Olive Percival Collection of Photographs

The Olive Percival Collection of Photographs contains approximately 875 photographs of California and Mexico, chiefly cyanotype snapshots and gelatin silver prints of locations in Los Angeles and environs and Mexico City, taken chiefly by Olive Percival (1869-1945) from approximately 1880-1941; many of the photographs contain captions written on versos by Percival.

The photographs of California depict San Pedro scenes including fishing shacks, boats, and squatters' huts on Terminal Island and East San Pedro; Chinatowns in Los Angeles and San Francisco, including street scenes and images of the first Fiesta de Los Angeles (1894) and the Feast of the Dead in Los Angeles (1902); exterior and interior views of Percival's home, collections, and garden, including many photographs with captions identifying particular plants; and cemeteries in Los Angeles, including the Calvary Cemetery, the Fort Hill Cemetery, and the San Gabriel Mission Cemetery. The collection also includes two sepia portraits of Percival as a young woman, one dated 1895 (Items 754-755); one photograph of Percival with her mother (Item 753); images of Indian basket collections that she used in writing articles (photPF 3940-3945); and photographs depicting various people and locations, chiefly in Los Angeles and environs, taken by Percival and by commercial photographers, including a set of studio portraits featuring various sitters.

Photographs of Mexico depict various views of Mexico City, including the Flower Market, the Thieves' Market, the market at Viga Canal, and others; the Mexico City Cathedral and various other buildings; and street and courtyard scenes. Photographs depicting other areas of Mexico include views of churches, rural scenes, and images of various towns and regions including Juarez; Toluca; Guadalupe; Teotihuacan, including images from journeys to the Pyramid of the the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon; Tocuba; Vera Cruz; Texcoco; Tlaxcola; and other locations.