Herman J. Schultheis was born in Aachen, Germany in 1900, and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1920s after obtaining a Ph.D. in mechanical and electrical engineering. He married Ethel Wisloh in 1936, and the pair moved to Los Angeles the following year. He worked in the film industry from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, most notably on the animated features Fantasia and Pinocchio. His detailed notebook, documenting the special effects for Fantasia, is the subject of a 14-minute short-subject included on the film's DVD. In 1949, he started employment with Librascope as a patent engineer. Schultheis was an avid amateur photographer who traveled the world with his cameras. It was on one of these photographic exhibitions in 1955 that he disappeared in the jungles of Guatemala. His remains were discovered 18 months later. The digitized portion of this collection represents the images Schultheis took of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities after he relocated to the area in 1937. Photo showing the corner of 5th and Hill streets, taken from alongside Pershing Square. The white building visible on the left is the Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building, located at 401 W. 5th Street. Architects John and Donald B. Parkinson designed it in Art Deco style with a Gothic Revival style tower in 1930. Across the street is the Hotel Portsmouth building. Several pedestrians and automobiles move about on the streets as a row of men sitting on a low barrier wall look on.
Title Guarantee Building (Los Angeles, Calif.) Hotel Portsmouth (Los Angeles, Calif.) Commercial buildings--California--Los Angeles Automobiles--California--Los Angeles Pedestrians--California--Los Angeles Buildings--California--Los Angeles Streets--California--Los Angeles Hotels--California--Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.) Pershing Square (Los Angeles, Calif.) Schultheis Collection photographs Parkinson & Parkinson
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