Bibliography
This biography relies heavily on two sets of documents: those archived in the Griffith Family Papers at UCLA and digitized newspapers from Grif’s era. Previous researchers have dug through the family archives so I don’t presume to provide any new information from those, but they were still valuable primary material with which to understand Griffith Jenkins Griffith. New information and insights were, however, revealed as this is the first book focused on Griffith to benefit from easy access to digitized news articles — think keyword searches of Griffith, Mesmer, even Briswalter. That searching yielded new details about Grif, for example his San Francisco arrest, his days as a mining stock manipulator and his tile factory investment. Moreover, the newspaper reports, while certainly not an official record, provided the only remaining accounts of Grif’s trial. That’s because the trial records/transcripts that should be archived at The Huntington Library were destroyed along with other Los Angeles Superior Court cases by water damage years ago.
Below are the resources relied on to research this book. When the resource is available for free online a link is provided, typically to Google Books or HathiTrust, which provide full texts or sometimes just searching within a text. In addition, the Online Archive of California and Calisphere were invaluable in locating related text archives and photos.
COLLECTIONS
Griffith Family Papers (Collection 2060). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA. Previously only available by visiting the archives, “The Autobiography of Colonel Griffith Jenkins Griffith” is now available digitally via this ebook.
Joseph Mesmer Papers (Collection 539). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
California Historical Society collection of Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce records and photographs, (Collection 0245.1), Regional History Collections, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
NEWSPAPERS
Los Angeles Examiner (UCLA, Young Research Library newspapers microfilm collection)
Los Angeles Express (newspapers.com)
Los Angeles Herald (California Digital Newspaper Collection)
(Los Angeles) Liberator (California Digital Newspaper Collection)
Los Angeles Record (newspapers.com)
Los Angeles Times (newspapers.com)
Capital (New York Public Library via Google Books)
Eureka Sentinel (Library of Congress)
Graphic (California Revealed)
Hollywood Sun
Holly Leaves (New York Public Library via HathiTrust)
San Francisco Call (California Digital Newspaper Collection)
San Francisco Chronicle (newspapers.com)
BOOKS
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JOURNALS, MAGAZINES & MANUSCRIPTS
The Historical Society of Southern California articles cited below are available at JSTOR.org, but require access via a library or research institution.
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American Ceramic Society. 1945. “The Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society”.
American Prison Association. 1911. “Proceedings of the Annual Congress”.
Fieldsteel, Robert. 2001. “Crazy Drunk”.
Gendzel, Glen. 2008. “Not Just a Golden State: Three Anglo ‘Rushes’ in the Making of Southern California, 1880-1920″. Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 90 (4), pp349–78.
Goldman, Emma. August 1909. Mother Earth.
Guinn, James. 1890. “The Great Real Estate Boom of 1887″. Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California, 1 (5), pp13–21.
Hollins, Hunter. 2014. “Science and Military Influences on the Ascent of Aerospace Development in Southern California”. Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, Winter, pp381-383.
King, Ervin. “Boys’ Thrills in Los Angeles of the ’70s and ’80s“. Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, 30 (4), pp302-316.
Layne, Gregg. 1937. “Taxes and Consolidation of City and County“. Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, 19 (3), pp145-146.
Netz, Joseph. 1915. “The Great Los Angeles Real Estate Boom of 1887“. Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California, 10 (1), pp54-68.
Splitter, Henry Winfred. 1955. “Los Angeles as Described by Contemporaries”. Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 37 (3), pp261–83.
Splitter, Henry Winfred. 1955. “Los Angeles as Described by Contemporaries”. Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 37 (3), pp261–83.
Stevens, Mark. 2004. “The Road to Reform: Los Angeles’ Municipal Elections of 1909: Part I”. Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 86 (3), pp197–239.
Stevens, Mark H. 2004. “The Road to Reform: Los Angeles’ Municipal Elections of 1909: Part II”. Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 86 (4), pp325–68.
Williams Marshall, Rhoda. “What Were Colonel Griffith’s Idea on Wealth and How Did He Acquire and Use His Money”. Los Angeles Public Library.
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DISSERTATIONS
Culton, Donald. 1971. “Charles Dwight Willard : Los Angeles City Booster and Professional Reformer, 1888-1914″. University of Southern California.
Hayes, Mary. 1951. “A History of Griffith Park in Los Angeles”. UC Berkeley.
Hoyt, Franklyn. 1954. “Railroad Development in Southern California, 1868 to 1900″. University of Southern California.
Meyer, A. J. 1950. “History of the California Fruit Growers Exchange, 1893-1920”. John Hopkins University.
Shuen, Rachel. 2014. “La Fiesta de Los Angeles: Race, Ethnicity, and History on Parade in Los Angeles, 1894-1903″. UCLA.
Zakim, Tom. 2004. “Los Angeles : The Greatest Experiment of Modernity”. University of Southern California.
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WEBPAGES
Wikipedia, while by no means perfect, has been invaluable as a reliable link for readers to delve into content tangential to this biography.
Other websites resourced for this book, and which readers might enjoy exploring, are: