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Mark Stover

Dean, University Library, 2011-2024

As dean of the University Library, Mark Stover led a team of eighty-five staff members and librarians, as well as one hundred student employees. He oversaw several multi-million-dollar library renovations, cultivated and stewarded the first endowed librarian position in the CSU, and provided leadership for one of the first campus open access resolutions in the CSU. His educational background includes a master’s degree in library science from UCLA and a PhD in information science from Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Stover led the University Library from 2011-2024.

Mark Stover Interview Tracks

Mary Beth Walker

Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs, 2019-2022

Dr. Walker served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State University, Northridge, from 2019 to 2022. In this position, she established an office of student success led by an associate vice president. The office focused on eliminating equity gaps in retention and graduation. Under her leadership, four-year graduation rates improved from less than 15% to nearly 25%. Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, she prioritized research productivity and supported a record amount of grant and contract funding at the university.

Mary Beth Walker Interview Tracks

Mary Pardo

Professor of Chicano/Chicana Studies, 1978-2021

Dr. Pardo began teaching at CSUN in 1978, and in addition to her role as a faculty member, served as chair of the Chicano/Chicana Studies Department. Her educational background includes a bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), which she earned in 1970, an MA degree in education from the University of Southern California (USC), which she earned in 1972, and a PhD in sociology from UCLA, which she earned in 1990. Dr. Pardo has a distinguished career as a researcher, teacher, mentor and activist.

Mary Pardo Interview Tracks

Photographer Richard Cross posing for a portrait, San Basilio de Palenque, 1977

About Richard Cross

1950-1983

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Richard Cross (1950–1983) earned a degree in magazine journalism from Northwestern University in 1972. After he finished college, he began his career as a photographer at the Daily Globe in Worthington, Minnesota, where he worked until 1973. Cross spent four years (1974–1978) as a volunteer in Bogotá, Colombia, working as a photographer and audio-visual consultant for the Peace Corp’s Agricultural Communications program. Colombian anthropologist Nina de Friedemann invited him to join a project she had started in the early 1970s documenting what is considered the first Palenque (community of free Black slaves) in the Americas, Palenque de San Basilio, near Cartagena, Colombia. The collaboration of Friedemann and Cross resulted in their 1979 book, Ma Ngombe: guerreros y ganaderos en Palenque (1979), which includes 260 photographs by Cross. In 1979, he was drawn north to document the wars raging in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, as well as the refugee crisis in Southern Mexico. There, Cross freelanced for major news outlets including U.S. News and World Report, Newsweek, and the Associated Press, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his work in Nicaragua. A selection of 76 photos was published in a 1982 book co-authored with Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaragua: la guerra de liberación (1982). Cross pursued graduate work in visual anthropology at Temple University in Philadelphia. As part of his graduate work with Dr. Peter Rigby and fellow graduate student Peter Biella, he traveled in the summer of 1980 to central Tanzania, where he and Biella took thousands of photographs of the Ilparayuko Massai people for an ethnographic film, Maasai Solutions, where still photographs were used with a synchronous soundtrack. Biella and Cross later published a limited-edition book, Maasai Solutions: A Film About East African Dispute and Settlement (1981). Cross was killed in a car struck by a land mine in Honduras on June 21, 1983, along with Los Angeles Times reporter Dial Torgerson. Cross was 33 years old.

Warning: Contains graphic images

Popular Subjects

Photographs

National Guardsmen officer and soldiers. Chalatenango, El Salvador, 1981
National Guardsmen officer and soldiers. Chalatenango, El Salvador, 1981
Children hiding. Nicaragua, 1979
Children hiding. Nicaragua, 1979
Refugee camp. Chiapas, Mexico, 1982
Refugee camp. Chiapas, Mexico, 1982
Girls carrying water. Palenque de San Basilio, Colombia, 1978
Girls carrying water. Palenque de San Basilio, Colombia, 1978
Julián Cardona, Juárez, 2009

About Julián Cardona

1960-2020

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Photojournalist Julián Cardona has donated his collection of over 17,000 images to the Institute of Arts & Media. Cardona’s work is internationally recognized, documenting transnational economic violence in Mexico, the resulting exodus of Mexican communities, and the emergence of the new Americans in the United States.

