Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Schuylkill canal navigator
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Rare Books
302819
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Manuscripts
The collection contains Frank F. Latta's research material from his five decades of researching the history of California's San Joaquin Valley and Miller & Lux, in particular dry farming known as skyfarming. Subjects include: agriculture and farming in the San Joaquin Valley, the development of agricultural machinery (combines, plows, reapers, scrapers, threshing machines, tractors and various types of harvesters), livestock, ranches, cattle, and crops, mostly wheat. Also covered are: early aviation, early automobiles, bears, crime, the Dalton Gang, the Donner Party, earthquakes, education and schools in the San Joaquin Valley, floods, freight and steamships on the San Joaquin River, gold mines, irrigation, canals and water rights in San Joaquin Valley, land grants, livestock, lumber, outlaws, pioneers, the Presbyterian Church in California, ranches, rivers, roads, saddlery, sheepherding in California, overland journeys to California and California politics, government and history. Also talked about are women, African Americans, Chileans, Chinese, Mormons, Native Americans and Jews in California. The collection contains roughly 180 oral interviews with people living in the San Joaquin Valley in the 1930s through the 1970s. One of the series contains drafts of the unpublished manuscript Sky Farmers and Mule Skinners with Something about Hay Muckers, Buckaroos, and Bindle Stiffs and a Sheepherder or Two. Frank F. Latta worked on this manuscript for five decades.
mssLattaS
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Visual Materials
The Aswan Dam Photographs collection contains 28 albums containing more than 1750 black-and-white photographs (most approximately 8 x 10 in. format), documenting the construction of the first Aswan Dam and Asyut Barrage from 1899 to 1902, the first dam heightening from 1907 to 1912, the Isna Barrage from 1907 to 1909, and the second heightening from 1930 to 1933. The images chiefly chronicle progress at the construction sites and depict laborers, masonry work, excavating, the transportation of materials and equipment, and the building of the locks, buttresses, gates, canals, and bridges, with many views of the Nile River. In addition there are images of repairs to the temple at Philae (in Albums 1, 3b, 4, and 12), and some photographs of ceremonies including the H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught laying the foundation stone on February 29, 1908 (Album 10, pages 8-9), and the laying of the final stone with Abbas II Hilmi, the Khedive of Egypt, on February 9, 1909 (Album 5, page 24).The collection consists of both nondescript albums with affixed photographs accompanied by typed or handwritten captions, as well as more formal presentation albums, which include inscriptions of W. L. Lowe Brown, resident engineer at the Asyut Barrage (Album 1); John Aird, whose company constructed the dam (Albums 2, 6, and 8) Murdoch MacDonald, chief engineer beginning in 1902 (Album 3); While most of the albums are limited to photographs and captions, Album 1 and 2 have an eight-page printed preface by William E. Garstin and Albums 5 and 6 have two introductory pages of printed explanatory notes by Murdoch MacDonald. Photographers engaged in documenting the construction and heightening projects were D.S. George (construction of the Aswan Dam and first heightening), F. Fiorillo (first heightening), A. Gianny (viewing of Aswan Dam), A. Marques (first heightening), and other unidentified photographers. Within the materials, there are variant spellings of Aswan including Assuan and Asswan.
photCL Burndy 1