Al Parker Collection, 1850s-1926
1 box containing 3 envelopes of photographs, sheet music, and clippings, and 1 scrapbook volume
1 box containing 3 envelopes of photographs, sheet music, and clippings, and 1 scrapbook volume
The Al Parker collection includes three envelopes of photographs, sheet music, and newspaper clippings as well as a scrapbook relating to the professional and personal life of Philadelphia-based photographer and photographic supplies salesman Alfred Parker.
Envelope A (photographs): includes unmounted oval portraits of Parker’s children Eda and Ray from the early 1900s; studio portraits of Eda and his wife Alice from the 1910s, two of them from the Philadelphia studio of Gilbert and Bacon; an mounted school class photo (ca. 1890s?)
Envelope B (sheet music): includes three examples of World War I songs from the Eagle Publishing Company of Philadelphia with "music by Geo. L. Robertson and lyrics by Al. Parker."
Envelope C (letters, clippings, etc.): includes a letter appointing Dr. Ray Parker head of plastic surgery at a hospital in Johnstown, PA; a magazine article on “Flood Free Johnstown”; letters and clippings about Dr. Ray Parker; article on World War II factory workers; newspaper article on Theodore Roosevelt urging U.S. entry into World War I; and a note from Christmas 1926 from Parker’s grandson Donald addressed to “Ganco."
Scrapbook: The volume (37 x 28) is cloth-bound and has 66 pages total. Materials are not arranged in any chronological or thematic order and so unrelated items often appear together on the same page.
The album begins with photographs of Parker’s family members while the next few pages focus on scenes from his professional life, including a magazine cover from April 1900 and documentation of his break with Willis & Clements in 1910. Portraits of Parker at every stage of his life appear throughout the scrapbook, though not in any chronological order. The earliest is a tintype from the 1850s that shows him as a young boy with his brothers. Many portraits and casual snapshots of Parker's daughter Eda and son Ray from their early childhood into adulthood are included, while a collection of clippings reflects Parker’s pride in Ray's success as a doctor. His delight in playing the doting grandfather is clear from the drawings Parker made for Eda’s son Donald and in the notes that Donald wrote to Parker using the nickname “Ganco.”
A handful of portraits that were taken by Parker show that he was a capable studio photographer in addition to being a successful promoter of platinum photography products while working for Willis & Clements. Requests for his opinions from Eastman Kodak Company, Photo Era magazine, and the Photographers’ Association of New England testify to his recognized expertise. Numerous portraits of Parker in the company of other well-regarded photographers of the day confirm his acceptance in that professional circle.
Many ephemeral items also help illuminate the arc of Parker's career including programs from his minstrel show days; an advertisement for his Australian window blind company; the initial offer of employment from Willis and Clements; business cards from various stages of his career; and an ad for a new camera shutter he invented. Interspersed amongst these items are letters and photographs from various colleagues and employers along with miscellaneous poems, cartoons, programs, drawings, song lyrics, newspaper clippings, and so on.
1 box containing 3 envelopes of photographs, sheet music, and clippings, and 1 scrapbook volume
108 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Arthur J. Tuttle Papers are arranged in 13 series: case files, opinions and jury instructions, topical office files, conciliation commissioners, criminal files, correspondence, letterbooks, scrapbooks, University of Michigan, financial matters, miscellaneous biographical materials, Tuttle family materials, and visual materials.
0.4 linear feet
The collection consists of a single series of glass negatives relating to people, places, and events in Ann Arbor and at the University of Michigan. The glass negatives have been arranged into the following broad categories: Businesses and public places; Casual views of unidentified individuals - Ann Arbor area; Military scenes and marching bands; and Casual views of unidentified individuals. There is no information about the photographer of these images.
21 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 2.22 GB
1 envelope
The collection consists of individual and group photographs of Baker and family members.
4.4 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The collection consists of materials accumulated by Dr. Mosher's niece Sarah Searing. It includes both letters received from Eliza to her niece, general family correspondence, and other Mosher materials which came into Sarah Searing's possession upon the death of Dr. Mosher. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Personal and biographical; Writings, speeches and lectures; Miscellaneous; Travel; Clippings and scrapbooks; Realia; and Photographs.
240 glass negatives (approximate; in 2 boxes) — 0.5 linear feet (contact prints and collected information)
This collection of visual images taken by Ella Fuller who was not a professional photographer provide a unique glimpse of daily rural life. Through her camera, Fuller recorded the activities of family and acquaintances. She had a natural talent to capture people as they were, at work and at play, thoughtful, interested in what they were doing. As May Davis Hill wrote, "The Fuller photographs provide an unselfconscious, direct view of rural life in a seemingly idyllic period. Reflecting a genre quality, the images record ordinary scenes from everyday life."
240 glass negatives (approximate; in 2 boxes) — 0.5 linear feet (contact prints and collected information)
approximately 1,260 items in 33 boxes
The Lantern slides and glass plate negatives collection consists of approximately 1,260 magic lantern slides, glass plate negatives, and glass plate transparencies from commercial and non-commercial sources documenting a wide range of subjects.
The collection contains a total of 33 boxes and is loosely organized by topical groupings. The following list references individual boxes and the general nature of their contents.
approximately 1,260 items in 33 boxes
1 linear foot — 2 oversize volumes — 3 phonograph records — 2.14 GB
The collection is composed of four series: Correspondence; Miscellaneous; Scrapbooks; and Audio-Visual materials. One of the scrapbooks contains letters received from William Lyon Phelps, H. L. Mencken, Edgar A. Guest, Chase S. Osborn, Frank Murphy, Theodore Roosevelt and Arthur H. Vandenberg.
6 linear feet (in 7 boxes)
The Ludwig Family record group covers a period of time from the 1850s to the 1980s. The collection of information documenting the history of the Ludwig family includes family histories, ancestral charts, and a large collection of photographic materials. The diaries and scrapbooks included in the collection describe everyday life during the periods covered. The collection is particularly strong in documenting the lives of Claud Cecil Ludwig and Frederick E. Ludwig.
Current results range from 1678 to 2000