Looking Back – University Photo Archives Now Available Online

Thanks to a year-old continuing project funded by the National Historical Records and Publications Commission of the National Archives, photographs and documents from the CSU Dominguez Hills Department of Archives and Special Collections can now be viewed online. It’s an important bit of progress, according to Greg Williams, director, Archives and Special Collections.

“The history of this area not only connects students and researchers to the changes that have taken place here,” he says, “but that history is also very much connected to broader themes within the state and the country.”

Among the historic works is the Rancho San Pedro Collection, which introduces the Dominguez clan, headed by Juan Jose Dominguez, who received the 75,000-acre rancho from King Carlos of Spain in 1784 as the first Spanish land grant in California. The vast parcel now comprises the modern-day South Bay.

The 1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet Research Collection documents the first time that airplanes were seen on the West Coast, at an event sponsored in part by Dominguez descendants. The South Bay Photograph Collection
portrays the development and the history of the area, including the early days of Compton College and the 1933 earthquake. Finally, the Del Amo Estate Company Collection features the business, agricultural, oil, and industrial holdings of a
family-run company still presided over by Dominguez descendants.

“This will bring us a significant number of researchers to Dominguez Hills,” says Williams. “Someone from Spain was just inquiring about the Del Amo Foundation, and the University of Michigan wanted to know about some CSU affirmative action
reports. We’re very pleased to make these materials more accessible.”

To view more photos in the CSUDH Digital Collections, go to http://archives.csudh.edu:2006/.

- Joanie Harmon-Whetmore

Photo above: The Dominguez Rancho Adobe is located just east of the CSUDH campus, in nearby Rancho Dominguez. The original structure, the home of Manuel Dominguez, a California statesman and rancher, was built in 1826, and has been renovated by his heirs over the years. It is now a museum and is on the National Register of Historic Places. This photo, taken in 1960, is from the Rancho San Pedro Collection in the CSUDH Archives and Special Collections.

Visit to http://www.dominguezrancho.com/ for more information on the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum.