001-1005 Sunset Boulevard,
and the Hollenbeck Heights Social Center at 200 North St. Louis Street. These branches of All Nations concentrated on work
with youths. When McKibben began his work with All Nations, the Eastside had the highest delinquency rate in the city, but
within the next three years, that rate would drop by 65%.
Reverend McKibben left All Nations in 1952, and was succeeded by James Mixon. By the 1960s, new industrial development in
the area and slum clearance had reduced the area's population. Such changes led to questions about the usefulness of traditional
settlement programs in this area; at the same time, All Nations' principal support began to come from the United Way rather
than from the Methodist Church.
Information in this note is based on the Historical Note for the All Nations Church and Foundation records collection (0403)
finding aid, developed by Jane Adler and Clay Stalls, with additional information and editing by Sue Tyson. All information
in this history comes from material in the collection; from Robert McKibben, With The Master into the Heart of the City: First
Forty Years of All Nations Foundations ([S.l.] [s.n.], 1977?); and from Mark H. Wild, Street Meeting: Multiethnic Neighborhoods
in Early Twentieth-Century Los Angeles (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005). The founding date of 1918 is referenced
in Wild's book.
Clay Stalls partially processed this collection in 2000. In 2011, Sue Tyson completed processing the collection and produced
this finding aid.
The order in which the collection's series are arranged reflects their relative cohesiveness of subject matter and level of
specificity. Centers and Community; Arts and Education; and Recreation and Leisure appear first because they provide the most
specific references to or indications of the All Nations Church and Foundation's areas of operation and functions. The Groups
and Individuals series follows these series because of its more miscellaneous character; though this series has the most photographs,
its images reflect a wide range of activities. The Statistical Maps (Slides) and the Publicity Picture Packets series follow
these others because they represent narrower areas of focus. Because the contents of the films in the Films and Film Materials
series are unknown, this series appears last.
The All Nations Church and Foundation photographs (circa 1924-1967) contain approximately 800 photographs, including approximately
350 regular and 15 oversize photographs; 113 slides; 139 glass slides; 66 negatives in various formats; and 140 photographs
that were used for a publicity campaign. The collection also contains textual material, in the form of lists of captions for
the publicity campaign, and two short films, the contents of which are unknown. Most of the collection's materials are undated
and unidentified, though some images provide dates, captions, or other writing that can aid in identification; dated materials
encompass the years 1924-1967, with the bulk of this material dating from the 1940s to the 1960s; one slide from the Statistical
Maps (Slides) series is dated 1914.
Despite the lack of identifying information or attribution, the All Nations Church and Foundation photographs provide a rich
view of the All Nations organization, as seen in images of people, community, activities, and facilities. The photographs
portray a range of subject matter, including All Nations centers and community life; arts and education; recreation and leisure;
groups and individuals; and publicity. Within these broad themes, images depict churches and religious services; learning
activities such as reading and arts and crafts; music and drama; sports and excursions; festivities such as dances and parties;
and medical and dental care at the organization's clinics. The collection's statistical map slides cover a range of issues
pertinent to social services and social work in Los Angeles, including but not limited to data concerning neglected children;
vagrancy; sexual assaults; runaways; and various crimes committed by youths. The textual materials in the Publicity Pictures
series were organized by All Nations into seven packets, with the following titles: The Nature of the Inner City; Forms of
Inner City Ministry; Inner City Preschoolers; Inner City Children; Inner City Youth; Inner City Adults; and Meditations. The
contents of the films in the Films series are unknown. While this series also contains boxes for shipping films, the collection
does not include the films mentioned on these containers.
Images in the collection include All Nations Boys' Club and All Nations Clinic. The collection also includes several photographs
by the "Dick” Whittington Studio.
The condition of the materials in the collection ranges from poor to good. Some of the photographs are bent or torn, and several
of the glass slides are cracked.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
All Nations Boys Club (Los Angeles, Calif.). -- Photographs
All Nations Clinic. -- Photographs
All Nations Foundation (Los Angeles, Calif.). -- Photographs
Church of All Nations (Los Angeles, Calif.). -- Photographs
Art and recreation--Photographs
Arts--Study and teaching--Activity programs--Photographs
Clinics--Photographs
Community centers--Photographs
Community health services--Photographs
Los Angeles (Calif.)--History--Photographs
Los Angeles (Calif.)--Social conditions--Photographs
Outdoor recreation--Photographs
Photographs
Recreation--Photographs
Slides (photographs)
Social history--Societies and clubs--Social aspects--Photographs
Social service--California--Los Angeles--Photographs
Social work with youth--Photographs
Sports--Photographs
Urban youth--Services for--California--Photographs