Descriptive Summary
Workman family albums
1887-1989
100
Workman family members
1 archival document box, 3 oversize boxes
Loyola Marymount University. Library. Department of Archives and Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90045-2659
Online Archive of California Finding Aid:
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0489r6wq/
This collection consists of family albums, newspaper clippings, photographs, and ephemera related to the Workman family of Los Angeles, important players in the politics and development of Los Angeles in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Workman family members in this collection include William H. Workman, mayor of Los Angeles; and Boyle Workman, Los Angeles city councilman and city historian; and Mary Julia Workman, Roman Catholic social activist.
Collection is stored on-site. Advance notice required for research use.
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount University.
Publication Rights
Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Series number, Box and Folder number, Workman Family Albums, 100, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.
Acquisition Information
Gift of the Loyola Marymount University Jesuit Community. 2011
Custodial History
Previously in possession of the Loyola Marymount University Jesuit Community.
Biography / Administrative History
The albums partially document the lives of these important members of the Workman family:
- William H. Workman (1839-1918), developer of Boyle Heights, mayor of Los Angeles(1887-1888), city councilmember, and city treasuer
- Maria Elizabeth Workman (1847-1933), wife of William H. Workman; daughter of Andrew Boyle, founder of Boyle Heights
- Boyle Workman (1868‐1942), son of William and Maria, and a Los Angeles City councilmember in the 1920s and Public Service Commissioner, and historian of Los Angeles
- Mary Julia Workman (1871-1964), daughter of William and Maria, and social and political activist in Los Angeles
Chronology
1868
William H. Workman marries Elizabeth Maria Elizabeth Boyle, daughter of Andrew Boyle, original developer of Boyle Heights.
1868
Andrew Boyle Workman born.
1871
Death of Andrew Boyle. William H. and Maria Elizabeth Workman assume ownership and management of Boyle Heights.
1872‐1874, 1885-1880
William H. Workman serves on the Los Angeles Common (City) Council.
1886
William H. Workman elected mayor of Los Angeles.
1901
Mary Julia Workman helps found the Brownson House, a major Roman Catholic settlement house in Los Angeles.
1902-1907
William H. Workman serves as treasurer of the City of Los Angeles.
1913-1917
Boyle Workman serves on the Los Angeles Public Service Commission.
1918
William H. Workman dies.
1919-1927
Boyle Workman serves on the Los Angeles City Council.
1926
Mary Julia Workman awarded papal medal
Pro Ecclesia et Pontificefor service to Roman Catholic Church.
1927-1928
Mary Julia Workman serves on the Los Angeles City Civil Service Commission.
1933
Maria Elizabeth Workman dies.
1935
Boyle Workman publishes
The City that Grew, his history of the city of Los Angeles.
1938
Mary Julia Workman participates in the successful recall campaign of corrupt Los Angeles mayor Frank Shaw.
1942
Boyle Workman dies.
1964
Mary Julia Workman dies.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of family albums, family ephemera, photographs, and newspaper clippings. The bulk of the collection is the family albums, which are scrapbooks with materials on Workman family history. Loose materials sometimes accompany the albums. Of particular interest are newspapers from Boyle Heights with much information on businesses, persons, and churches there. The newspaper clippings that the Workmans collected emphasize early Los Angeles history and the family’s contribution to this history.
The collection also contains ephemera, some of which documents Los Angeles history. See for example, the program for the groundbreaking ceremony for the city hall in 1926 (Box 1, Folder 8).
There is some material not related to the Workmans. This includes, for example, a photograph and bibliography of the works of Charles Lummis. One album concerns Frederick J. Seidenberg, S. J., of Detroit, a sociologist and Jesuit active in labor affairs and acquaintance of Mary Julia Workman and Charlotte Masson (neé Workman).
Arrangement
The Workman Family Albums is arranged by individual album; loose materials that came with the album have been placed in individual folders. There were also loose materials not found with the albums that have been arranged in folders as well.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Workman family
Workman, Andrew Boyle, 1968-1942
Workman, Mary Julia, 1871-1964
Workman, William H., 1839-1918
Workman, Maria Elizabeth, 1847-1933
Workman family--Political activity--History--19th century--Sources
Workman family--Political activity--History--20th century--Sources
Women civic leaders--California--Los Angeles--History--20th century--Sources
Civic leaders--California--History--20th century--Sources
California--Politics and government--1850-1950--Sources
California--Los Angeles--Boyle Heights
Bibliography
For background information on the Workman family, consult the following works:
Engh, Michael.
Mary Julia Workman, the Catholic Conscience of Los Angeles.
California History(1993): 2-19.
Engh, Michael.
Workman, Mary Julia (1871-1964).
Encyclopedia of American Catholic History. Collegeville, Minnesota, 1997. Pp. 1517-1518.
Newmark, Marco.
The Workman Family in Los Angeles.
Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly32 (1950): 316-325.
Rowland, Donald E.
John Rowland and William Workman: Southern California Pioneers of 1841. Spokane: Arthur H. Clark Co.; Los Angeles: Historical Society of Southern California, 1999.
Workman, Boyle.
The City That Grew. Los Angeles: The Southland Publishing Co., 1935
Related Material
Workman Family Papers, CSLA-9
Mary Julia Workman Research Materials, CSLA-35
Collection Contents
1ov
Boyle Workman Album: Newspaper clippings, correspondence, photographs re life of Boyle Workman. Typed manuscripts of histories of Los Angeles and the Department of Water and Power.
