Visual Materials

Historical Society of Southern California Collection - El Alisal Museo Windows Photographs

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Description: The collection consists of copy negatives, interpositives, and photographs of the glass transparencies taken by author and editor Charles Fletcher Lummis to decorate the windows in the museo (living room and exhibit hall) of his home, El Alisal, in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Around the windowpane at the left are scenes of Mexico, around the center pane are views of the American Southwest, and around the right pane are scenes of Bolivia and Peru. In 1983, the glass plates were removed, restored, and/or replaced. The negatives and interpositives in this collection were created during the restoration process.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1888-1899.
Call number: photCL 400 volume 5
Creator: Lummis, Charles Fletcher (1859-1928)

Charles F. Lummis photographs of El Alisal, family members, and other subjects

Visual Materials

This collection of photographs by Charles F. Lummis consists of 383 glass plate negatives and 5 autochromes (glass plate color photographs), dating from approximately 1888-1923. A large portion of the images document the construction of Lummis' stone residence, El Alisal, in what is now Highland Park, Los Angeles, which he began building in 1898 and finished in 1913. Exterior and interior progress views show details of construction, such as a window Lummis made of a collage of glass photographic plates. Lummis also photographed the land he bought for his house, which shows a largely untouched Arroyo Seco dotted with oak trees and a few other houses. The collection also contains numerous portraits of Lummis' four children with his second wife, Eve, seen at various ages: Turbesé (born 1892), Amado (born 1894), Jordan "Quimu" (born 1900), and Keith (born 1904). Other portraits include Eve Lummis and several notable Western writers and artists: John Muir, Charles M. Russell, Ed Borein, John T. Doyle, Vicente Blasco Ibañez, Eugene Manlove Rhodes, Julia Bracken Wendt, and Thomas Moran. The five autochrome portraits of art collector and dealer Grace Nicholson show her in different poses, wearing a pink fancy dress and hat, and in a Chinese robe. Based on the different format and professional appearance of the Nicholson images, there is some doubt as to whether Lummis took them or they just came into his possession. Lummis is seen in several self-portraits, at various ages, 1877-1909, and in some family groupings. A few images are photographs of photographs or paintings. Lummis also appears in some scenes at Rancho Camulos, Ventura County, with members of the Del Valle family. Various other subjects include: Lummis' earlier home on Forester Avenue, Los Angeles (1890s); California missions; Eve Lummis and others at Isleta pueblo, New Mexico, where she taught school; Native Americans from Isleta at El Alisal with Lummis' family; and miscellaneous unidentified scenes. The bulk of glass plates are 5 x 7 inches, with some 8 x 10 inches, and many have names or dates written at the bottom in Lummis' hand, with his initials.

photCL 72

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Historical Society of Southern California -- Charles Prudhomme Collection of Photographs

Visual Materials

The collection consists of 249 black-and white-photographs (some exist in duplicate), 235 negatives, and 1 blueprint, dating from the 1870s to 1933 (bulk 1923-1933), that are primarily related to the history of the Los Angeles and the Southern California region. The collection was compiled by Los Angeles historian Charles J. Prudhomme, and Prudhomme took the bulk of the photographs. The images mainly depict sites within Los Angeles and California, as well as people associated with the history of the Los Angeles region. Included are images of streets in Central Los Angeles including Olvera Street; Los Angeles parks and squares; adobes and homes in the Los Angeles area; and photographs of members of pioneer families associated with the history of Los Angeles and Southern California. These include Don Juan Bautista Alvarado, members of the Alvarado family, members of the Dominguez family, Senora Luisa Avila de Garfias, Don Juan de la Guerra, members of the Lugo family, Senorita Josephine Ocampo, Eugene R. Plummer and members of the Plummer family, Andrea Alvarado Rowland and Viola Rowland, members of the Sepulveda family, members of the Tapia family, Francisco Viejar, and Maria Ybarra de Lopez. Some images exist only in negative format; cards indicating this are interfiled within the collection of photographs. Negatives are housed in Box 3.

