- Charlotta Bass / California Eagle
Collection Description
The Charlotta Bass/California Eagle Photograph Collection is comprised of almost 500 photographs that were among the personal papers and artifacts of Charlotta Bass, publisher of the California Eagle from 1912-1951. The photos can be divided into 6 general categories: 1.) Photographs illustrating Bass' career as the Eagle's publisher and editor, her political activities, including her candidacies for U.S. Congress and Vice President on the Progressive Party ticket, and her trip to Prague and the Soviet Union; 2.) Personal photographs of Bass with family, colleagues and friends, and photos of Bass' relatives, friends and acquaintances; 3.) Photographs of reporters and other employees of the California Eagle: 4.) Photographs published in the California Eagle that illustrate various aspects of political and social life in Los Angeles' African-American community; 5.) Other photographs of African-Americans; 6.) Photographs published in the California Eagle of various news events, including labor union activities, the activities of the Civil Rights Congress, and citizens protesting the Communist "witch hunts" of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Charlotta A. Bass (1879-1969) had a multi-faceted career as a business person, journalist, activist and political candidate. Born in Sumter, South Carolina, she lived in Providence, Rhode Island before moving to Los Angeles in 1910. That year Bass began selling subscriptions to The Eagle. Two years later she became the owner/publisher/editor of the renamed California Eagle. For forty years Bass used the paper as a vehicle for advancing a range of social causes and community activism ranging from voter registration, housing and employment descrimination, poliice burtality and human rights. In April 1951 Bass published her last issue of The California Eagle and sold the paper soon afterward. Bass ran for Los Angeles City council in 1945, U.S. Congress in 1950 and was the Progressive Party's U.S. Vice-Presidential candidate in 1952. Bass retired to Lake Elsinor. Three years after suffering a severe stroke she died in 1969
In 1879 John J. Neimore founded the oldest African American owned newspaper in Los Angeles. Originally called "The Owl", he later he renamed it "The Eagle." When the paper was taken over by Charlotta A. Bass in 1912 it was renamed finally to "The California Eagle." The newspaper served as a source of both information and inspiration for the black community, which was either ignored or negatively portrayed by the predominant white press. As publisher, Bass was committed to to producing a quality periodical. In her weekly column, "On the Sidewalk," begun in 1927, she drew attention to unjust social and political conditions for all Los Angeles minority communites and campainged vigorously for reform. Bass' husband, who she had hired in 1913 and married shortly thereafter, served as the paper's editor until his death in 1934. Bass ran the paper by herself until 1951 when she sold it. The paper ceased publication in 1965.
CITE AS: Creator. Title. Date2 or Date1. From the Charlotta Bass / California Eagle Photograph Collection, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, Los Angeles. Digitally reproduced by the University of Southern California Digital Archive. Available: URL. Access date.
EXAMPLE CITE AS: [photographer unknown]. Charlotta Bass at a celebration with the staff of the California Eagle, circa 1951/1960, Los Angeles. From the Charlotta Bass / California Eagle Photograph Collection, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, Los Angeles. Digitally reproduced by the University of Southern California Digital Archive. Available: http://digarc.usc.edu. Accessed March 1, 2005.
PHYSICAL LOCATION: Southern California Library for Social Studies & Research, 6120 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90044.
CONTACT: (323) 759-6063; fax (323) 759-2252; archives@socallib.org
Title:
Charlotta Bass / California Eagle Photograph Collection, 1880-1986
Record ID:
scl-m0000
Names & Dates
Created:
1870/1978
Creator:
[photographer] Unknown
Publisher:
[host] University of Southern California. Libraries
Subject
Topic:
Civil Rights Congress (U.S.) , Labor unions -- California -- Los Angeles , Anti-communist movements -- United States , African Americans -- California -- Los Angeles , African Americans , California eagle , Bass, Charlotta A., 1879-1969
Coverage:
1870/1978
Place:
[cities] Los Angeles
Relationships
Referenced In:
[Identification of item], Charlotta Bass / California Eagle Photograph Collection, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, Los Angeles
Physical
Type:
images
collections
Format:
[medium] photographs
Other Formats:
tiff
Access
Rights:
Copyright has not been assigned to the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. Researchers may make single copies of images solely for the purpose of private study. Copies for any other purpose must be requested in writing from the director of Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, 6120 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90044; phone (323) 759-6063. When the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research gives permission for publication, it is as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Repository:
Ordering:
Researchers may make single copies of images solely for the purpose of private study. Copies for any other purpose must be requested in writing from the director of Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research at the address or e-mail given (phone (323) 759-6063; fax (323) 759-2252). When the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research gives permission for publication, it is as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. USC may provide high-resolution images and/or prints for purposes other than private study only with written permission from the Southern California Library.
Identifiers
Record ID:
scl-m0000
Source:
[call no] scl-mss064-0000