Actress Gloria Swanson and Minnie Barton burn the mortgage to the Bide-A-Wee home for working mothers, Los Angeles, 1935

Description

Text from original nitrate sleeve: Bide - A-Wee - Home; Burning Mortgage: Gloria Swanson, Minnie Barton, Chief James E. Davis., Handwritten annotation from nitrate negative: Gloria Swanson and Minnie Barton., Gloria Swanson, silent film actress, holds the burning mortgage to the Bide-A-Wee home for women while Minnie Barton watches. Swanson helped Minnie Barton, home founder, pay the mortgage by sending $100 a month for several years. A group gathered to burn the mortgage in celebration of completing payment on the home set up by Barton to help working mothers. Also in attendance were Mary Brill, president of the Big Sister League, Superior Judge Georgia Bullock, Mrs. Robert Ladd Gifford, and Chief Davis. Minnie Barton was the second woman to join the Los Angeles Police Department and also founded the Barton Home for girls in 1917. Gloria Swanson was an actress best known for her role as Norma Desmond in the film Sunset Boulevard., Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds.