Collections

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 Mark A. Anderson collection of post-mortem photography contains approximately 1068 items including photographs, ephemeral items, documents, manuscripts, printed items, and realia pertaining to the visual history of death and bereavement between the 1840s and the 1970s. Photographs make up the bulk of the collection.

The Mark A. Anderson collection of post-mortem photography contains approximately 1068 photographs, ephemeral items, documents, manuscripts, printed items, and realia pertaining to the visual history of death and bereavement between the 1840s and the 1970s. Photographs make up the bulk of the collection. Mr. Anderson assembled this collection from dealers, antique shops, and individuals. His motivation stemmed from a desire to document and to provide historical perspective on various end-of-life practices which, in the 20th century, fell into taboo and disfavor.

The majority portion of the photographic items in the collection are neither dated, nor attributed, although approximate dates can often be determined by when particular photographic formats were in use (see timeline at www.graphicatlas.org.). Consequently, the materials have been organized first to accommodate their sizes, formats, and preservation needs, and second to reflect major subject themes present, though scattered, throughout the entire collection. These non-mutually exclusive subjects are as follows:

• Post-mortem portraits
• Post-mortem scenes
• Funeral tableaux
• Funerals and funeral processions
• Floral arrangements and displays
• Memorial cards and sentimental imagery
• Cemeteries and monuments
• Funeral industry
• Mourning attire
• Unnatural death

The first three subjects - post-mortem portraits, scenes, and funeral tableaux - all depict the recently deceased, and so fall into the narrowest definition of a post-mortem photograph. Their distinction into three separate subjects is a partly arbitrary decision, made to break up what would otherwise be a large and unwieldy grouping of photos, but also to roughly shape the order of the collection (post-mortem portraits without décor tended to date earlier chronologically than broader, beautifying scenes).

Post-mortem portraits:

The post-mortem portrait photographs, comprising 251 items in the collection, depict the bodies of dead family members and friends. These images show the deceased, sometimes posed with living family members, and for the most part do not include elements of a larger scene, such as floral arrangements, banners, or other décor.

These portraits include the earliest photographic images in the collection, including 28 cased daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes. 78 cabinet card photographs date from the late 1860s to around the turn of the century. Among many notable cabinet cards are two images of Frances Radke, taken and retouched by R. C. Houser, showing her image before and after Houser's post-capture work (3.1 and 3.2). Also of note is a framed crayon enlargement of infant Adelaide Banks by photographer/artist Edward Stuart Tray (26) and a post-mortem carte de visite of an unidentified African American infant taken by photographer S. P. Davis of Danielsonville, Connecticut (4.282u).

Post-mortem scenes:

The post-mortem scene photographs, numbering 155 items in total, are similar to the portraits described above, except that they show the deceased as part of a larger environment, whether in a private home, a funeral home, or out-of-doors. Most of these views are mounted photographic prints from the 1880s to the early decades of the 20th century, frequently centering on the corpse, lying in a casket or coffin, amidst an abundance of floral arrangements, banners or flags, family members or friends, and/or personal belongings. Their caskets are often lined with white cloth.

Many of these images have unique qualities; several examples illustrate the variety of postmortem scenes in the collection. Six photographs by W. Jakubowski and Co. and Jos. Ziawinski, of Detroit, Michigan, include five wedding photographs (of the bride and groom, bridesmaids, and family members) and one post-mortem scene of the wife. She appears to have died within a short time following the marriage; the funeral home scene image contains one of the wedding photographs and a banner marked "Dearest Wife" (18.5-18.10). One mounted photograph depicts a dog, laid on linen, in a homemade casket (14:17). The collection also contains examples of different persons on display in the same funeral home/parlor (e.g. 18.1-18.4). A set of two cabinet card photos of a child in a buggy is accompanied by one of the buggy's metal lanterns (23.1-23.3). Also of note is a photogravure of the 1888 painting "Requiescat" by British artist Briton Rivière showing a dog seated next to its deceased owner (25.2).

Funeral tableaux:

The collection's 35 funeral tableaux photographs show the deceased in an open casket or coffin, typically in front of a church or homestead, with a posed assembly of funeral attendees or mourners. They often show a large group of family and friends, and so are frequently large format prints. Group portraits of this sort were occasionally framed and displayed in the home. Most of the examples in this collection are large prints (many of them mounted), with smaller examples, including a real photo postcard, two snapshots, and one cabinet card. Particular items of note include a framed tableau on the steps of the Church of The Descent of The Holy Ghost in Detroit by Thomas Hoffman (27), a photomontage image of a nun's funeral (28), two tableaux scenes by F. A. Drukteinis taken outside of the same church in Detroit during different seasons and involving the same family (20.12 and 20.15), and three related tableaux scenes (two mounted and one unmounted) involving a presumably Hungarian family that were taken outside of what appears to be a Catholic church in Cleveland, Ohio, during three different funerals (20.16a-20.16c).

Funerals and funeral processions:

The 70 items depicting or pertaining to funeral gatherings show various aspects of the movement of the deceased from the home or funeral home to the cemetery and funeral and burial ceremonies. This group is comprised of real photo postcards (22 items), snapshots (13 items), and a variety of other formats. Examples include an albumen print depicting the Plymouth Church decorated for Henry Ward Beecher's funeral in 1887, and snapshot and postcard photographs of a burial at sea.

Floral arrangements and displays:

Additional documentation of funeral decoration may be found in the collection's 176 still life portraits of floral arrangements and other decorations. A portion of the floral display photographs include pre- or post-mortem photos of the deceased either incorporated into the display or added to the image after printing. One particularly fine example is a large format photograph of a floral arrangement for the funeral of Joshua Turner Mulls; the display included a cabinet card photo of Mr. Mulls and a modified enlargement of the cabinet card. Accompanying the floral arrangement photograph is the cabinet card depicted in the display, with artist's instructions for coloring the enlargement (22.1-22.2).

Memorial cards and sentimental imagery:

The collection includes 105 memorial cards and ephemeral items bearing sentimental imagery. Memorial cards were created as tributes, often displaying birth dates, death dates, and other information about the deceased. Many of these cards include border designs and some bear photographs of the departed. Black-fronted memorial cards gained popularity from 1880 to 1905. Of many interesting examples, the collection includes two examples of memorial cards which haven't yet been personalized (4.306-4.307) and two reflecting World War I-related deaths (4.316 and 4.317). Materials with sentimental imagery include items such as a photograph of an illustration entitled "Momma is in Heaven," a memorial book dedicated to Olive C. Partridge in 1897, and other items.

Note: an advertisement for the Memorial Card Company of Philadelphia is located in the 'Funeral Industry' section of the collection (14.35).

Cemeteries and monuments:

61 photographs, printed items, and realia explicitly pertain to cemeteries, burial markers, or monuments. Some of the cemeteries and monuments are identified, such as the Garfield Memorial at Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio (4.1-4.3). The collection includes examples of cemetery-related realia, including an ovular, porcelain headstone photograph (pre-mortem) of the deceased.

Note: cemeteries may be seen as background for many photographs throughout the collection.

The funeral industry:

The Mark A. Anderson collection of post-mortem photography holds a diverse selection of photographs, ephemera, and printed materials related to the business aspects of death, dying, and bereavement. This group contains around 153 items overall, including receipts (1896-1956); various types of advertising materials (including an undertaker's advertising card, a cabinet photograph of the Arbenz & Co. storefront advertising undertaking as a service, fans from a church and the A. C. Cheney funeral home, a thermometer, and other items); and 118 coffin sales photographs (illustrating a massive selection of different casket models offered by the Boyertown Burial Casket Company of Pennsylvania).

Two photograph albums, that of Clarence E. Mapes' furniture store and funeral home and that of the Algoe-Gundry Company funeral home, provide visual documentation of a rural and an urban funeral home (respectively) in Michigan in the first half of the 20th century:

The photo album and scrapbook of Clarence E. Mapes' furniture store and funeral home in Durand, Michigan, dating from ca. 1903-1930, contains interior and exterior photographs of the furniture and undertaker portions of the shop. The album includes photographs of casket showroom display mechanisms; an example of a "burglar proof" metallic vault; a posed photo of the embalmer standing over a man on the embalming table; images of carriage and motorized hearses; business-related newspaper clippings; and various family and vacation photographs. Several prints, dated August 1903, appear to depict the aftermath of the Wallace Brothers Circus train wreck on the Grand Trunk railroad at Durand. Among these photographs are carriage hearses, a horse-drawn cart carrying ten or more oblong boxes (for transportation and perhaps burial of victims of the wreck), a man standing in an alleyway near three stacked boxes, and a large group of persons standing in a largely unearthed section of a cemetery. The Mapes album is accompanied by a C. E. Mapes Furniture advertising fly-swatter.

The Algoe-Gundry Company album dates from ca. 1924 to 1960 and contains (almost exclusively) 8"x10" photographs of this Flint, Michigan, funeral business. The album includes images of the exterior and interior of Algoe-Gundry buildings, hearses, ambulances, and billboard advertisements.

One album was produced ca. 1939 by the Central Metallic Casket Co. of Chicago, Illinois. Titled "Caskets of Character," the album contains images of patented (or soon to be patented) casket designs as well as a printed cross-sectional view detailing the company's "Leak-Proof" Separate Inner Sealer.

Also of interest is funeral director's license granted by the Michigan State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors to Vincent J. George of Fowler, Michigan, in 1938. (25.1)

Mourning attire:

In America, mourning attire tended to follow trends set in Europe. The bereaved wore mourning clothing according to current fashion trends and societal expectations. Mourning clothing styles, often dark-colored and somber, depended on how close the mourner was to the deceased and local societal expectations. Seventeen portrait photographs show men and women wearing mourning attire without the deceased present. This group includes cabinet cards, a 1/9 plate ambrotype of an adult woman, two tintypes, and one carte-de-visite.

Note: persons wearing mourning attire may also be found scattered throughout the other sections of the Mark A. Anderson collection. While most are concentrated in the funeral photographs, mourners are also present in postmortem portraits, postmortem scenes, and cemetery photos.

Unnatural death:

43 photographs (mostly snapshots) depict "unnatural deaths," deaths not caused by age or naturally occurring disease, such as suicides, accidents, murders, and war. The larger portions of the snapshots are mid-20th century police photographs of crime or accident scenes.

Nine Indiana State Police photographs show a train-automobile accident; a group of eight unmarked photos depict the body of woman, apparently violently murdered, at the location of her death and in a morgue; 14 are of a man struck down, beneath a train; two are of a rifle suicide; and the others are of varying accidents. One World War I-era real photo postcard appears to show a man who was shot dead in a foxhole. A stereoscopic card by photographer B. W. Kilburn shows the burial of Filipino soldiers after the Battle of Malolos, Philippine Islands [ca. 1899].

Note: The photograph album/scrapbook of the Clarence E. Mapes furniture and undertakers shop contains several photographs of what appear to be the aftermath of the Wallace Brothers Circus train wreck, Durand, Michigan 1903 (see above description in the 'Funeral Industry' section of this scope and content note).

The Northern Michigan photograph collection contains an assortment of 43 photographic postcards, 28 mounted photographs, and 6 unmounted photographs showing people and scenes related to logging camp operations in northern Michigan, street views most likely from the town of Trenary, and road construction between Rapid River and Masonville.

The Northern Michigan photograph collection contains an assortment of 43 photographic postcards, 28 mounted photographs, and 6 unmounted photographs showing people and scenes related to logging camp operations in northern Michigan, street views most likely from the town of Trenary, and road construction between Rapid River and Masonville.

Per Albert Peterson (1886-1968), grandfather of collection donor Anne Peterson, is identified in two photographs. It is unclear whether members of the Peterson family took any of these photographs themselves. According to occasional annotations (many of which are not contemporary to when the photographs were taken), members of the “Johnson” family, including Oscar Johnson, John Johnson, and Manny Johnson, are the most frequently represented individuals. One group portrait of loggers is captioned “Wessling Johnson Camp” while another is captioned “Harry Schmit Camp 14.” Several postcards are addressed to an Eva Bannister located in Winters, Michigan, and a Henry Roos of Rapid River and Blaney, Michigan.

Depictions of logging camp operations include several group portraits that illustrate the size of a typical early 20th-century logging camp. A few images also highlight the cookhouse and social side of camp life, while there is also one photograph that shows the first motorized tractor used in log transport in the region. Other images show aspects of town and domestic life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from approximately 1908 to 1920. There are group portraits of railroad workers, ice cutters, maple sap gatherers, a baseball team; family members at home or being pulled in dog sleighs; and scenes of town life including a parade that appears to involve individuals dressed in blackface, an early movie theater, a fire engine, and a train crossing. One group portrait appears to have been taken around the 1940s.

A sequence of 13 photographic postcards provides a detailed overview of the stages of rural road construction in the early 1920s including views of trains unloading material onto conveyors, narrow-gauge gravel trains delivering materials to the work site, work crews and horse-drawn graders contouring the surface, and steamrollers compressing the roadbed. The postcards include brief annotations typewritten on the front of the cards.

The Pictorial Record of the United States Army Air Forces 90th Bombardment Group consists of two volumes containing 1 manuscript item and approximately 412 photographs documenting the activities of the USAAF 90th Bombardment Group during the New Guinea campaign of War World II.

Materials are housed in plastic sleeves contained in two green-colored 3-ring binders (30 x 33 cm). All photographs are gelatin silver developing-out prints and for the most part measure between 10 x 12 cm and 26 x 20 cm in size. Numerous images bear stamps that state “Passed by U.S. Army Examiners.” Most images do not have captions, though a small number do have typescript captions on their versos.

Volume A:

Volume A contains approximately 186 photographs as well as 1 manuscript item. The volume begins with a one-page typescript document issued ca. 1944 that is addressed to the 400th Bomb Squadron 90th Bomb Group, stating the photographs are intended to be “the Pictorial Record of Our Unit.” The letter is signed by Maj. C. Vernon Ekstrand of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Photographs include a composite portrait of the 90th Bomb Group members, individual and group portraits of 90th Bomb Group members, a group portrait of Japanese military personnel, images of Allied military facilities, Japanese warships being bombed, military aircraft shown both midair as well as on the ground, what appears to be an abandoned Japanese tank, and numerous landscape views. Also present are several images showing aircraft nose art. Of particular interest are various pictures documenting interactions with native Papuan people including individual and group portraits as well as photographs of Papuan settlements and structures (including churches).

Volume B:

Volume B contains approximately 226 photographs. This volume includes a substantial number of pictures of indigenous Papuan individuals, children, and families, including several portraits of nude women (including mothers breastfeeding), as well as images showing traditional Papuan body modifications and tattoos. Of particular note are images that appear to document a Papuan ceremony that showcases elements of traditional Papuan clothing, music, and ritual dance, as well as a photograph of a Papuan trumpet player. Other items of interest include numerous images documenting USO performers (including Bob Hope and Patty Thomas) and a series of aircraft nose art photographs that include several works signed by Cpl. Al G. Merkling. Images of airborne planes and landscape views also feature prominently in this volume.

The Same-sex affection and gender studies photograph collection contains approximately 150 examples of photographs that illustrate closeness between subjects of the same sex as well as aspects of non-traditional gender presentation.

The collection includes photographic examples in multiple formats with real photo postcards, tintypes, cabinet cards, cartes de visite, and small format mounted photos being the most numerous. 145 images are contained in Box 1 of the collection while an additional 5 photographs on larger format card mounts are stored in Box 2. Images mainly consist of portraits of men posing familiarly with other men, women posing familiarly with other women, and portraits of groups and individuals engaged in cross-dressing. Due to the subjective nature of assessing these images combined with historical differences in what was considered socially acceptable displays of affection and the general lack of verifiable context, many of these photographs remain open to a variety of interpretations.

Numerous photographs show same-sex duos and larger groups holding hands, placing their hands on each other, leaning on each other, or demonstrating affection in some other observable way. Most subjects are unidentified, though occasionally individuals have been identified through the presence of inscriptions. In some cases, individuals pictured together have been confirmed to be relatives.

Numerous photographs of male and female individuals and groups engaged in cross-dressing are also present. In many instances, the cross-dressing most likely occurred for humorous reasons.

