Visual Materials
Photograph of the Pozo #42 oil well and crew in Escolin, Veracruz, Mexico
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Photographs of American occupation of Veracruz, Mexico
Visual Materials
Twenty photographs (5 x 7 inches) documenting the U.S. military occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution. Images show sailors posed in groups, fighting in the streets with rifles, stockpiles of guns, the dock, officials, and dead bodies in Veracruz, 1914. Includes letter explaining provenance of photographs. This folder also contains two unrelated photographs of a Pacific Mail Steamship Company ship heading to Japan and Hong Kong, 1916.
photPF 2250-2271
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Photograph album of Veracruz, Mexico
Visual Materials
An album of 39 photographic postcards of scenes of rural and city life in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, taken by unidentified photographers in the 1930s. The commercially-made images have captions in Spanish etched into the negative, and many have an MF mark for The Mexico Photographic Company. The images include street scenes, outdoor markets, city buildings and bridges, as well as automobile, bus, and train travel. Detailed scenes of rural life include women selling pots or washing clothes at the river, family groups posing in front of their homes, and men in labor activities such as loading lumber onto mules.
photCL 668

Oil well next to house, Los Angeles
Visual Materials
An oil derrick is seen in the foreground, next to a house.
photCL_555_06_28

Powell-Stockton oil derrick no. 1, Kettleman Hills oil field, Kings County. January 1923
Visual Materials
A panoramic view of an oil rig in the Kettleman Hills oil field in Kings County. There is oil rig on the center which has a few sheds nearby, connected by power/telephone lines and pipes. A group of twenty-five men and women stand on a slightly elevated platform that extends to the right of the derrick. Most of the people are in nice suits or dresses, but a group nearest the rig wears dirty coveralls. A sign leaning against the base of the platform reads "Powell-Stockton ; Inv. Co. Ltd. ; No 1." A truck is parked next to a shed on the left. The surrounding land is dry and hilly, with only low scrub growing.
photCL 470 (218)
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Map of Oil Fields of North Veracruz and Vicinity, Mexico, Oil Commission (1919)
Visual Materials
A collection of photographs and maps compiled by American geologist and petroleum engineer Ralph Arnold (1875-1961), documenting his pioneering work in oil and mineral exploration, chiefly in the Western United States, Mexico and Venezuela, from 1900 to 1954. The collection centers on 64 photograph albums that span 50 years of Arnold's life and work. Photographs are accompanied by Arnold's typed captions identifying geological features; oil and mining activities; technical data; and dates and locations, i.e. often an oil or mining "district" or "field," such as "Sunset Field" (California). Subject matter includes geological and topographical features such as rock formations, faults and schisms, mountain structure, geothermal activity, and open land with potential drilling or mining spots. Earthquake faults are seen and described in many of Arnold's California investigations. There are also views of small and large-scale oil operations (by individuals and by organized companies); details of oil flow and reservoirs; asphalt; drilling equipment; workers and fields of oil wells. Arnold's work took him all over the Western United States, particularly California oil fields, but also Texas, Wyoming, Arizona, Alaska and other states. From 1911-1916 he was primarily in South America, and in the 1920s-1940s, mostly in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Mining operations are the focus of some albums, showing investigations for tin, gold and other minerals; mines and ore processing, all with detailed descriptions. Arnold also often photographed people: colleagues and business associates, oil lease owners on their properties; workers (particularly Black and Asian workers in Venezuela); and friends and family. Personal photographs are throughout the album, such as of his wife, Winninette, and their two daughters; Stokes family members (Winninette's family) in South Pasadena; and alumni of Pasadena High School and Stanford University. Arnold was an avid gardener and the albums contain detail views of cactus and tropical plants, and scenes of Arnold collecting wild orchids in Trinidad, Venezuela and Mexico. The maps date from 1880-1948 and include U.S.G.S. and geological maps, California oil fields and well locations; layouts of mines, and various tract maps showing oil company-owned land.
photCL 311
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Photograph of Seid Back Jr. family in front of their home, Portland, Oregon
Visual Materials
Photograph of Seid Gain Back Jr., his wife Mary Chan Back, and their two children Dip Gay Seid Back (1915-1983) and Katherine Mae Seid Back Lee (1918-2006) standing in front of their home in Portland, Oregon. The children are seated in their small, florally decorated pedal fire truck for Portland's 15th Annual Rose Festival, Grand Floral Parade. A caption imbedded in the photograph cites the event, the children's names and ages, and says "Prize Winner." The photograph was taken by well-known Portland area photographer Arthur Prentiss.
photPF 26007