Collections

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition photograph album contains 53 images that document the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, from April to December, 1904.

The album (14 x 19.5 cm) has brown faux-leather cloth covers and black paper pages. Photographs include images of different monuments and buildings (including international, state, and trade buildings), fairgrounds scenes, and various exhibitions including Filipino, Chinese, and Native American human zoo villages as well as the "Ancient Locomotives" and "U.S. Life Saving Exhibit." Also of note are two photographs of "Festival Hall at night."

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.

The Marguerite H. Voll photograph album includes 87 photographs documenting family activities and various events in Plymouth, Wisconsin, as well as Chicago, Illinois.

The Marguerite H. Voll photograph album includes 87 photographs documenting family activities and various events in Plymouth, Wisconsin, as well as Chicago, Illinois.

The album (28.5 x 35 cm) has black cloth with “Photographs” stamped in gold on the front cover. Images include portraits of the Bade, Schram, and Fiedler families as well as views of parades in Chicago (including a Barnum & Bailey Circus parade), group portraits of the Plymouth Hook and Ladder bicycle team, the Sheboygan County Fair, natural landscape scenes, cars, trains, farming, and photographic reproductions of sentimental art. Of particular note is a portrait of Marguerite Bade riding a floor sweeper as an infant in 1909.

The Midwest family photograph album contains approximately 275 photographs related to the life and family of an unidentified World War I serviceman likely from Indiana.

The Midwest family photograph album contains approximately 275 photographs related to the life and family of an unidentified World War I serviceman likely from Indiana. The album (26 x 18.5 cm) has black cloth covers with "Photographs" embossed in gold on the front. Images of interest include views related to an unidentified high school including classrooms, the basketball team, young women sewing in a classroom, the sophmore quartet, physics class, and a band at practice; views of soldiers in uniform shown beside army tents and barracks; the Waters Concert Band from Elkhart, Indiana; a woman holding a House of David flag; and many posed group and individual portraits, mostly taken on a farm or in other rural areas. One portrait photograph shows a young woman holding a camera bearing the caption on the verso: Mabel Devor. Several photographs show a man in a naval uniform aboard a ship, including a group portrait of a naval crew. A picture postcard of a young man's studio portrait is addressed to Mabel Devor, Salamonia, Indiana.

The Midwest family travel album contains approximately 150 photographs showing travel and leisure activities in Virginia, New York, Vermont, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Georgia that were likely compiled by a friend or relative of lumber executive and one-time mayor of Manistee, Michigan, Charles J. Canfield.

The Midwest family travel album contains approximately 150 photographs showing travel and leisure activities in New York, Vermont, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Georgia that were likely compiled by a friend or relative of lumber executive and one-time mayor of Manistee, Michigan, Charles J. Canfield.

The album (26 x 35 cm) has a black cloth binding. Photographs of interest taken in Vermont and New York include rural views, country roads, a woman bicycling, and a group relaxing beside the Batten Kill River in Eagleville, New York. Images from Sioux City, Iowa, include views of public buildings, a golf tournament between Sioux City and Le Mars, a football game between Sioux City and Council Bluffs, an interior view of a woman working at a desk, a high school group on stage in blackface, a shooting expedition, and group portraits of young people at the Sioux City High School and in costume at a "hobo party." Michigan-related photographs include views of Charles Canfield's cottage in Onekama, Michigan, Canfield's yacht "Uvira," views of forests in Manistee, and a lumber camp scene captioned "Camp 4 near Luther, Mich." Photographs from unidentified locations include views of a sawmill, flum, and lumber camp, several home interiors, mountains, and giant trees likely indicative of the West Coast. Two photographs also show a canoe with a Native American family on a lake in Northern Minnesota.

The Mill dam construction photograph album (18 x 26 cm) contains 33 photoprints documenting the construction of a dam for a mill, apparently in the Three Rivers section of Palmer, Massachusetts.

The Mill dam construction photograph album (18 x 26 cm) contains 33 photoprints documenting the construction of a dam for a mill, apparently in the Three Rivers section of Palmer, Massachusetts. One photograph shows a horse-drawn construction vehicle that is marked as belonging to H.P. Cummings Construction Company. The same photograph includes a beam labeled "Palmer Mill, Three Rivers, Mass."

The album has a gray paper cover and is housed in a light blue box.

The Mugshots collection consists of approximately 100 photographic portraits produced between 1892 and 1920, the vast majority of which are mugshots.

The Mugshots collection consists of approximately 100 photographic portraits produced between 1892 and 1920, the vast majority of which are mugshots. The collection includes real photographic postcards, mounted and unmounted paper prints, and one severely tarnished tintype. Also present are two fingerprint identification cards with handwritten lists containing names of numerous individuals represented in the collection. A small number of photographs appear to be standard studio portraits. Photographs range in size from 6 x 10.5 cm to 11 x 17 cm.

Many of the mugshots have printed and/or handwritten information on their versos, including names, known aliases, nationalities, birth dates/locations, occupations, arrest dates, names of arresting police officers, criminal charges, sentences, prison locations, remarks on physical appearances, and Bertillon measurements. Most of these images were produced in various places in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, with Philadelphia being the most represented location. The mugshots are mainly of white male subjects, though there are also four mugshots of women present. Five African American individuals (four men, one women) are also pictured. A substantial number of mugshots are of individuals from immigrant backgrounds, including Italians, Irish, Austrians, Germans, Poles, Greeks, Jews, etc. Approximately 90 individuals are personally identified in total. Recorded criminal charges include shoplifting, pickpocketing, larceny, burglary, forgery, embezzlement, false pretense, flimflamming, auto theft, horse theft, conspiracy, attempted murder, and murder. Specific police departments and correctional facilities represented include the Pennsylvania Department of State Police, Harrisburg Department of Police, Philadelphia Bureau of Police, Hartford Police Department, Newark Department of Police, Auburn Prison, Sing Sing Prison, City of New York Police Department, City of Boston Police Department, Camden Bureau of Police, Baltimore Police Department, Bureau of Criminal Investigation for the New Jersey Reformatory in Rahway (now East Jersey State Prison), U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, City of Paterson Police Department, Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, Montgomery County Prison (Norristown), Columbus Department of Police, City of Wilkes-Barre Bureau of Police, Trenton Department of Public Safety, New York House of Refuge, and the Reading Department of Police.

• a 1921 mugshot of an Italian man named Peter Erico, who was executed by electric chair on September 25 1922 along with Antonio Puntario after the pair were found guilty of murdering Detective Samuel Lucchino
• a 1909 mugshot of an eighteen year old Jewish man named Albert Steinberg, accused of pickpocketing
• two different mugshots of Irishman John Shelvin (accused of pickpocketing) taken in 1897 and 1906 following arrests in Philadelphia and Baltimore
• a 1920 mugshot of German houseworker Minnie Schissel, charged with theft
• a 1909 mugshot of accused shoplifter Marie Clark
• a 1915 mugshot of an African American man named King Brown, charged with illegal dynamite explosion, assault, and other crimes
• a ca. 1903 mugshot of larceny suspect Edward Stevenson, a "fugitive from Phil. Pa."; handwritten inscriptions on verso include note to address information to Detective E. H. Parker
• a ca. 1906 mugshot of German engineer and fireman Frank Schleiman with identifying details and a $50 reward notice for information on his whereabouts following his escape from Sing Sing Prison on December 9 1906 handwritten on the verso
• a 1908 mugshot of “dishonest servant” Blanche Grisson
• a 1919 mugshot of a Mexican man named Pedro Susman, charged with shoplifting
• two copies of a portrait or mugshot of African American man James Timberlake with identifying details handwritten on verso
• a 1908 mugshot of an Austrian butcher named Herman Haubt, convicted of 2nd degree murder
• an undated mugshot of an African American woman named Pearl Williams, charged with being a dishonest servant
• a 1906 mugshot of bartender Sam Davis (accused of pick pocketing) produced by detective Harry C. White of Harrisburg
• a ca. 1918 mugshot of Oliver Denton Bender taken in Columbus, Ohio, including an attached note that lists twelve of Bender’s known aliases
• a 1900 mugshot of Irishman John Mackey, charged with till tapping; two 1918 mugshots of Italian barbers Nicholas Shieno and Frank Rinaldo, both of whom were charged with flimflamming after being arrested in Scranton, Pennsylvania
• a 1918 mugshot of Jewish printer David Schleimer taken at the New York House of Refuge on Randall’s Island
• a 1917 mugshot of Michael J. Sullivan, charged with murder

The New Bedford whaling albums contain approximately 175 photographs in 4 albums pertaining to the whaling industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The New Bedford whaling albums contain approximately 175 photographs in 4 albums pertaining to the whaling industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Of the four albums, three were likely compiled by photographer Joseph Sisson Martin while the fourth was published by New Bedford bookseller H. S. Hutchinson & Co. All four albums (30.5 x 26.5 cm) are leather bound and show considerable wear. The Hutchinson album has some flaking of the leather cover. There are some loose pages, but in general the albums remain intact.

In 1903, H. S. Hutchinson & Co. commissioned the album Cutting In a Whale (Volume 1), which documents the processing of a sperm whale carcass in graphic detail. The 25 gelatin silver images document various stages of the process, including the whale being carved up while alongside a ship and various pieces being hoisted onboard for rendering into whale oil and other commercial products. The original photographs were taken by photographer and accomplished travel writer Marian Shaw Smith, who herself was married to a whaling ship captain. Smith rode along on the bark California as it sailed to the western Pacific Ocean and then procuded the images that went into Cutting In a Whale, developing and printing her roll film while at sea. Each photo is accompanied by a detailed caption.

The other three albums in the collection (Volumes 2-4) were produced by New Bedford photographer Joseph Sisson Martin in the 1910s. Martin primarily photographed whaling ships and associated craftsmen who worked around the wharves, creating a nostalgic tribute to a disappearing industry. Two of these albums also contain many earlier pictures that were taken by other photographers dating back to as early as 1868 and reproduced by Martin. Although specific photographers were not identified or credited by Martin, a number of photographs can be traced to earlier works by Joseph G. Tirrell, a major chronicler of New Bedford's whaling industry. Several of Martin's selections from Tirrell's body of work differ slightly from the Tirrell images held by the New Bedford Public Library. The third Martin album (Volume 4) may possibly contain mostly his own work. The majority of the images in this album are from 1905-1918, and each photograph is dated and captioned in a more detailed manner than the other two Martin albums. Throughout all three of the Martin albums, there are occasional checks or crosses in red pencil present in the right-hand margins. It is not clear when these markings were made or what they signify, though they may possibly represent a selection of photos that were intended to be used for some other purpose. Additionally, in the first Martin album (Volume 2) there are seven photographs of engravings of whale chases, while there are also two photographs (one in Volume 2 and another in Volume 4) of the half-sized model whaler Lagoda located in the Old Dartmouth Historical Society (now kept at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.)

• A.E. Wayland (Volume 4)
• A.R. Tucker (Volumes 2, 3, and 4)
• Alice Knowles (Volume 4)
• Andrew Hicks (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Bertha (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Canton (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Catalpa (Volume 3)
• Charles W. Morgan (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Commodore Morris (Volume 3)
• Daisy (Volume 4)
• Desdemona (Volume 3)
• E.B. Conwell (Volume 4)
• Eliza Adams (Volumes 3 and 4)
• Evelyn (Volume 4)
• Falcon (Volume 3)
• Francis Barstow (Volume 3)
• Golden City (Volume 2)
• Greyhound (Volumes 3 and 4)
• Harry Smith (Volume 2)
• Horatio (Volume 4)
• James Arnold (Volume 3)
• Josephine (Volumes 2, 3, and 4)
• Josephus (Volume 3)
• Kathleen (Volume 2)
• Laconia (Volume 3)
• Lagoda (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Leonora (Volume 2)
• Massachusetts (Volume 3)
• Morning Star (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Niger (Volume 3)
• Pedro Varela (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Platina (Volumes 2 and 4)
• Progress (Volume 2)
• Rousseau (Volume 3)
• Sullivan (Volume 2)
• Sunbeam (Volumes 2, 3, and 4)
• Swallow (Volume 3)
• Tamerlane (Volume 3)
• Viola (Volume 4)
• Wanderer (Volumes 2 and 4)
• William Graber (Volume 4)

The New England family travel photograph album contains approximately 600 photographs that document the domestic life and foreign travels of an unidentified husband and wife couple from suburban Boston during the first decade of the 20th-century.

The New England family travel photograph album contains approximately 600 photographs that document the domestic life and foreign travels of an unidentified husband and wife couple from suburban Boston during the first decade of the 20th-century. The album (28.5 x 36 cm) has pebbled black leather covers with “Photographs” stamped in gold on the front. By and large, images are presented chronologically and many have extensive captions which mainly identify the locations pictured as well as certain individuals. It appears that many image captions were cut and pasted from white paper and added on top of pre-existing faded captions that had been written directly on the album pages. Some images that show people of African descent have subtly derogatory captions. Photographs showcasing the family’s domestic life include pictures of annual spring blooms in their backyard; friends and family; various domestic activities including interacting with pet cats; and regional outings such as visits to Mt. Washington, Point of Pines nature park in Revere, Massachusetts, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier's birthplace in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

In the summer of 1905, the couple travelled to Montreal and up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City and beyond, resulting in the production of nearly ten pages of photographic highlights (pgs. 7-16). Later that summer, they also took photographs while vacationing in the Lake Sebago region of Maine with friends whom they later visited in Providence, Rhode Island (pgs. 16-20, 22). A visit to New Orleans, Louisiana, and Beauvoir, Mississippi, in December of 1906 is also documented (pgs. 30-37). In 1907 the couple undertook a period of extensive international travel beginning with a trip to England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, and France (pgs. 38-57). A second visit to Quebec in September 1907 is briefly represented (pgs. 57-58), while a series of pictures from a trip to St. Augustine, Florida, in April 1908 are also included (pgs. 59-62). Photographs related to two separate tours of the Caribbean and Central/South America in July and August of 1908 and March of 1909 make up a substantial portion of the album (pgs. 63-103); images from the first tour mainly include scenes from Caribbean islands such as St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Kitts, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, and Barbados as well as British Guiana, while images from the second trip include scenes from Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Panama, Venezuela, Trinidad, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Also present are several commercially-produced photographs, including a number of panoramic views, showing scenes from Mexico (pgs. 104-111). The majority of images taken during the couple’s travels consist of typical sightseeing photographs showing important cultural landmarks and historic buildings as well as street scenes, methods of transportation, and local people and industries. Throughout the album there are also numerous photographs taken aboard various transport vessels mid-voyage.

A few noteworthy historical events are minimally represented by photographs in this album, such as the January 15 1905 Washington Street Baptist Church fire in Lynn, Massachusetts (pgs. 2 & 3); the Quebec Bridge a few weeks after its collapse on August 29 1907 (pg. 57); the Great Chelsea Fire of 1908 (pg. 59); Panama Canal construction in 1909 (pgs. 87-89); long distance views of the site of the village of St. Pierre, Martinique, which was decimated by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Pelée on May 8 1902 (pg. 80); and the wreck of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor (pg. 179). Individuals identified by captions throughout the album include Dr. Robert L. Bartlett (pgs. 4 & 89); “Miss Morse” (pg. 5); Stanley and Donald Clauss of Providence, Rhode Island (pgs. 17, 19 & 22); Hattie English, Lizzie English, “Mrs. Boynton,” and “Miss Lord” (pg. 19); Samuel Pickard (pg. 20); Jessie Pauline Whitney (pg. 21); "Mr. Little" (pgs. 19 & 22); William Rhodes (pg. 26); Maud Burdett (pgs. 38 & 58); George C. Hardin (pg. 74); Dr. Selah Merrill, American Consul in British Guiana (pg. 80); "Mrs. Parker" (pg. 85); and Hermann Ahrensburg (pg. 91). Other images of interest include a couple of photographs showing United States cavalrymen at camp in Lakeville, Massachusetts (pg. 2); a multiple exposure photograph showing the wife and other women (pg. 22); four photos showing a group of women that appear to be associated with a possible Masonic organization with the acronym “O.E.O.T.” (pg. 23); two photos of local boys diving in St. Lucia (pg. 72); a picture of a school for natives in St. Thomas where students were supposedly fined 10 cents a day for being absent (pg. 82); photos from Kingston, Jamaica, showing women working on a railroad and men operating a hand-made sugar mill (pg. 86); a group portrait of a baseball team in Venezuela (pg. 92); photos of the natural asphalt deposit Pitch Lake in Trinidad (pgs. 94 & 95); and photographs showing people with Brownie box cameras (pgs. 82 & 103).

The New London, Connecticut photograph album contains approximately 180 photographs mainly depicting rural areas, forests, lakes, and beach views in the vicinity of New London, Connecticut, as well as additional travel photographs taken in the 1930s in South Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts.

The New London, Connecticut photograph album contains approximately 180 photographs mainly depicting rural areas, forests, lakes, and beach views in the vicinity of New London, Connecticut, as well as additional travel photographs taken in the 1930s in South Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. The album (29 x 21 cm) has brown cloth covers and is disbound. Connecticut-related images include a rustic cabin on Gardner Lake, the New London waterfront, and sailboats in the New London harbor. Also included are summer and winter views of a lodge exterior, and interior views showing Christmas decorations. Most photographs highlight natural features, with very few people included. Many images have manuscript captions, and a large number of photos have become loose.