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Dr. Vada Somerville and Dr. Harold Kingsley at a dinner event, probably for Pilgrim House, 1950s

Description:
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Date:
[1950s]
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Sheffield Photo
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Dr. Vada Somerville and Dr. Harold Kingsley at a dinner event, probably for Pilgrim House, 1950s

Dr. Vada Somerville and Bill Watkins look at a document, Los Angeles, 1950s

Description:
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Date:
[1950s]
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Smith, Irving C.
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Dr. Vada Somerville and Bill Watkins look at a document, Los Angeles, 1950s

St. Andrews African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sacramento, 1916-1917

Description:
St. Andrews AME Church was founded in 1850. It was active in efforts to prevent runaway slaves from being returned to bondage. In 1855 and 1856 St. Andrews hosted two important “California Colored Citizens State Conventions,” where the state’s earliest black residents petitioned the Legislature for basic rights – the right to vote, to testify against whites in court and to send their children to public schools. It stands to this day as the oldest continuous African Methodist Episcopal (AME) congregation on the west coast.
Date:
1916-1917
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
St. Andrews African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sacramento, 1916-1917

House of Bessie Bruington Burke, Los Angeles, 1931-1968

Description:
Bessie Bruington Burke is recognized as the first black principal of a Los Angeles public school. She attended Los Angeles State Normal School (now part of UCLA) and earned her teaching credential in 1911. Her education was paid for by the Los Angeles Forum, a political and civic organization founded by African Americans in the early 20th century.
Date:
[1926-1968]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
House of Bessie Bruington Burke, Los Angeles, 1931-1968

Leonard Grimes, Golden State Mutual employee, and Artist Hale Woodruff at Beckwourth Pass during the Golden State Mutual mural research tour, Chilcoot (California), 1948

Description:
Beckwourth Pass was discovered by James P. Beckwourth in 1850. Beckwourth developed Beckwourth Trail, traversing the pass, that was used by immigrants during the Gold Rush from 1851 to 1855. After that, the railroad came into use.
Date:
August 1948
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Leonard Grimes, Golden State Mutual employee, and Artist Hale Woodruff at Beckwourth Pass during the Golden State Mutual mural research tour, Chilcoot (California), 1948

Conference with mural artists at the home office of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, Los Angeles, 1948

Description:
Conference with the artists of the mural titled “The Negro in California History” at Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company (home office building) left to right: Verna Hickman, Head of Public Relations Department, Golden State Mutual; Titus Alexander, historian, pioneer citizen of Los Angeles, and member mural research committee; Hale Woodruff, artist; George Beavers, Jr., chairman of board, Golden State Mutual; Norman O. Houston, president, Golden State Mutual; Miriam Matthews, librarian, Washington Irving Branch Library, Los Angeles, and member of mural research committee; Charles Alston, artist; Edgar Johnson, secretary, Golden State Mutual.
Date:
September 7, 1948
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Conference with mural artists at the home office of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, Los Angeles, 1948

Josephine Baker, Havana, 1951

Description:
Josephine Baker was an American-born French entertainer, activist, and French Resistance agent. She spent her youth in poverty before learning to dance and finding success on Broadway. In the 1920s she moved to France and soon became one of Europe's most popular and highest-paid performers. She worked for the French Resistance during World War II, and during the 1950s and '60s devoted herself to fighting segregation and racism in the United States. She first performed in Cuba in 1950. After beginning her comeback to the stage in 1973, Josephine Baker died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1975, and was buried with military honors.
Date:
1951
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Josephine Baker, Havana, 1951

Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity members at a national boulé meeting, 1950s

Description:
Dr. John Somerville, born in Jamaica, was the first black graduate of USC School of Dentistry (1907). He married Vada Jetmore Watson (1912), who also became a dentist. He built the Somerville Hotel (1928), was instrumental in the founding of the Los Angeles chapter of NAACP (1914), and served on the Police Commission 1949-1953.
Date:
[1950s]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity members at a national boulé meeting, 1950s

