San Diego Union-Tribune Photograph Collection
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt6r29q3mg No online items Guide to the San Diego Union-Tribune Photograph Collection Rebecca Gerber, Therese M. James, Jessica Silver San Diego Historical Society Casa de Balboa 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park, Suite 3 San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: (619) 232-6203 URL: http://www.sandiegohistory.org © 2005 San Diego Historical Society. All rights reserved. Guide to the San Diego C2 1 Union-Tribune Photograph Collection Guide to the San Diego Union-Tribune Photograph Collection Collection number: C2 San Diego Historical Society San Diego, California Processed by: Rebecca Gerber, Therese M. James, Jessica Silver Date Completed: July 2005 Encoded by: Therese M. James and Jessica Silver © 2005 San Diego Historical Society. All rights reserved. Descriptive Summary Title: San Diego Union-Tribune photograph collection Dates: 1910-1975 Bulk Dates: 1915-1957 Collection number: C2 Creator: San Diego union-tribune Collection Size: 100 linear ft.ca. 150,000 items (glass and film negatives and photographic prints): b&w and color; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. Repository: San Diego Historical Society San Diego, California 92138 Abstract: The collection chiefly consists of photographic negatives, photographs, and news clippings of San Diego news events taken by staff photographers of San Diego Union-Tribune and its predecessors, San Diego Union, San Diego Sun, San Diego Evening Tribune, and San Diego Tribune-Sun, which were daily newspapers of San Diego, California, 1910-1974. Physical location: San Diego Historical Society Research Library, Booth Historical Photograph Archives, 1649 El Prado, Casa de Balboa Building, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101 Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English Access Collection is open for research. Access to fragile or damaged items is restricted, except by permission of the director of the Booth Historical Photograph Archives at the San Diego Historical Society. Publication Rights Permission for publication is given by the San Diego Historical Society both for copyrighted materials and materials physically owned by the Society but not copyrighted. All requests for publication must be submitted in writing. Permission for use is not granted until all fees are paid. Preferred Citation San Diego Union-Tribune photograph collection, C2, San Diego Historical Society Acquisition Information In 1957, Larry Booth, photographer and photograph curator for Union Title Co., acquired thousands of negatives slated for destruction by the San Diego Union. In 1979, these were transferred to the San Diego Historical Society. A second gift of negatives spanning 1945 to 1981 were donated to the San Diego Historical Society by the San Diego Union-Tribune Publishing Company in 1984. Together, these accessions form one collection. Biography / Administrative History The San Diego Union began publishing in 1868 when San Diego's population was barely over 2,000 citizens. Industrialist John D. Spreckels purchased the newspaper in 1890. The San Diego Evening Tribune was founded in 1895. In 1901, Spreckels also purchased the Evening Tribune. In 1928, Colonel Ira C. Copley of the Copley newspaper chain purchased both the Union and the Evening Tribune. The two newspapers operated separately until 1992 when they merged to form the San Diego Union-Tribune. The San Diego Sun was founded by editor Horace Stevens in 1881 and purchased by E.W. Guide to the San Diego C2 2 Union-Tribune Photograph Collection Scripps of the Scripps-Howard chain in 1892. The newspaper published until 1939 when it was merged with the San Diego Evening Tribune. Between 1939 and 1950 the paper was entitled the San Diego Tribune-Sun. The newspaper reverted back to the name San Diego Evening Tribune in 1950. 1868 San Diego Union began publishing. 1881 Editor Horace Stevens founded the San Diego Sun. 1890 Industrialist John D. Spreckles purchased the San Diego Union. 1892 E.W. Scripps of the Scripps-Howard chain purchased the San Diego Sun. 1895 The San Diego Evening Tribune was founded. 1928 Col. Ira C. Copley of the Copley newspaper chain purchased the Union and the Evening Tribune. 1939-1950 The San Diego Sun merged with the San Diego Evening Tribune and was entitled San Diego Tribune-Sun. 1950 The newspaper reverted back to the name San Diego Evening Tribune. 