Charles Victor Hall Lantern Slide Collection of California Views, approximately 1875

Summary

Creators:

Hall, Charles Victor, 1854-1933

Abstract:

These lantern slides depict urban, agricultural, and nature scenes of California in the 1870s. The slides acted as a visual accompaniment to real estate developer Charles Victor Hall’s traveling lecture promoting California's resources and benefits, aimed to encourage New Englanders and Europeans to relocate to California. This collection is significant in its images of Native Americans in California, mainly in the Yosemite area, and views of prospecting and mining.

Extent:

166 lantern slides and 3 copy negatives in 4 boxes: slides 8 x 8 cm. (3.25 x 3.25 in.)

Language:

English.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection of 166 lantern slides depicting urban, agricultural, and nature scenes of California in the 1870s were created by real estate developer Charles Victor Hall as a visual accompaniment to his traveling lecture promoting California’s resources and benefits. The lecture aimed to encourage New Englanders and Europeans to relocate to California. The majority of the lantern slides depict scenes from northern California, including Yosemite National Park and San Francisco. Some southern California views are also shown, including San Diego and Los Angeles County. Other slides of interest are views of the California ranches of F.P.F. Temple, Ellwood Cooper, F.D. Bacon, Maria Sepulveda, L.J. Rose Jr. (and family), and H.H. Moore. Portraits of General John C. Fremont and actress Maude Granger are also featured in the collection.

This collection is significant in its images of Native Americans in California, mainly in the Yosemite area; see slides (56), (60), (64), (66), (67), (68), and (74). Many of the images were possibly photographed by Bradley & Rulofson, as stated in newspaper clippings from 1874-75, found in Hall’s scrapbooks. In addition, Hall said that he purchased his "views and instruments" from Houseworth & Co. (The Morning Call, Sept. 23, 1874, p. 14). The images were most likely taken by several different photographers, including Carleton Watkins and Eadweard Muybridge.

In addition to the lantern slides, three copy negatives depicting the logging industry are also included (Items 219-221). There is also a printing plate portrait of Charles Victor Hall(item 222), and a few photographs: portraits of Charles Victor Hall and his wife Josephine Dalton, and views of his residence in Los Angeles (items 223 - 227)..

Biographical / historical:

Charles Victor Hall (1854-1933) was born in 1854 in San Francisco, California, but grew up in Los Angeles. He was a precocious student, giving the valedictory at Los Angeles Grammar School on November 25, 1869. As a young man, he wrote poems and articles for local newspapers. From 1876 to 1880, he edited and published his own Hall’s Land Journal, promoting the agriculture and resources of Southern California. Around this time, Hall created a lantern slide lecture about California and its climate, agriculture, trade, and industry; he traveled to the Eastern United States and Europe with the aim that his lecture would persuade people to immigrate to California, bringing with them their families and businesses. Hall later worked as a real estate agent in Los Angeles before trying his hand in the oil industry. After successfully drilling a number of oil wells at Olinda Ranch in Brea, California, Hall retired to his ranch at Buena, California in 1912 and passed away in 1933.

Note on sources: typescript dictation of Charles Victor Hall from Miscellaneous California Dictations, ca. 1887-1889 at the Bancroft Library, U. C. Berkeley (BANC MSS CD 810:171); and Hall's Scrapbooks at the Huntington Library (see Related Materials).

Acquisition information:

Gift of Mrs. Charles V. Hall on January 24, 1935.

Arrangement:

Items arranged numerically according to the original slide numbers assigned by Charles Victor Hall.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

• [Scrapbooks of Charles Victor Hall, 1862-1877] (RB 214359). These two volumes hold newspaper clippings announcing Hall’s lectures in specific areas as well as a caption list for his lantern slides.
• California, the ideal Italy of the world. An outline mirror of the state for health, happiness and delightful homes (RB 214360). Hall’s pamphlet accompaniment to the California lecture, which was made specifically for those who could not attend his lecture in person.
• The wonders of California : Charles V. Hall's illustrated lecture on California, with 500 superb views. California scenery illustrated by illuminated photographs ... (RB 283299) An advertising broadside from The Grangers' Guide.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Bank of California -- Photographs. -- Photographs.
California State Capitol (Sacramento, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Cliff House (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Geysers—California -- Photographs.
Hotels -- Photographs.
Indians of North America—California -- Photographs.
Logging -- Photographs.
Mercantile Library Association (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Mills Seminary -- Photographs.
Mineral industries -- Photographs.
Mission San Gabriel Arcangel (San Gabriel, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Miwok Indians -- Photographs.
Orchards -- Photographs.
Paiute Indians -- Photographs.
Prospecting -- Photographs.
Quartz mines and mining -- Photographs.
Ranches -- Photographs.
Rock formations—California -- Photographs.
San Buenaventura Mission -- Photographs.
San Diego Mission -- Photographs.
Santa Barbara Mission -- Photographs.
Sweatbaths -- Photographs.
Telegraph Hill (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Trees -- Photographs.
Union Pacific Railroad Company -- Photographs.
Vineyards -- Photographs.
Wineries -- Photographs.
Woodward’s Gardens (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Lantern slides.
Photographs.
Printing plate.

Names:

Bierstadt, Albert, 1830-1902 -- Photographs.
Frémont, John Charles, 1813-1890 -- Photographs.
Granger, Maude, 1850 or 51-1928 -- Photographs.
Hall, Charles Victor, 1852-1933 -- Photographs.
Temple, Francis Pliny F., 1821-1880 -- Photographs.
Rose, L. J. (Leonard John), 1827-1899 -- Photographs.

Places:

Alcatraz Island (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Bridalveil Fall (Calif.) -- Photographs.
California State Prison at San Quentin -- Photographs.
Calistoga (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Cathedral Spires (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Donner Lake (Calif.) -- Photographs.
El Capitan (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Farallon Islands (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Glacier Point (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Half Dome (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Mariposa County (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Sacramento (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Diego (Calif.) -- Photographs.
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Santa Rosa Island (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.) -- Photographs.
Tamalpais, Mount (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Truckee River (Calif. and Nev.) -- Photographs.
Wasatch Range (Utah and Idaho) -- Photographs.
Yerba Buena Island (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Yosemite Falls (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Yosemite National Park (Calif.) -- Photographs.

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Location of this collection:

Huntington Library, Photo Archives Collections

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, CA 91108, US

Contact:

(626) 405-2129

reference@huntington.org

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