Air Meet Film Shown at Academy in Los Angeles

Oscar gave a shout out to Dominguez Hills on November 8, 2010 when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented the film Aviation at Los Angeles, Calif. The film was one of 14 films shown in the program “A Century Ago: The Films of 1910. The archival collections at CSUDH were mentioned during the program and web-pages from the CSUDH site were displayed at the theater.

The film "Aviation at Los Angeles, Calif." a production of Essanay Films, released on February 16, 1910, shows the 1910 Aviation Meet at Dominguez Field in all its pioneering glory. The event was the first air meet in the United States and took place just east of the site of CSU Dominguez Hills. Because the film was shot outside the quality of the film is quite striking. It begins with shots of the practically bursting dirigibles of Roy Knabenshue and Lincoln Beachey. Pilots Glenn Curtiss and Louis Paulhan are shown rolling down the hard ruts of the aviation field in their rickety flying machines. In one scene French pilot Paulhan is lifted on the shoulders of an adoring crowd after breaking the record for solo cross-country endurance. He had flown to Santa Anita and back in just over an hour. As he is carried away he pulls out a handkerchief to blow his nose. In another scene Paulhan jumps into his plane with U.S. Army Lieutenant Paul Beck prior to one of the first aerial bomb-dropping tests. There are breathtaking shots of the air meet grandstand with its cast of thousands of spectators and views of the Dominguez hills ranch lands possibly including the Rancho Dominguez and the Carson Family farm. On a filmmaking visit to Los Angeles (Hollywood was still a housing development) Gilbert M. “Bronco Billy” Anderson, co-founder of Essanay Films is also seen in the film. “Bronco Billy” an actor in the important early film, The Great Train Robbery (1903) went on to act and direct over 400 early westerns and other films. The film was presented on a 1910 hand-cranked Cameragraph motion picture machine. The film was accompanied by live piano music. The film copy is owned by the George Eastman House Museum in Rochester, NY. Preservation was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Images and material from the largest digital archive of 1910 aviation meet can be found at the CSUDH Archives and Special Collection site http://archives.csudh.edu:2006/cdm4/aviationmeet.php. Short excerpts from another copy of the film can be seen at http://csudh.edu/1910airmeet/video/. The Air meet website is at http://www.csudh.edu/1910airmeet/. Archives and Library staff members started and have contributed to the Wikipedia page on the site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910_Los_Angeles_International_Air_Meet_at_Dominguez_Field. The Finding Aid to CSU Dominguez Hill’s archival collection can be found at
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt4m3nc8jw;query=;style=oac4;doc.view=entire_text

Hendrix Exhibit at CSUDH Archives

Exhibit in University Archives Commemorates 40^th Anniversary of Jimi Hendrix’s Death

Dateline Dominguez, August 20, 2010 by Joanie Harmon

The Department of Archives and Special Collections http://archives.csudh.edu/ at California State University, Dominguez Hills will present “Jimi Hendrix: I’ll Meet You in the Next World. Don’t Be Late” in the University Library from Aug. 24 to Dec. 17. The exhibit is based on a collection loaned by South Bay historian James Osborne, a regular donor to the Archives, as well as a number of materials owned by the university. Vintage singles and albums, posters, magazines, newspapers, and other ephemera illustrate Hendrix’s international rise to stardom until his death at age 27 in London on Sept. 18, 1970.

Archives director Greg Williams says that he hopes the exhibit will build a consciousness of what the university’s library and archives have to offer.“Part of the reason for having an exhibit like this is to get the students up to the Archives and Special Collections so that we could give them an explanation of what it is and how they could use them as a source for primary materials,” he says.

Williams says that one of the key points of Osborne’s collection is its depiction of Hendrix in his time as a pop star, not the iconic guitar genius that he is memorialized as today. He also underscores Hendrix’s rise to stardom in England and Europe after initially performing for years and remaining undiscovered in the United States.

