California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

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

Spectators watching the "Great White Fleet" enter the Los Angeles Harbor (or San Pedro Harbor), April 1908

(USC DC Image)

Spectators watching the "Great White Fleet" enter the Los Angeles Harbor (or San Pedro Harbor), April 1908

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Photograph of spectators watching the "Great White Fleet" enter the Los Angeles Harbor (or San Pedro Harbor), April 1908. Spectators crowd the base of the breakwater to get a better view of the ships, as they will soon pass the area and head towards the piers (to the left, not visible in picture). Shrubs and wild plants populate the hillside (foreground) where other spectators watch the event transpire. The small steamer to the right of center is probably one of the Catalina Island excursion boats, such as the S.S. Cabrillo.; "From 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 the US Atlantic Fleet steamed around the world on a mission of 'Gunboat Diplomacy'. The ships, commonly known as the 'Great White Fleet' due to their white-painted hulls, called in ports the world over, impressing foreign dignitaries with the appearance of great power. The entire affair was designed to impress, and everything was done to make sure the fleet's appearance was perfect. The ships, however, were not all they appeared to be. HMS Dreadnought had been in commission for a year, effectively rendering all the US ships obsolete. Two of the ships had such severe mechanical problems that they could not complete the cruise, and two more were obsolete and unfit for battle. It was great show, but the military value of the fleet was questionable. This was the last great hurrah for the age of white ships, buff masts and high diplomacy on the high seas. As soon as the ships returned from the cruise they were stripped of their fancywork and much of their bridgework, painted gray, and had their pole masts replaced by functional but unsightly cage masts. The buildup towards WWI had begun." -- unknown author.

Asset Metadata

Title Spectators watching the "Great White Fleet" enter the Los Angeles Harbor (or San Pedro Harbor), April 1908

Subject Harbors (lcsh), Harbors (adlf), Los Angeles -- San Pedro and Wilmington -- Engineering -- Breakwater (file heading), Los Angeles -- San Pedro and Wilmington -- LA Harbor -- General (file heading)

Tags OAI-PMH Harvest

Place California (states), Los Angeles (city or populated place), Los Angeles (counties), San Pedro (city or populated place), USA (countries)

Temporal Subject 1908

Type images

Format 2 photographs : glass photonegative, photonegative, b&w ; 21 x 26 cm.; 2 photographs : photoprints, b&w ; 21 x 26 cm. (aacr2), glass plate negatives (format), negatives (photographic) (aat), 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 1908

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-m984

Identifier 5471 (accession number), CHS-5471 (call number), CHS-5471 (filename), chs-m265 (legacy collection record id), chs-c65-8892 (legacy record id), chs-m984 (legacy record id), USC-1-1-1-990 (legacy record id), 1-50- (microfiche number), USC (project)

IIIF ID [Document.IIIFV3ID]

DM Record ID 8892

Unique identifier UC139043

Legacy Identifier CHS-5471.tiff

Type Image

Internet Media Type image/tiff

Resolution 18.0 in × 14.2 in at 300dpi
45.9 cm × 36.1 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

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