photCL 400 volume 4

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Historical Society of Southern California Collection--Krueger Collection of Photographs

Visual Materials

The Krueger Collection consists of 103 black-and-white photographs and 103 negatives depicting sites and locations within the greater Los Angeles, California, area. Images of Los Angeles include the Lugo Adobe; Olvera Street; Ord Street in Chinatown; Union Station; the United States Post Office Terminal Annex; City Hall; the Hall of Justice; the Old Hall of Records; the Post Office and Federal Building; the California State Building; the Los Angeles Times Building; Pershing Square; streets in downtown Los Angeles decorated with Christmas decorations; and the Ambassador Hotel. Images of Hollywood include views of Hollywood Boulevard (some showing Christmas decorations); Grauman's Chinese and Egyptian Theaters; the Florentine Gardens nightclub; CBS facilities, including KNX/CBS Radio Playhouse with the Lux Radio Theater; NBC facilities; the Earl Carroll Theatre; the Hollywood Scenic Gardens (Bernheimer Gardens); the Brown Derby Restaurant (the Hollywood and Wilshire Boulevard locations); and Griffith Observatory. Other sites in greater Los Angeles include Exposition Park; Westlake (MacArthur) Park; and the Bernheimer Gardens in Pacific Palisades. Also included are views of Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California; views of Long Beach, including the Pike, City Hall, the Public Library, and the Municipal Auditorium; and views in and around Lake Arrowhead.

photCL 400 volume 32

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Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Los Angeles photograph album

Visual Materials

The album is a published collection of souvenir views of Los Angeles, California, and vicinity. Included are views of the Plaza Church; central Los Angeles; Los Angeles area parks (East Lake Park, West Lake Park, Hollenbeck Park, Elysian Park); the "new" Los Angeles County courthouse; the San Gabriel and San Fernando Missions; Baldwin's Ranch; Riverside; the Sawtelle Soldier's Home; scenes of recreational activities in Santa Monica; Redlands; Redondo Beach; the Mount Lowe cable incline railway; and Pasadena.

photCL 400 volume 24

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Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Souvenir views of Southern California

Visual Materials

4 sets of souvenir views: "Winter Scenes in Los Angeles" and "Southern California: The Land of Fruit and Flowers" in book format and "Miniatures: Catalina Island" and "Souvenir Views: Catalina Island" in card format. The photographs depicting views of Santa Catalina Island and scenes of Los Angeles and vicinity (including central Los Angeles streets and buildings), Pasadena, Sierra Madre Villa, Santa Anita Rancho (E.J. Baldwin residence), Mission San Gabriel, Riverside, San Bernardino, Hotel del Coronado, and San Diego.

photCL 400 volume 30

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Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Henry Family photograph album

Visual Materials

The album, one of three depicting the Henry Family of Los Angeles, California, contains 403 snapshots, presumably compiled by Alexander Ellwood Henry (1890-1979) and primarily consisting of group portraits of the Henry family and unidentified individuals between 1907 and 1916. The photographs reflect trips and outings to a variety of locations in California (Santa Catalina Island, Pasadena, Venice, Los Angeles, Big Bear, Yosemite, San Francisco), as well as Niagara Falls, Canada, Europe, and Japan. There are many images of Henry and his friends as teenagers and young adults. Among the images are photographs of Henry's brother Thomas Cecil Henry (died 1910) as a student at Stanford around 1908-1910, the Henry home at 1400 S. Manhattan Place in Los Angeles, and individuals at the beach.

photCL 400 volume 9

Historical Society of Southern California Collection - El Alisal Museo Windows Photographs

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Charles F. Lummis photographs of El Alisal, family members, and other subjects

Historical Society of Southern California -- Charles Prudhomme Collection of Photographs

Historical Society of Southern California Collection--Krueger Collection of Photographs

Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Los Angeles photograph album

Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Souvenir views of Southern California

Historical Society of Southern California Collection - Henry Family photograph album