Historical Society of Southern California Collection -- Ana Bégué de Packman Collection of Photographs and Papers

This collection contains 209 photographs and negatives related to Southern California history that were collected by Ana Bégué de Packman, a descendant of early Spanish-Mexican landowners in the region and the Secretary of the Historical Society of Southern California from the 1930s to 1950s. The collection dates from 1820 to 1955 (bulk 1930s) and includes photographs, as well as correspondence, maps, ephemera, and newspaper clippings related to Southern California ranchos, the Spanish-Mexican families who owned them, and Los Angeles during the late 1800s. The majority of the collection consists of portraits of rancho families and their descendants, as well as photographs of the town of San Juan Capistrano and its environs, including Mission San Juan Capistrano and the adobe houses surrounding the mission.

The photographs include a variety of formats and sizes, and photographers include: Charles C. Pierce, Charles J. Prudhomme, Charles C. Puck, and Edward Vischer.

The collection includes a small number of the California rancho families are pictured in both professional and amateur portraits, with a focus on the Dominguez, Machado, Sepulveda, and Yorba families. Other portraits include those of Los Angeles mayors and pioneers, such as Matthew Keller, Cameron Erskine Thom, and Elijah H. Workman.

Photographs of Mission San Juan Capistrano show the mission complex in ruins, with views of the church, courtyard, bell tower, and outside workspaces. The interior of the restored Serra Chapel are also shown, with an emphasis on the altarpiece and its statuary. Other missions that are shown in the collection are Missions Santa Barbara, San Antonio de Padua, and San Gabriel Arcangel.

Another emphasized portion of the collection concerns adobe houses, specifically ones that are or had been located in the western and southern parts of San Juan Capistrano. Among these adobes are the Blas Aguilar Adobe, Casa de Los Rios, the Burruel Adobe, the Manuel Garcia Adobe, and the Domingo Yorba Adobe. Other Southern California adobes that are also included are the Yorba-Slaughter Adobe, the Dana Adobe, and the Workman-Temple Homestead. Oversized photographs show La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles (Plaza Church) and the statue of Felipe de Neve in Los Angeles Plaza.

Notable photographs include an interesting photograph of Plaza Church shows Don Antonio F. Coronel surveying the church exterior. Another photograph relating to the Los Angeles area is one of the Beverly Hills Centennial Parade with Eugene W. Biscailuz, Leo Carrillo, and William Boyd on horseback. Of particular interest are two tintypes related to photographer Charles J. Prudhomme. The first is of his mother, Maria Merced Tapia de Prudhomme, and the other is of Prudhomme's daughter.

The rest of the collection contains correspondence, maps, notes, ephemera, and negatives. Noteworthy items from these materials include: a manuscript letter written by Manuel Dominguez; postcards from Bruce Condé (Alfonso de Bourbon Condé) to Ana Bégué de Packman; death notices for Isaac Williams and Henry Mellus; a glass plate negative of Horton House in San Diego; a film negative of Juan Bandini and his daughter Ysidora; and an index book with the names of rancho families written in Packman's hand. Photographs with corresponding film negatives are: (12), (26), and (29).