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Collection

Ypsilanti State Normal School Photograph Album, 1876-1877

20 photographs in 1 album

The Ypsilanti State Normal School photograph album contains 20 photographs of teachers and students associated with Ypsilanti State Normal School (now known as Eastern Michigan University).

The Ypsilanti State Normal School photograph album contains 20 photographs of teachers and students associated with Ypsilanti State Normal School (now known as Eastern Michigan University).

The album (15 x 11.5 cm) has black leather covers with “Cartes De Visite” gilt-stamped on the front and a metal locking clasp. An “Index to Portraits” appears towards the front, though it does not match the current arrangement of photographs. A total of 18 cartes de visite and 2 tintypes are present.

The first image in the album is a view of two buildings captioned “Ypsilanti State Normal in 1876 when Mr. & Mrs. M. J. Erwin attended.” Subsequent photographs consist entirely of individual and group studio portraits, all of which include handwritten captions identifying people and in some cases occupations, dates, and locations. Persons pictured include Ypsilanti State Normal School teachers, administrators, and students as well as individuals associated with the McKibbin and Erwin families of Commerce and Southfield, Oakland County, Michigan. Portraits of superintendent Joseph Estabrook, geography instructor Anna Cutcheon, science instructor J. A. McLouth, and preceptress Ruth Hoppin are all included towards the front of the album.

The signature of “John McKibbin” appears on the album’s first page. A man identified as John McKibbin also appears in three photographs, one of which includes an additional caption in differently colored ink that reads “My Brother.” The additional caption was likely written by McKibbin’s sister Mary C. McKibbin Erwin, whose portrait is also included alongside one of her husband Matthew J. Erwin. All three individuals attended Ypsilanti State Normal School together.

Collection

William A. Lewis photograph collection, ca. 1850s-1980s

approximately 1,530 items in 12 boxes

The William A. Lewis photograph collection consists of approximately 1,530 items pertaining to a wide range of visual subjects that are represented across a variety of photographic formats including daguerreotypes, cartes de visite, stereographs (which form the bulk of the collection), and glass plate negatives as well as modern slides, film strips, snapshots, and postcards.

The William A. Lewis photograph collection consists of approximately 1,530 items pertaining to a wide range of visual subjects that are represented across a variety of photographic formats including daguerreotypes, cartes de visite, stereographs (which form the bulk of the collection), and glass plate negatives as well as modern slides, film strips, snapshots, and postcards.

The subject matter of this collection is thematically and chronologically diverse and reflects the broad interests of the collector, with the U.S. Civil War and 19th-century views of American and European cities being particularly well-represented topics. The collection is organized into four main series according to subject matter and is further divided into specific subject groupings within each series. In most cases, multi-item sets have been kept together and placed within the most generally appropriate subject grouping. An extensive number of photographers and publishers are represented throughout the collection including the likes of H. H. Bennett, C. B. Brubaker, John Carbutt, Centennial Photographic Company, B. F. Childs, E. & H. T. Anthony & Company, Alexander Gardner, T. W. Ingersoll, International Stereoscopic View Company, Keystone View Company, William Notman, Timothy O'Sullivan, William Rau, Strohmeyer & Wyman, Underwood & Underwood, and F. G. Weller.

The following list provides a breakdown of every topical subsection of the collection and includes item counts for each grouping:

Series I: General Subjects
  • Airships (11)
  • Bridges (69)
  • Civil War I--stereographs (91)
  • Civil War II--cartes de visite, Kodachrome slides, negative film strip copies of stereographs held at the Library of Congress, postcards (48)
  • Disasters (49)
  • Expositions (24)
  • Industry & Labor (89)
  • Miscellaneous (23)
  • Portraits (109)
  • Railroads (62)
  • Ships (80)
  • War (30)
Series II: Views, U.S.
  • Alaska (47)
  • Arizona (3)
  • California (20)
  • Colorado (2)
  • Dakota (4)
  • District of Columbia (50)
  • Florida (2)
  • Hawaii (1)
  • Illinois (17)
  • Iowa (2)
  • Maine (8)
  • Maryland (27)
  • Massachusetts (20)
  • Michigan (31)
  • Missouri (3)
  • New Hampshire (10)
  • New York (116)
  • Ohio (2)
  • Oregon (2)
  • Pennsylvania (16)
  • Tennessee (1)
  • Texas (1)
  • Vermont (3)
  • Utah (3)
  • Virginia (6)
  • Washington (1)
  • West Virginia (1)
  • Wisconsin (2)
  • Wyoming (2)
  • Unidentified locations (35)
Series III: Views, Foreign
  • Austria (5)
  • Belgium (6)
  • Brazil (1)
  • Canada (3)
  • Cuba (5)
  • Czechoslovakia (1)
  • Egypt (5)
  • England (21)
  • France (43)
  • Germany (14)
  • Greece (1)
  • India (2)
  • Ireland (4)
  • Italy (22)
  • Japan (3)
  • Mexico (1)
  • Miscellaneous (31)
  • Monaco (4)
  • Netherlands (1)
  • Norway (3)
  • Palestine (5)
  • Panama (41)
  • Puerto Rico (3)
  • Scotland (10)
  • Spain (2)
  • Sweden (2)
  • Switzerland (9)
  • Turkey (1)
Series IV: Objects
  • Keystone Alaska and Panama views, set box (1)
  • Stereoscope (1)
Items of particular interest include:
  • Post-WWI Keystone views of German and American zeppelins and one real photo postcard showing pre-WWI aircraft (Series I, Box 1, Airships)
  • Numerous views of the Brooklyn Bridge under construction and after completion, and the Niagara Falls suspension bridge (Series I, Box 1, Bridges)
  • Views of Civil War battle sites, encampments, and leaders on contemporary mounts as well as numerous reproductions of stereographs showing important battlefield sites and troops (Series I, Boxes 1-2, Civil War)
  • Stereographs, real photo postcards, and other images documenting the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, 1871 Chicago Fire, 1889 Johnstown Flood, 1900 Galveston Hurricane, and other calamities (Series I, Box 3, Disasters)
  • Images showing scenes from various American and European events, with an emphasis on the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia (Series I, Box 3, Expositions)
  • Images showing mills, factories and people engaged in various occupations, including a boxed set of 50 images related Sears, Roebuck operations produced around 1906 (Series I, Box 3, Industry & Labor)
  • Hand-colored early groupings of French theatrical tableaux (Series I, Box 3, Miscellaneous)
  • Approximately 109 portrait photographs in different formats of various individuals, including William Jennings Bryan; a boxed set of 50 cartes de visite depicting Danish actors and actresses; cartes de visite of Emperor Napoleon III and the Mikado of Japan; and numerous unidentified subjects represented in real photo postcards (1), tintypes (17), framed/cased ambrotypes, and daguerreotypes (13) (Series I, Box 4, Portraits)
  • Approximately 62 images of railroads, mostly in the U.S., including photographs from an 1866 expedition to the 100th meridian on the Union Pacific Railroad while under construction (Series I, Box 5, Railroads)
  • Approximately 80 images of ships including warships, freighters, riverboats, passenger ships, shipwrecks (including of the USS Maine), and shipyards mostly in the U.S. with the notable exception of a photo of the 1858 launch of the SS Great Eastern, with Isambard Kingdom Brunel possibly in the crowd. Also of interest are 8 photos and postcards showing ships in World War I-era "dazzle" camouflage (Series I, Box 5, Ships)
  • A Keystone View Co. series of images related to World War I (Series I, Box 5, Wars)
  • A number of images produced by Keystone View Co. and other stereograph purveyors that focus on major cities such as Boston, New York, Paris, Constantinople, and Jerusalem (throughout Series II & Series III)
  • Views from geological expeditions to the American frontier in the 1860s and 1870s (Series II, Unidentified Locations)
Collection

Weld-Grimké family photograph album, ca. 1860-1880

1 volume

The Weld-Grimké family album is a 12.5 x 16 cm bound cartes de visite photograph album with some tintypes and gem tintypes interspersed. The album has a brown leather cover with gilt clasps. The photographs all appear to date from the 1860s to the 1870s but there is no precise date for individual photographs listed. The album has a printed title page that reads "Photographs/Boston/Roberts Brothers." The album is 50 pages with each page containing a single slot for a photograph, though some pages have multiple photographs tucked into the same slot. The photographs are almost all studio portraiture. While some of the individuals in the album have been identified (including Theodore D. Weld) the vast majority are unidentified.

The Weld-Grimké Family Album is a 12.5 x 16 cm bound cartes de visite photograph album with some tintypes and gem tintypes interspersed. The album has a brown leather cover with gilt clasps. The photographs all appear to date from the 1860s to the 1870s but there is no precise date for individual photographs listed. The album has a printed title page that reads "Photographs/Boston/Roberts Brothers." The album is 50 pages with each page containing a single slot for a photograph, though some pages have multiple photographs tucked into the same slot. There are 52 photographs in the album, 46 of which are cartes de visite. There are also 6 tintypes, 2 of which are gem tintypes. The photographs are almost all studio portraiture of individuals ranging from infanthood to old age. One exception to this is a photograph of a satirical drawing of an unidentified individual playing some sort of instrument (loose photograph on page 49). Some of the individuals in the album have been tentatively identified with the majority unidentified. One photograph (on page 24) has been speculated to be a portrait of Charlotte Brown, an African-American servant of the Weld-Grimké family, but this has not been confirmed.

Other individuals that have been tentatively identified include:
  • Theodore Dwight Weld (page 1, page 20)
  • William Hamilton (page 4)
  • Sarah Weld Hamilton (page 5)
  • Angelina G. Hamilton (page 6)
  • William Hamilton Jr. (page 7)
  • Llewellyn Haskell (page 9)
  • Llewellyn Thomas Haskell (page 12)
  • Louis Olcott Haskell (page 13)
  • Elizabeth "Lizzie" Cram (page 21)
  • William James Rolfe (page 22)
  • Theodore Weld Parmele (page 27, page 34)
  • Elizabeth Smith Miller (page 28)
  • Ann Carroll Fitzhugh (page 29)
  • George Walker Weld (page 30)
  • Gerrit Smith Miller (page 35)
  • Ruth C. Bodwell (page 36)
  • Rena Louise Twiss (page 45)

The album also contains commercial cartes de visite of public figures and artwork:
  • A photograph of a painting of the Empress Eugenie. (page 33)
  • A portrait of Rebecca an escaped slave from New Orleans. (page 38)
  • A photograph of a painting of Beatrice Cenci. (loose item on page 41)
  • A portrait of actor Edwin Booth (page 40) brother of John Wilkes Booth.
  • A photograph of a painting of "Little Samuel" based on the etching done by Samuel Cousins. (page 43)

In addition to this finding aid, the Clement Library has created a Photographer Index for the album, containing the names of all the photographers in the order that they appear in the album. This index also records any handwritten inscriptions that were found on the photographs.

Collection

Warrensburg, Missouri Photograph Albums, ca. 1865-1880

21 photographs in 2 albums

The Warrensburg, Missouri photograph albums consist of two photograph albums containing 21 studio portraits, including several portraits of members of an African American family based in Warrensburg, Missouri during the 1870s.

Although these two albums were purchased together as a single lot from the same source, it is unclear if or how the individuals who are represented in each respective album are related. For conservation and preservation reasons, the original photographs have been removed from these albums and replaced with facsimile scan copies. The original photographs have been housed alongside the albums.

Volume 1:

This album (10 x 12 cm) contains four cartes de visite and six tintypes, all of which are formal studio portrait photographs. The album is made of pebbled black leather covers with a leather closure and has “Album” stamped in gold on the spine. The ownership stamp of “Lon. Fickas” (likely Benjamin Alonzo Fickas) appears twice in the album. “Warrens Brug (sic) Johnson Count Mo” is inscribed on a page near the back cover.

Eight or nine African American individuals are depicted in these photographs, some of whom may be identified through inscriptions on the photograph versos and/or inscriptions made directly onto the album pages. However, it appears that these photographs may have been moved around at some point as some of the album inscriptions do not seem to match up with subjects. Several images have hand-painted details including gold jewelry.

Pg. 1 of this album contained a carte de visite portrait of an African American man bearing a verso inscription that reads “Warrens Brug (sic) Mo march 11 1875 Less Will Wis 25 years old march 1”; there is also an inscription on the album page that reads “Renie (or Remi?) Hatton.” Pg. 2 held a tintype of an African American woman wearing a light blue ribbon that was colored by hand. Pgs. 5 and 11 both contained copies of the same carte de visite portrait of an infant African American child being held in place by a hidden mother; an inscription on pg. 5 reads “Lewis ?” while an inscription on pg. 11 reads “John Butler.” Pg. 7 contained a tintype of a young African American woman that includes a paper flower scrap with printed text reading “Charity” pasted at the top of the photograph sleeve. Two locks of women’s hair were stored in the album, one between pgs. 8 and 9 and the other between pgs. 12 and 13. Pg. 9 contained a full-length tintype portrait of an African American woman that bears a verso inscription reading “John Butler Warrensburg Mo,” while an inscription on page 10 also reads “kizher? Butler Was 27 year old June 1 1876.” This inscription may possibly be referencing a woman named Kizzie Butler who was recorded as living with her husband John Butler in Warrensburg in the 1870 census and was later included in Dawes Act Rolls under “Choctaw Freedmen.” Pg. 13 contained a tintype of an African American woman seated while holding a book (likely a bible). Pg. 15 contained a half-length portrait tintype of an African American man, while pg. 16 contained a tintype of an African American woman (possibly the same woman represented in the tintype from pg. 9) seated while wearing a white dress and hat. A small loose unmounted gelatin silver print portrait of an African American girl was also present between pgs. 16 and 17.

