Title supplied by cataloger.; 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. The Good Earth was a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that was adapted into a 1937 movie about a Chinese farmer.; Christine Sterling, the civic leader who created Olvera Street, created a similar project for the Chinese American community. China City covered the entire city block from Spring on the west to Main on the east and from Macy (now Ce´sar Cha´vez) on the south to Ord on the north, with gates on Main Street, Spring Street and Ord. By 1935, the development had an atmosphere of a Chinese village or small town, with booths and stalls along narrow winding streets. Unfortunately, due to two major fires over a ten-year period, China City came to an end by the early 1950s. People view the Good Earth display on Dragon Road in China City. A traditional bamboo hat hangs by the door next to a lantern and a Chinese sign. Over sized clay pots and barrels complete the rural look.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;15 x 11 cm. Photographic prints
Pottery--California--Los Angeles Farm life in literature--Exhibitions Signs and signboards--California--China City (Los Angeles) Architecture--California--China City (Los Angeles)--Chinese influences Chinese--Writing China City (Los Angeles, Calif.) Schultheis Collection photographs
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
