Published Materials
Burbank: An Illustrated History by E. Caswell Perry (1987)
Written by a former Library Services Director of the Burbank Public Library, Burbank: An Illustrated History concisely depicts the history of Burbank from its beginnings as a small town born of the 1880s land boom to a modern media center in the 1980s. More than 200 illustrations and photos are included throughout the book.
Burbank Centennial History: 1911-2001: Celebrating Our Past and Embracing Our Future by the City of Burbank (2011)
A commemorative book celebrating the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Burbank. The bulk of the book consists of short histories and photo collages of City government departments, community organizations, and businesses in Burbank.
Burbank Community Book by George Lynn Monroe (1944)
Mostly written topically rather than chronologically, the book particularly specializes in stories from the 1920s to 1944.
Burbank History by Jackson Mayers, Ph.D. (1975)
A substantial and detailed look at the history of Burbank. The end section includes biographies of prominent Burbankers at the time the book was published.
Growing Up Burbank by Wesley H. Clark & Michael B. McDaniel
Short and true stories from 1960s and 70s Burbank.
A History of Burbank by the Burbank Unified School District (1967)
Written by the school district to support eighth grade students in United States History and Government classes learning about the history and government of their local community.
A History of Burbank: A Special Place in History by Mary Jane Strickland & Theodore X. Garcia (2000)
An abbreviated history of Burbank published by the Burbank Historical Society.
Lost Burbank by Wesley H. Clark & Michael B. McDaniel
Short and true stories from the history of Burbank.
True Tales from Burbank by Wesley H. Clark & Michael B. McDaniel
More short and true stories from the history of Burbank.
Websites
Burbank Historical Society http://www.burbankhistoricalsoc.org/
Founded in 1973 by a small group of community members committed to collecting and preserving the history of Burbank. The society operates a museum complex with two structures, one which houses the society’s historical and antique collection, and the other an 1887 restored framed Victorian house (one of six built by the Providencia Land, Water and Development Company).
Burbankia http://wesclark.com/burbank/
A website run by Burbankers, 1974 Burbank High School Bulldogs, and local historians Wes Clark and Mike McDaniel. A collection of history, lore, images and personal stories.
MyBurbank.com – Flashback Fridays https://myburbank.com/category/flashback-friday/
A locally produced website with news and articles of interest about Burbank. A regularly occurring feature is Flashback Fridays written by Mike McDaniel about short and true stories from the history of Burbank.
Other Digital Collections
Calisphere https://calisphere.org/
The gateway to digital collections from libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies throughout California. Developed by the University of California Libraries and maintained by the California Digital Library, Calisphere harvests metadata from digital libraries, providing one interface to find great historical resources such as photographs, documents, letters, diaries, artwork, maps, oral histories, etc. Other institutions on Calisphere with historical photos of Burbank include the Los Angeles Public Library, the California Historical Society, CSUN, USC and UC Berkeley.
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) https://dp.la/
A digital library that aggregates metadata and thumbnails for millions of photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. DPLA brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. Other institutions on DPLA with historical photos of Burbank include the National Archives, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.