Volume 2:

This album (14 cm x 10 cm) contained eleven studio portrait photographs, nine of which are tintypes. The album has brown leather covers with a metal closure and has a floral motif rectangle around the word "Album" all stamped in gold on the front cover. None of the subjects represented in this album are identified, and none of these portraits appear to depict any of the individuals who are represented in Volume 1.

Most of the portraits that were housed in this album are of unidentified white men, women, and children. Also present is a group portrait tintype showing a family of possible African and/or Native American descent and a carte de visite portrait of a young African American girl taken by “Simpson 424 E Wash St.” (possibly William Simpson of Indianapolis). Also of note is a carte de visite portrait taken by J. F. Ryder of Cleveland of a white actress (possibly a burlesque dancer) leaning on a chair.

Collection

Victor Leroy Rushfeldt, Jr., Collection, 1941-1980s

approximately 114 photographs in 1 album, 1 diary, 1 VHS tape, assorted paper files

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.

Collection

Traveling photographers collection, ca. 1850s-1900s

approximately 245 photographs

The Traveling photographers collection contains approximately 245 examples of photographs produced by various traveling photographers that operated in the United States primarily during the latter half of the 19th-century.

Works by approximately 145 different traveling photographers are present in this collection and include cartes de visite, cabinet cards, stereographs, tintypes, and a small number of larger format images. For many of these photographers there is only a single example of their work included in the collection. Locations of operation include a wide range of regions across the United States, with eastern states such as Pennsylvania being particularly well-represented. Most of these photographs are typical individual and group portraits of men, women, and children.

The collection has been divided into two volumes. Volume 1 contains cartes de visite and tintypes while Volume 2 contains cabinet cards, stereographs, and a few other images with larger mounts of varying sizes. Volume 1 also includes two clippings and one photocopied page from an article about traveling photographers written by Eaton S. Lothrop, Jr., for Popular Photography magazine as part of his "Time Exposure" column series.

While most of the people represented in this collection are unidentified, the following individuals are identified by accompanying inscriptions:
  • “Wm. Johnson” - taken by N. L. Stone (Vol 1)
  • “F. W. Huling” - taken by C. S. Roshon’s Mammoth Union Photograph Car (Vol 1)
  • “Jimmie McCool Taken in 1889” - taken by S. R. Miller’s Photograph Car (Vol 1)
  • “J. B. [or J. R.?] Enders” - taken by A. J. Miller, Keystone Traveling Gallery (Vol 1)
  • “Uncle John Grimes” - taken by H. F. Knoderer & Bro (Vol 1)
  • “J. P. Seip & Bro” - taken by Josiah Knecht (Vol 1)
  • “Angalina Seip” [Angelina Seip] - taken by Josiah Knecht (Vol 1)
  • “Julie Hamlin” - taken by Huested Bros. (Vol 1)
  • “Timo Moyer?” - taken by Geo. V. Knecht (Vol 1)
  • “Sam Rhenis Martin” and “Probably Sam Rhenis Martin’s Wife” - taken by Callahan’s Traveling Gallery (Vol 1)
  • “Mrs. R H Blodget 236 35th St. Denver Col. Formily Mary Neil” - taken by King & Co.’s Traveling Gallery (Vol 1)
  • “[?] Adaline Temple” - taken by F. J. Aiken (Vol 1)
  • “Presented to Mr. & Mrs. Silas Boyer” - taken by B. Breslow’s Empire Movable Photograph Gallery
  • “C. H. Holmes May 2nd 1881” - taken by J. B. Silvis (Vol 1)
  • “Lou House - Graham’s Baby” - taken by the Erik Borklund Photo Car (Vol 2)
  • “Olive Woodward” - taken by A. Couturier (Vol 2)
  • “Geo. H. Dunham” and “Fredd Harry Dunham” - taken by Currier & Parkinson (includes stamp depicting Landing of Columbus on verso) (Vol 2)
  • “Will Duning of Dresden” - taken by F. M. Foster (Vol 2)
  • “Pansy Lovewell” - taken by the Hutchings Rail-Road Photo-Car (Vol 2)
  • “Jabez Willes brother of Julia Willes Thrall” - taken by F. L. Hale (Vol 2)
  • “Charlie, Mary, & Bruce Blaney Claysville Washington Co Pa.” - taken by Gibson & Myres (Vol 2)
  • “Mrs. James J. Connelly #10 McConnellsburg PA” - taken by S. R. Miller’s Photograph Car (it is unclear if this inscription is related to the couple depicted) (Vol 2)
  • “Carrie and Mattie Ewan”- taken by the National Art Company’s Railroad Palace Photographic Studio (Vol 2)
  • “George & Sarah Kistler” - taken by Rollow’s Art Car (Vol 2)
  • “Leo Martin” and "Jim Martin" - both taken by the Pacific Photograph Car, Rockford, Washington (Vol 2)
  • “Arron Smith Children” - taken by the Pacific Photograph Car, Rockford, Washington (Vol 2)
  • “Miss. Kittie M. Newell July 22nd 1889” - taken by Abel J. Whalen’s Accommodation Photo. Car (Vol 2)
  • “Will Schnegg” - taken by H. C. Williams’ Floating Gallery (Vol 2)
  • “Jonas Heim” - taken by B. L. Wilson’s Traveling Gallery (“Christina Waltz Williamsport Pa.” likely a relative of the subject and former owner of the photograph) (Vol 2)
  • “April 1891 - Maggie Austin April 1891. A. M. Austin 43. E. G. ‘ ‘ 43 Mag ‘ ‘ 14 Edd ‘ ‘ 18 May ‘ ‘ 21.” - taken by W. H. Yant (Vol 2)
  • “Howard J. Martin about 1893” - taken by Boston and Albany R.R. Photo Car (Vol 2)
  • “Wash’s Daughter Pearl” - taken by F. M. Steele (Vol 2)
  • “The Boy Preacher, Age 14: John E. De Merritt” - taken by Winslow and Shobe (Vol 2)
  • “Maurice (Moe?) Boynton Alice Price } 2nd buggy” - taken by Carson Bros (Vol 2)
  • “Mrs. J. C. Boxley” - taken by Newton & Sprague Photo Car (Vol 2)

