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Collection

Brearley-Pingree Collection, ca. 1860s-1949

approximately 166 photographs, 36 manuscript items, and 2 bound volumes

The Brearley-Pingree collection consists of approximately 166 autographed photographs of notable individuals that were originally compiled by Detroit-based newspaperman William H. Brearley and later added to by Detroit mayor and Governor of Michigan Hazen S. Pingree. In addition to the photographic materials, 36 manuscript items and two bound volumes are also included in the collection.

The Brearley-Pingree collection consists of approximately 166 autographed photographs of notable individuals that were originally compiled by Detroit-based newspaperman William H. Brearley and later added to by Detroit mayor and Governor of Michigan Hazen S. Pingree. An additional 36 manuscript items and 2 bound volumes are also included in the collection.

The collection appears to have been first started by Brearley during the mid-1860s, possibly during or immediately after his Civil War service. He seems to have solicited the autographs of a variety of famous individuals (including authors, performers, musicians, scientists, spiritual leaders, politicians, foreign rulers, and military officers) primarily by mailing them photographs of themselves and requesting their signatures. Possession of the collection appears to have been transferred to Pingree at some point, and he continued to make further contributions. Pingree’s daughter Hazel retained possession of the collection after her father’s death before eventually donating it to the Clements Library. All components of the collection are stored together in one box.

While most portraits in the collection are original studio photographs taken by a variety of photographers including Mathew Brady and Napoleon Sarony, a relatively small number of photographic reproductions of non-photographic portraits are also present (including depictions of James Monroe, Stonewall Jackson, and Henry and Clara Ford).

Volume 1: Brearley collection reproduction souvenir album

This album (16.5 x 15 cm) has green leather covers with lines of poetry from Henry W. Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life stamped in gold on the front. An index included at the beginning lists the names of 96 individuals represented across the album’s 24 pages. After the index, a passage written by William H. Brearley and dated August 1st 1874 explains that he created a limited number of facsimile copies of his original autographed portrait collection at the “urgent solicitation” of many interested friends. Brearley also explains that he acquired the original photographs and autographs in his collection “by long and patient effort, & tending over a period of ten years, and involving an expense of several Hundred dollars.” Subsequent album pages each contain four individually pasted 5.5 x 4 cm albumen print photographic reproductions of original portraits found in Brearley’s collection. This item was acquired from a separate source and was not part of the original collection of materials donated to the Clements Library by Hazel Hope Pingree Mills.

Volume 2: Brearley-Pingree collection original album

This album (30 x 26 cm) has brown leather covers and the words “Portraits. Autographs” and “Brearley” stamped in gold on the spine. The original autographed portraits of the Brearley-Pingree collection were once housed in this album before Clements Library staff removed the original photographs and substituted them with photocopies in 2010 for conservation and preservation purposes. Manuscript captions were also added by Clements Library staff. The original photographs are housed separately in smaller boxes and have been arranged according to size/format and ordered alphabetically by subject surname. See below for a complete list of photographic subjects contained in each box.

Of additional interest are three manuscript items, including the clipped signature of Hyacinthe Loyson and an October 15th 1873 letter from Henry W. Longfellow containing the same lines of poetry from A Psalm of Life that appear on the cover of the Brearley collection souvenir album. Also present is a letter from Buckingham Palace sent to Brearley in 1873 by Sir Thomas Biddulph explaining that the “enclosed Photograph” of Queen Victoria is being returned but that “The Queen’s Autograph is never given away.” Three wax seals are also included in the volume including an “Imperial Chancellor’s seal” (associated with a portrait of Otto von Bismarck); “the Napoleon Seal” (associated with a portrait of Jérôme Bonaparte); and a Great Seal of the Realm attached to the 1873 letter from Buckingham Palace.

Box 1.1: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, A-E

This box contains 47 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Adams, Charles Francis, 1807-1886.
  • Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873.
  • Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888.
  • Anderson, Richard Heron, 1821-1879.
  • Anderson, Robert, 1805-1871.
  • Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906.
  • Bancroft, George, 1800-1891.
  • Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891.
  • Barrett, Lawrence, 1838-1891.
  • Beauregard, G. T. (Gustave Toutant), 1818-1893.
  • Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887.
  • Billings, Josh, 1818-1885. [Henry Wheeler Shaw]
  • Birney, David Bell, 1825-1864.
  • Bishop, Anna, 1810-1884. [Anna Riviere Schultz]
  • Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898.
  • Bonaparte, Jérôme, King of Westphalia, 1784-1860.
  • Bonner, Robert, 1824-1899.
  • Booth, Edwin, 1833-1893.
  • Breckinridge, John C. (John Cabell), 1821-1875.
  • Bright, John, 1811-1889.
  • Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878.
  • Buchanan, James, 1791-1868.
  • Bülow, Hans von, 1830-1894.
  • Bunker, Chang, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Eng Bunker]
  • Bunker, Eng, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Chang Bunker]
  • Burnside, Ambrose Everett, 1824-1881. [two portraits included]
  • Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893.
  • Carleton, Will, 1845-1912.
  • Chapin, E. H. (Edwin Hubbell), 1814-1880.
  • Clem, John Lincoln, 1851-1937.
  • Clough, J. E. (John Everett), 1836-1910.
  • Coan, Titus, 1801-1882.
  • Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885.
  • Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889.
  • Cook, Eliza, 1818-1889.
  • Coombs, Jane, 1842- .
  • Curtis, George William, 1824-1892.
  • Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876.
  • Dana, Charles A. (Charles Anderson), 1819-1897.
  • Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
  • Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889.
  • Dickinson, Anna E. (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932.
  • Dix, John A. (John Adams), 1798-1879.
  • Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883.
  • Doubleday, Abner, 1819-1893.
  • Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895.
  • Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882.
  • Emory, William H. (William Hemsley), 1811-1887.

Box 1.2: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, F-N

This box contains 46 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Farragut, David Glasgow, 1801-1870.
  • Ferrero, Edward, 1831-1899.
  • Field, Cyrus W. (Cyrus West), 1819-1892.
  • Field, Kate, 1838-1896. [Mary Katherine Keemle Field]
  • Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874.
  • Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 1821-1877.
  • Fowler, O. S. (Orson Squire), 1809-1887.
  • Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879.
  • Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898.
  • Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885.
  • Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872.
  • Greenwood, Grace, 1823-1904. [Sarah Jane Clarke Lippincott]
  • Hall, John, 1829-1898.
  • Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872.
  • Hancock, Winfield Scott, 1824-1886.
  • Hay, John, 1838-1905.
  • Heintzelman, Samuel Peter, 1805-1880.
  • Hoar, E. R. (Ebenezer Rockwood), 1816-1895.
  • Holland, J. G. (Josiah Gilbert), 1819-1881.
  • Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
  • Hooker, Joseph, 1814-1879.
  • Howard, O. O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909.
  • Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885.
  • Jackson, Stonewall, 1824-1863.
  • Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875.
  • Kirby-Smith, Edmund, 1824-1893.
  • Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905.
  • Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870.
  • Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
  • Locke, David Ross, 1833-1888. [Petroleum V. Nasby]
  • Logan, John Alexander, 1826-1886.
  • Longstreet, James, 1821-1904.
  • Loring, Charles G. (Charles Greely), 1794-1867.
  • Loyson, Hyacinthe, 1827-1912.
  • Lucca, Pauline, 1841-1908.
  • Mario, Giovanni, 1810-1883. [Mario, T.]
  • McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885.
  • Mitchell, Maggie, 1837-1918.
  • Moltke, Helmuth, Graf von, 1800-1891.
  • Monroe, James, 1758-1831.
  • Morse, Edward Sylvester, 1838-1925.
  • Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877.
  • Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh, Shah of Iran, 1831-1896.
  • Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902.
  • Nilsson, Christine, 1843-1921.
  • Nutt, Commodore, 1848-1881. [group portrait with Minnie Warren]

Box 1.3: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, O-Z

This box contains 36 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Ord, Edward Otho Cresap, 1818-1883.
  • Parepa-Rosa, Euphrosyne, 1836-1874.
  • Patti, Adelina, 1843-1919.
  • Phillipps, Adelaide, 1833-1882.
  • Porter, David D. (David Dixon), 1813-1891.
  • Rogers, Randolph, 1825-1892.
  • Salvini, Tommaso, 1829-1915.
  • Saxe, John Godfrey, 1816-1887.
  • Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906.
  • Scott-Siddons, Mary Frances, 1844-1896.
  • Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888.
  • Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891.
  • Sothern, Edward Askew, 1826-1881.
  • Spinner, Francis Elias, 1802-1890.
  • Spurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon), 1834-1892.
  • Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904.
  • Stephens, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), 1812-1883.
  • Strakosch, Max, 1835-1892.
  • Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874.
  • Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892.
  • Terry, Alfred Howe, 1827-1890.
  • Thiers, Adolphe, 1797-1877.
  • Thomas, George H. (George Henry), 1816-1870.
  • Thomas, Theodore, 1835-1905.
  • Thumb, Tom, 1838-1883. [Charles Sherwood Stratton; group portrait with Lavinia Warren]
  • Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. [Samuel L. Clemens; both names signed on photograph]
  • Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 1794-1877.
  • Waite, Morrison R. (Morrison Remick), 1816-1888.
  • Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882.
  • Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878.
  • Willcox, Orlando B.
  • Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875.
  • Woodhull, Victoria C. (Victoria Claflin), 1838-1927.
  • Wright, Horatio Gouverneur, 1820-1899.
  • Yates, Edmund, 1831-1894.
  • Young, Brigham, 1801-1877.

Box 2: Brearley-Pingree collection cabinet cards

This box contains 27 cabinet cards. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Andrade, Ignacio, 1836-1925.
  • Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886.
  • Bernhardt, Sarah, 1844-1923.
  • Booth-Tucker, Emma, 1860-1903.
  • Booth-Tucker, Frederick St. George de Lautour, 1853-1929.
  • Bull, Ole, 1810-1880.
  • Cable, George Washington, 1844-1925.
  • Chamberlain, Joseph, 1836-1914.
  • Dickinson, Donald McDonald, 1846-1917.
  • Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881.
  • Garfield, Lucretia Rudolph, 1832-1918.
  • Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893.
  • Janauschek, Francesca Romana Magdalena, 1830-1904.
  • Kellogg, Clara Louisa, 1842-1916.
  • Kennan, George, 1845-1924.
  • Kruger, Paul, 1825-1904.
  • Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882.
  • Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884.
  • Ranavalona III, Queen of Madagascar, 1861-1917.
  • Reed, Thomas B. (Thomas Brackett), 1839-1902.
  • Stead, W. T. (William Thomas), 1849-1912. [three portraits included]
  • Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896.
  • Urso, Camilla, 1842-1902.
  • Victoria, Queen of Britain, 1819-1901.
  • Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892.

Box 3: Brearley-Pingree collection large photographs and manuscript materials

This box contains 9 large format mounted photographs and 33 manuscript items. Represented individuals among the photographs include the following:

  • Cleveland, Frances Folsom, 1864-1947.
  • Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908.
  • Ford, Clara Bryant, 1866-1950.
  • Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.
  • Gibbons, James, 1834-1921.
  • Guzmán Blanco, Antonio, 1828-1899.
  • Mace, Aurelia Gay, 1835-1910.
  • Milles, Carl, 1875-1955.
  • Wilder, Marshall P.

Manuscript materials of interest include a number of letters dating to the mid-1870s from various individuals (including John A. Dix, C. H. Spurgeon, H. W. Longfellow, and Lucretia R. Garfield) possibly sent to William H. Brearley in response to autograph solicitations and other requests; and numerous letters addressed to Hazen S. Pingree from various individuals (inlcuding William Thomas Stead, Ignacio Andrade, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley) dating to the 1890s. Other items of interest include a copy of "Special Order No. 166 'Extract' Head Quarters 2d Brigade 3d Div 2d A.I." dated June 15th 1865 stating that the 1st Mass Heavy Artillery had been ordered by Brig. Gen. Franklin Pierce to repost to General Hancock; calling cards for "Sixto Sanchez Director General de Coreeos - Postmaster" as well as "The Admiral of the Navy" George Dewey from "when he called on Gov. Pingree in Detroit"; a clipped signature of "Louis Botha Commandant General"; an undated note to poet Louise Chandler Moulton; a document dated August 1st 1892 detailing financial investment information related to the Michigan-Peninsular Car Company with pasted clippings of wealthy politicians and their net worths as well as annotations by Pingree; a letter dated Feb 19th 1892 from Don M. Dickinson to Pingree regarding the prospective visit of Grover Clevland to Detroit, Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan; a letter dated March 9th 1949 from Hazel Hope Pingree Mills to Director of the William L. Clements Library Randolph G. Adams regarding progress being made on research regarding the life of William H. Brearley; and an undated typed copy of a short essay titled "Brearley - Man of Action, Started Many Important Detroit Activities" by historian George B. Catlin.

Collection

Chilocco Indian School Collection, 1908-ca.1950

16 tintypes, 18 photographic prints, 73 postcards, 1 piece of realia, 1 school yearbook, 1 pamphlet, 1 manuscript, and 1 graduation certificate in 3 boxes.

The Chilocco Indian School collection consists of 1 piece of realia, 1 school yearbook, 1 pamphlet, 1 manuscript, 1 graduation certificate, and 107 photographic images in various formats related to the Chilocco Indian School in northern Oklahoma.

The Chilocco Indian School collection consists of 1 piece of realia, 1 school yearbook, 1 pamphlet, 1 manuscript, 1 graduation certificate, and 107 photographic images in various formats related to the Chilocco Indian School in northern Oklahoma. Many of the images are portraits of individuals, structures, and activities associated with the Chilocco Indian School; most are individual and group portraits of Native Americans, but there are also several images showing school buildings, agricultural activities, sports teams, and white American adults and children. The majority of the images are real photo postcards from the 1910s.

A total of 16 tintypes (mostly 8 x 5 cm) are present in the collection. Included are studio portraits of Native American men, women, boys, and girls wearing western clothing. Many of the tintypes have been moderately hand-colored. None of the subjects nor their tribal affiliations have been identified.

Also present are 18 photographic prints (6 unmounted and 12 mounted). The 6 unmounted prints are all 11 x 6.5 cm snapshots taken in 1920 that appear to have been taken by tourists and were once stored in a photograph album. Inscribed captions include the following: "Gold Fish Pond Chilocco OK 1920"; "Three Indian Boys"; "View of the lake at Chilocco"; "Little Girls Dormitory at Chilocco Government School 1920"; "Dairy at Chilocco"; "Chilocco OK Indian School Stadium 1920." Of the mounted photographs, there are 10 of approximately the same size (8.5 x 6.5 cm; all albumen prints) that show individual and group studio portraits of Native American men, women, boys, and girls. The remaining two mounted photographs (12.5 x 8.5 cm and 10.5 x 6.5 cm respectively; both albumen prints) are studio portraits of a very young Native American girl and a Native American boy with his mother which bears the verso inscription "T. Wolf." None of the subjects nor their tribal affiliations have been identified.

Real photo and photomechanical postcards (mostly 14 x 8.5 cm) make up the remaining 73 photographic images in this collection. Most images consist of individual and group portraits of Native American and white people, the latter of which many appear to have been affiliated with various Indian Agencies and/or boarding schools.

Items of particular interest include an image of a young Native American boy captioned "Jim McKay's kid"; a studio portrait of an unidentified Native American man by George B. Cornish; a studio portrait of a man possibly identified as "Red Fox" through an inscription on the verso; a studio group portrait of an unidentified married Native American couple captioned "New Year Eve. 08-09" in which the photographer appears to have edited the negative by painting fake snowflakes on the subjects; a group portrait of Umatilla Agency superintendent E. L. Swartzlander's children Lawrence and Inez; views of Chilocco Indian School buildings such as Haworth Hall, Home One, the Printing Department, and the inside of a classroom; and three photographs showing young men dressed in World War I-era army uniforms.

Sports-related images include group portraits of the 1912-13 Chilocco men's basketball team, the 1906 and 1915 Chilocco women's basketball teams, the 1945-46 Chilocco men's football team, and a Chilocco men's baseball team from an unknown year.

A relatively small number of postcards have been signed. Of the postcards that have signatories, there are eight signed by Samson B. Harjo (Seminole; name also spelled "Sampson B. Harjo"); one signed by "John Wolf" (tribal affiliation unknown); one signed by "Silas Beal Brown"; three signed by Chief Tishomingo's grandson Joe F. Factor (Chickasaw); and five signed by Umatilla Agency clerk Alvin Barbour.

The Alvin Barbour postcards (6 in total) are the only postcards in the collection that contain correspondence. Writing from Pendleton, Oregon, Barbour was in communication with a girl at the Chilocco Indian School named "Anna" of unknown tribal background who appears to have come from the Umatilla Agency. In one postcard with a view of a school building dated March 4 1914, Barbour expresses delight that Anna was "pleased with the pennant" he sent her and that he hopes it will "remind you of home and of the sender." In another postcard bearing an outdoor portrait of Barbour dated April 18 1914, Barbour states that he is glad Anna has recovered from an illness and that he sent her some Easter lilies. Two postcards dated April 27 1914 show images of Barbour and a Native American girl from the Umatilla Agency identified as "Ruth" taking turns sitting on a fallen tree trunk. Two postcards do not bear any correspondence and include an outdoor portrait of Barbour (signed "Yours very truly, Alvin Barbour") and an unsigned outdoor group portrait of Barbour with two other men posing on a bridge.

The realia item is a double-handled silver basketball trophy (10 x 15 x 6 cm) bearing the engravings "Chilocco Basket Ball League 08" and "Bird's Head - Escudero - Du Bois - Taylor - Jones." The trophy was awarded to "Team Jones" in 1908 after they won all four of their matches in their five-team intramural league. "Bird's Head" may possibly be Jesse Bird's Head, while "Escudero" may possibly be Cipriano Escudero (approximately 1882-?).

Printed publications include a 1932 Chilocco Indian School senior class yearbook as well as an illustrated libretto and associated program from a 1907 Chilocco Indian School production of Hiawatha. The front cover of the libretto bears the inscription "Lulu Gregory, Tonkawa, Okla."

The manuscript item consists of a three-page handwritten document regarding the "Crimson" flag of an unidentified University Preparatory School (possibly the Tonkawa U.P.S.) and its importance being "similar to that of the Stars & Stripes to the United States." The document is unsigned and undated.

Also present is a graduation certificate (51 x 40.5 cm) granted by the Chilocco Indian School in 1897 to Myrtle M. Long (tribal affiliation uncertain). The diploma was signed by Superintendent Benjamin F. Taylor, principal teacher Philena Everett Johnson, and teacher Anna D. Burr.

Collection

David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography, ca. 1845-1980

Approximately 113,000 photographs and 96 volumes

Online
The David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography consists of over 100,000 images in a variety of formats including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, cartes de visite, cabinet photographs, real photo postcards, stereographs, and mounted and unmounted paper prints. The collection is primarily made up of vernacular photographs of everyday life in Michigan taken by both professional and amateur photographers from the 1840s into the mid-twentieth century. In addition to supporting local history research, the collection has resources for the study of specific events and subjects. Included are images related to lumbering, mining, suburbanization; the industrialization of cities; travel and transportation; the impact of the automobile; the rise of middle-class leisure society; fashion and dress; ethnicity and race; the role of fraternal organizations in society; and the participation of photographers in business, domestic, and social life. The collection is only partially open for research.

The subject contents of different photographic format series within the Tinder collection vary, depending in part upon how each format was historically used, and the date range of that format's popularity. For example, cartes de visite and cased images are most often formal studio portraits, while stereographs are likely to be outdoor views. Cabinet photographs are frequently portraits, but often composed with less formality than the cartes de visite and cased images. The postcards and the mounted prints contain very diverse subjects. The photographers' file contains many important and rare images of photographers, their galleries, promotional images, and the activities of photographers in the field. See individual series descriptions in the Contents List below for more specific details.

Included throughout are images by both professional and amateur photographers, although those by professionals are extant in far greater numbers.

Collection

Lukens-Parry family carte de visite album, ca. 1860s-1950

49 photographs in 1 album

The Lukens-Parry family carte de visite album contains 49 studio portrait photographs primarily related to the Lukens and Parry families of Chester, Pennsylvania. The Lukens and Parry families were both prominent members of the Pennsylvania Quaker community.

The Lukens-Parry family carte de visite album contains 49 studio portrait photographs primarily related to the Lukens and Parry families of Chester, Pennsylvania. The Lukens and Parry families were both prominent members of the Pennsylvania Quaker community.

The album (14.5 x 12 cm) has embossed brown leather covers, metal clasps, and "Album" stamped in gold on the spine. A taped-in note close to the front of the album reads "my relatives & friends of years ago - Sarah Kinderdine Lukens later Mrs. Wm. W. Downing - Mar 20th 1950." The note as well as numerous inscriptions identifying most individuals represented in the album were all added by Sarah Kinderdine Lukens Downing in 1950.

Collection

William A. Lewis photograph collection, ca. 1850s-1980s

approximately 1,530 items in 12 boxes

The William A. Lewis photograph collection consists of approximately 1,530 items pertaining to a wide range of visual subjects that are represented across a variety of photographic formats including daguerreotypes, cartes de visite, stereographs (which form the bulk of the collection), and glass plate negatives as well as modern slides, film strips, snapshots, and postcards.

The William A. Lewis photograph collection consists of approximately 1,530 items pertaining to a wide range of visual subjects that are represented across a variety of photographic formats including daguerreotypes, cartes de visite, stereographs (which form the bulk of the collection), and glass plate negatives as well as modern slides, film strips, snapshots, and postcards.

The subject matter of this collection is thematically and chronologically diverse and reflects the broad interests of the collector, with the U.S. Civil War and 19th-century views of American and European cities being particularly well-represented topics. The collection is organized into four main series according to subject matter and is further divided into specific subject groupings within each series. In most cases, multi-item sets have been kept together and placed within the most generally appropriate subject grouping. An extensive number of photographers and publishers are represented throughout the collection including the likes of H. H. Bennett, C. B. Brubaker, John Carbutt, Centennial Photographic Company, B. F. Childs, E. & H. T. Anthony & Company, Alexander Gardner, T. W. Ingersoll, International Stereoscopic View Company, Keystone View Company, William Notman, Timothy O'Sullivan, William Rau, Strohmeyer & Wyman, Underwood & Underwood, and F. G. Weller.

The following list provides a breakdown of every topical subsection of the collection and includes item counts for each grouping:

Series I: General Subjects
  • Airships (11)
  • Bridges (69)
  • Civil War I--stereographs (91)
  • Civil War II--cartes de visite, Kodachrome slides, negative film strip copies of stereographs held at the Library of Congress, postcards (48)
  • Disasters (49)
  • Expositions (24)
  • Industry & Labor (89)
  • Miscellaneous (23)
  • Portraits (109)
  • Railroads (62)
  • Ships (80)
  • War (30)
Series II: Views, U.S.
  • Alaska (47)
  • Arizona (3)
  • California (20)
  • Colorado (2)
  • Dakota (4)
  • District of Columbia (50)
  • Florida (2)
  • Hawaii (1)
  • Illinois (17)
  • Iowa (2)
  • Maine (8)
  • Maryland (27)
  • Massachusetts (20)
  • Michigan (31)
  • Missouri (3)
  • New Hampshire (10)
  • New York (116)
  • Ohio (2)
  • Oregon (2)
  • Pennsylvania (16)
  • Tennessee (1)
  • Texas (1)
  • Vermont (3)
  • Utah (3)
  • Virginia (6)
  • Washington (1)
  • West Virginia (1)
  • Wisconsin (2)
  • Wyoming (2)
  • Unidentified locations (35)
Series III: Views, Foreign
  • Austria (5)
  • Belgium (6)
  • Brazil (1)
  • Canada (3)
  • Cuba (5)
  • Czechoslovakia (1)
  • Egypt (5)
  • England (21)
  • France (43)
  • Germany (14)
  • Greece (1)
  • India (2)
  • Ireland (4)
  • Italy (22)
  • Japan (3)
  • Mexico (1)
  • Miscellaneous (31)
  • Monaco (4)
  • Netherlands (1)
  • Norway (3)
  • Palestine (5)
  • Panama (41)
  • Puerto Rico (3)
  • Scotland (10)
  • Spain (2)
  • Sweden (2)
  • Switzerland (9)
  • Turkey (1)
Series IV: Objects
  • Keystone Alaska and Panama views, set box (1)
  • Stereoscope (1)
Items of particular interest include:
  • Post-WWI Keystone views of German and American zeppelins and one real photo postcard showing pre-WWI aircraft (Series I, Box 1, Airships)
  • Numerous views of the Brooklyn Bridge under construction and after completion, and the Niagara Falls suspension bridge (Series I, Box 1, Bridges)
  • Views of Civil War battle sites, encampments, and leaders on contemporary mounts as well as numerous reproductions of stereographs showing important battlefield sites and troops (Series I, Boxes 1-2, Civil War)
  • Stereographs, real photo postcards, and other images documenting the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, 1871 Chicago Fire, 1889 Johnstown Flood, 1900 Galveston Hurricane, and other calamities (Series I, Box 3, Disasters)
  • Images showing scenes from various American and European events, with an emphasis on the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia (Series I, Box 3, Expositions)
  • Images showing mills, factories and people engaged in various occupations, including a boxed set of 50 images related Sears, Roebuck operations produced around 1906 (Series I, Box 3, Industry & Labor)
  • Hand-colored early groupings of French theatrical tableaux (Series I, Box 3, Miscellaneous)
  • Approximately 109 portrait photographs in different formats of various individuals, including William Jennings Bryan; a boxed set of 50 cartes de visite depicting Danish actors and actresses; cartes de visite of Emperor Napoleon III and the Mikado of Japan; and numerous unidentified subjects represented in real photo postcards (1), tintypes (17), framed/cased ambrotypes, and daguerreotypes (13) (Series I, Box 4, Portraits)
  • Approximately 62 images of railroads, mostly in the U.S., including photographs from an 1866 expedition to the 100th meridian on the Union Pacific Railroad while under construction (Series I, Box 5, Railroads)
  • Approximately 80 images of ships including warships, freighters, riverboats, passenger ships, shipwrecks (including of the USS Maine), and shipyards mostly in the U.S. with the notable exception of a photo of the 1858 launch of the SS Great Eastern, with Isambard Kingdom Brunel possibly in the crowd. Also of interest are 8 photos and postcards showing ships in World War I-era "dazzle" camouflage (Series I, Box 5, Ships)
  • A Keystone View Co. series of images related to World War I (Series I, Box 5, Wars)
  • A number of images produced by Keystone View Co. and other stereograph purveyors that focus on major cities such as Boston, New York, Paris, Constantinople, and Jerusalem (throughout Series II & Series III)
  • Views from geological expeditions to the American frontier in the 1860s and 1870s (Series II, Unidentified Locations)