Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part II

The Banning Family Collection of Photographs, Part II, contains 1204 photographs and 23 photograph albums collected by the Banning family of Southern California from 1814 to 1979 (bulk 1880-1920). The most substantial categories of photographs in the collection are: views of Santa Catalina Island; Banning family properties and residences in southern California; and portraits of family members and relatives. Of special significance are the Catalina photographs documenting the development of the island from a natural enclave with few inhabitants to a thriving tourist resort. The collection also includes views of the Banning family properties in Wilmington, their Conejo Ranch in Ventura County, and a camp at Pomona. Other categories include the Ayer Family; the Horn/Russell Family; Banning Family Employees; Miscellaneous and Unidentified Portraits; Banning Family Trips; George S. Patton Family; Oversized Photographs; Ephemera; and Family Albums. This final category focuses primarily on Banning properties, family portraits, and especially Catalina, including one album documenting the devastating Catalina fire of 1915 (Volume 7). Of particular interest are the images of the George S. Patton family who were close friends of the Bannings.

There are a significant number of photographers represented in the collection, chief among them Joseph Brent Banning or "J.B.B.," as he signed his images. J.B. Banning's amateur views are noteworthy as the earliest and largest body of visual documentation of Catalina and other Banning holdings. Many of southern California's most notable commercial portrait and landscape photographers are represented in the collection including: Bertrand and Co.; Bradley and Rulofson; C.T. Colliers; B.F. Conaway; Dewey Bros.; Hervé Friend; William M. Godfrey; Jarvis Studios; A.L. Mojonier; Payne, Stanton, and Co.; Putnam Studios; Reyes; F.G. Schumacher; Stanton and Burdick; Steckel Studios; Steckel and Lamson; and I.W. Taber.