• Postcard showing two men embracing with the printed caption "We're looking for girls at Lansing, Mich."
• Real photo postcard bearing a studio group portrait of two men, one of whom appears to have an unbuckled belt.
• Cabinet card studio group portrait by Beardsley of Charlotte, Michigan, showing two men, one of whom holds a guitar, whose arms appear to align behind them in a manner that suggests they may have been holding hands.
• Two different group portraits of the same female couple identified through inscriptions as "Agnes Davis" and "Anna Wickerham."
• 1940s group portrait of four men included in a souvenir packet for “Swing Rendezvous,” a New York City-based lesbian/gay bar.
• Real photo postcard bearing a portrait of an unidentified man wearing women's clothing, including a dress, flower-laden hat, and beaded necklace.
• Postcard showing a man wearing women's clothing sat on a bench with the printed caption "The Male is late!"
• Outdoor portrait of two women dressed in men's clothing captioned "A pair of Peaches."
• Real photo postcard captioned "Four of a kind" showing two cross-dressed male-female couples sitting together, with the women sat in the men's laps.
• Series of four images showing a woman posing in World War I-era soldier's uniform.

The Schafer Brothers Logging Company photograph collection consists of 18 images related to the business’s logging operations in western Washington State from the mid-1890s to 1940.

The photographs are stored in plastic sleeves and kept in a black vinyl-covered ringed notebook (38.5 x 32 cm). Five of the images are 30 x 35.5 cm while the other thirteen are 20.5 x 25.5 cm. The photographs in this collection detail important aspects of the Schafer Brothers Logging Company’s development as an enterprise. At least four of the photographs were taken by Clark Kinsey. Other attributed photographers include Anderson Photo., Jones Co., H. C. Nelson, E. A. Smith, K. S. Brown, and Stan Spiegle. Certain photographs bearing the stamp of K. S. Brown appear to possibly be copies of other photographers’ work that was reproduced at a later date.

The 30 x 35.5 cm images include the following:

1) Outdoor group portrait of seven men working in the woods in Brady, Washington; photograph by Clark Kinsey, No. 44 (ink signature on verso: Carl A. Schafer)

2) Outdoor group portrait of numerous company employees including many Native American men from the Quinault Reservation; “No. 1 Schafer Lumber Co.”; (ink signature on verso: Carl A. Schafer)

3) Outdoor group portrait of numerous company employees at a company picnic observing logrolling contest; “Schafer Bros. Annual picnic Aug 14 / 27”; photograph by Clark Kinsey, No. 51 (ink signature on verso: Carl A. Schafer)

4) Outdoor view of a 41-ton Heisler geared steam locomotive, the company’s first locomotive, with crew; “Schafer Bros. Logging Co. Brady, Wn.”; photograph by Clark Kinsey, No. 48; (ink signature on verso: Albert Schafer)

5) Outdoor group portrait of 17 log foremen; “Schafer Bros. Log Foreman [sic] # 91”; photograph by Clark Kinsey, No. 91; (ink signature on verso: John D. Schafer)

The 20.5 x 25.5 cm images include the following:

6) Ca. 1899 view of the Schafer family home built in 1895 showing members of the Schafer and Mueller families (related through Anna Schafer’s first marriage) [includes touchups made directly onto the photograph with a marker]; (photographer’s stamp on verso: Copy Negative No. 7470 K. S. Brown Photo Kenwood 1921 6838 - 32nd N.E. Seattle, Wash.)

7) Outdoor group portrait of several members of the Schafer, Mueller, and Comfort families with horse-drawn carts, dogs, and homestead visible in background [includes touchups made directly onto the photograph with a marker]; “Old Homestead”; (stamp on verso: Copy Negative No. 7473 K. S. Brown Photo Kenwood 1921 6838 - 32nd N.E. Seattle, Wash.)

8) Outdoor group portrait of several men including the Schafer brothers with crew members, two of which are entirely illustrated through negative retouching, and a team of oxen while posing with tools near noteworthy logging harvest; “Aug 21-1901 30 x 84 = 7000 Schafer Bros. Logging Co.”; (stamp on verso: Copy Negative No. 7543 K. S. Brown Photo Kenwood 1921 6838 - 32nd N.E. Seattle, Wash.)

