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Ralph Bowers Bowman San Diego Photographs Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS-0537
 

The Ralph Bowers Bowman San Diego Photographs Collection (1922-1937) includes scenes of the San Diego metropolitan area. Subjects of the photographs include landmarks, waterfront scenes of fishing boats, freights ships and naval ships; Balboa Park; La Jolla; Point Loma; aerial views; street scenes; football games; visiting dignitaries; and personal photographs of Bowman's children and family. Also documented by the photographs are several road trips to St. Louis, the Imperial Valley, Phoenix and Prescott, Arizona, and the Yosemite Valley.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research. Any photograph with an identifiable family member may not be made use of by a third party or licensed for commercial use without the permission of Julia E. Reid or her brother, Stewart Reid, during their lifetimes.

Dates
Creation: 1922-1937
Extent
5.33 Linear Feet
Related Names
Ralph Bowers Bowman, 1878-1937
Language of Materials
English

Photo Albums, 1922-1937

 Series
Identifier: Series I
Dates
created: 1922-1937

Photo Album #1, 1924-1933

 Item — Box: 1, item: 1
Identifier: Item 1

Of special interest in this album are views of naval ships, commercial ships, and yachts in San Diego bay; and early aerials views of downtown San Diego, San Diego Bay, Coronado Island, and North Island. The album also includes views of San Diego area communities and landmarks, such as Balboa Park, Chula Vista, Coronado, Del Mar, La Jolla, Lake Hodges Dam on the San Dieguito River, Miramar (Scripps Estate), Mission Beach, Mission Valley, Mission Gorge and the Old Mission Dam, Ocean Beach, Oceanside, North Island airplane hangers, Point Loma, Rancho Santa Fe, Sunset Cliffs, Torrey Pines Park, and the US/Mexico International Border. Views of San Diego backcountry sites include: Cuyamaca Lake and Cuyamaca mountains, Descanso, Escondido, Jacumba, Julian, Laguna Mountains, Lake Hodges, Mt. Helix, Mountain Springs Road/Grade, Pine Valley, Ramona, Rose Canyon, San Pasqual Battlefield Monument, Santa Fe railroad at Kearny grade, Santa Ysabel, and Stonewall Peak. Views in the Imperial Valley include Brawley, Calexico, El Centro, and the Salton Sea. Views outside the San Diego area include Aguacaliente, San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Rey Mission, Los Angeles, and St. Louis, Missouri. The album also documents several road trips: from St. Louis to San Diego in August 1925; from San Diego to the Imperial Valley via Mountain Springs Road in May 1925; and from Prescott, Arizona to San Diego in 1924.

Dates
created: 1924-1933

Photo Album #2, 1922-1937

 Item — Box: 2, item: 1
Identifier: Item 1

Of special interest in this album are views of naval ships, commercial ships, and yachts in San Diego bay; and early aerials views of downtown San Diego, San Diego Bay, Coronado Island, and North Island; and flooding and flood damage in Mission Valley, Oceanside, and Poway during February 1927. The album also includes views of San Diego area communities and landmarks, such as: Balboa Park (including aerial views from the California Tower), Del Mar, Downtown San Diego,  Hotel Del Coronado, La Jolla, La Jolla Shores under development in 1930, Mission San Diego de Alcala, Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Mission Gorge and the old Mission Dam, Mission Valley, Ocean Beach, Oceanside, Old Town, Point Loma, San Diego Bay, San Diego High School Stadium, San Diego Historical Society (Presido Park), San Diego’s Santa Fe Railroad Station, San Diego Naval Hospital, San Diego State College stadium, San Diego Zoo, Sunset Cliffs, Torrey Pines Park, and the US/Mexico International Border. Views of San Diego backcountry sites include: Alpine, Banner grade, Campo, Carrizo Gorge and Carrizo Gorge Railway, Cuyamaca mountains and Lake Cuyamaca, Descanso, Dulzura, El Cajon, El Monte Park, Flinn Springs Resort, Glen Oaks, Grossmont, Indian Springs, Julian, Mt. Helix, Mountain Springs Road/Grade, Pine Valley, Poway, Ramona, San Pasqual Battlefield Monument, and Santa Ysabel. Views outside the San Diego area include Aguacaliente, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Rey Mission, Los Angeles, Hollywood, the Huntington Library and Museum in San Marino, Pasadena, Long Beach, the Imperial Valley, Salton Sea, and the Yosemite Valley. The album also documents several road trips: from San Diego to Phoenix in October 1923; from San Diego to Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) in April 1936; from San Diego to Yosemite Valley in June 1927.

Dates
created: 1922-1937

Negatives, 1923-1937

 Series
Identifier: Series II

Includes approximately 2,000 photographic negatives. Each negative measures 2.75x4.25 inches.

Dates
created: 1923-1937

Negatives, 1923 May-1925 August

 File — Box: 3, Folder: 1
Identifier: Folder 1
Dates
created: 1923 May-1925 August

Negatives, 1925 September-1927 May

 File — Box: 4, Folder: 1
Identifier: Folder 1
Dates
created: 1925 September-1927 May

Negatives, 1927 June-1929 December

 File — Box: 5, Folder: 1
Identifier: Folder 1
Dates
created: 1927 June-1929 December

Negatives, 1930 January-1933 March

 File — Box: 6, Folder: 1
Identifier: Folder 1
Dates
created: 1930 January-1933 March

Negatives, 1933 April-1937 June

 File — Box: 7, Folder: 1
Identifier: Folder 1
Dates
created: 1933 April-1937 June

Negatives, undated

 File — Box: 7, Folder: 2
Identifier: Folder 2
Dates
created: undated

Loose photo prints, ca. 1920s-1930s

 File — Box: 7, Folder: 3
Identifier: Folder 3

Includes 40 loose photographic prints, formerly pasted into photo albums.

Dates
created: ca. 1920s-1930s

Digital images

 File — Box: 7, Folder: 4
Identifier: Folder 4

Digital images of scanned negatives, on (2) CDs.