1992 The San Diego Union and the San Diego Evening Tribune merged to form the San Diego Union-Tribune. Funding Information The San Diego Newspaper Photograph Cataloging Project was made possible by a generous two year matching grant provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to the San Diego Historical Society. The grant provided funding for employee salaries and supplies to describe and preserve more than 150,000 negatives in the San Diego Union-Tribune photograph collection dating from 1910-1975 (bulk 1915-1957). This represents a portion of total collection which spans through 1981. Processing Information From July 2003 through July 2005, a team of project archivists worked on-site at Historical Society to accomplish these goals. The Project Director was John Panter. Project Archivists were: Therese James, July 2003-June 2004; Jessica Silver, July 2004-June 2005. Project Assistants included Rebecca Gerber, Robert Ross, Miranda Nighbor and Emily Posedel. Project staff were assisted by Project Consultant Gabriela A. Montoya, an intern, and more than twenty volunteers from the San Diego community. Images were first cataloged in the Historical Society's in-house catalog using SydneyPLUS software. Selected descriptive information was then exported to the Online Archive of California to form this finding aid. Scope and Content of Collection The San Diego Historical Society's holdings of Union-Tribune newspaper photographs consist almost entirely of original photographic negatives of San Diego news events taken by staff photographers between approximately 1910 and 1981. This guide addresses images taken primarily between 1915 and 1957. These files contain more than 150,000 images submitted by photographers from their assignments, and are not limited to images actually published. Physical formats present include chiefly 4x5 inch glass plates, 4x5 inch film negatives, 120 film, and 35mm film, and photographic prints. The vast majority of negatives are black and white. Copy negatives are also present throughout the collection, presumably made from photographic prints loaned to the newspaper or for internal duplication purposes. Also included are photographic assignment sheets and newspaper clippings. The collection is organized into five series: Series 1, Newspaper subjects, 1910-1947 (bulk, 1915-1942); Series 2, Newspaper subjects, 1912-1975 (bulk, 1950-1957); Series 3, Activities and individuals, 1910-1951 (bulk, 1922-1948); Series 4, Activities and individuals, 1940-1960 (bulk, 1946-1957); Series 5, Photographic prints, ca. 1915-1957. Subjects present in the collection document the history of San Diego and in turn, California and the nation. Images depict local and national politics including relations with Mexico, air, rail and automobile transportation, housing and urban development, the tuna fishing industry and other business enterprises, and tourist attractions including the San Diego Zoo and San Diego's 1915 and 1935 Expositions. Also extensively documented are San Diego County community events, locations, residences and other buildings, social and religious organizations and clubs, recreational and professional sports, municipal services, education and health services, the arts, and crime. Throughout the collection are images of prominent residents and visiting dignitaries. Portraits predominate throughout all series. The extent of the images encompassed by the collection allows in-depth examination into the rapidly changing cultural, political and social mores of the region, state and nation. Arrangement The San Diego Historical Society holdings of the Union-Tribune photograph archive described by this guide are arranged in five parts, as received by the library. Series 1-4 consist of photographic negatives, and Series 5 consists of photographic prints. Series 1-4 each represent a different organizational approach employed by the newspaper when these were the current, working photographic negative files. Series 1-4 break down along roughly chronological lines, with Series 1 and 3 containing the earliest images, and Series 2 and 4, the latest. There is some date overlap amongst the four series. The Guide to the San Diego C2 3 Union-Tribune Photograph Collection internal arrangement of each series is generally alphabetical by subject or by personal surname rather than chronological. A unique local control number corresponds to each negative and identifies the series to which it belongs: Series 1. UT1 - UT8238, UT8241 Series 2. UT84:21715 - UT84:35539 Series 3. UT8326 - UT25683 Series 4. UT84:1 - UT84:21714 Series 5. N/A Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog. Air pilots--California--San Diego. Aircraft accidents--California--San Diego. Airplanes--California--San Diego. Art exhibitions--California--San Diego. Athletes--California--San Diego. Balboa Park (San Diego, Calif.). Buildings--California--San Diego. Business enterprises--California--San Diego. California Pacific International Exposition (1935-1936 : San Diego, Calif.). Churches--California--San Diego. Crime and criminals--California--San Diego. Charitable organizations--California--San