9) Outdoor view showing team of oxen hauling trees to the river with Peter Schafer (at right holding goad stick), Roy Gill (at center riding bull), and another individual [includes touchups made directly onto the photograph with a marker]; (stamp on verso: No. 14647 The Jones Photo Co. Aberdeen, Washington)

10) LOCATED BEHIND #9; Outdoor view showing team of oxen hauling trees to the river with Peter Schafer (at right holding goad stick), Roy Gill (at center riding bull), and another individual; “Preacher Slough Sep 6 - 1897 Peter Schafer”; (stamp on verso: Copy Negative No. 7466 K. S. Brown Photo Kenwood 1921 6838 - 32nd N.E. Seattle, Wash.)

11) Outdoor view showing August Maas, Peter Schafer, and Hubert Schafer operating one of the company’s first steam donkeys [includes touchups made directly onto the photograph with a marker]; “Schafer Bros. Log Co. on Satsop”; photograph by E. A. Smith; (stamp on verso: Copy Negative No. 7475 K. S. Brown Photo Kenwood 1921 6838 - 32nd N.E. Seattle, Wash.)

12) Outdoor view showing a steam donkey railroad operation hoisting and loading logs; (stamp on verso: No. 17371 The Jones Photo Co. Aberdeen, Washington Jun 27 1940)

13) Outdoor group portrait showing in order of appearance from left to right: Hyasman (first name possibly George; Native American), Hubert Schafer, Albert Schafer, Ed Kesterson, Herman Mueller, Ben Kesterson, and John Minkler standing on a logjam in the Satsop River in 1898 [includes touchups made directly onto the photograph with a marker]; (stamp on verso: Copy Negative No. 7474 K. S. Brown Photo Kenwood 1921 6838 - 32nd N.E. Seattle, Wash.)

14) Outdoor view showing an enormous logjam on the Satsop River ca. 1907 with a group of workers posing in foreground [includes touchups made directly onto the photograph with a marker]; “Schafer Bros. 3000000 ft. in the River”; photograph by H. C. Nelson; (stamp on verso: Copy Negative No. 7471 K. S. Brown Photo Kenwood 1921 6838 - 32nd N.E. Seattle, Wash.)

15) Outdoor view showing lumber staging area on water; “140 Fir Peeler logs selected for wide Veneer or Plywood stock. Schafer Brothers Logging Co. Montesano, Wash.”; photograph by Anderson Photo. ; (stamp on verso: Anderson Photo 119 E. Heron St. Aberdeen, Wash.) (ink signature on verso: Paul A. Schafer)

16) Outdoor view showing large group of people gathered for company picnic; “Schafer Bros. Picnic Everybody Eat”; photograph by Anderson Photo. ; (stamp on verso: Anderson Photo 119 E. Heron St. Aberdeen, Wash.) (ink signature on verso: Paul A. Schafer)

17) Outdoor view of stone monument at entrance to Schafer State Park with large metal plaque that reads: Honoring the Memory of John D. & Anna Schafer Pioneers of 1871 This Park is Dedicated by Their Sons Peter, Hubert and Albert in 1924; “#14”; (stamp on verso: No. 15774 The Jones Photo Co. Aberdeen, Washington Jul 1938)

18) Outdoor view showing a man standing on a dirt path in the woods staring up at the trees; (stamp on verso: Reproduction Rights Reserved by Stan Spiegle Aberdeen, Washington)

The Vera and Gene Foreman photograph albums consist of four volumes containing approximately 917 photographs and miscellaneous ephemera that document the experiences of Vera Irene Masuch and her husband-to-be Charles Eugene “Gene” Foreman in post-World War II Europe both before and after they first met as well as earlier trips taken by Vera and friends to various places in the United States.

Volume 1 (1942-1943)

This album (25.5 x 33 cm) has brown faux-leather covers and contains approximately 159 photographs as well as some postcards. Images include numerous snapshots of young men and women (including Vera) on a ranch in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado; coverage of visits to Pike's Peak, Denver as well as an unidentified tropical location; and photographs showing young men in military uniforms.

