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. Originally the San Pedro Branch of Los Angeles Public Library from 1906-1923, this structure was built with an initial grant of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie, followed by a supplementary $375 from Carnegie and $500 from the city. Architects Edelsvard and Saffell, as well as H. V. Bradbeer, have been credited with the design of the Classical Revival style building. After it served as the office of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, it was the Seamen's Library until 1966, when it was demolished to make way for the Maritime Industry Memorial. Exterior view of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, located at 820 S. Beacon Street in San Pedro.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;11 x 15 cm. Photographic prints
San Pedro Chamber of Commerce Boards of trade--California--San Pedro (Los Angeles) Municipal buildings--California--San Pedro (Los Angeles) Neoclassicism (Architecture)--California--San Pedro (Los Angeles) Streets--California--San Pedro (Los Angeles) Carnegie libraries--California--Los Angeles Library buildings--California--San Pedro (Los Angeles) Lost architecture--California--San Pedro (Los Angeles) San Pedro (Los Angeles, Calif.) Schultheis Collection photographs Edelsvard & Saffell
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