African American family in front of a house with an awning, 1910-1920

Description:
African American family, one boy, two girls and the parents, standing in front of the porch of a house with a striped awning above them. They are dressed for a special occasion with the boy in a jacket and knickers suit, the girls in light-colored dresses and stockings with large bows in their hair, the mother in a light-colored blouse and long, silk skirt and the father in a light-colored three-piece suit.
Date:
[1910-1920]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
African American family in front of a house with an awning, 1910-1920

Paul R. Williams with the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport behind him, Los Angeles, circa 1961

Description:
The Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The airport was designed jointly by Paul R. Williams, Pereira & Luckman Associates, and Welton Becket & Associates. The Theme Building was probably not designed by Williams. It has an observation deck, restaurant (closed in 2013), employee cafeteria and a bank. It became an instant landmark in Los Angeles which symbolized the city’s embrace of the 20th century space age.
Date:
[circa 1961]
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Shulman, Julius
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Paul R. Williams with the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport behind him, Los Angeles, circa 1961

Dedication of the plaque commemorating the First A.M.E. Church at 8th St. and Towne Ave., Los Angeles, 1973

Description:
Nineteen African American women and three men stand in a semi-circle around a plaque dedicating First African Methodist Episcopal Church as a cultural heritage landmark. The street is visible in the background with cars and store fronts.
Date:
December 13, 1973
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Adams, Harry H., 1918-1988
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Dedication of the plaque commemorating the First A.M.E. Church at 8th St. and Towne Ave., Los Angeles, 1973

Charlotta Bass given flowers at a campaign rally when she was a candidate for Congress in the 14th District, Los Angeles, 1950

Description:
Reuben Borough (3rd from right) holds a bouquet of flowers for Charlotta Bass (center) at a campaign rally when she was a Progressive Party candidate for Congress in the 14th District. The banner above reads "Elect Charlotta Bass for Congress, Peace, Jobs, Equality." The same year, Borough was the party's candidate for State Treasurer.
Date:
1950
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Charlotta Bass given flowers at a campaign rally when she was a candidate for Congress in the 14th District, Los Angeles, 1950

Nella Allensworth and three others seated on the front steps of a house, circa 1900

Description:
After his retirement from the military in 1906, Colonel Allen Allensworth founded the town of Allensworth in 1908, with the idea that African Americans could own property, learn, thrive, and live the American Dream. It was named by Lt. Colonel Allen Allensworth. It had a school system by 1910. With the death of Colonel Allensworth in 1914, the town experienced extreme losses, coupled with severe drought and decreased crop yields. Many residents left the area following World War I. The town was memorialized as a state park in 1974, and hosts events annually to preserve its history.
Date:
[circa 1900]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Nella Allensworth and three others seated on the front steps of a house, circa 1900

Dr. Vada Somerville, Kenneth Hahn, a naval officer and another woman at the Second Baptist Church, Los Angeles, 1950s

Description:
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Date:
[1950s]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Dr. Vada Somerville, Kenneth Hahn, a naval officer and another woman at the Second Baptist Church, Los Angeles, 1950s

Dr. Vada Somerville conferring with Eleanor Roosevelt at a reception in the Somerville home, Los Angeles, 1950

Description:
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Date:
January 17-18, 1950
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Dr. Vada Somerville conferring with Eleanor Roosevelt at a reception in the Somerville home, Los Angeles, 1950

Partial view of Los Angeles in the area of San Pedro St., from an elevation, 1869

Description:
Biddy Mason was brought to California as a slave in a wagon train. She petitioned for her freedom, and a judge granted it to her and her family in 1856. She and her family lived with Robert Owens, Sr., when she first moved to Los Angeles. Her daughter Ellen married Robert Owen's son Charles.
Date:
May 13, 1869
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Partial view of Los Angeles in the area of San Pedro St., from an elevation, 1869

Drs. Vada and John Somerville with others at a club, Los Angeles, 1950s-1960s

Description:
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Date:
[1950s-1960s]
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Simpson, T. J.
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Drs. Vada and John Somerville with others at a club, Los Angeles, 1950s-1960s

Cynthiabelle Gordon Smith and a male coworker in an office of the U.S. Public Health Service, Washington, D.C.,1939

Description:
Cynthiabelle Gordon Smith was born Cynthiabelle Black in Americus, Georgia on June 19, 1894. Her father was Alfred Black and her brother was Junior G. Black. She married the dentist, Dr. Isadore C. Mitchell on April 30, 1925. Shortly after, he completed dental school at Howard University and then moved to Los Angeles. In 1934, she moved to Washington, D.C. seeking work, and divorced Mitchell in 1936. In 1937 she was working for the U. S. Public Health Service in Washington, D. C.. She married the physician Dr. Wilbur Gordon (possibly in 1942) and was widowed. She married Dr. R. Stillman Smith in 1947.
Date:
[1939]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Cynthiabelle Gordon Smith and a male coworker in an office of the U.S. Public Health Service, Washington, D.C.,1939

Visitor's Day at the Citizens' Military Training Camp at Fort MacArthur, San Pedro, 1940

Description:
George W. Granberry was an active member of the social life in Los Angeles. He earned a Business degree from the University of Southern California and was a leader and organizer of events for the Kappa Psi Fraternity. He worked as a real-estate broker, and was a veteran of World War II.
Date:
August 30, 1940
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Visitor's Day at the Citizens' Military Training Camp at Fort MacArthur, San Pedro, 1940

J. Phyromn Taylor Residence, designed by Paul R. Williams, Los Angeles,1955

Description:
Lafayette Square: Dr. Taylor was one of the first African Americans to move into this upscale white neighborhood. When restrictive covenants were defeated in the California courts, there was an influx of African Americans looking for spacious, lush garden style environments to live. As members of an elite group of financially successful black men, Paul R. Williams, L. Phyromn Taylor and Claude Hudson belonged to the same private membership clubs (Pacific Town Club), served on many of the same business and governmental boards (Broadway Federal Bank) and socialized together. Hudson chose to live in the predominately African American View Park subdivision while the younger Williams and Taylor built their family homes in LaFayette Square.
Date:
1955
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Adams, Harry H., 1918-1988
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
J. Phyromn Taylor Residence, designed by Paul R. Williams, Los Angeles,1955

Negro Firemen's float in the Fiesta Parade, with Lieut. George Bright, Walter Brown, Sr. and Harry Brown, Los Angeles, 1909

Description:
La Fiesta de Los Angeles was an annual multi-day event celebrating Los Angeles and Southern California's cultural heritage. The first celebration was held in April 1894. Canceled during the Spanish-American War, it was revived in 1901 under the new name La Fiesta de las Flores, and it continued through the 1940s.
Date:
1909
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Negro Firemen's float in the Fiesta Parade, with Lieut. George Bright, Walter Brown, Sr. and Harry Brown, Los Angeles, 1909

Two African American couples standing on a walkway at Bruce's Beach, Manhattan Beach, circa 1920

Description:
Two couples on a boardwalk at Bruce's Beach, including a young woman in checked skirt and oversized waistcoat, with a large hat, a man in a black blazer, white pants and hat, a woman in white dress suit and white hat, and a tall man in a dark suit with his hands in his pockets.
Date:
[circa 1920]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Two African American couples standing on a walkway at Bruce's Beach, Manhattan Beach, circa 1920

Groundbreaking ceremony for the Hotel Somerville (later the Dunbar Hotel), Los Angeles, circa 1928

Description:
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Date:
[circa 1928]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Groundbreaking ceremony for the Hotel Somerville (later the Dunbar Hotel), Los Angeles, circa 1928

Kenneth Hahn at an oath ceremony for Henry Davis, Dr. Vada Somerville and Wesley Brazier, Los Angeles, 1963

Description:
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Date:
August 1963
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Kenneth Hahn at an oath ceremony for Henry Davis, Dr. Vada Somerville and Wesley Brazier, Los Angeles, 1963

African American coach driver for a Pacific Creamery Co. carriage, 1905

Description:
Pacific Creamery Co., located in Buena Park produced Lilly Cream Ice Cream. Buena Park first became known as a dairy center, and both the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads built depots to transport merchandise. The Lily Creamery started operations in Buena Park in 1889. With the exception of a few wineries, the creamery was the first industry in the city. The Pacific Creamery Plant was sold in 1927, and it operated under the Borden Milk Co. Creamery and Ice Factory name until its closure in 1953.
Date:
1905
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
African American coach driver for a Pacific Creamery Co. carriage, 1905