Volume 2 (1949)

This album (32 x 38 cm) has decorative dark blue faux-leather covers and white plastic ring binding and contains 50 photographs as well as some ephemera. Only five pages near the front of the album and two pages towards the back contain any photographs, most of which show American GIs (including Gene) in training camp settings primarily near the town of Friedburg, Germany, and engaging in social activities. Some but not all images have captions. Also present towards the back of the album are several loose images including real photo postcards showing travel scenes to European locations such as Paris, Naples, Rome, and Venice as well as a group portrait of a football team, a program dated December 2 1950 for a USAREUR football game between the 2nd RCT "Dragoons" and 16th Infantry Regiment "Rangers," and a souvenir from the Casa Blanca cocktail bar in Newark, New Jersey bearing Gene Foreman's signature.

Volume 3 (1949-1950)

This album (32 x 38 cm) has decorative black faux-leather covers and white plastic ring binding and contains approximately 580 photographs as well as some ephemera. Images include photographs (including football games) from the U.S. military base near Augsburg from 1949 to 1950; recreational visits to Augsburg, Berchtesgaden (including the Eagle's Nest), Garmisch, Bonn, Heidelberg, and Frankfurt am Main in Germany, Salzburg and Vienna in Austria, and locations in the Netherlands, France, and Italy; wounded American soldiers encountered during a visit to a hospital in Munich; and 24 views of the former concentration camp in Dachau. Other images of note include photographs of a wedding between Vera's friends Mary and John and sporadic images unrelated to post-war Europe that were taken during past vacations including trips to Colorado, Utah, and El Paso, Texas.

Volume 4 (1950-1951)

This album (34.5 x 28 cm) has red leather covers and red satin lining and contains approximately 125 photographs as well as some ephemera. The first page bears the inscription "Merry Christmas! Gene, 1951, Augsburg, Germany" as well as a photograph of Vera and Gene seated together at a table. Images include numerous snapshots of friends and soldiers engaged in social activities taken on the Augsburg military base as well as photographs (including real photo postcards) taken in other European locations such as Venice, Pisa, Florence, Cannes, Amiens, and Paris. Numerous individuals are identified through captions. Also present is a tissue with lipstick kisses and a tuft of blonde hair, while several photographs and ephemeral items are stored loose towards the back of the album.

The individual captioned as "me" in a number of photographs in Volume 3 appears to be Vera. She also appears regularly in the pictures of Volume 1 (also identified as "me" in captions) as well as Volume 4, but does not appear at all in Volume 2. Gene appears for the first time outside of Volume 2 in the final few pages of Volume 3, where he is initially introduced in a portrait with the caption "Gene Forman - Eibsee Hotel, June 1950"; this portrait is followed by a full page of photos of Gene. Given that Volume 2 seems to portray Gene's time in Friedburg and most of Volume 3 seems to represent Vera's personal experiences in Augsburg and traveling elsewhere in Europe, it appears that they may have been unacquainted prior to June 1950. By October 1950 the two appear to be acting as a couple, as documented in a travel bureau itinerary present at the end of Volume 3 that details a four-day program in Naples for "Miss Masuch and Mr. Forman." The couple also appears together in Volume 4, though in this instance the "me" captions refer to Gene and not Vera, suggesting that he was the primary creator of that album.

The Victor Leroy Rushfeldt, Jr., collection contains an assortment of materials including a diary, photograph album, paper files, and a VHS tape, all of which pertain to U.S. Army Air Corp pilot 1st Lt. Victory Leroy Rushfeldt, Jr.’s service in the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron during World War II.

The Victor Leroy Rushfeldt, Jr., collection contains an assortment of materials including a diary, photograph album, paper files, and a VHS tape, all of which pertain to U.S. Army Air Corp pilot 1st Lt. Victory Leroy Rushfeldt, Jr.’s service in the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron during World War II.

