Mission of La Purissima, San Benaventura County

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Mission of La Purissima, San Benaventura County

Place of OriginUnited States

Date1880s

DimensionsImage: 4 3/8 x 7 1/2 in. (11 x 19 cm);
Mount: 7 3/4 x 10 1/2 in. (19.7 x 26.7 cm)

MediumAlbumen print

ClassificationPhotographs

Credit LineGift of Wm. B. Becker

Object number

1987.249

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Label TextWith the rise of photography people could obtain souvenirs from travels real and imagined. Cheap to produce and wildly popular, photos provided an armchair travel opportunity—including to the “frontier” of the West—from the comfort of one’s own parlor. This photograph shows what was becoming a key icon of the public’s perception of California: a Spanish mission. • La Purissima’s Spanish origins, distinctive architecture, and connection to Catholicism contributed to a romanticized image of California. • Association with a mythic California obscured missions’ real and often bloody history. • California missions were intended to convert Indigenous peoples while exploiting them for labor. • La Purissima was a key site in the 1924 Chumash Revolt, the largest uprising by Indigenous peoples in California against Spanish rule. • Debate continues over whether an active tourism industry should be allowed to mingle with the ghosts of violent pasts at sites like La Purissima.