Manuscripts
The collection consists of the personal and business papers of Henry E. Huntington and includes materials related to the Huntington, Holladay (Henry E. Huntington's sister Caroline married Edmund Burke Holladay), and Metcalf families. Most of the collection documents Huntington's business interests in Southern California, particularly in railways, real estate, and industry. It includes biographical information, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, ephemera, business records, and physical objects. The business records document the Huntington Land and Improvement Company, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Pacific Electric Railway Company, and other businesses in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and the San Gabriel Valley. These records include account books, annual reports, correspondence, maps, tracts, balance sheets, and related financial materials. The collection also contains materials related to the founding of The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, including auction catalogs, invoices, receipts, bills for art, rare books, and manuscripts. Additional materials concern a lawsuit over Huntington's estate tax after his death and the passage of Proposition 15 in 1930, which exempted The Huntington from paying California property tax. The collection also includes materials related to Collis P. Huntington, his business interests, and Arabella Huntington. The collection also includes blueprints for Huntington's San Marino residence, the Huntington Library building, and the Westinghouse Building in Los Angeles. The correspondence series contains more than 22,000 pieces of personal and business correspondence dating from approximately 1790 to 1950. Photographs include formal portraits and candid images of Henry E. Huntington, Collis P. Huntington, Arabella Huntington, and the extended family, as well as early photographs of The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The ephemera consists of miscellaneous printed materials, much of it related to Henry E. Huntington and his business interests. Physical objects include Henry E. Huntington's lunch box, razor set, traveling trunk, and other items.
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