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Exhibits

William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection

Item set

Title
William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection
Description
Capturing the rich history of the early twentieth century, the William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection (Identification #96-07-08) highlights well-known landmarks, historic events, and scenic vistas from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, from the Deep South to Canada, and from Mexico to Cuba. Scenes across the Golden State are captured in stunning shots from Lake Tahoe to Yosemite and the Central Coast to Southern California cities. The collection features nearly 3,000 photographs taken by native Californians William M. and Grace McCarthy from approximately 1905 to 1938. The McCarthys traveled extensively during the early years of automobile travel, as newly constructed highways connected people and places throughout the United States and beyond, providing pictorial documentation of a pivotal period in our nation's history.

William M. McCarthy (1876 – 1956) and Grace C. Kane (1878 – 1957) wed in the early 1900s and lived in San Francisco for most of their lives where William was stationed as an armament expert for the U.S. War Department. The collection features photographs of the McCarthys' travels, as well as the many family members and friends they encountered along the way. Always ready with his camera, William McCarthy also captured remarkable images of significant events, including shots of San Francisco before and after the 1906 earthquake, the fire that destroyed that city's iconic Cliff House in 1907, the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and their 1938 journey into Mexico along the newly constructed Pan American Highway. The original black and white photographs, mounted in eleven albums, make up one of the few private collections preserved by the California State Archives. The entire collection was digitized by the State Archives' curatorial staff.

To request a high-resolution scan of one or more of these images, contact the California State Archives at ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov or (916) 653-2246. Please include the Title or Identifier for each photograph in which you are interested, as well as the desired format (tiff, jpg, pdf) and resolution (DPI) for the requested scan. Duplication fees will apply.

DISCLAIMER
The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the creators of the materials presented (William and Grace McCarthy) are theirs alone. As noted in image descriptions, certain photographs are restricted or have been cropped due to sensitive content deemed unsuitable for online distribution.
Date
1905-1938
Contributor
Audrey Fullerton-Samora of Sacramento, great niece of William and Grace McCarthy, donated the William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection to the California State Archives in 1996.
Creator
William M. McCarthy
Publisher
California State Archives, a division of the California Secretary of State's Office
Rights
The California State Archives, a division of the California Secretary of State’s Office, owns the copyright to the William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection. The images and content may be used for personal use, research, or educational purposes. For any use of these materials, please credit the “California State Archives, William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection, Identification #96-07-08.” Commercial use or distribution of the images or content is not permitted without prior written permission from the California State Archives. Please note that the materials contained in this collection may include copyrighted material (such as postcards) not held by the California State Archives. Additionally, other limitations, such as the right of publicity, may limit use of the materials in this collection.

For more information about the copyrights related to this collection or to request permission to use the digital images or content, please contact the California State Archives at ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov or (916) 653-2246.
Identifier
Collection ID#96-07-08

