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Photograph was edited for publication purposes; Title supplied by cataloger. Mary Logan Orcutt was an important fixture in the San Fernando Valley community as a leader in numerous women's clubs and charities and the founder of the Guadalupe Youth Center. She was also the wife of William Warren Orcutt, vice-president of the Union Oil Company in California, largely credited with the development of the oil industry in the Western United States through his pioneering use of geology in oil production. Together, the Orcutts were the owners of many ranches in Southern California. Mrs. Orcutt was determined that one ranch in particular, the Rancho Sombra del Roble (ranch in the shade of the Oaks), named for its signature 500-year-old oak trees, be preserved and given to her community as a park. In 1965, the city of Los Angeles named a 24-acre portion of the estate, Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 31 and shortly after, was acquired by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and preserved as a public historic park. It is now known as the Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center Rancho Sombra del Roble. Photograph caption reads, "Leaders of the forthcoming Canoga Park festival, 'La Fiesta de la Primavera,' are shown after a luncheon meeting at 'Sombre de los Robles,' the ranch home of Mrs. W. W. Orcutt, chairman. Front row (left to right), Mrs. Duncan Armstrong, Mrs. Orcutt, Bob Burns, Gen. Joseph Donovan...F. W. Roewekamp, Vierling Kersey...Mrs. A. A. Knapp, E. Yale Waterman...Charles Nettels...."
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Orcutt, Mary Logan Orcutt, Mary Logan--Homes and haunts Rancho Sombra del Roble (Los Angeles, Calif.) Civic leaders--California--Los Angeles Men--California--Los Angeles Women--California--Los Angeles Luncheons--California--Los Angeles Ranches--California--Canoga Park (Los Angeles) Canoga Park (Los Angeles, Calif.) Group portraits Portrait photographs Valley Times Collection photographs
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