Workman Research Materials

THE THOMAS AND DOROTHY LEAVEY CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF LOS ANGELES RESEARCH COLLECTION

MARY JULIA WORKMAN RESEARCH MATERIALS, (CSLA-35)

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
ACCESSION NUMBER: 2008.93; donated by Michael Engh, S.J.
COLLECTION SIZE: 7 archival document boxes
PROCESSING HISTORY: Processed by
Clay Stalls, Department of Archives and Special Collections. Guide written by
Clay Stalls. Date: 2008
RELATED COLLECTIONS: Workman Family Papers. CSLA-9

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION: This collection consists of research notes and materials that Professor Michael Engh, S.J., then of the Department of History, Loyola Marymount University, compiled for a proposed biography of Mary Julia Workman (1871-1964), a Roman Catholic social activist and member of a prominent Los Angeles family. The call to the presidency of Santa Clara University, and its incumbent responsibilities, on Michael Engh, S.J., halted this project, but the research materials gathered for this project provide a wealth of information on not only Mary Julia Workman and her important family, but also on Los Angeles history in the early 1900s, the history of
settlement houses in Los Angeles, Roman Catholic social activism, and women’s history. This is true because Mary Julia Workman was involved as a leader in all these areas in Los Angeles (see her biography: Mary Julia Workman biography). Hence, these research materials provide a valuable resource for research in Los Angeles social and ethnic history, leading to their inclusion in the CSLA Research Collection.

The materials include notes on archival research; photocopied journal articles; genealogies; family memoirs; Mary Julia Workman’s incoming and outgoing correspondence regarding her activities, reports of various charitable organizations in Los Angeles, both Roman Catholic and secular; public and private reports on housing in Los Angeles; public and private reports on the status of Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles; and material on Brownson House, the settlement house that Mary Julia Workman established in Los Angeles. Much of the material has been photocopied from originals, including some archival originals. Most material in this category from other archives has been separated from this collection, since it was deemed unacceptable to offer as research sources other repositories’ documents, even if only copies.

SERIES: This collection has been divided into two series. Series 1 consists of materials that Michael Engh, S.J., collected from the Workman family itself; Series 2 consists of materials that he collected from other sources for his proposed biography of Mary Julia Workman. Click on the following titles to view the contents of each series:

RESEARCH ACCESS: The collection is open for research by appointment with no restrictions under the conditions of the access policy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To schedule an appointment, please call the Department of Archives and Special Collections at 310-338-5710 or 310-338-5357, or email the department: Special.Collections@lmu.edu. The Research Collection is a program of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles.