Collections

The Chicago to Colorado photograph album contains approximately 210 photographs taken by an unidentified photographer related to a tour from Chicago, Illinois, to Colorado and back again through Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Chicago to Colorado photograph album contains approximately 210 photographs taken by an unidentified photographer related to a tour from Chicago, Illinois, to Colorado and back again through Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The album (26 x 32 cm) has black paper covers and a manuscript note inside the front cover that reads: "Tour of 1903." Chicago-related photographs include a commercial street view, the Chicago River, and Lincoln Park. The following 191 photographs were taken in various locations around Colorado, including 20 images of commercial streets, residential streets, and parks in Denver and Colorado Springs; an early motorized sightseeing bus on a Colorado Springs street; and scenic views documenting visits to the Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, and the Gunnison River.

Several photographs show the main building and a small cabin at Sprague's Ranch in Moraine Park, Colorado. The travelers, a party of two men and a woman, are shown fishing, posing beside their platform tents, and sightseeing with larger groups. Also shown is the dramatic scenery of Ouray, Colorado, with views of the mountains, the box canyon, Silver Plume mines, and street scenes which include a stagecoach and loaded burros. Following several photographs of hotels in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and a view of the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas, there are three images that show streets in Milwaukee, including the Schlitz Brewery, as well as two additional images of Chicago street scenes.

The City of Boston Public Celebration July 4th, 1918, photograph album contains 81 photographs documenting Fourth of July celebrations that took place in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1918.

The City of Boston Public Celebration July 4th, 1918, photograph album contains 81 photographs documenting Fourth of July celebrations that took place in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1918.

The album (39 x 28.5 cm) is sting-bound and has gray cloth covers with "Photographs" stamped in gold on the front and black paper pages. The first page contains a handwritten label that reads "City of Boston July 4th, 1918." Most but not all images include handwritten captions. The album's contents are grouped into three sections marked by handwritten labels: “Patriotic Exercises,” “Sports and Pastimes,” and “The Parade in the Evening."

"Patriotic Exercises" begins on pg. 3 and contains 19 photographs. Images include several views showing Boston mayor Andrew James Peters overseeing flag raising exercises performed by uniformed U.S. Army soldiers on Boston Common; views of a floating stage at Frog Pond; three photographs of speakers at the Old State House including Rabbi Abraham Nowak, Mayor Peters, and Walter A. Whelan; and two photographs related to a speech by Judge Joseph J. Murley at Wood Park Island.

“Sports and Pastimes” begins on pg. 43 and contains 35 photographs. Images include numerous views of swimming and boat races held at the Charles River Basin; views showing a baseball game, brass band performance, and parading Naval Battalion at Wood Island Park; views of the “Italian populace,” “Italian societies,” and others at North End Park; views showing the distribution of ice cream at the Charles River Gym and Prince Street Playground; views of athletic competitions taking place at Boston Common including foot races and tug of war; and a view of bathers at City Point.

"The Parade in the Evening" begins on pg. 115 and contains 27 photographs. All of these images showcase participants in a parade procession and include views of U.S. Army troops and the 10th Massachusetts State Guard, various ethnic groups (including Latvians, Italians, Portuguese, Albanians, Chinese, Greeks, and Armenians), a coordinated group of children in formation as a "living flag," and the Mission Church Band.

The Cuba photograph album contains 40 photographs of buildings, monuments, and other sights in Havana, Cuba, taken by an unidentified American tourist around 1901.

The Cuba photograph album contains 40 photographs of buildings, monuments, and other sights in Havana, Cuba, taken by an unidentified American tourist around 1901.

The album (14 x 18 cm) has grey cloth covers and is in fragile condition, with some early pages possibly missing. All 40 photographs are in good condition and include detailed inscribed captions. Most images are of major buildings and monuments such as the Cathedral Havana, Tacon Market, and Morro Castle.

• The wall where Spanish soldiers executed eight medical students falsely accused of desecrating a cemetery in 1871.
• Hotel Inglaterra (still in operation) with the empty pedestal in front where a statue of Queen Isabella II of Spain stood until 1899.
• The remains of the USS Maine, sunk in Havana Harbor in 1898 during the Spanish-American War.
• Tourists looking through the fence at General Fitzhugh Lee’s Marianao headquarters where he served as a commander of occupation forces from January 1899 until November 1900. Gen. Lee was a popular consul general in Havana from 1895 until the Spanish-American War broke out in April 1898, and he was the last American to leave Cuba. During the war, he trained a group of volunteer soldiers in Jacksonville, Florida, but never saw combat. He was appointed commander of occupation forces in the Havana District and returned to Cuba on January 1st, 1899, the day the Spanish evacuated the island

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.

The Drew family photograph album contains 27 photographs related to a New York family including images of children, family pets, family tombstones, a man posing with a horse and gig, group rowboats, and the Canadian steamboats Hamilton and Spartan.

The Drew family photograph album contains 27 photographs related to a New York family including images of children, family pets, family tombstones, a man posing with a horse and gig, group rowboats, and the Canadian steamboats Hamilton and Spartan.

The album (16 x 20 cm) is half-bound with black leather binding and black cloth boards. Lacking spine.

The Dudley family photograph album (15 x 21 cm) contains approximately 175 photographs of the Rhine Valley in occupied Germany at the end of World War I as well as photographs of U.S. Marine Robert W. Dudley's home and family in Medical Lake and Walla Walla, Washington, after the war and through the Great Depression.

The Dudley family photograph album (15 x 21 cm) contains approximately 175 photographs of the Rhine Valley in occupied Germany at the end of World War I as well as photographs of U.S. Marine Robert W. Dudley's home and family in Medical Lake and Walla Walla, Washington, after the war and through the Great Depression. Images related to the Allied occupation of Germany include candid and portrait photographs of American soldiers; images of Coblenz and street scenes in Neuweid and Rengsdorf; images of an aviation field near Andernach; a postcard from the Jewish Welfare Board with an illustration of the ocean liner S.S. George Washington,; and several photographs of the River Rhine itself, including an image of a pontoon bridge opening to let an excursion boat pass. Post-war images from Washington include views of horse-drawn plows, Medical Lake Firemen, a camping trip, and numerous children. A large number of images have manuscript captions.

The album has a black cloth cover tied with string and is housed in a light blue box.

The Edward R. Mullin, USS Albany in Asia photograph albums consist of three volumes containing images and ephemera that document an American sailor’s experiences aboard a US Navy ship in the Asiatic Fleet from 1919 to 1920.

The Edward R. Mullin, USS Albany in Asia photograph albums consist of three volumes containing images and ephemera that document an American sailor’s experiences aboard a US Navy ship in the Asiatic Fleet from 1919 to 1920.

Volume A: This album (14.5 x 21 cm) contains photographs of scenes in Panama, Hawaii, Japan, Russia, China, California, and the Philippines that mostly depict the USS Albany, American soldiers and sailors, local citizens, and tourist scenes. Numerous ephemeral items compiled by Edward R. Mullin (the album’s creator) from various foreign places are also present, including tickets, stamps, bank notes, and an Asahi beer label. Of note is a “familiar phrases” card for translating English to Japanese. On the inside back cover of the album a handwritten log lists arrivals and departures of the USS Albany, while a typescript description of a military takeover of Vladivostok, Russia, is also included.

Volume B: This album (18 x 26 cm) contains photographs of scenes in Russia and China. Images show American soldiers and sailors exploring sites and interacting with local citizens as well as natural scenery and architecture. Of note are photographs of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City in China. Some photos have handwritten captions that identify locations and/or persons pictured

Volume C: This album (20.5 x 29 cm) contains photographs of scenes in Russia, the Philippines, Panama, Japan, China, Hawaii, and California. Of note are photographs of the Panama Canal and some images showing the compiler of the album, Edward R. Mullin. Many photos have handwritten captions. Also present are various types of ephemera including a beer label, tickets, and a fabric poppy flower, as well as a photocopy of Mullin’s service record, a large portrait of the USS Albany in Shanghai, China, and a loose photo of the USS Albany in Vladivostok.