Robert Gaylord seated in a decorated automobile in the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena, 1901

Description:
Image depicting an early model automobile covered with foliage. Robert Gaylord (possibly African American) is in the driver's seat of a Milwaukee horseless carriage, dressed in a suit and cap. The car is in a driveway with a house in the background. This was the first year that there were automobiles in the Tournament of Roses parade.
Date:
January 01, 1901
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Robert Gaylord seated in a decorated automobile in the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena, 1901

Hotel Somerville (later the Dunbar Hotel), Los Angeles, circa 1928

Description:
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Date:
[circa 1928]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Hotel Somerville (later the Dunbar Hotel), Los Angeles, circa 1928

Poster for the dance performance season of the Back Bay Theatre with a photograph of Carmen De Lavallade, 1967

Description:
Carmen de Lavallade is an American actress, dancer and choreographer. In 2004, de Lavallade received the Black History Month Lifetime Achievement Award, and December 2017 she received the Kennedy Center Honors Award. She is the cousin of ballet dancer Janet Collins.
Date:
1967
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Poster for the dance performance season of the Back Bay Theatre with a photograph of Carmen De Lavallade, 1967

Ribbon cutting ceremony for English Square office building, Los Angeles, 1964

Description:
Attorney General Stanley Mosk (3rd from right) ready to cut the ribbon for English Square office complex at 85th and Broadway, with the owner, attorney Herman English, and his wife, Eula (right), and (from left): Reverend W. L. Robinson, Attorney Loren Miller, emcee; and Councilman Billy Mills and his wife, Rubye.
Date:
February 19, 1964
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Adams, Harry H., 1918-1988
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Ribbon cutting ceremony for English Square office building, Los Angeles, 1964

Reverend A. Milton Ward with his wife, Lydia Ward, and others at First A.M.E. Church, Los Angeles, between 1919-1924

Description:
Group photograph with Reverend A. Milton Ward and his wife, Lydia Ward (2nd and 3rd from left), deaconesses Lettie Beverly (left) and Minnie Tucker (right) and about 54 members of the choir of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church at 8th St. and Logan Ave. The pipes of the church organ are in the background.
Date:
[between 1919-1924]
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
The Two Friends Photography and Poetic Novelty Literature (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Reverend A. Milton Ward with his wife, Lydia Ward, and others at First A.M.E. Church, Los Angeles, between 1919-1924

R. C. O. Benjamin and Dr. Monroe Majors portrayed as intellectuals, circa 1880-1900

Description:
Born on St. Kitts, R. C. O. (Robert Charles O'Hara) Benjamin attended Trinity College in Oxford, Virginia, became a U. S. citizen in the 1870s, taught school in Kentucky, was a lawyer and may have been admitted to the bar in 12 states, was a journalist, author, and poet, a civil rights activist and a public speaker. He attained many other achievements. He may have been the first person of African descent to pass the bar in California. He was murdered in 1900 in Lexington while helping blacks to register to vote.
Date:
[1880-1900]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
R. C. O. Benjamin and Dr. Monroe Majors portrayed as intellectuals, circa 1880-1900

Leidersdorff Street at the intersection with Commercial, San Francisco, circa 1978 (?)

Description:
Born on the island of St. Croix in the Danish West Indies in 1810, William Leidesdorff was the son of Danish sugar planter Alexander Leidesdorff and Anna Marie Sparks, a light-skinned woman of mixed race ancestry. In 1841 Leidesdorff settled in the Mexican village of Yerba Buena on San Francisco Bay. Over the next three years he became a successful merchant by making frequent trips between California, Mexico and Hawaii. In 1844 governor Micheltorena confirmed his land grant of 35,000 acres on the American River. Ranch Rio de Los Americanos was located near the spot where James Marshall discovered gold in January 1848. When Leidesdorff died unexpectedly in May 1848 he was buried inside Mission Dolores Church. Leidesdorff was a social, economic and political force in pre-gold rush San Francisco. When he was named the U.S. Vice Consul to Mexico in 1845, he became the nation’s first African American diplomat. He was elected to San Francisco’s first city council and its first school board in 1847. He built the first hotel, the first shipping warehouse, he operated the first steamboat on San Francisco Bay, and he laid out the first horse race track in California
Date:
[circa 1978 (?)]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Leidersdorff Street at the intersection with Commercial, San Francisco, circa 1978 (?)

Two images: Arvilla Knight and Ella Blodgett; Louis M. Blodgett, Arvilla Knight, and Goodwin Knight, circa 1950

Description:
Two photographs, left: Arvilla Goodwin (wife of Goodwin Knight) and Ella Blodgett (wife of Louis M. Blodgett); right: Louis M. Blodgett ( the contractor who built the first for Golden State Mutual Life Insurance in 1928, president of f Liberty Savings and Loan), Arvilla Knight, and California Governor Goodwin Knight.
Date:
[circa 1950]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Two images: Arvilla Knight and Ella Blodgett; Louis M. Blodgett, Arvilla Knight, and Goodwin Knight, circa 1950

Franz Hall II (Psychology Tower) at University of California by Paul R. Williams, Westwood (Los Angeles, Calif.), circa 1967

Description:
Paul Williams was an African American architect who designed almost 2,000 homes in the Los Angeles area. He worked for wealthy celebrity clients, but also designed affordable homes, public housing, and civic, commercial, and institutional buildings. His works exhibit elegant composition and perfect proportion.
Date:
[circa 1967]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Franz Hall II (Psychology Tower) at University of California by Paul R. Williams, Westwood (Los Angeles, Calif.), circa 1967

Noble Johnson, 1915-1920

Description:
Noble Johnson was a character actor in cinema, one of the few African Americans in the field during the studio era. A childhood friend of Lon Chaney, Johnson followed him into the industry in 1915. He was an extra in D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916) as a Babylonian soldier. Because of his large size 6'2″, 215 lbs., Johnson was often cast in key character roles representing not just African Americans, but Native Americans, Asians, Arabians, and Pacific Islanders. Johnson founded Lincoln Motion Picture Company, the first American studio that produced “race” films, pictures for African Americans, exclusively, from 1916 to 1923. He continued to work in the sound era, retiring at the age of 69.
Date:
[1915-1920]
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Noble Johnson, 1915-1920

Charlotta Bass greeted by children at the Palace of Fine Arts, Tbilisi (Georgia), 1950

Description:
A note on the back of the photograph in the University of Southern California collection reads: Belisi (sic) children brought flowers and danced and sang; Palace of Fine Arts in Georgia; one of most beautiful seen in Russia; was the Palace of the Czars." Bass visited Tbilisi and several other European cities, including Moscow and Prague, in 1950.
Date:
1950
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Charlotta Bass greeted by children at the Palace of Fine Arts, Tbilisi (Georgia), 1950

Drs. Vada and John Somerville with twenty-six others at an unidentified event, Los Angeles, 1950s-1960s

Description:
Dr. Vada Somerville (born Vada Jetmore Watson) of Pomona graduated from USC, married dentist John Alexander Somerville (1912), was the first African American woman and the second African American person to graduate from USC School of Dentistry (1918), and was the first African American woman certified to practice dentistry in the state of California. She was a civil rights activist, highly involved in several civic and community organizations.
Date:
[1950s-1960s]
Resource Type:
still image
Photographer:
Adams, Harry H., 1918-1988
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Drs. Vada and John Somerville with twenty-six others at an unidentified event, Los Angeles, 1950s-1960s

Adobe dwelling on the land of the original Rancho Rodeo de las Agua land grant, now Beverly Hills, 1920

Description:
After the session of California to the United States, the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas land grant was patented to Maria Rita Valdez de Villa. She possessed the land from 1831 to 1854. After that, the property changed hands several times before becoming Beverly Hills in the early 20th century.
Date:
1920
Resource Type:
still image
Collection:
Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection
OpenUCLA Collections
Adobe dwelling on the land of the original Rancho Rodeo de las Agua land grant, now Beverly Hills, 1920