California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Los Angeles Times building, after the bombing disaster on October 1, 1910

(USC DC Image)

Los Angeles Times building, after the bombing disaster on October 1, 1910

Loading details...

You do not have the permission to view Original image

Photograph of the Los Angeles Times building, after the bombing disaster on October 1, 1910. The left section of the building is almost completely destroyed. Smoke can be seen cloaking the part of the building that was destroyed. Exhaust (or steam?) from a fire engine (lower left corner) rises into the air. People stand at a distance from the dilapidated building staring at a scene of scattered debris, blown out windows, and a partially disintegrated building. Long ladders used by firefighters are propped up against the section of the building that is still standing.; "From 1886 to 1917, Harrison Gray Otis was the owner and publisher of the Los Angeles Times. During that time the newspaper pursued a strong conservative viewpoint, and was militantly anti-union in its editorials and in its relationship with employees. On October 1, 1910, in the middle of a strike called to unionize the metal trades of the city, the Times building was dynamited. The south wall facing Broadway Street collapsed, causing the second floor to also collapse under the weight of its machines onto the first floor. The first floor then collapsed into the basement, destroying the heating plant and gas mains. The building, with many of its workers trapped inside, was soon an inferno. There was a loss of life of at least 20, and about the same number were injured, some of them permanently. In an unusual move the mayor hired a private investigator who was able to implicate a number of men in the bombing. These included Ortie McManigal, James B. McNamara, and his brother John J. McNamara (secretary-treasurer of the International Union of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers). McManigal agreed to testify against the McNamara brothers. Organized labor, in turn, saw this as an all-out attack on the unions and labor in general. Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, hired Clarence Darrow to defend the brothers. Darrow called them 'pawns in a vast industrial war.' By the time the trial began, however, Darrow had come to the conclusion that the brothers were guilty. Rather than fighting a hopeless battle, he persuaded the brothers to plead guilty.That decision stunned the city and infuriated the Gompers. James McNamara got a life sentence, while his brother received a sentence of 15 years. Two others, David Caplan and Matt A. Schmidt, were later implicated and received life sentences. The damage from the trial was to plague Clarence Darrow for the rest of his life." -- unknown author.

Asset Metadata

Title Los Angeles Times building, after the bombing disaster on October 1, 1910

Subject Bombings (lcsh), buildings (adlf), Los Angeles Times (subject), Newspapers (lcsh)

Tags OAI-PMH Harvest

Place Broadway & First Street (roadway), California (states), Los Angeles (city or populated place), Los Angeles (counties), USA (countries)

Temporal Subject 1910-10-01

Type images

Format 1 photograph : glass photonegative, b&w ; 21 x 26 cm. (aacr2), glass plate negatives (format), photographs (aat)

Source California Historical Society (contributing entity), California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960 (collection), Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960 (subcollection)

Date Created 1910-10-01

Publisher University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Repository Email specol@lib.usc.edu

Repository Name USC Libraries Special Collections

Repository Location Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189

Rights Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Copyright Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Access Conditions Send requests to address or e-mail given

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/chs-m17461

Identifier 5728.1 (accession number), CHS-5728.1 (call number), CHS-5728.1 (filename), chs-m265 (legacy collection record id), chs-c65-17454 (legacy record id), chs-m17461 (legacy record id)

IIIF ID [Document.IIIFV3ID]

DM Record ID 17454

Unique identifier UC142470

Legacy Identifier CHS-5728.1.tiff

Type Image

Internet Media Type image/tiff

Resolution 17.0 in × 13.8 in at 300dpi
43.1 cm × 35.2 cm at 300dpi

Inherited Values

Title Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Description The nearly 15,000 unique photographs of this collection contain the work of C.C. Pierce which cover the Los Angeles region city, street and architectural views, California Missions, Southwestern Native Americans, and turn-of-century Nevada, Arizona, and California. Pierce, active from 1886 to 1940, was one of the leading photographers of his day and amassed a collection of 15,000 images, including his own and those bought and copied from his contemporaries, George Wharton James and Charles Puck. The James collection contains over 2,000 images of portraits, customs, ceremonies, arts, and games of various groups of Southwestern Native Americans.

Date Created 1860/1960

Linked assets

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Conceptually similar

Los Angeles Times building, after the bombing disaster on October 1, 1910

Los Angeles Times Building on Broadway and First Street after being bombed, October 1, 1910

Los Angeles Times Building the day after the bombing, October 1, 1910

Los Angeles Times Building the day after its bombing, Los Angeles, October 1, 1910

Ink Alley, at rear of the Los Angeles Times Building after bombing, October, 1910

Cranes and workers on Broadway removing the rubble of the old Los Angeles Times Building the day after its bombing, October 1, 1910

Bombed-out Los Angeles Times building, 1910

Exterior view of the International Bank Building on the southwest corner of Spring Street and Temple Street, Los Angeles, 1910

Buildings and the courtyard of the Southern Branch of the University of California, Los Angeles, after 1914

Exterior view of the San Bernardino County Courthouse building, ca.1910

Professor Judson's College of Fine Arts building at the University of Southern California (U.S.C.), Garvanza, Los Angeles, ca.1910

External front view of Mission San Juan Bautista, after partial destruction of the tower, ca.1902

A view of one of Riverside High School building on the east front, ca.1910

Residence of Secondo Guasti, 3500 West Adams Street, Los Angeles, ca.1910

Cornerstone laying ceremony at Chamber of Commerce Building, between 1st Street and 2nd Street on Broadway, 1903

The bell on top of Mt. Rubidoux, Riverside, ca.1910

The Bullock's Building under construction on Broadway and Seventh Street, Los Angeles, ca.1905

Los Angeles Times Building, First Street and Broadway, ca.1905

Exterior view of the facade of Los Angeles Natural History Museum (formerly Los Angeles County Historical Art Museum?), ca.1920

View of downtown Los Angeles, showing the Pacific Electric Building, Main Street and Sixth Street, Los Angeles, [s.d.].

Similar tones

View images with similar tones