Thelner and Louise Hoover Photographic Collection
Owning Institution: UCLA, Library Special Collections, University Archives
About this Collection
The images in the collection range from the State Normal School in 1925 through 1982. Thelner documented the history of UCLA beginning with the Vermont Avenue Campus in 1927; the Westwood campus groundbreaking ceremony in 1927; photographs of book illustrations of the Italian buildings which inspired the architecture of Royce Hall and the Powell Library building; the construction of Royce Hall, the Powell Library building and Kinsey Hall (the Physics building); the UCLA Band in 1928; models of the earliest buildings, Chemistry, Haines, Moore and others; and the moving days to the Westwood campus. There are only portions or strips of his film "The Bruin Review" identified in the collection. Highlights of the collection include the photographs of Royce Hall and the Powell Library Building construction. There are 1929 glass negatives of the Powell Library Building, UCLA's 1st registration; and two autochromes, one of Haines Hall and the other of Louise Brown. Thelner began a series of aerial photographs of the UCLA campus and surrounding area of Westwood in 1929. He photographed the campus from the air again in January and April 1930, in 1936 (from the Goodyear Blimp), 1938 and 1952. The collection contains photographs of the dedication of his aerial mural which was hung in the UCLA Ackerman Student Union Westwood Room in 1962 and was moved to the University Religious Conference Building. Thelner recorded the dedication of UCLA on March 26, 1930. The collection contains over sixty negatives and prints of this ceremony, with portraits of President Campbell, Sproul, Moore, Barrett, Hedricks, Dickson, Dodd, John Dewey, Case, Gimble and others. It also contains photographs of the Mira Hershey Hall dedication, commencement, the Bookstore and Coop, football practice, the first snowfall on campus in 1932, the Clark Library fourth Annual celebration in 1948. Other events in the collection include John Wooden's last game, the Class of 1930's 30th and 40th reunion, and the 1982 Alumni Association Awards. There are various sports photographs of basketball, track and tennis, and photographs of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity presenting UCLA Football coach Tommy Prothero with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Thelner photographed Dwight Eisenhower, Charles Young, Ralph Freud, Kenneth McGowan, Arthur Ashe, Robert B. Campbell, Edwin Pauley, Franklin Murphy and many others as yet unidentified. View this collection on the contributor's website.View collection guide.
View our statement on digital primary resources and historical description.
Filters you've selected: