General Subjects Photography collection, 1850s-1980s, bulk (Bulk 1870s-1970s)

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Summary

Creators:
Various
Abstract:
Contains photographs and picture postcards depicting scenes of California places, people, activities, and cultural resources from the 1850s to the 1980s.
Extent:
94 boxes, 12 oversize boxes (ca. 23,150 images)
Language:
English and English.
Preferred citation:

General Subjects Photography collection, PC-GS: Box [number], California Historical Society, Photography Collection.

Background

Scope and content:

Contains photographs and picture postcards depicting scenes of California places, people, activities, and cultural resources, mainly from the 1870s to the 1980s. Each listing represents a file containing from one to more than fifty images. Some files may also include a small number of non-photographic reproductions and prints depicting images from as early as the 1770s.

Includes images depicting California's agricultural economy (crops, livestock, ranching, etc.), industry (fishing, lumbering, etc.), and mining operations, as well as common plants (cactus, redwoods, etc.) and animals (bear, coyote, etc.). Images of the California missions provide the earliest views in the collection. Other scenes of the California landscape reflect the wide variety of the state's natural features (lakes, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, etc.), and the built environment as evidenced through architecture (commercial, domestic, and public) and transportation (automotive, rail, water, etc.), and depicted in the art of individual artists. Also includes images of people engaged in community and cultural activities as members of organizations (Freemasons, Sierra Club, etc.), or participating in recreation (amusement parks, cycling, dance, swimming, etc.), theater, and social groups (Chinese, Hispanic Americans, Italians, hippies, women, etc.). The largest segment of the collection concerns the work of California photographers (chiefly portraits). These have been divided by the city in which they chiefly worked, and described in further detail as individual catalog records. Images included here compliment those found in the California Counties Photography Collection.

Acquisition information:
Consult repository
Arrangement:

Organized alphabetically by subject.

Physical location:
Please consult repository.
Physical description:
lb:

Access and use

Restrictions:

California Historical Society collections have been transferred to Stanford University Libraries. Collections will be unavailable as Stanford accessions them and updates records. Please contact chscollection@stanford.edu with any inquiries.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the California Historical Society. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:

General Subjects Photography collection, PC-GS: Box [number], California Historical Society, Photography Collection.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
chscollection@stanford.edu
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