The Josefa L. Serna Papers, donated by her family after her death, consists of 2,100 family photographs dating from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century, family papers, religious objects including rosaries and Christ figures, and textiles including a wedding dress, baby clothes, and other handmade items.

The photographs complement these types of collections by documenting five generations of an identifiable working-class family in East Los Angeles, many of whom still live in the area. The photographs document both special occasions such as weddings and more quotidian aspects of family life in East Los Angeles as the Serna family moved from Ditman Street to Fourth Street and finally to Cesar Chavez (formerly Brooklyn) Avenue in Monterey Park.

Among the photographs are hundreds that belonged to Josefa’s comadre, Julia Maldonado. The term comadre is frequently used to designate the godmother of one’s child, but it is also used to express a form of kinship with any close friend, e.g. a friend that is like family. In this case, Julia, no relation to the Sernas or to the Luna family, lived with them or near them for much of her adult life. Their relationship was so close that Josefa kept stored photographs for decades after Maldonado’s death.

The collection provides context to: Los Angeles and Southern California from the teens to the early twenty-first century with particular emphasis on the 1920s-1980s; the Mexican descent-community in the United States, especially working-class life; the history of amateur and family photography in the West; women’s history in the West; and rich and detailed accounts of working-class Mexican descent family life in Los Angeles.

The collection consists of photographs, correspondence, publications, ephemera including religious artifacts and textiles, and LP records.