The Electric railway engineer photograph album consists of approximately 235 photographs and 1 booklet documenting the professional and personal life of an unidentified railway engineer specializing in electric rail line infrastructure.

The Electric railway engineer photograph album consists of approximately 235 photographs and 1 booklet documenting the professional and personal life of an unidentified railway engineer specializing in electric rail line infrastructure.

The album (25.5 x 30.5 cm) has dark green cloth covers with “Photographs” stamped on the front cover. All of the album pages are loose and fairly brittle, but the images are in generally good condition.

The first page contains sixteen signatures from participants in the 30th reunion of the Union College class of 1885. Subsequent photographs include several views of Union College campus, aspects of student life (including dorm room interiors and a group of portraits showing crossdressing men captioned “Minstrels"), and formal portraits of members of the Kappa Alpha Society in the mid-1880s, presumably including some of the attendees at the reunion whose signatures are represented.

The unidentified presumed compiler of the album can be seen in several photographs. He appears to have been an engineer specializing in infrastructure projects for electric-powered rail systems and was active in the early stages of when railroads in the United States were moving towards electrification. Many of the smaller circular photographs found throughout in the album were likely produced by a Kodak No. 2 camera, while larger format prints and cyanotypes are also present.

Contents are arranged chronologically starting with the compiler's student days before focusing on various professional assignments and elements of his personal life. During the ten years following his graduation from Union College the compiler apparently participated in several railroad development projects, mainly in what would become Washington State but also in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Idaho. Photographs from this period of his life include views of survey camps along the Columbia River and other regional waterways, interior and exterior views of the compiler’s home in Tacoma, portraits of his growing family, and snapshots of Klickitat people (including a group portrait of three women picking hops). By 1896 the compiler and his family appear to have moved back east, settling in New Rochelle, New York. Photographs from this period include documentation of projects on intercity lines on Staten Island and other nearby boroughs, a project in upstate New York, and numerous images of friends and family. The Albany and Hudson Railway and Power Company’s new electric train line to various towns between Hudson and Albany required establishing power sources along the route. As a small group of photographs in this album show, this necessitated constructing a dam at Stuyvesant Falls on the Kinderhook Creek which would provide electric power to the rail line and various local businesses. The final pages of the album document the construction of Hudson Park Dock in New Rochelle as well as leisure activities such as the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup auto races and a naval review in Oyster Bay.

A total of 18 loose photographs are included towards the back of the album. Images include a group portrait of Union College students from the 1880s, a studio portrait of a young woman and infant taken in the mid-1890s in Tacoma, and a double exposure of a woman standing next to an automobile in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1918. Also present is a printed pamphlet replete with numerous halftone reproduction images titled “Letter from Mayor Clarke to the Voters of New Rochelle with Pictures of Improvements Under His Administration” which highlights several civic infrastructure projects (including the Hudson Park Dock) undertaken during the tenure of mayor Henry Clarke.

The Emmett M. Smith photograph album contains approximately 790 photographs and 6 pieces of ephemera related to the experiences of American soldier and engineer Cpl. Emmett Merle Smith while he served with the United States Army Air Service’s 800th Aero Repair Squadron in France during World War I.

The Emmett M. Smith photograph album contains approximately 790 photographs and 6 pieces of ephemera related to the experiences of American soldier and engineer Cpl. Emmett Merle Smith while he served with the United States Army Air Service’s 800th Aero Repair Squadron in France during World War I.

The album (28 x 37 cm) has black cloth covers with “Postal Souvenirs” stamped on the front; the covers and spine are in poor condition, as are a relatively small number photographs (some of which bear signs of insect damage).

On the inside of the front cover is a tipped-in copy of A History of the 800th Aero Repair Squadron, an official unit history account of the squadron published by its members in 1919. A small group of 10 loose photos and 6 pieces of ephemera are also present, including postcards, snapshots, YMCA guides to Paris and Marseilles, and two programs related to jointly held French and American Mother’s Day celebrations in Paris in May 1919 that were organized by L’Association des French Homes.

