GUIDE TO THE BEA EVENSON BALBOA PARK PRESERVATION COLLECTION
COLLECTION NUMBER:
C047.COLLECTION TITLE:
Bea Evenson Balboa Park Preservation Collection.CREATOR(S):
Bea Evenson.
DATES OF MATERIAL:
1914-1980, bulk 1970s.
EXTENT:
284 photographic prints: 56 color; 8 x 12 in. or smaller.
LOCAL CONTROL NUMBERS:
Photographic prints: OP11206/0-293.
REPOSITORY:
San Diego Historical Society
Booth Historical Photograph Archives
P.O. Box 81825
San Diego, CA 92138
1-619-232-6203
ACQUISITION INFORMATION:
Transfer from Research Archives, 1983.
RESTRICTIONS:
Open for research.
COPYRIGHT:
For permission to reproduce or publish, contact the curator of the Booth Historical Photograph Archives at the San Diego Historical Society. Reproduction or publication of any part of this collection must include the following information next to the image(s) or in a special section of credits: Bea Evenson Balboa Park Preservation Collection, San Diego Historical Society, Booth Historical Photograph Archives.
GENERAL NOTES:
Arranged by local control number. Photographers include Walter E. Averrett, Phyllis Ferry, and Fred Forbes; other sources include the City of San Diego, Union Title Insurance and Trust Company, the U.S. Navy, and San Diego City Schools. Related materials: Bea Evenson/Committee of 100 Collection (MS2) and a typed transcript of an oral history interview with Bea Evenson in the Research Archives. Copy negatives of some prints are available, 83:14652/0-5. Forms part of the San Diego Historical Society Original Print Collection.
BIOGRAPHICAL OR HISTORICAL NOTE:
Beatrice Barker Evenson (1900-1981) founded the civic group called the Committee of 100 in 1967 for the preservation of original Spanish Colonial architecture in San Diego's Balboa Park. She served as president until 1974 and remained an active member of the committee until her death.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE:
This collection documents the volunteer efforts of Bea Evenson during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s to preserve various buildings in San Diego's Balboa Park. It contains original photographic prints, color instant camera photographs, and modern photographic prints from original and copy negatives. The images show deterioration and damage to sculpture, ornaments, and other architectural elements of Casa del Prado, the Ford Building, Casa de Balboa, the Museum of Man, Fine Arts Gallery, and Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Other images show the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, including former Speaker of the House Joe Cannon and John D. Spreckels in an electric cart on the Plaza de Panama; Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink's 1923 performance at the memorial service for President Warren G. Harding in Spreckels Organ Pavilion; the 1935 exposition; and restoration work. There are also publicity photographs of awards and tributes to Bea Evenson.
SUBJECTS INDEXED:
Committee of 100 (San Diego, Calif.)
Conservation & restoration.
Architectural elements.
Balboa Park (San Diego, Calif.) – Photographs.
CONTENTS LIST:
Box 1 Folder 1 OP11206/0-60
Chiefly views of Balboa Park buildings from 1968-1980 showing deterioration and damage to architectural elements. Includes color photographs of the Electric Building [i.e. Casa de Balboa] by Phyllis Ferry of La Jolla. Also, a portrait of ornamental casting specialist Chris Mueller Jr. working on a scale model of the Blessed Virgin Mary, inscribed on the back to Bea and Frank Evenson.Folder 2 OP11206/61-100
Views showing deterioration and damage to architectural elements of various buildings in Balboa Park, including the Electric Building, Varied Industries Building, House of Hospitality, Fine Arts Gallery [i.e. San Diego Museum of Art], Casa del Prado, and California Tower.Folder 3 OP11206/101-125
Views showing deterioration and damage to architectural elements of various buildings in Balboa Park. Several photographs include Bea Evenson.Folder 4 OP11206/126-149
Views showing deterioration and damage to architectural elements of various buildings in Balboa Park.Folder 5 OP11206/150-201
Includes some photographs of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, but mostly views of architectural elements of various buildings in Balboa Park. Also, a distant view of the Native Daughters of the Golden West presenting a check to Bea Evenson on the stage of Spreckels Organ Pavilion.Folder 6 OP11206/202-230
Views of Spreckels Organ Pavilion from 1915-1979, including 1923 performance by contralto Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink at the memorial service for President Warren G. Harding. Also, views from the 1915 exposition of the lily pond, El Prado, and various buildings, including the California Tower at night photographed by Walter E. Averrett.Folder 7 OP11206/231-260
From the 1915 exposition: the lily pond and Botanical Building, Varied Industries Building, former Speaker of the House Joe Cannon and John D. Spreckels in an electric cart on the Plaza de Panama, sepia toned images of Chinatown and the Cawston Ostrich Farm exhibit in 1914 before completion. From the 1935 exposition: the Standard Oil Tower to the Sun, interior and exterior views of the Ford Building, an Averrett photograph of the midway, and members of exposition management gathered together for a Christmas party in 1934. Other images include the Fine Arts Building in 1927, a sepia toned image of a woman [Bea Evenson?] feeding pigeons in Balboa Park, and views of El Prado.Folder 8 OP11206/261-293
Chiefly publicity photographs documenting Bea Evenson's preservation efforts. Includes awards and tributes by the city of San Diego, U.S. Navy, and others; Bea Evenson with San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson and other government officials; Bea Evenson walking her dog; and Bea Evenson inspecting restoration work on Balboa Park buildings.
