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Home Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection Looking at City Hall, view 5

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Order Number	00085779
Title	Looking at City Hall, view 5
Photographer	Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984.
Collection ID	Ansel Adams Fortune Magazine Collection Los Angeles Photographers Collection
Location/Accession	GPC_b11_f5_i30; S-002-044.5 4x5
Date	Circa 1940
Physical Description	1 photographic print :b&w ;26 x 21 cm.
Notes	Title supplied by cataloger.; In episode #10001 of "California's Gold" Huell Howser visits the Los Angeles Public Library to see this collection of Ansel Adams photographs.
Historical Data	Los Angeles City hall is a Goodhue-esque structure with classical detailing at the base (Greek freize main entrance and Romanesque arcades) and a campanile-like tower influenced by Ziggurat construction. The concrete that the tower is made of was formed from sand taken from each of California's 50 counties and water from each of its 21 missions. It was the tallest building in Los Angeles, by law, until the 1950s. For decades, no building in Los Angeles was allowed to exceed the height of City Hall, until 1957. it remained the tallest building in California from 1928-1964, at 28 stories tall (450 feet). It was built from 1926-28, and first dedicated on April 27th of the same year. Associated architects were Austin, Parkinson, Parkinson and Martin.; Around 1939, Ansel Adams was commissioned by Fortune magazine to photograph a series of images for an article covering the aviation history of the Los Angeles area. For the project, Adams took 217 photographs showing everyday life, businesses, street scenes, aerospace employees, and a variety of other subjects, but when the article, "City of Angels" appeared in the March 1941 issue, only a few of the images were included. In the early 1960s, approximately 20 years later, Adams rediscovered all of the photographs among papers at his home in Carmel, and sent a letter of inquiry to the Los Angeles Public Library, asking if the institution would be interested in receiving the collection as a donation. In his letter, Adams expressed that, "the weather was bad over a rather long period and none of the pictures were very good" and "if they have no value whatsoever, please dispose of them in the incenerator [sic]." He went on to write that "I would imagine that they represent about $100.00 minimum value." In response, the Los Angeles Public Library gladly accepted the gift of 135 contact prints and 217 negatives, and the staff concluded that a fair value for the collection would be $150.00.
Description	View of the Los Angeles City Hall tower, as seen from the parking area located at the top of Court Flight Railroad. The Hall of Records is visible in the center between the tree and the tower.
Subject	Los Angeles City Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.). Los Angeles County Hall of Records (Los Angeles, Calif. : 1911-1962). City halls--California--Los Angeles. Municipal buildings--California--Los Angeles. Automobiles--California--Los Angeles. Public buildings--California--Los Angeles. Lost architecture--California--Los Angeles. Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.). Ansel Adams Fortune Magazine Collection photographs. Martin, Albert C.,1879-1960. Parkinson, John,1861-1935. Austin, John C. W.(John Corneby Wilson),1870-1963. Parkinson, Donald B.(Donald Berthold),1895-1945.
Format	Photographic prints
Reproduction Information	Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Sub-Collection Name	Los Angeles Photographers Photo Collection