The first pasted-in photographs in the album are a series of 24 panoramic views showing Parisian scenery and famous landmarks. This section ends with another YMCA guide to Paris and a matriculation card for the Université de Paris Faculte des Sciences 1918-1919 for Emmett M. Smith that includes a portrait. Smith appears to likely have been the compiler of this album as he appears in numerous other photographs throughout. He was a member of the 800th Aero Repair Squadron’s Flight A, who were stationed at Camp de Souge near Bordeaux.

From pg. 15 through to the end of the album photographs are individually numbered from 1 to 781. While a typescript index describes photographs #25-28, there is no overarching index for the entire series. Numerous photos have captions (including manuscript captions), though the majority do not. Images come in a range of sizes and appear to have originated from numerous sources including German and French photographers as well as snapshots possibly taken by Smith himself. “AR” also appears on several photographs, possibly indicating that these images were taken by 800th Aero Repair Squadron photographers. However, by and large photographers are not identified for specific images.

In general, this album contains frontline scenes of battlefields, dead soldiers and animals, trench views, and ruined structures as well as images documenting camp life, military bases, and aerial reconnaissance views. Numerous photographs of military equipment, weaponry, airplanes, tanks, warships, soldiers, and street scenes showing cities/towns and civilians are also present. Post-war scenes include documented stays in Paris, southern France, Italy, and Spain.

• #3 (image showing charging soldiers, some in gas masks, with one man appearing to be clutch his throat while falling; captioned “Actual photo of action at Verdune”)
• #7, 651 (800th Aero Repair Squadron group portraits)
• #12 (shot of Kaiser Wilhelm talking with German officers)
• #15, 17 (aerial views of Albert, France, in November 1916)
• #48, 70.1 (pictures of German tanks)
• #73, 76 (view of citadel with German signage and view showing street signage by ruins; amongst other views that appear to be in Belgium)
• #109 ("Toul - French plane ready for a flight")
• #110, 111 (images showing the French and American sections of the 1918 panoramic painting Panthéon de la Guerre)
• #142, 143 (two images of a train wreck by “Chiljian,” possibly Armenian American photographer Pvt. Henry B. Chiljian)
• #146, 148 (two images showing plane crash wreckage)
• #167 (French observation balloon being inflated)
• #209 (Georges Clemenceau visiting aviation field)
• #219 (clipping showing aftermath of the Halifax explosion with inscription reading “Spent 10 day aboard ship here right after explosion was supposed to have been here just before explosion but was delayed”)
• #374 (post-war image captioned “U.S.A. bound” which precedes series of naval voyage images)
• #451+ (images from Italy and Southern France)
• #525 (railroad scene with “Chicago Opera Association” sign in view)
• #631 (view of three men at typewriters working in an office with maps and aerial photographs pinned to the wall)
• #638 (aerial view captioned “My aviation camp. Camp de Souge - North of Bordeaux from the 2nd Artillery Aerial Observation Island 1917-1918-1919”)
• #649 (view showing surgery being performed on a man in operating room captioned “Hell - without [anesthesia]”)
• #699 (view showing a queue outside of a YMCA in Bangor, Maine)
• #712, 715 (two portraits of young women captioned “My Italian fiancée” and “My Spanish fiancée”)

The Faber German-American family photograph album contains approximately 305 photographs related to a German-American family based in northeastern Illinois.

The Faber German-American family photograph album contains approximately 305 photographs related to a German-American family based in northeastern Illinois. The album (26 x 18 cm) has black leather covers and is string-bound. Some photographs have faded captions. Images include views from summer trips to a cabin on White Lake; camping and picnicking at Silver Lake; paddling canoes bedecked with American flags; people dressed up to attend a Lutheran youth meeting in Jackson, Michigan; and a trip to Niagara Falls. The German-American family represented in the album was likely involved in the nursery business due to the fact several photographs show nurseries with plant stock, trees identified by their Latin names, and men working at the D. Hill Nursery in Dundee, Illinois. Other images of interest include photographs taken in Germany such as a group portrait of boys posing with their professor; a group portrait of German straw-sack stuffers in military uniforms; a real photo postcard of a group of men in uniform sent to "John Faber" of Woodstock, Illinois, from Germany in 1914; and another real photo postcard addressed to "Hans Faber" in Rosheim, Rheinland.