Rare Books

Man of color : an autobiography

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Description: "In this autobiography, [the author] tells us the events of his life over the past fifty years. It is, too, a brief history of Los Angeles from the turn of the century--certainly, as far as the Negroes in Los Angeles are in the picture"--Preface. Jamaican-born Somerville became a Los Angeles dentist deeply involved in the NAACP.
Type: Rare Books(Opens in new tab)
Publication date: [1949]
Call number: 643660
Creator: Somerville, J. Alexander (1882-)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: On long-term loan from the Los Angeles County Medical Association, 1992.

The Old Downey Block

Visual Materials

Image of the corner of Temple Street and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles, California, showing the Downey Block building, with cobblestone streets, horse-drawn wagon, and water fountain in the foreground. The awnings and windows of the Downey Block storefronts have signs including: "Dr. Crawford, Dentist," "Dr. U.D. Reed, Dentist," "Maier & Zobelein Pilsener, Beer on Draught," "John Brown Our Best 5 Cigar ... 301 J.N. Rushton" at 301 N. Main Street, and "303 New-York Clothing House." The edge of Hazard and Harpham Patent Office can be seen attached to upper floor of building in upper left of image.

photCL_555_06_02

Bathing girl revue, Long Beach, Calif

Visual Materials

Image of a row of young women wearing swimsuits and arm bands sitting in a line with legs extended while a man, presumably the show host, and a woman wearing a "Miss Los Angeles" sash walk over them during a beauty pageant in Long Beach, California, with a sign for "Dr. Sands Dentist" in the background.

photCL_555_01_653

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Coroner

Rare Books

The Chief Medical Examiner of Los Angeles County tells of his investigations of the deaths of celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, John Belushi, Natalie Wood, and others.

643655

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Irvine, Alexander, 1863-1941. Boswell's Autobiography. [autograph draft of "Chapter I. A Young Man of Fortune"] [undated]. 1 item

Manuscripts

The collection consists mostly of Irvine's manuscripts, arranged alphabetically by title. The entirety of the first and the beginning of the second box consist of manuscript drafts - both typescript and autograph - of chapters from the author's larger works. The rest of the second box consists of manuscript drafts of sermons which Irvine gave after the turn of the century, most of them from his 1909-1910 tenure at the Church of the Ascension in New York City. The third upright box consists entirely of Irvine's manuscript essays, many of which appeared in publication. Most of these manuscripts are undated but it appears the bulk of these papers come the Irvine's final thirty years. The collection's final upright box contains the rest of Irvine's manuscripts. It also contains twenty-four folders of Irvine's correspondence, three folders of news clippings, six folders of ephemera, and one folder of photos. There are several items in oversize. Two large scrapbooks, each housed individually, contain a great deal of ephemera, photographs, and correspondence which Irvine himself organized. Other items in oversize include a small scrapbook containing mainly photos and news clippings from 1922 to 1938, and a large, thin packet containing four editions of The Psychological Review of Reviews from the early 1920s. There are also two oversize manuscripts: one a fragment from the draft of a script, and the other an undated essay titled "The Cost of Something for Nothing."

mssIrvine papers

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colored sketch map of partition];

Manuscripts

The collection consists of maps, field books, legal documents, business papers, and diaries related to the work of surveyors George Hansen, Alfred Solano, Sidney B. Reeve, and others. The maps and surveys in the collection are of the city of Los Angeles, Southern California ranchos, and subdivisions of the city of Los Angeles and neighboring towns. The collection contains over maps and sketch maps. Other subjects represented in the collection include: civil engineering, land subdivision, mines and mineral resources, and daily life in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

mssSolano

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colored sketch map of partition;

Manuscripts

mssSolano

Man of color : an autobiography

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The Old Downey Block

Bathing girl revue, Long Beach, Calif

Coroner

Irvine, Alexander, 1863-1941. Boswell's Autobiography. [autograph draft of "Chapter I. A Young Man of Fortune"] [undated]. 1 item

colored sketch map of partition];

colored sketch map of partition;