Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
The decay of the building stones of New York City
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Rare Books
Image not available
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Visual Materials
The Greene and Greene Collection contains a wide variety of materials, from Greene and Greene ancestor, architect/engineer James Sumner's "Memo of the Timber wanted for the Steeple in Providence," dated 1775, and a diary of a European grand tour from 1829 to 1931 by an English ancestor of Charles Greene's wife, Alice, to drawings and photographs of Greene and Greene works from the time of construction through the close of the 20th century. The bulk of the collection dates from 1889 to 1975. Photographs comprise most of the records documenting their architecture. There is a small number of architectural drawings; most of the firm's drawings are housed at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University, New York City, with a smaller collection of drawings from the estate of Charles Greene at the Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley. The collection is organized into four series: I. Personal papers, II. Office records, III. Job (project) records (including furniture), and IV. Related research materials. In general, the papers and records of both brothers have been kept together for the periods in which they were living together as students and young men, and for the period when they were partners in the firm of Greene and Greene. Within each series, the organization follows the separate lives and works of each brother from the dates at which they diverge. Although the collection has been assembled from many different sources, most items have a unique accession number identifying the donor, so that the researcher can easily identify the source of most documents.
archGreene
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Visual Materials
This is a collection primarily of negatives and photographic prints depicting the growth of Santa Monica and Los Angeles, California, from 1860s to 1980s. Many views are cityscapes or street views, showing buildings, storefronts, homes and roads, and documenting the use of railroads, trolleys, streetcars, and automobiles. There are many card photographs by early professional photographers, and also a number of snapshots made by amateurs, some in personal photo albums. The collection's scope also includes early views of many other communities in Southern California (and a few in other states); the beginnings of aviation in Santa Monica, including the first Douglas Aircraft Company buildings; a photo album of residents in Topanga Canyon, ca. 1913; automobile racing in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, 1920s; maritime views; a photo album of U.S. troops in France during World War I; a 1949 real estate development in Apple Valley, California, and others. Besides photographs, a portion of the collection consists of scarce publications and historical ephemera, primarily related to Santa Monica and Los Angeles, including brochures, advertising cards, menus, event programs and other materials. Highlights of the Santa Monica images are aerial views of the buildings along the coast and pier (1920s); several views of the Arcadia Hotel (1880s); the Long Wharf and adjoining railroad and train depot; the first bath houses on the beach; the beach club culture of the 1920s and 1930s; the amusement piers of Santa Monica, Ocean Park and Venice; and the beginnings of the Douglas Aircraft Company. There is a large set of promotional photographs made late 1920s-1930s by Powell Press Service depicting people enjoying Santa Monica's beaches, clubs and outdoor recreation. An important subset within the collection is 407 negatives made ca. 1890 - 1908 by Los Angeles historian and amateur photographer George W. Hazard (1842-1914). Hazard travelled around Los Angeles and vicinity photographing the adobes, houses, streets and storefronts that told the early history of the city. Many of Hazard's negatives have handwritten identifications, naming streets, former homeowners, ranchos, and other historical details. There are a large number of cabinet cards and other card-mounted prints and stereographs. There are 1,264 stereograph prints, highlighted by the works of photographic pioneers William M. Godfrey, Francis Parker, Hayward & Muzzall, and Carleton Watkins. Other formats represented are: glass and film negatives; panoramic prints; 7 photograph albums, photographic postcards, 20th-century color prints and transparencies; and a small number of tintypes, cyanotypes and a set of chromolithographs.
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Visual Materials
Album chiefly containing photographic postcards showing street-level exterior views of multi-story named apartment buildings and hotels on the Upper West Side of New York City, as well as some educational and commercial buildings. All postcards are identified with a title and address of the structure and photograph stock number written on the image. The album also contains three larger images (16 x 21 cm) of St. Luke's Hospital, the New York Public Library main branch, and the Plaza Hotel.
photCL 537
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Rare Books
606107
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Rare Books
A collection of over 5,000 color postcards, prints, and print proofs of American views produced by the Detroit Publishing Company approximately 1898 to the late 1920s. The company's distinctive postcards were made using their exclusive "Photochrom" process that combined photographic negatives and color lithography to create the look of early color photographs. This collection was assembled by a printing foreman for the company and includes several trial press runs and print proof sheets with the printing register marks on the edges. There are 51 oversize color prints, also created using the photo-lithographic process, including one sheet with 24 postcard-size views. Also included are 105 photographs, mostly of the American West, attributed to William Henry Jackson, with some bearing his credit. A few photographs have printed captions like those that appear on postcards. The Detroit Publishing Company was noted for the breadth of topics, people, activity, and industry depicted in their postcards, chronicling American life shortly before and after the turn of the 20th century. In addition to extensive scenes from 42 U.S. states and a few foreign countries, imagery depicts topics such as farming, museums, World War I, naval ships, and cowboys. There are also several postcards of African Americans, some depicting racist stereotypes and containing racist captions.
645655
photCL 555