Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
California State fair : California cookery
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Visual Materials
photCL 290, photOV 10750-10758
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Manuscripts
The collection is comprised of personal and professional papers of Lily Chen that deal with her personal life and document her 50-year career of service to her community. The papers highlight her social work with Los Angeles County, her campaign for and tenure on the Monterey Park City Council and as Mayor, and her activities with the Democratic Party, and her activism. The collection contains correspondence, personal diaries and journals, education and employment documents, travel and immigration records, fliers, political campaign material, newspaper and magazine clippings, personal notes, speeches, ephemera, photographs, and photograph albums. The personal papers consist of correspondence by family members and friends, much of it coming from China; immigration papers for Chen family members; material about Chen's education and employment, her work with Voice of Free China, and her time in the United States attending the World Youth Social Welfare Conference in 1956; and a large subseries of personal photographs. There are also three published biographies of Lily Chen. Also included are correspondence and other writings by Paul Chen, his father Chieh Ching Chen, and Lily Chen's father Yaolin Li. The professional papers deal with Lily Chen's campaign for Monterey Park city council and mayorship; her work against a petition in Monterey Park to declare English the official language of the city; the push-back against the use of malathion in Medfly spraying in Los Angeles County in the 1980s; Chen's attendance at the Democratic National Convention in 1996 and 2000; her efforts to bring an Olympic event to Monterey Park during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles; and the Red Cross relief work after the Taiwan earthquake in 1999. There is also material related to, and some material written by several California and national Democratic leaders such as Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Walter F. Mondale, Tom Bradley, Gil Garcetti, Gray Davis, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Al Glore, Jimmy Carter, Kenneth Hahn, Ed Edelman, Geraldine Ferraro, Gerald Ford, and Nancy Pelosi. There are also photographs of her with Ronald Reagan, George Deukmejian, and Michael Dukakis, as well as famous actors, prominent artists, performers, journalists, and broadcasters. There is also material related to Chen's work with other organizations such as the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Asian/Pacific Women's Network L.A., Pacific Council on International Policy, and the California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Caucus. Due to the nature of the collection, there is anti-Asian and anti-immigrant material that uses racist language and images.
mssChen
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Manuscripts
The Hong family papers were organized into six series with sets of subseries. 1) You Chung Hong series (Business, Chinatown, Chinese American Citizens Alliance, education, legal, personal, and political activities). 2) Mabel Hong series (Education, personal, and community activities). 3) Nowland C. Hong series (Chinese American Citizens Alliance, personal, and political activities). 4) Roger S. Hong series (Business, Chinatown, education, personal, and community activities). 5) Ephemera series. 6) Oversize Series. The Hong family papers were organized into six series with sets of subseries. 1) You Chung Hong series (Business, Chinatown, Chinese American Citizens Alliance, education, legal, personal, and political activities). 2) Mabel Hong series (Education, personal, and community activities). 3) Nowland C. Hong series (Chinese American Citizens Alliance, personal, and political activities). 4) Roger S. Hong series (Business, Chinatown, education, personal, and community activities). 5) Ephemera series. 6) Oversize Series. The Hong family photos were organized into five series with sets of subseries. 1) You Chung Hong photo series (Photographic and textual files). 2) Mabel Hong photo series (Photographic and textual files). 3) Nowland C. Hong photo series (Photographic and textual files). 4) Roger S. Hong photo series (Photographic and textual files). 5) Oversize photo series.
mssHong Family papers
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Manuscripts
The collection, which contains 10,844 items, consists of correspondence, letter books, manuscripts, speeches, diaries, account books, published articles, legal papers, financial statements and business records. The 10,528 pieces of correspondence are chiefly addressed to James De Barth Shorb, James M. Tiernan and Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb. The 17 letter books are related to the business and financial affairs of Shorb and Benjamin Davis Wilson. The 75 manuscripts consist of items chiefly written by Shorb and Wilson family members. The 224 items in the Business Papers include material related to Shorb's many companies including the San Gabriel Wine Company. The following subjects are covered in the Shorb collection: the Shorb, Wilson, and Patton families, David Jacks, Mariano Vallejo, Santa Catalina Island, the Mount Wilson Observatory, California government and politics, African Americans and the Chinese in California, agriculture, the citrus fruit industry, Indians of California, irrigation, lend tenure, mining, railroads, ranching, water rights, and the wine industry. The collection also documents the history and development of the following California cities: Alhambra, Elsinore, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Ramona, San Gabriel, San Marino, and Wilmington.
mssShorb papers