Biography
Hubert A. McClain was born on March 6, 1909 in Protection, Kansas. His father, a wheat farmer, moved the family to Kansas City in the 1920s. Hubert married Murriel Hawkins in 1929 and worked as a photographer for the Kansas City Star until 1937 when he drove with his wife and two young sons in their new Desoto to Long Beach, California. After his arrival he became the manager for the Winstead Brothers Camera Store on Pine Street in downtown Long Beach. The McClain’s daughter was born in 1940 and at the outbreak of World War II, Hurbert went to work at the Long Beach Naval Shipyards as a photographer. Following t he war he worked as a photographer for the Long Beach Press Telegram until 1948 when he started taking photos for the Los Angles Mirror, a subsidiary of the Los Angeles Times. Prior to the demise of the Mirror in the 1950s, Hubert transferred to the Los Angeles Times where he worked for the rest of his career. In addition to his work as a photojournalist, Hubert developed a keen interest in nature photography, which he pursued for over twenty years. His nature photos are from all over the United States and Europe, including but not unlimited to Yosemite, Antarctica, and Switzerland. Hubert McClain passed away in February, 1994; just two weeks shy of his 85th birthday.
From the guide to the Hubert A. McClain Photograph Collection, 1935-1973, (California State University, Dominguez Hills Archives and Special Collections)
