Steven Koblik, Huntington Library's major domo

STEVEN S. KOBLIK wants to make a point. He strides into the president's conference room, across the hall from his office at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, and stops in front of three framed photographs. Shot in the 1880s by Carleton E. Watkins, the images depict the San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica as pristine landscapes and downtown Los Angeles as a fledgling commercial center with Hispanic-flavored architecture.

By Suzanne Muchnic

May 25, 2008