Mabel C. Harris papers
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Content Description
Photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, clippings, ephemera, and cookbooks relating to Mabel Harris's career in the Los Angeles food and grocery industry from 1944 to 1970.
Dates
- Creation: 1937 - 1989
Creator
- Harris, Mabel C. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Biographical / Historical
Mabel C. Harris, also professionally known as Virginia O'Neal and Martha Logan, was a trained home economist who graduated from Montana State College in 1942. She moved to the Los Angeles area and worked in the food and grocery industry for companies like Kerr Glass and Swift and Company before being hired by Vons grocery stores in 1960. Vons publicized her as "the first graduate home economist to join a supermarket chain staff." Her duties were to "help the public with recipes, menus and buying information." Harris met with women's groups, spoke at schools and supermarket openings, wrote and tested recipes, provided tips and recipes on radio and television, and made other appearances to teach the public about food preparation. She pledged to "help women get more fun and less work out of good menus and meals." [adapted from the Los Angeles Times, obituary, November 11, 2002]
Extent
4.7 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Mabel C. Harris, also professionally known as Virginia O'Neal and Martha Logan, was a trained home economist who, after working for Swift and Company and Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corp., was hired by Vons grocery stores in 1960 to be the first home economist hired by a supermarket chain. Her papers consist of photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, clippings, ephemera, and cookbooks relating to her career in the Los Angeles food and grocery industry from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Organization
The Mabel C. Harris papers are organized into two series: 1. Professional, 2. Personal.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Lanore Larson, August 7, 2018.
Processing Information
The Mabel C. Harris papers arrived at USC with some items grouped together in folders, but folder labels either were not provided or did not coincide accurately with the folders' contents. Madeline Goosen therefore grouped like materials together, in some cases physically, in others intellectually, in order to provide ease of access and discovery for researchers.
Subject
- Harris, Mabel C. -- Archives (Person)
Genre / Form
Geographic
- Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Economic conditions -- Archival resources
- Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
- Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Social conditions -- 20th century -- Archival resources
- Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Topical
- Grocery trade -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
- Home economics -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Uniform Title
- Title
- Finding aid for the Mabel C. Harris papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Madeline Goosen, Sue Luftschein, and Suzanne Noruschat
- Date
- 2018 December
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
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