Los Angeles Corral of Westerners records
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Scope and Content
This collection contains the records of the Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners, including correspondence pertaining to Westerner activities, membership and publications, financial records, the publication records of works published by the group, audiocassettes and DVDs of Westerner programs and lectures, and scrapbooks of photographs of Westerner events. The publication records for the Branding Iron (a quarterly periodical), the Brand Book (an annual or bi-annual monograph length publication) and Keepsakes (irregular publications) include correspondence with authors, drafts of articles including art, floppy and zip disks, and proofs. Artifacts found in the collection include printing plates and a plaque. One of the larger series, the John W. Robinson collection, is comprised of Robinson's subject files, maps, and photographs-- many of which served as research for a number of books that he authored.
Dates
- Creation: 1946 - 2019
Creator
- Westerners. Los Angeles Corral (Organization)
- Blew, Robert (Person)
- Cavallo, Joseph (Person)
- Denzel, Carl (Person)
- Duke, Donald (Person)
- Hull, Lonnie (Person)
- Nelson, Eric A. (Person)
- Newton, Frank Q. (Person)
- Nunis, Doyce B. (Doyce Blackman), 1924-2011 (Person)
- Robinson, John W., 1929- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access. Consult finding aid for additional information.
Conditions Governing Use
The collection contains published articles; researchers are reminded of the copyright restrictions imposed by publishers on reusing their articles and parts of books. It is the responsibility of researchers to acquire permission from publishers when reusing such materials. The copyright to unpublished materials belongs to the heirs of the writers. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Historical Note
The first Westerners Corral was established in Chicago in 1944 with the aim of promoting the study and understanding of Western history. Soon, corrals were springing up all over the United States-- and even internationally-- with the Los Angeles corral being established in 1946 by oil executive Homer Britzman--who also was elected founding Sheriff. The last remaining founding member, Glen Dawson, was one of the L.A. Corral's early Sheriffs and was a well-known rock climber, mountaineer, antiquarian bookseller (Dawson's Bookshop in Los Angeles, founded by his father Ernest Dawson), and also served as Director of the Sierra Club from 1937 to 1951. The Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners regularly convenes to hear historians and other speakers present western-related topics as well as to celebrate the western spirit through annual Rendezvous and Fandangos. The Corral has published 22 Brand Books, almost 250 Branding Irons, and numerous other publications. Originally restricted to men, the organization now welcomes and encourages women to participate in the Corral.
Extent
202.8 Linear Feet (114 boxes and 3 mapcase folders)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners was founded in 1946 and promotes the study and understanding of Western history through publications and events. This collection contains correspondence, financial and publication records, photographs, artifacts, scrapbooks and drafts of articles documenting the history of the Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners.
Arrangement
Within series, records are generally arranged in chronological order. Whenever possible, files that were the provenance of individual members were kept together with their original file headings, although sometimes spelled out more completely for clarity.
Acquisition
The Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners records were donated to USC Special Collections by the Los Angeles Corral of Westerners in 1985. Since the initial donation of records in 1985, multiple new accessions have also been received.
Subject
Genre / Form
Geographic
- California -- History -- Archival resources
- California, Southern -- History -- Maps
- Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- Archival resources
- Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- Periodicals
- Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- Archival resources
- West (U.S.) -- History -- Societies, etc.
Topical
- Cowboys -- Poetry -- Archival resources
- Frontier and pioneer life -- United States -- Periodicals
- Private clubs -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
- Social history -- Societies and clubs -- Social aspects -- Archival resources
- West (U.S.) -- History -- Archival resources
Uniform Title
- Title
- Finding Aid of the Los Angeles Corral of Westerners records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Jacqueline Morin
- Date
- 2016
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Collection processing and creation of the original finding aid was funded by the generous support of the National Historic Publications and Records Commission.
Revision Statements
- 2015: Original collection of 23 boxes was processed and described by Rebecca Hirsch as part of an NHPRC grant. After several new accessions were added to the collection, it was re-processed and the finding aid was updated with more detailed description.
- 2019: Several accruals have been added to the collection between 2015 and 2019; finding aid has been updated accordingly.
- 2020 October: Finding aid updated by Bo Doub to include accrual of material - print copies of Westerners publications and digital video files on a USB flash drive.
- 2021 October: Finding aid updated by Bo Doub: created new container records (listed under "Unprocessed material") after finding unprocessed boxes during Grand Archives stacks shelf-reading.
- 2022 October: Finding aid updated by Bo Doub: rehoused five unboxed scrapbooks into box nos. 113 and 114.
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0189 United States
specol@usc.edu