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Los Angeles Times Photographic Archives in Library Special Collections

This guide describes how to access and use the Los Angeles Photographic Archives collection and includes a selection of photographs that showcase various subjects in Southern California.

Toward Ethical and Inclusive Descriptive Practices in UCLA Library Special Collections

LSC is committed to remediating harmful description by creating and implementing an anti-oppressive approach to discovery and access. We aim to:

  • Be clear about what we know, how we know it, and what we don't know
  • Embrace baseline description as a tool to improve the discoverability of all our materials
  • Demonstrate an understanding that description is a continuous and necessarily iterative endeavor

Read more about our past and current approaches to description in Toward Ethical and Inclusive Descriptive Practices in UCLA Library Special Collections.

Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive

The Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive contains an estimated 4 million images dating from approximately 1918 to 1990. The collection consists of photonegatives as well as photographic prints, and includes glass negatives (circa 1918-1932), nitrate negatives (circa 1925-45), and safety negatives (circa 1935-1990). Also included are a small number of prints and negatives from the Los Angeles Times Orange County and San Diego bureaus. 

The scope of the collection is near-comprehensive as a document of events, personalities, movements, and institutions in the news. Unique among its content is the amount of photographic evidence concerning the Los Angeles region during this time. The range of documentary material reflecting L.A. politics, the built environment, arts and culture, race relations, industry, growth and development is perhaps unrivaled. The photographic records resulting from the Times’ diligent and constant coverage of the Hollywood entertainment industry are a particularly important cache.

Resources and Search Strategies

Los Angeles Times Gallery

Griffith Park

Cars on the road through Griffith Park with laborers in the background widening the road, Los Angeles, 1933-04

Arthur Ashe

UCLA tennis player Arthur Ashe firing a backhand volley at Dennis Ralston in Southern California Intercollegiates, 1964-03-16

Filipino Family

Filipino family roasting pig over hot coals during the Lotus Festival at Echo Park in Los Angeles, Calif., 1976

Smog

Jo Jeanne Angeloff rubbing eyes from effects of smog atop the Occidental Center building in Los Angeles, Calif., 1965-04-20

Nisei Festival

Nisei Festival Week Queen contestants, Los Angeles, 1966-08-11

Cyclone Racer

Cyclone Racer roller coaster seen from location of destroyed Pine Avenue Pier, Long Beach, 1934

Rose Parade

"Peacock" float in the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena, 1933-01-02

Freeway Interchange

Bill Lloyd looking over Long Beach and San Bernardino Freeways interchange on opening day, 1965-02-15

Fatty and the Broadway Stars

Two scenes from the filming of "Fatty and the Broadway Stars," Los Angeles, 1915

Brown Berets

Four Brown Berets leaders, Fred Lopez, David Sanchez , Carlos Montes and Ralph Ramirez in Los Angeles, Calif., 1968-03-07

Goodyear-Zeppelin Airship

Goodyear-Zeppelin airship approaching the USS Patoka in the Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, 1932

Chinese Lion

Dancing Chinese lion during festival in Chinatown, Los Angeles, circa 1920-1939

UCLA

Paraplegic students sign up for classes at UCLA, 1949-09-19

Blessing of the Animals

Blessing of the animals on Olvera Street, Los Angeles (Calif.), 1948-03-28

Surfing

California Coast Girls Surf Club, 1963-05-19

Watts Riots

Burned residence from Watts Riots, Los Angeles (Calif.), 1965-10-15

Dodger Stadium

Primary grading for Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles (Calif.), 1960-04-16

Seder

Bennett family gathered around Seder table upon which sits symbolic Jewish foods in Beverly Hills, Calif., 1965-04-08

Film Strike

Police drag MGM protesters to police wagon, 1946-10-01

Atomic Bomb

Atomic blast preparedness : actors reacting to nuclear blast, 1950-08-29

Homeless

Homeless Floyd Heagle and Dorothy Johnson, with children living in car in Los Angeles, Calif., 1946-08-06

Iron Eyes Cody

Iron Eyes Cody filming dedication of Indian Garden with a Quasar VHS camcorder in Los Angeles, Calif., 1986-04-18

War Rationing

Long line of people waiting to obtain meat during first day of war rationing in Los Angeles. 1943-03-28

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