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Collection Description
Margaret Tante Burk Papers. Collection Description
Administrative information
Collection title and number: Margaret Tante Burk Papers. Collection 084
Accession number: 2009.3; gift of Margaret Tante Burk
Collection size: 102 archival document boxes, 15 oversize boxes, 1 map case drawer
Processing history: Processed by Christine Bennett, Gia Forsythe, Clay Stalls, and Liliana Mariscal
Languages: English
The Margaret Tante Burk Papers consist of correspondence, newletters, memoranda, scripts, advertising brochures and magazines, press releases, photographs,ephemera, postcards, and flyers. Most of the material documents the Ambassador Hotel, once Los Angeles' most glamorous hotel, and the Round Table West, the book club that Margaret Burk co-founded. Information on Margaret Tante Burk's career at the Wilshire Chamber of Commerce and the Huntington Savings and Loan Association comes mostly from newspaper clippings.
Ephemera include menus from the Ambassador Hotel and programs concerning Ambassador Hotel events. Most flyers concern either the Round Table West and its events or else advertisements for events at the Ambassador Hotel.
The photographs of this collection are especially rich, documenting the activities of the Hollywood movie stars at the Ambassador Hotel and the Cocoanut Grove. There are photographs of Academy Awards ceremonies at the Ambassador, for example. In addition there are a number of photographic stills of movie stars, eg, Joan Crawford. Numerous photographs also provide evidence for the decoration of hotel rooms and the hotel grounds during the course of its history, and publicity shots document activities at the hotel. Many photographs, unfortunately, are water damaged, and require special care in handling.
The dates of materials range from 1921 to the early 2000's.