Harold L. Doolittle Papers, Prints, Photographic Slides, and other Materials

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: COL-015

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Collection consists of about 169 prints, encompassing aquatints, mezzotints, etchings, dry points, lithographs, most of them depicting California landscapes; 78 photographs, also depicting California landscape or scenes from Los Angeles area and done in the first half of the 20th century; about 180 books from his personal collection on etching, photography, and general printing techniques, from late 19th to early 20th century; 12 framed displays created by Doolittle explaining various printing process; lantern slides of photos taken by Doolittle; glass negatives; copper plates of prints in the collection; Christmas cards printed by him; personal notebooks about his art; etching and photographic tests; research materials on printing and photographic techniques; catalogs of art exhibits he participated in; personal notebooks with sketches, and more.

Dates

circa 1915-1958

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use. Advance request must be made.

Biographical / Historical

Harold Lukens Doolittle (1883-1974) was born in Pasadena, California. He studied art at Throop Polytechnic Institute (later California Institute of Technology) and Mechanical Engineering at Cornell University. Back in Pasadena he entered the Southern California Edison Company where he worked for 30 years, rising to chief design engineer. Paralell to his career at Edison he maintained a keen interest in the printing arts. He served as President of the Pasadena Society of Artists in 1943, and Vice President of the Los Angeles Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1934. Doolittle was also a member of the Zamorano Club in Los Angeles, the Chicago Society of Etchers, Society of American Graphic Artists, California Society of Etchers and the California Print Makers. He served as president of the California Print Makers in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Doolittle's technical skills led him to explore various printing processes such as lithograph, etching, dry point, mezzotint, aquatint, and photography, as well as furniture design and architecture and he participated in several local exhibits with his photography and etchings; he particularly excelled at etchings and aquatints. Doolittle was a long-time member of the Library Patrons of Occidental College, and also bequest to it most of his extensive collection of books on fine printing, art, the graphic arts and photography.