Santa Barbara News-Press Photoengraved Halftone Plates

Collection

Identifier: AR-2025-001

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Approximately thirty-eight hundred (3,800) photoengraved halftone plates used in the production of the Santa Barbara News-Press. Plates are numbered and labeled on the verso which ties to an index (See External Documents). The plates were manufactured and used from 1940-1975 from photographs ranging from the 1880s-1970s.

Dates

Publication: 1940 - 1975
1980

Creator

Santa Barbara News-Press (1857-2023) (Publisher, Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head Archivist of the Gledhill Library.

Extent

3,805 Item(s)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Santa Barbara News-Press Photoengraved Halftone Plates contains approximately thirty-eight hundred (3,800) plates used in the production of the the newspaper's visual materials from about 1940-1975 from historical photographs ranging from the 1880s-1970s.

Arrangement

The photoengraved plates are arranged in the original order recorded by Walker Tompkins and presented as a keyword searchable spreadsheet (See External Documents).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The photoengraved halftone plates were donated by Walker A. Tompkins, likely in the 1980s. Tompkins was a historian-journalist for the News-Press, recognized the historic value of the materials, and rescued them from disposal.

Condition Description

Fair to good condition. Metal plates are stored loose in boxes which has caused scratching of images.

Processing Information

Plates were arranged and re-housed by Thomas R. Reynolds from July 2025 to March 2026. The index to the plate labels was refined by Chris S. Ervin CA in tandem with the above re-housing effort.