Recently a colleague put together some intriguing images from the UCLA Digital Collections to post on the Library’s homepage. I thought this one was so much fun I had to look it up. This is one of many photographs in the Will Connell collection held by Library Special Collections. Learn more about Connell and the collection here from the Finding Aid.

In 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, Los Angeles was the host city for the Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad). Many people doubted the city had the capacity to host the games, especially during such tough economic times, but L.A. came through in grand style.  For the first time, athletes were housed and fed in an Olympic Village, at a cost to their home countries of only $2/day — making it possible for countries to send more athletes. The Los Angeles Olympics were also the first time that the Games recognized a significant profit for the host city, raising approximately $1 million.

The city’s excitement about hosting the 1932 Games started early, with Southern California veterans of the 1928 Junior Olympics posing for the Los Angeles Times in uniforms promoting “Los Angeles 1932.”

Junior Olympic athletes Johnny Falcon, Jerry Deal, Rex Heap and Mike Pina in “Los Angeles 1932″ uniforms in Los Angeles, Calif., 1929

Costume and fashion designer Peggy Hamilton Adams also did her part to boost the Olympic spirit in Los Angeles as “Queen Olympia,” the Los Angeles County “Official Hostess” for the Games.

Peggy Hamilton (center) modeling a Max Rée gown as “Queen Olympia” with members of her court at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, 1931

Hamilton Adams also modeled a special outfit, featuring illustrations of the Olympic events and the flags of participating nations.

Peggy Hamilton with Governor James Rolph at the Philharmonic Auditorium, Los Angeles, 1932

Photographer Adelbert Bartlett captured the city’s excitement as reflected in the Olympic-themed decorations in downtown Los Angeles.

Hill Street decorated for the Olympics, Los Angeles, 1932

Eighty years later, the UCLA Digital Library Program salutes the athletes currently competing in the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London!

~ Claudia Horning, Metadata Team Leader

Young people in motorboat "Graceful," Lake Arrowhead, 1929

Aquaplaning and rodeos, jazz bands and golfing – what’s your preference?  Adelbert Bartlett, a photographer who worked mostly in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, made frequent trips to Lake Arrowhead in 1929 to shoot leisure, fun, and growing real estate development in the mountains.

Aquaplaning: the single-board predecessor of water skiing.

The very serious Lake Arrowhead Orchestra, covered in streamers: Ray Hatfield, Bill Ward, trumpet; Don Rice, violin; Bob Brown, banjo; Jimmy Wiggs, Bob Parrett, clarinet; Hap Allen, saxophone.

The Lake Arrowhead Rodeo

Tex Young at the Lake Arrowhead Rodeo

Child actor and rodeo performer Little Buck Dale

Sally Phipps was a young actress who had been in a few films in the 1920s.  Bartlett took her photograph at Lake Arrowhead in a number of poses:

 

Southern California Building and Loan Association, Lake Arrowhead

Motorboat races must have been exciting...

...and the arrival of the Sikorsky S38-A "The Flying Fish" amphibian plane.

Golf was and still is popular at Lake Arrowhead. The rough areas look pretty rough.

Even deteriorating logging equipment can be an excuse to photograph young women in bathing suits.

Author Bert Levy and cartoonist Clifford McBride, out on the lake

The Ashbridge Flyer

In Adelbert Bartlett's handwritten notes for one set of Arrowhead images, it says: "Best - child on sand." This seems to be the favorite photograph it refers to.

 

Becky Spiro

UCLA Library Cataloging & Metadata Center

On December 26, 1938, Time magazine ran this item in its wonderfully succinct Milestones column:

Born. To Dr. St. Louis Estes, 73, famed California food faddist (nuts, raw foods), and his wife: their seventh son, twelfth child; in San Francisco. Like all the other Estes boys, this one will be called St. Louis. Estes daughters have no first names.

This follows an earlier mention of Mrs. St. Louis Estes (whose own first name is Esther) in Time after the birth of her eleventh child, a girl, in1937, in which she is quoted as saying:

“Names are really inconsequential so we have not taken the time to name them. They respond to Dimple and Chickadee so why bother?”