Items

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  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 366
    Caption: "Indians crude way of obtaining water for home use - Vallecillo, Mexico," 1938, shows a Mexican man in an oxen-driven cart filling a pail with water from a river, while three boys watch from the shore in Vallecillo, Mexico.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 365
    Caption: "Laredo, Texas - Highway entrance to Mexico at International bridge - U.S. Customs office on left. April 12, 1938."
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 364
    No Caption: A page from a tourist brochure detailing information about Mexico, including agriculture, forestry, and mining and oil production.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 363
    No Caption: A page from a tourist brochure detailing travel information for tourists to Mexico, including automobile permits, money exchange, baggage inspection, accident insurance, firearms, hunting, registration for cameras, furs, and diamonds, and "Negro servants," which "require a cash bond of 250 pesos, which is refunded upon leaving Mexico."
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 362
    No Caption: A map of the highway from Laredo to Mexico City.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 361a
    No Caption: A "ANA Asociacion Nacional Automovilistica 'Protection - Service," decal in yellow, red, and blue, with the Mexican symbol of an eagle holding a serpent in its beak and talons, based on the Aztec symbol that represented the founding of the city, Tenochtitlan, today Mexico City.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 361
    No Caption: A page from a tourist brochure with information about Mexico re: total area in square miles, topography, population, and climate.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 360
    Caption: "Our Motor Tour to Mexico City March 26th to June 8th 1938. Total Mileage 5,500, Grace & Will McCarthy. Highway indicated by Blue Line," written on a map of Mexico, with a photograph of William and Grace McCarthy next to a large sign detailing their tour of Mexico as described above.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 359b
    No Caption: An American Express Travel Bureau brochure in red, yellow, and green, and titled: The Way to See Mexico, from The Emporium travel agency in San Francisco. c. 1938.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 359a
    No Caption: A "Mexico by Motor" decal, c. 1938, rectangular, in yellow and purple.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 359
    Caption: "Turista - Mexico - March 26th to June 8th, 1938," handwritten on a Mexico tourist brochure indicating the McCarthys' trip to Mexico in 1938. The brochure itself reads: Mexico - Visit Fiesta Land the Fiesta Way."
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 358
    Caption: "Pacos [sic] River - View from Del Rio Highway, Texas." c. 1935. Pecos River and Del Rio Highway, Texas.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 357
    Caption: "Spring time in the Rockies. Picketpost Mountains - Superior, Arizona," c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 356
    Caption: "Long Beach - Calif.," c. 1935, shows sunbathers at the beach at Long Beach.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 355
    Caption: "Ocean Avenue - Long Beach," c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 354
    No Caption: c. 1935. Fannette Island is located in Emerald Bay, on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. In 1928, Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight purchased the property encompassing the head of Emerald Bay and Fannette Island. Knight had a summer home built in Scandinavian architectural style and called it Vikingsholm. The stone structure at the top of Fannette island is the "Tea House," built in 1928-1929, at the same time Vikingsholm was built.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 353
    No Caption: c. 1935, Lake Tahoe.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 352
    No Caption: A group of unidentified men standing and seated at a circular bar at the Cal-Neva Lodge, located on the border of California and Nevada, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 351
    Caption: "Emerald Bay and Mount Tallac - Lake Tahoe, Calif.," c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 350
    No Caption: Grace McCarthy at Lake Tahoe, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 349
    Caption: "Lake Tahoe - Calif.," c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 348
    No Caption: Grace McCarthy wearing a swimsuit and standing on the shore of Lake Tahoe, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 347
    No Caption: A view of Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 346
    Caption: "Lake Tahoe, California," c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 345
    No Caption: William McCarthy holding a fish at Lake Tahoe, California, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 344
    No Caption: An ice skating rink at Yosemite National Park, c. 1932.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 343
    No Caption: A view of snow-covered Half Dome at Yosemite National Park, c. 1932.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 342
    No Caption: Grace McCarthy standing on a snow covered landscape next to a series of snow sculptures with "1932" written in rocks below.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 341
    No Caption: Grace McCarthy standing in the snow at the entrance to Camp Curry campground in Yosemite National Park, c. 1932.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 340
    No Caption: William and Grace McCarthy standing near Mirror Lake at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 339
    No Caption: A group of people standing at the guard rail on the overhanging rock at Glacier Point, at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 338
    No Caption: Grace McCarthy feeding a deer at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 337
    No Caption: c. 1935. Pictured are vehicles driving through the famous Wawona Tunnel Tree, a giant sequoia that stood in Mariposa Grove of Yosemite National Park. The tree's tunnel was cut in 1881 as a tourist attraction. In 1969, the tree fell during a severe winter storm. Before it fell, the ancient tree measured 234 ft. high, twenty-six ft. in diameter, and was approximately 2,100 years old.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 336
    No Caption: A tunnel tree in Yosemite National Park, with a sign next to it reading: "California HGT: 246' DIAM: 21'," c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 335
    No Caption: William McCarthy feeding a deer at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 334
    No Caption: Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 333
    No Caption: An unidentified woman and unidentified man at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 332
    No Caption: William McCarthy (right) and an unidentified man at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 331
    No Caption: William and Grace McCarthy at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 330
    No Caption: Pictured is Yosemite master basket weaver, Lucy Parker Telles, a Mono Lake Paiute, who lived at Yosemite and Mono Lake. Telles was one of a group of Mono-Paiute women renowned for the artistry of their stunning baskets, many of which they sold to Yosemite visitors. Here, Telles poses with her beautiful 36" basket, which took her four years to complete, and which captured first prize at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 329
    No Caption: William McCarthy feeding a bear at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 328
    No Caption: An unidentified California Indian man standing in front of a wigwam covered in tree bark, and wearing a headdress, feather skirt and shawl, beads, and moccasins, and holding a small drum decorated with arrows, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 327
    No Caption: An unidentified California Indian woman standing in front of a wigwam covered in tree bark at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 326
    No Caption: An unidentified California Indian man standing in front of a wigwam covered in tree bark, and wearing a feather headdress, feather skirt, beads, and moccasins, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 325
    No Caption: Two girls riding a pony with another girl standing beside them at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 324
    No Caption: Half Dome at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 323
    No Caption: An unidentified California Indian woman wearing a long skirt and shawl, and carrying a small pail at Yosemite National Park, c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 322
    Caption: "Yosemite National Park," c. 1935.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 321
    Caption: "Jimmy Seekoya," c. 1935. This is possibly a postcard that shows a comical creature made with parts of pine cones, acorns, feathers, and nuts.
  • McCarthy Album 10, Photograph 320
    Caption: "Beezle Bill," c. 1935. This is possibly a postcard that shows a comical creature made with parts of pine cones, acorns, feathers, and nuts.