Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Song of the Columbia River highway
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
A collection of approximately 1,500 photographs and various ephemera and publications of California missions, collected by Southern California educator Connie Rothstein, with an emphasis on the San Gabriel Mission, the history of the city of San Gabriel, and the production of "The Mission Play" by John Steven McGroarty. The collection also includes late-19th and early-20th century photographs of Los Angeles and Southern California, and postcards and ephemera related to the Southern California region. Notable in the collection are 391 stereographs of missions and Los Angeles, including some by photographers William Godfrey and H. T. Payne, A. C. Varela, and Carleton Watkins. All of the California Missions are represented in the collection, plus the "sub-missions" or Asistencias of California. The mission photographs include many unusual views and details, and are a mixture of snapshots made by tourists and commercial photographs. There are many views in and around Southern California, most dating from 1880s-1920s, by various photographers. Specific topics emphasized in and around Los Angeles are: Olvera Street, Chinatown, La Fiesta de Los Angeles celebration; and the Mount Lowe Railway. There are many cabinet cards and stereographs, and six large panoramic photographs of the Los Angeles area. The ephemera include hundreds of postcards and photographic postcards, scrapbooks, and many small publications on the history of the missions and California, as well as ephemera related to "The Mission Play." Other topics in the collection are: photographs and ephemera of Monterey, California; Oregon and the Columbia River Highway; and a group of photographs of cowboys and Western culture (mid-20th century).
photCL 496
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Visual Materials
This collection contains approximately 10,000 photographs, negatives and ephemera created or compiled by Grace Nicholson (1877-1948), a collector and dealer of Native American and Asian arts and crafts in Pasadena, California. The bulk of the collection dates from 1903 to the 1920s and includes photograph albums and individual photographs with views of Native Americans of the Northwest Coast, California, and the Southwest of North America; pictures documenting Nicholson's basket collecting trips primarily between 1902 and 1912; images of Nicholson's stores and residences in Pasadena, including the building of the "Grace Nicholson Treasure House of Oriental Art" in the mid-1920s; and personal photographs of Nicholson, her family, friends, and associates. Nicholson's personal snapshots and photograph albums provide a valuable resource for studying Native American communities, particularly in Northern California, in the early 20th century. Many of the photographs depict daily life and include images of homes, community events, dances and rituals, families and children, and portraits. Most of these photographs were taken by Grace Nicholson or her assistant, Mr. Carroll S. Hartman, and are often accompanied by Nicholson's handwritten identifications.
photCL 56
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Visual Materials
A collection of approximately 1,500 photographs and various ephemera and publications of California missions, collected by Southern California educator Connie Rothstein, with an emphasis on the San Gabriel Mission, the history of the city of San Gabriel, and the production of "The Mission Play" by John Steven McGroarty. The collection also includes late-19th and early-20th century photographs of Los Angeles and Southern California, and postcards and ephemera related to the Southern California region. Notable in the collection are 391 stereographs of missions and Los Angeles, including some by photographers William Godfrey and H. T. Payne, A. C. Varela, and Carleton Watkins. All of the California Missions are represented in the collection, plus the "sub-missions" or Asistencias of California. The mission photographs include many unusual views and details, and are a mixture of snapshots made by tourists and commercial photographs. There are many views in and around Southern California, most dating from 1880s-1920s, by various photographers. Specific topics emphasized in and around Los Angeles are: Olvera Street, Chinatown, La Fiesta de Los Angeles celebration; and the Mount Lowe Railway. There are many cabinet cards and stereographs, and six large panoramic photographs of the Los Angeles area. The ephemera include hundreds of postcards and photographic postcards, scrapbooks, and many small publications on the history of the missions and California, as well as ephemera related to "The Mission Play." Other topics in the collection are: photographs and ephemera of Monterey, California; Oregon and the Columbia River Highway; and a group of photographs of cowboys and Western culture (mid-20th century).
photCL 496
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Manuscripts
The collection consists of letters and documents (including 8 volumes) and 876 maps related to irrigation projects in the western United States. There are correspondence, reports, etc. regarding Colorado River projects (including the Colorado River-Los Angeles Gravity Flow Aqueduct); the Klamath Lake Project in Oregon; the Merced Irrigation District in California; the San Juan River, Little Colorado, and Verde projects in Arizona; and many others. Of note in the collection are diaries of La Rue's Colorado River trips from 1921, 1922, and 1924, and maps of western areas.
mssLa Rue papers
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Visual Materials
The Eugene Swarzwald Pictorial California and the Pacific Collection consists of 9,674 black and white photographs, negatives, a photograph album, magazine mock-ups, letters, and ephemera, dated 1909-ca. 1968. Eugene Swarzwald and the Swarzwald family collected the material for use in the magazine "Pictorial California and the Pacific." Images depict California and the West with some coverage of the rest of the United States and international destinations. The collection contains photographs depicting general city views of communities in California, scenic views of wilderness areas, images of parks, schools and universities, museums, and points of historic interest (including California mining towns and missions). The collection is strong in subjects related to leisure and social and recreational activities. Many of the photographs are by the Keystone Photo Service. Other photographers include Chuck Abbott, Adelbert Bartlett, Lionel T. Berryhill, Lil and Al Bloom, Hal Boucher, Campbell-Ricco-Mazzuchi Photography, Caroll Photo Service, Garth Chandler, Walter J. Collinge, Fairchild Aerial Surveys, George O. Fales, Frasher's, J. P. Graham, Dean Hesketh Company, Charles M. Hiller, Pat and G. E. Kirkpatrick, Don Knight, Albert J. Kopec, Ward Linton, Lothers and Young, Hubert A. Lowman, David M. Mills, Don Milton, Gabriel Moulin Studios, Karl Obert, Earle O'Day, Pacific Air Industries Aerial Photography, Dave Packwood, Padilla Studios, Maynard L. Parker, Jack W. Patterson, Julius Shulman, Spence Air Photos, H. W. Steward, Thiem, Harry Vroman, Whithurse Aerial Photos, and Steven H. Willard.
photCL 310