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The Wilbur Wright Airfield photograph album contains 250 images taken by Corporal J. O. McDonnell that mainly document military activities at Wilbur Wright Airfield in Ohio during World War I.

The album (18 x 28.5 cm) is string-bound and has black leather covers with "Photographs" stamped in gold on the front and black paper pages. Images are sequentially numbered in white pencil. Contents primarily cover a range of aviation training activities and other operational aspects of Wilbur Wright Airfield. Various training aircraft are documented in detail; the majority were Curtiss JN-4s, known as “Jennys,” but the base also had some DeHaviland DH-4s. Numerous views of planes are included, showing them on the ground, in the air, and operating in all seasonal conditions. Several crash landings are also documented, with most of the wrecks appearing to be “nose-overs” (planes flipping forward upon landing) rather than high-speed crashes into the ground.

In addition to pilot training, Cpl. McDonnell also documented aspects of daily life at the base including hangars, mechanics shops, fabrication areas, and barracks. Photographs include shots of military personnel working on planes, lounging in barracks, and searching for wreckage. Also present are photographs of visitors to the base (including actress Pearl White and possibly other cast members of Pearl of the Army), the New York Times airplane, experimental plane designs (such as a dual engine biplane and innovative wing shapes), and two images showcasing the newly developed Brock Automatic Aeroplane Camera designed for aerial surveillance. Cpl. McDonnell himself may possibly appear in photograph no. 69 posing with a young woman in front of an airplane.

Other locations besides Wilbur Wright Airfield are represented in the album, including storefront views and street scenes in Mineola, New York, which may possibly have been McDonnell’s hometown. Also present are four portraits of Theodore Roosevelt giving a speech in 1917 at a racetrack in Mineola, seven images of Washington, D.C., landmarks (including four directional views taken from the top of the Washington Monument), a view of the Tijuana Fair, the Horton Plaza fountain at the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego, and six aerial photographs showing an unidentified coastal city (likely San Diego) and several ships.

Other photographs produced by Cpl. McDonnell for official U.S. Army purposes differ from those found in this album in terms of their size, content, quality of composition, and attention to staging. It is likely that he took photographs for official (and sometimes classified) purposes in his role as base photographer while also taking his own personal snapshots, the latter of which are what appears to be compiled in this album.

The Wisconsin and Minnesota friendship photograph album contains approximately 245 photographs documenting a friend group of young women.

The Wisconsin and Minnesota friendship photograph album contains approximately 245 photographs documenting a friend group of young women.

The album (18 x 29.5 cm) has black cloth covers and black paper pages. Contents generally progress chronologically starting from the 1910s while the friend group appears to be in college before documenting their lives once they get married and start having families. Numerous images have witty captions, likely referencing inside jokes. Photographs primarily consist of individual and group portraits showing the women partaking in various activities including striking comical poses together, attending costume and fraternity parties, holding picnics, and going on various other adventures. Also present are views of the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menominee, Wisconsin, Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Loring Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Halfway through the album begins to document members of the friend group getting married and starting families of their own, with photographs mainly depicting young children, homes, and group vacations including a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. The last few pages also include images of a World War I-era soldier and nurses with facemasks (possibly indicating involvement with treating Spanish influenza victims).

Photographs showing instances of blackface and other racially insensitive costumes are present.

The Yacht Vergana photograph album contains approximately 190 photographs related to the lifestyle and friends of a New York-based yacht owner.

The Yacht Vergana photograph album contains approximately 190 photographs related to the lifestyle and friends of a New York-based yacht owner. The album (18 x 26 cm) is fully bound in brown leather. Images of interest include views taken in and around Long Island Sound, including the torpedo boat Ericsson at the Greenport dock; shell races at Poughkeepsie, with spectators aboard the steamboat Chester W. Chapin; Luna Park on Coney Island; various sailing and steam vessels on Long Island Sound; Prospect Park in Brooklyn; the racing yacht Flint's Arrow; a group of nurses from the Flower Free Hospital on a shipboard outing; buildings in Greenport; Sir Thomas Lipton's yacht, Erin; cadets at West Point; the steamboat Orient and her crew; the yacht Vergana; Long Island Railroad snow plows; and an automobile race at the Riverhead Fair (according to laid-in caption). Other photographs include beach scenes, fishing boats, family and friends onboard the Vergana and other vessels, and unidentified street views possibly taken on Long Island. A number of photographs include manuscript captions.