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The Caspar Wistar Miller photograph albums contain approximately 172 photographs stored in two albums that document travels in the western United States, Alaska, and Europe by Philadelphia-area physician Caspar Wistar Miller during the late 19th-century.

Volume 1 (33.5 x 40 cm) has maroon and black leather covers with “Photographs” stamped in gold on the spine and contains 87 photographs related to Miller’s travels in the western United States and Alaska from May to August of 1888. Many images appear to include glass plate negative numbers. Traveling mostly by rail, Miller’s itinerary and layovers can be tracked from the photographs, almost all of which note the date and location. Miller appears to have held an interest in photos of valleys looking first in one direction (“up”) and then the other (“down”), and he also regularly sought out possibilities for bird’s-eye views of towns. The album opens with a photo of a cantilever bridge in Niagara, New York, before documenting Miller’s time in Pullman, Illinois, where he observed the railroad baron George Pullman’s newly built factory town. It is likely that Miller traveled in Pullman railroad cars during this journey. Subsequent images show scenes from Colorado, New Mexico, and California, where Miller spent a month photographing various towns and cities along the Pacific coast before heading into the Northwest. Included are images of the area surrounding the Las Vegas, New Mexico hot springs; street scenes, historic sites, and Native Americans in Santa Fe; and views of buildings, historic sites and natural scenery in Californian locations including Pasadena, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Yosemite, Monterrey (including views of the Hotel Del Monte), Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton. Images related to the Northwest include a bird’s-eye view of Portland, Oregon, and a series of photographs of acrobats performing in Tacoma, Washington. Also present are a series of images taken in early July 1888 after Miller joined a few dozen other travelers on a three-week Alaskan cruise exploring inlets, harbors, and villages. Alaskan images include a group portrait of Tlingit women and infants; photos showing a grave totem and totem poles at Fort Wrangell; Tlingit men and women selling wares on a wharf in Juneau; views of Juneau and Sitka; a block house in Sitka; the face of Muir Glacier; a Tlingit camp at Pyramid Harbor; a group portrait of officers in command of the sidewheel steamship “Ancon”; and group portraits of fellow travelers posing with various Tinglit items including a chilkat blanket. A newspaper clipping regarding Alaskan totem poles is also included opposite one of the totem pole images. Photographs taken during Miller’s return home include scenes from Port Townsend, Washington; Yellowstone National Park; and Minnehaha Falls in Minnesota.

Volume 2 (28.5 x 39 cm) also has maroon and black leather covers and contains 85 photographs related to Miller’s European travels between May and August of 1892. The vast majority of these images are high-quality commercially-made photographic prints documenting typical tourist attraction subjects such as historic buildings, street scenes, cathedrals and churches, sculptures, and landscape views. Many of these images were likely produced from glass plate negatives that were originally created in the 1870s and 1880s. A small number of half-tone reproduction images clipped from printed sources are also present. Many of the commercially-produced images include captions within the photographs that provide site information and negative or series numbers, while some also contain blind stamps bearing photographer or studio names. The album begins with images of scenes in Le Havre and Paris, France; the two Le Havre-related photographs appear to have possibly been taken by Miller, while the Parisian views were all purchased from the gallery “A Jeanne D’Arc Paris 3, Place Rivoli, 3.” Most, if not all, of the remaining photographs in the album were also purchased by Miller. Subsequent images include views of sites, sculptures, and Alpine scenery in the Swiss locales of Geneva, Vevey, Montreux, La Tour-de-Peilz, Bern, Zurich, Fribourg, Thun, Oberhofen, Interlaken, and Lucerne. Other Swiss-related images include views of the Lauterbrunnen Valley; the Jungfrau; the Lion of Luzern monument; a wall tower and hotel in Zug; a man operating a dog-powered milk cart; and the Rheinfall. Austrian views include scenes from locations such as Innsbruck, Kufstein, and Rattenberg, while German destinations such as Lindau, Munich, Nuremburg, Heidelberg, Frankfurt am Main, Koblenz, and Cologne are also represented. The back-end of the album contains images from Brussels, Belgium, including another photograph of a dog-powered milk cart.