Born in 1960 in Zacatecas, Mexico, Julián Cardona migrated to the border city, Ciudad Juárez, with his family as a small child. He attended school in Juárez, received vocational training, and worked as a technician in the maquiladora industry. In 1991, Cardona returned to Zacatecas to teach basic photography at the Centro Cultural de Zacatecas. Two years later, he began his photojournalism career at El Fronterizo and El Diario de Juárez. In 1995, Cardona organized the group exhibition, “Nada que ver/ Nothing to See,” featured in Charles Bowden's article, “While You Were Sleeping: In Juárez, Mexico, photographers expose the violent realities of free trade,” (Harper’s Magazine, December 1996). Photographs from this exhibition inspired the award-winning book, Juárez: The Laboratory of Our Future (Aperture, 1998). Cardona’s photographs taken inside maquiladoras (foreign-owned factories) in Juárez were featured in Bowden's, Camera of Dirt: Juárez Photographer Takes Forbidden Images in Foreign-Owned Factories (Aperture, 159, Spring 2000).

Recently published titles include No One is Illegal, with texts by Justin Akers Chacón and Mike Davis (2006). Additional collaborations with Bowden include, Exodus/Éxodo (2008), documenting the historic migration of Mexicans to the United States and Murder City (2010), a photographic essay on Ciudad Juárez, the world’s most violent city. Images of Exodus are included in the touring exhibition, "The History of the Future/ La historia del futuro" (Berman, Cardona, Santa Fe Art Institute, 2008). This exhibition was featured in the 2011 edition of Promenades Photographiques, a photo festival held annually at Vendôme, France. Since 2009, Julián Cardona has been a Reuters correspondent in Ciudad Juárez.

Popular Subjects

Photographs

Funeral car and police, Juárez, 2008
Funeral car and police, Juárez, 2008
Figure on dirt with tire tracks, Juárez, 2008
Figure on dirt with tire tracks, Juárez, 2008
Vision in Action, Juárez, 2008
Vision in Action, Juárez, 2008
Crime scene crowd, Juárez, 2008
Crime scene crowd, Juárez, 2008
Harry Adams with a camera

About Harry Adams

1918-1985

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Harry Adams, also known as “One Shot Harry,” was one of the best-known members of the Los Angeles African American community. Having access to the city’s inner circle, he became known for his images of politicians, entertainers, and society figures. Adams worked as a freelancer for the California Eagle and Los Angeles Sentinel for 35 years and had a number of churches and lawyers as clients. His collection is particularly rich in its documentation of African American social life including images of social organizations, churches, schools, civil rights organizations, protests and cultural events.

Born in Arkansas in 1918, Adams became interested in photography when he was 12 years old. His photographic career began after he completed a tour of duty in World War II and graduated from the California School of Photography and Graphic Design (operated by Los Angeles photographer Charles Williams).

The collection of images for the period 1950–1985 is rich in its depiction of the unique lives of African Americans in and around the Los Angeles area. There are many images of important black political leaders, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Malcolm X, and many others. Also included are images of Coretta Scott King, Rev. Maurice Dawkins; Mayor Tom Bradley; Jackie Robinson; Rev. H. H. Brookins, Congresswoman and County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke (the first African American woman to represent the West Coast in Congress); Leon and Ruth Washington (founders of the Los Angeles Sentinel); Jessie Jackson; Julian Bond; Cassius Clay; Dr. H. Claude Hudson (founder of the NAACP); civil rights attorney and California Superior Court Justice Loren Miller; and many musicians and entertainers.

Popular Subjects

Photographs

Entertainers, Los Angeles, 1955
Entertainers, Los Angeles, 1955
Malcolm X and John Shabazz, Los Angeles, 1963
Malcolm X and John Shabazz, Los Angeles, 1963
Baby Portrait, Los Angeles, 1962
Baby Portrait, Los Angeles, 1962
KTYM Gospel Radio Station Disc Jockey, Los Angeles, 1960
KTYM Gospel Radio Station Disc Jockey, Los Angeles, 1960
Guy Crowder posing in the studio for self-portrait, Los Angeles

Guy Crowder

1940-2011

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Guy Crowder chronicled political, social and athletic events in Los Angeles for over 25 years. After graduating from high school in Compton, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, serving from 1957-1963. It was during his military years that he developed his interest in photography from a hobby to a career. His professional career began in 1960 as a staff photographer for Your Community Studio in Los Angeles. He took classes at Harbor College and L. A. Trade Technical College.