The diary (15 x 8.5 cm) contains entries written by Rushfeldt, Jr., during the year of 1941. In the first entry on New Year’s Day, Rushfeldt, Jr., expressed a desire to join either the United States Army or Navy as a pilot and wondered “where I will be next New Years?” After failing his physical service exam with the Navy due to “crooked teeth,” he decided to first finish securing his private pilot’s license before sending applications to the Army Air Corps on January 31. On March 8 1941, Rushfeldt, Jr., attended a physical exam for flying cadets at Fort Snelling where again he was told that they would not “O.K. my teeth” but was instructed to send a plaster dental cast to Washington, D.C. On March 21, he traveled to Abilene, Texas, before heading for San Diego, California by car on March 25. After hitchhiking to Los Angeles on April 4 he subsequently sought job opportunities in the area while staying at the home of a local couple, including applying for a position at the Lockheed Aircraft Co. and interviewing with the Vega Airplane Co., the latter of whom he felt he could’ve obtained employment with “except for the fact that I will probably be drafted soon.” On April 20, Rushfeldt, Jr., began hitchhiking back to Albert Lea, noting stops in Nevada, Colorado, Nebraska, and Iowa before arriving home April 27. On August 12, he recorded having completed his U.S. Army Air Corps physical exam while on August 15 he took his flight test for “Stage C of the secondary C.P.T.” Towards the back of the diary there are several phone numbers and addresses listed for friends and acquaintances as well as a “Brief History of My Flying Course” listing the duration and type (dual or solo) of Rushfeldt, Jr.’s training flights in Albert Lea from October 8 1940 to February 20 1941. Also of note are numerous entries involving women that Rushfeldt, Jr., was dating.

The photograph album (26 x 34 cm) contains approximately 114 images and is string-bound with brown covers. The album begins with a series of photos showing various young women, American servicemen in uniform, and older adults interacting at what appears to be a wedding reception. Subsequent photographs of interest include a portrait of fellow pilot Jerry Smith holding a large camera; images of various aircraft; portraits of various officers identified by pen inscriptions including “Lt. Connely,” “Lt. Everhardt,” “FO Luther,” “Lt. Raymer,” “Lt. Gireau,” “Capt. Lake,” “Lt. Thye,” “Lt. Riddle,” “FO Stone,” “Charles Enoch,” “Lt. Smith,” “Lt. Glenn Jensen,” and numerous photos (including group portraits) of Victor Rushfeldt, Jr.; images of campsites, barracks, and other buildings possibly in Nadzab, New Guinea; several images documenting the wreck of an F-7B aircraft nicknamed “Idle Curiosity” which crash landed on the Biak Island airstrip while Rushfeldt, Jr., was onboard; and several photographs of indigenous Papuans (including pictures of nude women and women breastfeeding animals). Also present are twenty-one images showing painted illustrations on the sides of various aircraft, many of which were designed Cpl. Al G. Merkling. Numerous illustrations involve nude or scantily clad women posing suggestively. Nicknames of documented planes include “The Wango Wango Bird,” “Photo Queen,” “Cherokee Strip,” “TS Sympathy Remembrance,” “I’ll Be Around,” “American Beauty,” “Hangover Haven,” “Little Joe,” “Round Trip,” “Liberty Belle,” “Patched Up Piece,” “Ready Willing and Able,” “Idle Curiosity,” “Pappy’s Passion,” “Sweet Sixteen,” “St. Louis Blues,” “V…-Sure Pop,” “The Rip Snorter,” “Bourbon Boxcar,” “Ole’ Tomato,” “Mission Belle,” and “Tail Wind.”

The paper files include an envelope of informational materials from the “Reunion Project Office b-24/50th Anniversary” related to the planning of a 1989 reunion event; an overseas document file case containing three souvenir buttons from the first and second 20th Combat Mapping Squadron reunion events in 1982 and 1984, several empty letter envelopes addressed to Rushfeldt, Jr., a register of Rushfeldt, Jr.’s vaccinations and other medical data from December 28 1941 to Jan 27 1945, and an official notice from March 7 1943 declaring that Rushfeldt, Jr., qualified as “Marksman” with a .45 caliber pistol after achieving a score of 106; and a vertical file containing numerous materials related to 20th Combat Mapping Squadron reunions, events, newsletters, and other documents, including a draft of “A Pictorial History of the 20th Combat Mapping Squadron, 6th Photo Group that Served so Honorably in the Southwest Pacific Area During WW II” consisting of photocopies of images donated by former squadron members and compiled by Maj. Lawrence E. Thibault, Sr.

The VHS tape purportedly contains footage of the "Idle Curiosity" crash on the Biak Island airstrip. Rushfeldt, Jr., was aboard this aircraft at the time of the crash.