Photography: Los Angeles and Southern California

Struck by a serious heart condition during his senior year at Yale, Dickey returned to early interests in natural history and photography to occupy his mind and hands during the prolonged recovery period. By the time he had regained full strength in 1916, he had also formulated a new life goal: to establish a research center for study of the vertebrate zoology of Southern California, and to build a supporting collection of taxidermy specimens, photographs and books. This finding aid introduces the still photography part and some movie footage of that collection: over 4000 images captured by Dickey and his associates on various formats of film negatives, glass plates and slides. Each entry in the finding aid for the still photographs leads to a Dickey negative and a 5 x 8" reference card which contains a positive image, and identifying information. Three-hundred-and-fifty of the images, from 1911–1929, have been digitized and are viewable online.

Henry Hebard West was a Los Angeles resident, Southern Pacific Railroad employee, and candid photographer. His photograph album (which is part of the Photographers' collection) contains images of Los Angeles and vicinity, but also includes many photos of travels to Northern California, the Midwest, and New England. Most of the photos are portraits of the West family in Los Angeles, where they lived at 240 S. Griffin Avenue, in a house built by the photographer's father. The photos provide a first-hand look at the architecture, interior decoration, furniture, clothing, hair styles, and transportation of the period. They document the life of the West family over a span of forty years, as they age, marry, raise children, enjoy outings to nearby city parks, beaches, hotels, and missions, and vacation together in Northern California, returning again and again to places like Yosemite, Silver Lake, Gem Lake, June Lake, Convict Lake, and Minnelusa to camp; sled; hike; trout fish; and hunt deer, rabbits, doves, and sage hens.

Thelner Barton Hoover, photographer, and his wife, Louise Brown Hoover, both UCLA Class of 1930, served UCLA in various capacities for over 50 years. Thelner B. Hoover began his career in 1921 as a student photographer for his Rockford Illinois high school yearbook. When his family moved to California, he attended Pasadena Junior College, and was the official student photographer for that campus from 1925 until graduating in 1927. T.B. Hoover attended the University of California, Los Angeles from 1927 until he graduated in 1930. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity. He was the official student photographer for "The Southern Campus" yearbook, the Daily Bruin (student newspaper) and the Athletic News Bureau. As a student, he financed and co-produced with Bud Graybill, a 35mm film entitled "The Bruin Review," which featured the move from the Vermont Campus to Westwood. This film was a part of the student Charter Day event in March 1930. Thelner made films of UCLA football games before Stan Troutman took over. He began a series of aerial photographs of the campus and the surrounding community in 1929 and continued this series after graduation. Thelner continued to document UCLA after his graduation. Some of his photographs are included in "UCLA on the Move" by John B. Jackson and Andrew Hamilton, and in "California of the Southland" published in 1937.

His work included movie publicity shots, magazine assignments and other commercial photography. The collection consists of photographs, negatives, experimental work, correspondence, instructional materials, and ephemera.