“Blues players were popular in England and Europe in some ways before they were popular in the United States,” says Williams. “Hendrix brought that [over], but he also brought this wild, untamed electric guitar... and his genius exploded onto the scene.”

Williams also attributes Hendrix’s popularity to the artist’s penchant for challenging the social mores and prejudices of his time.“Hendrix was also popular because he was breaking down some boundaries,” says Williams. “He would do risqué photo shoots. He was kicked off the Monkees’ tour because he was too radical. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was Hendrix and two British [musicians], Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding. He had one of the earliest integrated rock and roll bands.” Williams says that he also hopes that the exhibit will encourage local collectors and historians to realize the importance of loaning or donating their materials to the archives.

“It’s important that we get the word out that we are the repository for the history of the South Bay,” says Williams.

The University Archives at CSU Dominguez Hills is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday. Osborne is scheduled to present talks on his collection on Sept. 16 at 3:30 p.m. and Nov. 17 at 4:30 p.m.

- Joanie Harmon

History Walkway

All students, faculty and staff as well as the community are welcome to visit the CSUDH Archives' History Walkway. Located on the Fifth Floor of the South Wing of the Library, the Walkway features 60 or so photographs documenting the history of California State University Dominguez Hills. The Archives has nearly 100,000 photographs. Nearly 6000 of those images are digitized and can be found at http://archives.csudh.edu:2006/. The Walkway provides a view of wide-ranging view of the history of the campus from its beginnings in Palos Verdes in 1965 and in an apartment-like building at Dominguez Hills in 1966. The Walkway is a permanent feature of the new library's fifth floor which also features the new Archives Reading Room, an Events Gallery, a Multi-Cultural Reading Room and Multi-cultural Art Gallery. The photographs include images of early campus buildings, student activities, and visits to campus by governors and other dignitaries.

Long Beach Fire Dept. Museum Photo Collection Now Open for Research

The Long Beach Fire Department Museum Photograph Collection has recently opened for research. This extensive and fascinating collection consists of over 10,000 images. These images have been digitized although they are not yet online. Digital images can be viewed in the Archives Reading Room.

Negatives and photographic prints documenting the history of the Long Beach Fire Department. Included are images of the department from its earliest days in the early 20th century through to 1971. Images focus upon department personnel, apparatus, fires, and fire prevention. Also includes photographic prints and negatives which document the history of the city of Long Beach, including documentation of the March 10, 1933 earthquake and documentation of early drilling activities including major fires in the Long Beach area.

History of CSU published using CSU Archives

The People's University, A History of the California State University System by Donald R. Gerth, former President of Sacramento State and CSU Dominguez Hills earlier this year. To a large extent Dr. Gerth used the archives of the CSU System located at CSU Dominguez Hills.

Since its founding as a single institution in San Francisco in the years after the Gold Rush, the California State University has grown into a system of 23 campuses that enroll more than 450,000 students. The People's University is the story of that extraordinary growth.

Today, the California State University is the state s 1,000 mile campus. Its programs reach every corner of the state, and its mission of access, affordability, and quality touches countless people of all ages. CSU is a critical component of California s celebrated system of public higher education, working in partnership with the 10 campuses of the University of California and the state's 109 Community College campuses.

# Paperback: 694 pages
# Publisher: Institute of Governmental Studies Press (January 13, 2010)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0877724350
# ISBN-13: 978-0877724353