Some  years earlier, however, when the family had only eight children, Mrs. Estes dedicated her book Raw food menu & recipe book to them by name:

To My Eight Adorable Children

Suzanne (Honey Baby, my first), St. Louis II (Sonny), Dixie Lou Medora, St. Louis III (Howie), the twins, St. Louis IV (Fatty), St. Louis V (Sugar Plum), Natacha Moraine (Twiddledewinks) and St. Louis VI, my youngest.

Whatever their names, the UCLA Digital Library has some lovely photographs of them, as well as their eccentric parents.   The photographs are all part of the Bartlett collection, taken by Santa Monica-based commercial photographer Adelbert Bartlett between 1928 and 1936, when Dr. St. Louis Estes, who must have had both admirers and detractors, was in the Los Angeles area promoting his version of a healthy lifestyle.

cabbage kids

exercising

 

 

Dr. St. Louis Albert Estes claimed to be “the cripple who rebuilt himself”—choosing a diet of only raw and natural food to bring himself back from ill health, paralysis, blindness, and baldness.  Esther Estes was his second wife (his first, Clara Estes, sued him for desertion), and seems to have been in agreement with his philosophy, raising all the children, from birth, on only raw foods.   Perhaps they were a visionary family, ahead of their time, seeming as if they might have been more at home in the 1960s than the 1930s.  Perhaps they were charlatans, selling their ideas about health to a gullible public.

 

Dr. Estes wasn’t, of course, the only one selling health in the early 20th century.  Health fads have a long history in the United States, and the UCLA Digital Library also includes a collection of  patent medicine trade cards.

Carter's backache plasters

The true motivation of the Estes family may never be known—nor the reason Dr. Estes likes to be photographed with his fist raised—but the story told by the photographs seems to be a determined and nonconformist sincerity.

 

Dr. St. Louis Estes

child and dad

Dr. St. Louis Estes, still strong

 

Becky Spiro

UCLA Library Cataloging and Metadata Center

When Shirley Temple was at the height of her fame, at not quite six years old, her parents, George and Gertrude

Temple, invited photographer Adelbert Bartlett into their home.  Apparently he was not allowed to take pictures of Shirley herself, but he photographed the house, her bedroom, her playhouse, and her backyard.

She had small wooden animals...

...a large lollipop...

...and a charming playhouse.

Two of the photos are nearly identical, but someone has switched the places of the doll and the teddy bear.

The change was probably made by Mr. Bartlett, to capture the reflection of the doll in the mirror…

…but it’s nice to imagine Shirley, on the day of the photographer’s visit, arranging her room to suit her own preferences.

Becky Spiro
UCLA Library Cataloging & Metadata Center

Boulders and palm trees in a Palm Canyon, Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, circa 1901

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C. C. Pierce was a pioneer Los Angeles photographer, working from circa 1886-1946, whose photographs document Los Angeles and southern California. Pierce was also a photograph collector and dealer and many of the images in this collection are by his contemporaries as well. The beautifully composed, often atmospheric views are a testament to the practice of early photographers to work according to the principles of painting.

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, arcades enclosing quadrangle, Oceanside, circa 1887

Of particular note is the documentation of surviving structures from the missions and rancho land grants of California. Fourteen missions, including lesser-known “asistencias” (sub-missions under the control of larger missions) and three ranchos are documented.

Mission San Carlos Borromeo, exterior view prior to restoration, Carmel, circa 1875

Interior of the chapel at the San Antonio de Pala Asistencia, Pala, circa 1898

These historically important nitrate images show the buildings, with their original decor and surroundings, before restoration or, in some cases, complete ruin. Two rancho images document actual working ranch activities such as sheep washing (Rancho Guajome) and sheep shearing (Rancho Camulos).

Native American sheep sheerers at Rancho Camulos standing in front of an adobe building, near Piru, 1885

Of note is the image of the Civil War era barracks in Wilmington.

Civil War era barracks guard house at the Drum Barracks, Wilmington, Los Angeles, circa 1910

The collection also shows now-demolished Los Angeles civic buildings such as the ca. 1900 County Courthouse,

Los Angeles County Courthouse, Los Angeles, circa 1900-1910

civic life in downtown LA, through a series on the various locations of Boos Bros cafeterias which can be enlarged to allow the identification of neighboring businesses,

Boos Bros Cafeteria on the 300 block of S. Broadway, Los Angeles, circa 1929

Boos Bros Cafeteria on the 300 block of S. Broadway, Los Angeles, circa 1929

and the yet undeveloped areas around Los Angeles such as Topanga Canyon and the San Fernando Valley.

