Dick Whittington Studio

The "Dick" Whittington Studio was the largest and finest photography studio in the Los Angeles area from 1924 to 1987. Specializing in commercial photography, the Whittington Studio took photographs for nearly every major business and organization in Los Angeles; in so doing, they documented the growth and commercial development of Los Angeles. Clients included Max Factor, the Broadway, Bullock's, and May Co. department stores, the California Fruit Growers Association, Signal Oil, Shell Oil, Union Oil, Van de Kamp's bakeries, Forest Lawn, Sparkletts Water, CBS, Don Lee Television, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, real estate developers, construction companies, automobile, aircraft, and railroad companies, and drive-in theaters. Another notable client was the University of Southern California, which contracted with the Whittington Studios for coverage of athletic and other events.

From the description of Whittington Collection, 1924 to 1987. (San Leandro Community Library). WorldCat record id: 45119937

Biographical Note

The "Dick" Whittington Studio was the largest photography studio in the Los Angeles area from 1924 to 1987. Founded by Wayne Whittington, the Studio specialized in commercial photography, taking photographs for nearly every major business and organization in Los Angeles; in so doing, they documented the growth and commercial development of Los Angeles. The Studio’s clients included department stores, oil companies, real estate developers, food service companies, television and radio broadcast companies, automobile manufacturers and related industries, aircraft manufacturers, construction firms, and the entertainment industry. They also photographed the 1932 Olympics and the National Air Races of 1933 and 1936. Another notable client was the University of Southern California, which contracted with the Whittington Studios for coverage of athletic and other events.

Wayne Whittington was born and raised in Los Angeles near Exposition Park. He attended Manual Arts High School and then the University of Southern California. After graduation, he served in the Signal Corps in World War I. He founded the Studio after leaving his first business venture, the Acme Tire Company.

Whittington adopted the name of his studio from a historical figure who was the subject of a popular children’s story, "Dick Whittington and His Cat." Dick Whittington was an orphan who, in the late 14th century, traded his cat for funds to become a merchant, and then rose to Lord Mayor of London. The name inspired the Tudor architecture of the Studio, located at 3845 Wisconsin Street near the University of Southern California, and also the use of a cat as its logo.

"Dick" Whittington Studio experienced its greatest growth during the 1930s, at which time it employed 27 people. During this period, it launched a news-picture division, taking photographs to supplement the wire services and the photographic departments of local newspapers. This led to work for Life magazine and other national publications, and to the establishment of an in-house stock photograph library. The Studio also created the Trav-l Lab, a self-contained processing lab on wheels with a thirty-foot extension ladder that allowed photographers to take elevated shots.

World War II saw the loss of a number of personnel and a decline in business due to the rationing of silver and paper. The Studio made its facilities available to the United States government, and the Navy agreed to use them under contract, an arrangement that lasted for fifteen years. The Studio remained in active business until 1987.

From the guide to the "Dick" Whittington Studio Collection of Negatives and Photographs, 1924-1948, (The Huntington Library)

Historical note

All Nations, in its heyday the largest and most effective social welfare organization in Los Angeles, was begun in 1918 in an east-central section of the city known as "Eastside." The City Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, under pastor Bromley Oxnam, established and ran the church settlement, gathering donations, organizing volunteers, buying land and buildings, and equipping gymnasiums, playgrounds, libraries, and clinics for a community where three-fourths of the families were on public assistance and where much of the population consisted of immigrants from Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Oxnam initially developed the physical facilities of All Nations, acquiring a complex of buildings at 810-816-824 E. Sixth Street just before his resignation from the organization in 1927.

Oxnam's successor was the Reverend Robert A. McKibben, whose work as administrator, social worker, fund raiser, and collaborator with other social welfare agencies, including the Federal and Los Angeles Relief Administrations and the National Youth Administration, ensured the continued success of All Nations. Character-building activities for the children, a vacation bible school, the library, and medical programs--including medical and dental clinics served by a cadre of approximately fifty volunteer doctors, optometrists, and dentists--were critical services in the work of All Nations. Especially noteworthy was All Nations' extraordinarily successful Boys' Club, which became a Boys' Club of America in 1927 with some 950 members from thirty nationalities and fifteen religions. All Nations also operated two other community centers: the Sunset Community Center at 1001-1005 Sunset Boulevard, and the Hollenbeck Heights Social Center at 200 North St. Louis Street. These branches of All Nations concentrated on work with youths. When McKibben began his work with All Nations, the Eastside had the highest delinquency rate in the city, but within the next three years, that rate would drop by 65%.

Reverend McKibben left All Nations in 1952, and was succeeded by James Mixon. By the 1960s, new industrial development in the area and slum clearance had reduced the area's population. Such changes led to questions about the usefulness of traditional settlement programs in this area; at the same time, All Nations' principal support began to come from the United Way rather than from the Methodist Church.

Information in this note is based on the Historical Note for the All Nations Church and Foundation records collection (0403) finding aid, developed by Jane Adler and Clay Stalls, with additional information and editing by Sue Tyson. All information in this history comes from material in the collection; from Robert McKibben, With The Master into the Heart of the City: First Forty Years of All Nations Foundations ([S.l.] [s.n.], 1977?); and from Mark H. Wild, Street Meeting: Multiethnic Neighborhoods in Early Twentieth-Century Los Angeles (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005). The founding date of 1918 is referenced in Wild's book.

From the guide to the All Nations Church and Foundation photographs, circa 1924-1967, (USC Libraries Special Collections)