Visual Materials

Collection of photographic postcards of the Los Angeles Times building bombing

Description: A group of 13 photographic postcards documenting the destruction of the Los Angeles Times building after it was dynamited on October 1, 1910, by labor union activists. Most of the photographs feature different angles of the building destruction, some with firefighter wagons, fire hoses, and smoke still visible. One photograph shows the destruction in "Ink Alley," where the bomb was set off, and another shows a printing press. An unidentified photograph appears to be of James and John McNamara and a woman standing in front of a house, possibly theirs. One of the photographs is captioned "Where first bodies were found ... raising debris to recover the dead." Some postcards have correspondence and stamps on versos.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1910
Call number: photCL 714
Provenance: Purchased from Vigilante Rare Documents, November 2023.

Collection of photographic postcards of the Los Angeles Times building bombing

Visual Materials

A group of 13 photographic postcards documenting the destruction of the Los Angeles Times building after it was dynamited on October 1, 1910, by labor union activists. Most of the photographs feature different angles of the building destruction, some with fire engines, fire hoses, and smoke still visible. One photograph shows the destruction in "Ink Alley," where the bomb was set off, and another shows a printing press. An unidentified photograph appears to be of James and John McNamara and a woman standing in front of a house, possibly theirs. One of the photographs is captioned "Where first bodies were found ... raising debris to recover the dead." Some postcards have correspondence and stamps on versos.

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Aftermath of the bombing of the Los Angeles Times Building

Visual Materials

A view of the bombed Los Angeles times building with smoke still rising from the site. There is a policeman and a few spectators in the foreground.

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Collection of photographs and postcards of the Long Beach, California, earthquake

Visual Materials

A group of 36 snapshot photographs and photographic postcards, and two printed souvenir photo booklets documenting the range of destruction after the major Long Beach earthquake on March 10, 1933. Images chiefly show damaged buildings including churches, post offices, schools, houses, apartment buildings, and stores. Some images feature large cracks in streets and highways. Three photographs depict damage in Compton, and one was taken in nearby Lynwood. Identified photographers are Austin Studio, Long Beach; C.D. Douglass Studios, Montebello; Larry Lynde; and Pacific Studios, L.A.

photCL 715

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Postcards and photographic postcards - Los Angeles and vicinity

Visual Materials

A collection of approximately 1,500 photographs and various ephemera and publications of California missions, collected by Southern California educator Connie Rothstein, with an emphasis on the San Gabriel Mission, the history of the city of San Gabriel, and the production of "The Mission Play" by John Steven McGroarty. The collection also includes late-19th and early-20th century photographs of Los Angeles and Southern California, and postcards and ephemera related to the Southern California region. Notable in the collection are 391 stereographs of missions and Los Angeles, including some by photographers William Godfrey and H. T. Payne, A. C. Varela, and Carleton Watkins. All of the California Missions are represented in the collection, plus the "sub-missions" or Asistencias of California. The mission photographs include many unusual views and details, and are a mixture of snapshots made by tourists and commercial photographs. There are many views in and around Southern California, most dating from 1880s-1920s, by various photographers. Specific topics emphasized in and around Los Angeles are: Olvera Street, Chinatown, La Fiesta de Los Angeles celebration; and the Mount Lowe Railway. There are many cabinet cards and stereographs, and six large panoramic photographs of the Los Angeles area. The ephemera include hundreds of postcards and photographic postcards, scrapbooks, and many small publications on the history of the missions and California, as well as ephemera related to "The Mission Play." Other topics in the collection are: photographs and ephemera of Monterey, California; Oregon and the Columbia River Highway; and a group of photographs of cowboys and Western culture (mid-20th century).

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The Sphinx Realty Co. building, Los Angeles

Visual Materials

The Sphinx Realty Company building, at 537 North Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California, built in the shape of the head of a sphinx. The business was no longer operating from this site when the photograph was made, as it shows a "For Rent" sign on the door.

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The Sphinx Realty Co. building, Los Angeles

Visual Materials

photCL_555_01_83

Collection of photographic postcards of the Los Angeles Times building bombing

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Collection of photographic postcards of the Los Angeles Times building bombing

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