Crowder worked as a freelance photographer for the Los Angeles Sentinel, LA Metropolitan Gazette, Los Angeles Times, Ebony and Jet Magazines, Herald Examiner, Southwest Wave, Tempo News,and the West Coast News. This gave him the privilege of a close proximity to the heartbeat of his community. In 1974, Los Angeles Supervisor Kenneth Hahn asked Crowder to work for him, making Crowder the first African American to be employed by the Board of Supervisors.

Crowder maintained his own studio and employed as many as three photographers in his shop. Crowder, or one of his photographers routinely worked seven days a week on assignments.

The Guy Crowder collection consists of photographs of black politicians, athletes, and celebrities and includes images of nearly every African American of any importance who passed through Los Angeles and Las Vegas during his career. Highlights include coverage of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) shootout, the police attack on the Black Panthers, the 1965 Watts riots, Mayor Tom Bradley’s campaigns and swearing-in ceremonies, ongoing coverage of the Jackson Five and Michael Jackson, the NAACP, and 100 Black Men, Brotherhood Crusade, the Los Angeles Urban League, Julian Bond, Johnnie Cochran, Jamaal Wilkes, Magic Johnson, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dr. King's funeral, the Grammys, the NAACP Image Awards, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Walter Mondale, John Wooden, Governor Jerry Brown, and Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign.

Popular Subjects

Photographs

Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., 1968
Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., 1968
Sydney Poitier and Freda Payne, Los Angeles, ca. 1976
Sydney Poitier and Freda Payne, Los Angeles, ca. 1976
Richard Pryor and Muhammad Ali, ca. 1978
Richard Pryor and Muhammad Ali, ca. 1978
Riot, Los Angeles, 1992
Riot, Los Angeles, 1992
Charles Williams

Charles Williams

1908-1986

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Charles Williams photographed for theCalifornia Eagle and the Los Angeles Sentinel as a freelance photographer. The earliest images in his collection are from the mid-1940s. His career was interrupted when Williams chose to relocate with his Japanese wife Yoshi Kuwahara and their daughter to Chicago rather than have them sent to a relocation camp. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he began his wide ranging coverage of the African American community covering the Civil Rights Movement, churches, politics, social activities, and celebrities. Williams also established The California School of Photography and gave many aspiring photographers their start. He continued working as a photographer himself and became the official photographer for Los Angeles City Councilman Gordon Hahn, eventually becoming Hahn's field deputy. As a result, Williams' coverage of the Counsel and other city activities is especially rich. His association with Hahn also provided him access to many political activities including coverage of Richard Nixon's campaign for governor in Los Angeles.

Popular Subjects

Photographs

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the airport, Los Angeles, ca. 1960
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the airport, Los Angeles, ca. 1960
Tom Bradley with City Council member, Los Angeles, 1965
Tom Bradley with City Council member, Los Angeles, 1965
Cavalcade of Jazz, Los Angeles, 1948
Cavalcade of Jazz, Los Angeles, 1948
Olivera Street, Los Angeles, 1963
Olivera Street, Los Angeles, 1963

Dianne Harrison

President, 2012-2021

President Dianne Harrison served as president of California State University, Northridge from 2012 through early 2020-21. As president she prioritized advancing student success, fostering diversity and inclusion, increasing the visibility and reputation of the university, growing the university's donor base, expanding research activity and sponsored programs, supporting sustainability, and using athletics as a tool for engagement.

Dianne Harrison Interview Tracks

William Watkins

Vice President for Student Affairs, 2010-Present

From his years as an undergraduate Vice President Watkins had dedicated his career to CSUN. He received his first full time staff appointment in Human Resources after finishing his bachelor's degree. He advanced in that department, eventually becoming associate director for personnel and employee relations. He then joined the leadership team of the Division of Student Affairs in 1993, then became assistant vice president for student life in 1994. He went on to serve as associate vice president for student affairs beginning in 2004, then served as acting vice president beginning in 2009, and moved into his current position as vice president for student affairs and dean of students in 2010.

William Watkins Interview Track

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