Birdseye view of the San Fernando Valley from the Topanga Canyon Road, Topanga, circa 1923-1928

William Mulholland (possibly) standing on a dirt drive between rows of large trees, California

Finally, the collection holds surprises, such as an unidentified image which appears to possibly portray William Mulholland, with his signature hat, mustache and confident pose,

Detail from photograph above

when compared to an identified portrait such as this one from the USC Digital Library.

Martha Steele, UCLA Library Cataloging & Metadata Center

View from Royce Hall towards Powell Library, evoking the image of an Italian Romanesque piazza, UCLA, Los Angeles, 1928

We have just begun to create catalog records for the nitrate negative images in the Adelbert Bartlett collection. There is a tremendous variety of subject matter in this commercial photographer’s collection, from the early development of the real estate and tourism industries to local Los Angeles area activities to promotion for a prestigious private school in Turkey.  For example, Bartlett photographed the Rancho Malibu la Costa housing development while it was under construction. The development, located between Carbon Canyon and Las Flores Canyon, was the first subdivision on Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit land. The rancho owner had recently lost the financially ruinous legal battle to keep California Highway 1 (PCH) off of the Rancho land and needed to generate income.

View towards beach house under construction in the Rancho Malibu la Costa development, Malibu, circa 1927

Aerial coastline view of the Rancho Malibu la Costa development area, Malibu, circa 1927

Bartlett photographed the Hotel Playa Ensenada, a luxurious Baja California vacation destination offering a casino and alcoholic beverages during prohibition.

Couple seated in front of the Hotel Playa Ensenada, Ensenada, 1931

The collection also documents local activities such as the 1927 Rose Parade

Motorized float shaped like a wedding cake in the Rose Parade, Pasadena, 1927

and junior high school students at work.

Two school boys at Thomas Starr King Junior High School demonstrate a science experiment, Los Angeles

A photograph of Robert College in Istanbul (the part that is now the Boğaziçi Üniversitesi campus), founded by two Americans, includes a view of the towers of the Rumeli Hisari (15^th century fortress) in the background.

View towards the Boğaziçi Üniversitesi campus, Istanbul

Two other related images provide insight into Bartlett’s work process. To create a color version of the image, Bartlett wrote instructions for the colorist and sketched the colors onto a print of the image.

Bartlett’s instructions for coloring the photograph of View towards the Boğaziçi Üniversitesi campus, Istanbul

View towards the Boğaziçi Üniversitesi campus, Istanbul, with color sketched in by Bartlett to instruct colorist

The addition of descriptive metadata (i.e. information about the photographs) for these nitrate images will enable historians and other users to more fully evaluate the scope of Bartlett’s activity locally and abroad.

Martha Steele, UCLA Library Cataloging & Metadata Center

Site plan for Centinela Park, Inglewood, 1945

The Ralph D. Cornell archive offers fascinating perspective on land development in southern California.  Cornell was the first landscape architect to open an office in Los Angeles. It was the early 1920’s at the start of a real estate  boom, before most people knew what landscape architecture was. The development activity of that era is amply reflected in the nitrate negative documentation of Cornell’s landscape architecture work. For example, the coverage includes plans for 20 community parks,

  12 residential subdivisions,

General plan of Monte Mar Vista, Los Angeles, 1924

and seven colleges & universities. As such, Cornell’s work became part of the fabric of daily life in many southern California communities. Many of his designs survive in full or in part in public areas such as Cheviot Hills Park and the parkway along Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills (the fountain specified in the plan, and designed by architect Ralph Carlin Flewelling, is still at the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Santa Monica Blvd.).