The Lancisco Hill collection consists of one full-length studio portrait of Pima Indian Lancisco Hill as well as three letters sent by Hill to a white American woman named Frances W. Anderson Gillette between April 1908 and July 1911.

The Lancisco Hill collection consists of one full length studio portrait of Pima Indian Lancisco Hill as well as three letters sent by Hill to a white American woman named Frances W. Anderson Gillette between April 1908 and July 1911.

The studio portrait is a gelatin silver print on a near cabinet card size mount (14.5 x 10.5 cm). Hill can be seen wearing traditional Plains Native American clothing while holding a tomahawk. The clothing and tomahawk were possibly studio props supplied by the unidentified photographer. A contemporary ink inscription on the verso reads "To Mrs. Wm. H. Anderson from Lancisco Hill 12/23th/05."

The first letter (ALS, 4 pages) is dated April 24, 1908, and is addressed to "Mrs. Frances W. Anderson, #254 N. Soto Street Los Angeles, California c/o Mrs. Ward Chapman." Hill asks Anderson if she would be able to locate the C. G. Conn's store and procure three baritone springs for him while she is in Los Angeles. Hill also describes recent weather and indicates that Anderson's horses (including "Joe" and "Alice") are doing well, that he purchased a new bag of hen feed, and that a former neighbor stopped by and will soon be calling on Anderson when they visit Los Angeles.

The second letter (ALS, 3 pages) is dated May 2, 1908, and is also addressed to "Mrs. Frances W. Anderson, #254 N. Soto Street Los Angeles, California c/o Mrs. Ward Chapman." In this letter, Hill lists several chores he has recently completed at Anderson's estate, including taking a book to an unnamed woman, shoeing horses, and letting the hens out. Hill also thanks Anderson for sending him lyrics for a song and states that he thinks he can "sing it for you now at any time we get some one to play for me. I go to the Arizona School of Music now and I know I am learning it right."

The third letter (ALS, 6 pages) is dated July 24, 1911, and is addressed to "Mrs. E. G. Gillette, #414 Andover Street, Lowell, Mass." Hill discusses goings on at the Phoenix estate including recent rainy weather, the birth of a bull calf, the cats being in good health, repair work that needed to be done following a storm, and his inviting a woman named "Ms. Howsel" over for meals regularly since she is "not very busy this summer." Hill also touches on how he borrowed a total of $100 from "Ida Larson" and "Walter" to pay for a musical instrument he named "Comet," and that he would appreciate it if Frances and her husband could assist him in clearing this debt.

The Shriners' excursion tour photograph albums (2 volumes, each 15.5 x 20 cm) contain 95 photoprints of photographs taken during a cross-country train and ship excursion by a group of Shriners ca. 1898.

The Shriners' excursion tour photo albums (2 volumes, each 15.5 x 20 cm) contain 95 photoprints of photographs taken during a cross-country train and ship excursion by a group of Shriners ca. 1898. Images show a range of different places around the United States, including: St. Joseph, Missouri; Des Moines, Iowa; Big Spring, Texas; Phoenix and Tuscon, Arizona; Redlands, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, California; and Honolulu, Hawaii. The Shriner group appears to have chartered their train as there are photographs documenting a train breakdown in Arizona and stops in various stations show it to be decorated with banners. Several images includes women and young boys wearing fezzes, indicating that families participated in the trip. There are also several photographs of cowboys and Native Americans in Arizona and Texas. Images taken in California include views of Los Angeles rooftops, Golden Gate Park and San Francisco Bay, Mt. Shasta and San Bernadino, and palms and a grapefruit grove at Baldwin's Ranch in Redlands. There are several images of ships including the S.S. Sierra, the committee boat Fearless, a quarantine boat, an Austrian training ship at Honolulu, the American battleship U.S.S. Wisconsin, and unidentified ocean steamers in San Francisco Bay.

The albums are half bound with red leather bindings, have red cloth boards and are housed in light blue boxes.