New 50th Anniversary Book on CSU Dominguez Hills

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2010, California State University Dominguez Hills has been a dynamic urban university tasked with educating students who often become the first in their families to attend college. CSU Dominguez Hills is located in Carson, Los Angeles County, and boasts one of the most ethnically diverse enrollments in the United States. Chartered in 1960 as a liberal arts college serving baby boomers in Los Angeles's South Bay region, CSU Dominguez Hills has grown into a university dedicated to personalized learning. After years of wrangling over the college's location, classes began in 1965 in a bank building and the next year moved to Dominguez Hills. By the end of the 1970s, the campus included several thousand students attending classes in 10 architecturally unique buildings. In the 21st century, CSU Dominguez Hills offers 45 undergraduate majors and 24 master's degrees.
About the Author
Greg Williams directs the archives at CSU Dominguez Hills and has been an archivist for three decades. He has curated exhibitions, published collection guides, and served as photograph editor for three coffee-table books. His publications include Guide to the Manuscript Collections of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Filming San Diego: Hollywood's Backlot, 1898-2002. CSU Dominguez Hills Archives hold materials on the campus itself, the South Bay, and the California State University system.

Rare Book Room

The new Rare Book Room in Archives and Special Collections at the CSU Dominguez Hills Library is available for class presentations and other meetings relating to the study of materials in the Archives. The Room houses the Glen Schwendeman Collection of history and exploration, the Buckner Collection of Newberry Award Winners and the early 20th century bestsellers collection. In addition the Archives reading room has California History and Latin American History titles for research.

New Headquarters for the CSUDH Archives

On April 29, 2010, the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the University, the Archives and Special Collections department moved into its spacious new headquarters in the new South Wing of the library. The new Archives consists of a much larger reading room (with windows!), a rare book room, a preservation room, and expanded archival storage areas with appropriate environmental controls. The new Archives allows for expanded opportunities for research, class presentations and preservation of historic materials. The expanded space allows for more space for staff and interns as well as for new collections.

CENTENNIAL OF AVIATION MEET, 1910 - 2010 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet

Large color poster that was used for the first aviation meet in 1910

CENTENNIAL OF FLIGHT ON THE WEST COAST JANUARY 10,1910-JANUARY 10, 2010

AT DOMINGUEZ FIELD

For eleven days in January 1910, the Dominguez Hills area was the focal point of the Aviation world. Seven years after the Wright Brothers achieved the first successful airplane flight, 226,000 people came to see aviators, balloonists and dirigible pilots fly above Southern California for the first time.

The Los Angeles International Aviation Meet at Dominguez Field was the first aviation meet in the United States. Most Californians had never seen a machine flying through the air. The Air Meet boosters built a huge grandstand, an aviators’ camp, and improved train passenger platforms so citizens could get from downtown to Dominguez Hills.

The Air Meet took place 50 years before CSU Dominguez Hills was founded and about 125 years after the first Spanish Land Grant in California was awarded in 1784 to Juan Jose Dominguez. At the time lands surrounding this area were owned by members of the Dominguez, Carson, Watson and Del Amo families.

Spectators at the Air Meet saw renowned French aviator Louis Paulhan, Glenn Curtiss, Charles Willard and others break records for altitude (nearly a mile), endurance (1 hour, 49 minutes), fastest speed with a passenger (55 mph), and quickest start.

The Los Angeles Times, capturing the enthusiasm for the event, claimed that the meet was “one of the greatest public events in the history of the West.”

Additional information and photographs are accessible on the CSUDH website at http://archives.csudh.edu or www.1910dominguezmeet.com.

The Committee hosts a website that includes historical information, as well as short film clips from the first meet.

"Biplan Farman" Drawing of front and side of Farman Biplane


Charles Willard with Curtiss Biplane, 1910


Roy Knabenshue dirigible in flight, 1910


Aviators in Group, 1910 from left: Hilary Beachey, Col. Johnson(?), Glenn Curtiss, Louis Paulhan, Charled Willard, Didier Masson, Lincoln Beachey, Roy Knabenshue, Charled Hamilton.


CSUDH Marker Plaque, 1974


Air meet colored drawing, 1910

See the CSUDH Digital Collections for more photographs, slides, news clippings, programs, postcards and other aviation ephemera.



Permission to publish images must be obtained from the CSUDH Archives as owner of the physical item and copyright. In instances when copyright ownership is not clear it is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright permission.