Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part I

The Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part I, contains photographs, glass plate negatives, and one scrapbook collected by the Banning Family of Southern California and depicting various family members and friends and family properties (residential and commercial), with an emphasis on Wilmington and Santa Catalina Island, California. Items date from 1855 to 1979 (bulk 1880s-1910s) and consist of 996 black-and-white photographs, 82 glass-plate negatives (5 x 7 inches and 5 x 8 inches), and 1 scrapbook.

This finding aid describes the collection both as a box list and according to subject. The first section of the subject list contains portraits and snapshots of a number of Banning family members, including: Phineas Banning; "Captain" William Banning; Hancock Banning, Sr.; Joseph Brent Banning, Jr.; Katharine Mary Banning; Joseph Brent Banning, Sr.; William Phineas Banning; Hancock Banning, Jr.; Mrs. Anne (Hancock) Banning; William Lowber Banning; and Katharine Stewart Banning. The most numerous are those of "Captain" Banning and Hancock Banning, Sr. Among these are photographs of "Captain" Banning and his various carriages and stagecoaches (including his "six-in-hand" featured at La Fiesta de Los Angeles in 1895 and at Yosemite National Park, the "Captain" and Will Rogers atop a stagecoach, and the "Captain" and Philip K. Wrigley atop a stagecoach); and photographs of Hancock Banning at Bohemian Grove gatherings. Family portraits are followed by images of various Banning residences, with an emphasis on the house in Wilmington, California; and views of Wilmington and San Pedro, California, with many early views of these communities and many views of Banning properties.

Following the family images are views of Santa Catalina Island. These images document the development of the island from a natural enclave with few inhabitants to a thriving tourist resort. Included are views of Avalon, from its beginnings as a tent city to a fully developed tourist destination; the Isthmus; the fire at Avalon in 1915; Arch Rock and Sugar Loaf; roads and road construction at various sites on the island; El Descanso, the home of Hancock Banning and later the site of the Hotel St. Catherine (also depicted in this section); the incline cable car; Middle Ranch; rock quarries; stage roads and stagecoaches, including the Santa Catalina Island Stage Company; and various ships, steamers, and glass bottom boats.

The next section depicts Banning family friends. Depicted are members of the Vail family (including Walter Vail); the Patton family and their home, Lake Vineyard, in San Marino, California; the Ayer family; and a portrait of Howard Huntington and his family.

The final two sections described contain miscellaneous images: miscellaneous individuals (such as Christine Mueller, daughter of William Banning's shipbuilder, William Mueller, and Thaddeus Lowe in a Mount Lowe incline railway cable car); various ships and boats; and views of Long Beach.

Many photos have annotations (often anecdotal) by Hancock Banning, Jr., on the verso.

Photographers represented in the collection include G.O. Ayer, Boston; Joseph Brent Banning; Boye; Bradley and Rulofson; E.M. Brickey; Henry H. Buehman, Tucson; Detroit Photographic Company; George N. Dewey, Los Angeles; Ida M. Essery, St. Paul; Hervey Friend; William H. Godfrey; A.C. Golsh; Lola L. Huddleston; Truman W. Ingersoll, St. Paul; Charles Ironmonger; Keystone Photo Service; Theodore Marceau, San Francisco; Frank L. Park; J.R. Putnam; Putnam and Valentine; P.V. Reyes; Frank G. Schumacher; Silas Selleck, San Francisco; Stagg Photography; George Steckel; Noren F. Swenson; Isaiah W. Taber; Louis Thors, San Francisco; C.B. Waite; James D. Westervelt; Charles A. Zimmerman, St. Paul.

The collection also contains some ephemeral materials, primarily notes penned by Hancock Banning, Jr. These materials have been preservation photocopied, the copies inserted into the collection, and the originals filed in Box 8.