Name "Boyle Workman" stamped on front cover of album
1895-1942
(dates broken)
1ov : 1
Loose Materials from Boyle Workman album: Newspaper clippings re Workman family (photocopies of the originals).
1919-1964 (of originals)
(dates broken)
1ov : 2
Loose Materials from Boyle Workman album: Photograph of McClay and Widney family members. Relatives of Martha Frances Widney (1874–1971), wife of Andrew Boyle Workman.
Undated
1 : 8
Loose Materials from Boyle Workman album: Boyle Workman Los Angeles City Council campaign cards. Program for groundbreaking of Los Angeles City Hall; postcard of City Hall. Photographs of Boyle Workman.
1919,
1926
1 : 9
Loose Materials from Boyle Workman album: Correspondence re Workman family plaque. Index to scrapbook. Los Angeles City Council presentation speech to Boyle Workman. Boyle Workman Labor Day speech.
1919,
1941
2ov
William H. Workman Album re mayoral career. Newspaper clippings re mayoral career of William H. Workman. Notice re William H. Workman sale of property. Los Angeles Roman Catholic newspaper
The Tidingsarticle re Mary Julia Workman reception of papal medal "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice."
Inscription in pen on first leaf recto: 1887 EXTRACTS FROM THE LOS ANGELES DAILY PAPERS W. H. WORKMAN MAYOR LOS ANGELES 1887-1888. Also inscribed, in pencil, on first leaf recto: L. A. Ingersoll 324 W. Fourth St Parker House Room 3.
1886-1888
1926
2ov : 1
Loose Materials from William H. Workman mayoral album:
The Boyle Heights Sun, volume 1, number 3 (newspaper).
Greater Los Angeles and Southern California, volume 7, number 15 (newspaper).
1906
2ov : 2
Loose Materials from William H. Workman mayoral album: Newspaper clippings re William H. and Maria E. Workman family (photocopies of the originals).
1890-1938
(dates broken)
2ov : 3
Loose Materials from William H. Workman mayoral album: Mourning card for Mrs. A. M.W. Workman. Black and white photograph with inscription "Dinner Table Jan—1st 1917." Notes re life of Mary Julia Workman. Letter to Mary Julia Workman.
1892,
1917,
1962
1 : 1
Album re deaths of William H. Workman and other Workman family members. Newspaper clippings re death of William H. Workman, William H. Workman III, and Maria Elizabeth Workman.
1918,
1933,
1939
1 : 1
Loose materials from album re death of William H. Workman and other Workman family members: Newspaper clippings re deaths and activities of Workman family members (photocopies of the originals).
1918-1950
(dates broken)
1 : 2
Album re Willam H. Workman and A.A. Boyle familes. Typed table of contents on front pastedown. Newspaper clippings re beginnings of Workman family in Los Angeles. Typed history of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (by Boyle Workman). Family history of Dardier-Christie side of Workman family, as told by Maria Elizabeth Workman. Booklet on Chester Place.
"William Workman Family A. A. Boyle Family" inscribed in pen on front cover. Album prepared by Eleanor Workman.
1925-1964
(dates broken)
1 : 3
Album re Father Frederic Seidenberg, S. J. Newspaper clippings, obituary, re death and work of Father Frederic Seidenberg, S. J. Photograph of same. Letters addressed to Charlotte Masson, daughter of William H. Workman. "I Saw the Soviet Russia 1937." "An Interview with Fredric Seidenberg, S. J., by Daniel A. Lord, S. J." (pamphlet). Conference on Industrial Relations program. Economic Club of Detroit flyer. Michigan Conference of Social Work program.
1937-1939
1 : 4
Album re dedication of plaque in honor of William H. and Maria E. Workman. Newspaper clippings, invitations, photograph, correspondence, program.
Title stamped on front cover: THE WORKMAN FAMILY.
1962
1 : 5
Loose materials from album re dedication of plaque in honor of William H. and Maria E. Workman: Photographs of plaque and of Workman family at ceremony. 8 8x10 black and white photographs.
1962
1 : 6
Loose materials from album re dedication of plaque in honor of William H. and Maria E. Workman: Correspondence, newspaper clippings (photocopies), Thomas Workman certificate re Cuban Refugee Emergency Center.
1962,
1989
3ov : 1
General Loose Materials:
The Capital, volume 2, number 20.
1895
3ov : 2
General Loose Materials:
Graphic, volume 21, number 17 (two copies).
Graphic, volume 24, number 3.
1904,
1906
3ov : 3
General Loose Materials:
The Criterion Illustrated, volume 14, number 19 (photocopy).
1898
3ov : 4
General Loose Materials: Charles F. Lummis autographed photograph for Mary J. Workman.
Top o' the Hill,Charles Lummis autographed poem. "The Works of Chas. F. Lummis," bibliography of works by Charles Lummis. List of music and poem played at Thomas E. Workman funeral.
Los Angeles Daily Timesarticle on Boyle Heights.
1905,
1928
3ov : 5
General Loose Materials: Postcards to and from Mary Julia Workman from family members and friends.
1905-1927
(dates broken)
3ov : 6
General Loose Materials: Mary Julia Workman medal,
Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.
1926
3ov : 7
General Loose Materials: Paperweight commemorating 150
thanniversary of the Workman/Rowland party coming to Los Angeles.
1991
1 : 7
General Loose Materials: Newspaper clippings (photocopies) re Workman family. Collected by Mary Julia Workman.
1889-1916,
undated