Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
The truth about John Steinbeck and the migrants
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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
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Manuscripts
2 items: LAT news story copy, 7/9/1939, " 'Grapes of Wrath' author guards self from threats at Moody Gulch...Dust Bowl book brings trouble" ; LAT editorial copy, 4/1/1940, "One for Steinbeck," seeks to undermine one premise of Steinbeck's book, that San Joaguin Valley landowners lured Dust Bowl migrants to obtain a cheap labor pool.
mssLAT
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Visual Materials
The collection consists of 6202 black-and-white and color photographs, pen and ink drawings, and postcards, 1412 black-and-white and color negatives, 2606 black-and-white and color slides, and ephemeral materials, 1898-1982 (bulk 1920s-1930s) collected by the Automobile Club of Southern California. They form a general photographic reference collection as well as a broad visual survey of topics of interest to California motorists. Included are images of sites in North and Central America (with an emphasis on California), Europe, the Pacific Islands, and portraits, as well as images related to other subjects of interest to the Club's membership. Many of the images were published as illustrations for articles in the Club's first member magazine, Touring Topics. A large portion of the photographs were taken by authors of articles that appeared in Touring Topics; others were commissioned by the Club; and others appear to have been sent to the Club. Photographers (and authors) include, but are not limited to, Ansel Adams, Fred Archer, Viroque Baker, George Hugh Banning, Adelbert Bartlett, Virginia S. Bartlett, Andrew R. Boone, Julius Cindrich, Norman Clyde, Will Connell, Loyd Cooper, Imogen Cunningham, Asahel Curtis, Edward Sheriff Curtis, Fred Dapprich, E.H. Davis, E.E. East, John Anson Ford, Frasher, Ewing Galloway, Forman G. Hanna, Phil Townsend Hanna, Hoag and Ford, John Edwin Hoag, Bert W. Huntoon, Philip Johnston, Dr. Frederick Monsen, Dave Packwood, C.C. Pierce, Ernest M. Pratt, Putnam Studios, E. Willard Spurr, and John L. Von Blon.
photCL 375
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Manuscripts
Letters between John Steinbeck, his wife Elaine, and John Fearnley, a director and casting director working for the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization at the time. Correspondence discusses the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Pipe Dream, which was based on Steinbeck's novel Sweet Thursday (1954); ideas for a new production; and Steinbeck's enjoyment of living in England while writing his last novel. A 1967 letter from Elaine Steinbeck describes the couple's life in Vietnam while John Steinbeck was working as a war correspondent there. Many letters incorporate nicknames the three devised on a trip during the Pipe Dream run: Inside Straight (John Steinbeck), Queen Radio (Elaine Steinbeck), and Small Change (John Fearnley). Some letters also include a Pigasus stamp, a flying pig motif Steinbeck used throughout his life as a symbol of himself. There is also one letter to Elaine Steinbeck from Richard Lewine, former managing director of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, advising her about John Fearnley's eulogy; and a fragment likely written by John Fearnley.
mssFearnley