Sketch of Beverly Hills Parkway development, Beverly Hills, 1930

In addition, the nitrate images record the designs of important landscape architects for Montecito estates such as those of Wright S. Ludington (the Lansdowne Hermes, a Roman marble statue now in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, is visible at the end of a lawn),

Wright Saltus Ludington residence (Lockwood de Forest, landscape architect), view of the Lansdowne Hermes statue at end tree-bordered lawn, Montecito, 1931

George Owen Knapp (Cornell especially liked this garden, which was later destroyed by fire),

George Owen Knapp residence (Charles G. Adams, landscape architect), stairs ascending to fountain framed by eucalyptus trees with mountains in background, Montecito, 1931

John Percival Jefferson (one of the few life-size versions of Frederick William MacMonnies famous Bacchante statue was in the reflecting pool),

John Percival Jefferson residence (Paul Thiene, landscape architect), view towards house from reflection pool with statue of a bacchante by MacMonnies, Montecito, 1931

James Waldron Gillespie,

James Waldron Gillespie residence (Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, landscape architect), view from house towards fountain with pool parterre, Montecito, 1932

and Alfred E. Dieterich,

Alfred E. Dieterich residence (Lockwood de Forest, landscape architect), view of succulent garden with stone path, Montecito, 1931

and the Beverly Hills estate of Harvey Mudd.

Harvey Mudd residence (Edward Huntsman-Trout, landscape architect), sundial terrace, Beverly Hills, 1933

Although Cornell did not consider his work for private clients to be a substantial part of his practice, the nitrate images document a few private commissions such as the lovely gardens of the W. R. Dunsmore Residence which Cornell worked on over a number of years.

W. R. Dunsmore residence, exterior view towards house from driveway, Los Angeles, 1930

Cornell played a role in the ongoing preservation of missions and ranchos as well. A study of his own quite beautiful hand painted design for the reconstruction of the grounds of the San Diego Mission (planned with Arthur B. Benton), which includes stands of “scattered olive… live oaks… pines or eucalypts… sycamores… chaparral… native shrubs” in fields of  “mustard and wild oats… poppies… wild flowers,” makes one want to drive right down to see it.

Reconstruction and development of the grounds of the San Diego Mission, San Diego, 1919

He also designed the grounds of the 1844 adobe ranch house at Rancho Los Cerritos in Long Beach when the house underwent renovation in 1930-1931.

Rancho Los Cerritos, view from the forecourt towards the restored house, wall and gate, Long Beach, 1931

Cornell was an avid photographer and documented his European and California travels with images of architecture and plant species.

Desert and mountains with cactus (Yucca mojavense), shrubs, and yucca in foreground, Devil’s Garden, 1927

And he also created lovely photographic images of his family, like this one showing three generations seated on a gentle slope next to a tree and against a backdrop of shrubbery, enjoying the outdoors.

Maude, Ralph and Rosita Cornell, 1933

Martha Steele, UCLA Library Cataloging & Metadata Center

During the presentation, we showed a Google map with photos from our digital library collection geotagged.  You can see this in Google Maps.  This is an example of the kind of new interface and use of our data that will be possible with our new framework.

We are proud to announce the launch of the David Livingstone Spectral Imaging Project, a collaboration with Professor Adrian Wisnicki of Birkbeck, University of London and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. This project is a collaborative, international effort to use spectral imaging technology and digital publishing to make available a series of faded, illegible texts written by Livingstone when stranded without ink or writing paper in Central Africa. Please see the Washington Post article about the project.

Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

You may remember David Livingstone from the famous rumored utterance of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, upon finding Dr. Livingstone after 6 years without contact in Africa.

The 1871 Diary web site includes critical, textual, and historical essays and notes; a detailed project history and archive that chronicles the rediscovery of Livingstone’s original text, including over 60 downloadable documents and files produced in the course of the project; and a set of web pages that provide browsing of the images and the transcribed text, full-text searching, and the simultaneous searching and comparison between the original 1871 Field Diary, the highly revised 1872 Journal created by Livingstone, and a further revised 1874 posthumously published version.

The separate, but intimately related, Spectral Image Archive digitally preserves all the pages of Livingstone’s 1870 and 1871 Field Diaries as high-resolution spectral images with full metadata, thus providing direct access to all the primary Livingstone data on which this critical edition is based. The Archive is “designed to be self-documenting” and “provides data and metadata in a regular and predicable structure.” This is a very significant part of the project in that it provides access to all the raw data for the project under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial license. The raw data to which the public has access totals 655GB.

The UCLA Digital Library Program is the digital publisher of this project. The diary texts are marked up in TEI P5, indexed in Solr for searching, and displayed using XSLT.