Other items of interest include 14 tintypes including a group portrait taken at the Algonquin Bon Ton Tent by W. H. Pearce and a miniature tintype produced by Douglass’ Travelling Car (Vol 1); several photographs with revenue stamps; and 10 cartes de visite by C. G. Blatt, including three items containing humorous poetry in their backstamps (Vol 1); a stereograph view of "the old Block House at Annapolis Royal" by the Palace R.R. Photograph Car Co. (Vol 2); a stereograph view of Bridgewater, Vermont (Vol 2); a stereograph view of the "Steam Packet 'Minnesota' at Hastings [Minnesota] (Vol 2); a portrait of a pet pug taken by Will. H. McMillan, R. R. Palace Photo Car that bears an inscribed caption reading: “For my dear ‘Missis’ from her Devoted ‘Brownie’” (Vol 2); a group portrait of a man and women taken by Keil & Matula with an inscribed caption reading “Czechlovakia Couple Fayetteville, TX” (Vol 2); several portraits of children that appear to show hidden mothers in the background; two studio portraits of unidentified individuals produced by Civil War veteran turned photographer Capt. J. B. Shane (Vol 2); a number of photographs that appear to be copies of earlier images, including a portrait of a man produced by the Hutchings Railroad Photo Car bearing an inscribed caption reading: “Copied from original” (Vol 2); and a possible self portrait of photographer Abel J. Whalen on a mount stamped "Whalen's 'Accommodation' Photo. Car."

The following lists contain names of photographers represented in the collection as well as the total number of images included for each photographer:

Volume 1: Cartes de visite
  • F. J. Aiken [2 images]
  • Aldhizer & Eutsler [2 images]
  • Atkinson’s Photographic Railroad Gallery [1 image]
  • L. K. Bair [1 image]
  • B. Billian [1 image]
  • C. G. Blatt [10 images]
  • A. F. Bonine [1 image]
  • E. A. Bonine [2 images]
  • J. K. Bottorf [1 image]
  • Bowdish's Traveling Gallery [1 image]
  • B. Breslow’s Empire Movable Photograph Gallery [2 images]
  • Brown & Huard [1 image]
  • Burchfield & Bottorf [1 image]
  • J. Bushong [1 image]
  • Callahan’s Travelling Gallery [3 images]
  • H. P. Carnes [1 image]
  • Coggeshall’s Excelsior Photographic Car (John Ingersoll Coggeshall) [2 images]
  • G. W. Dibert [1 image]
  • W. A. Dietrich [4 images]
  • Doran's Photographic Car [1 image]
  • Dougherty (Mammoth wagon) [2 images]
  • Dougherty & Cope (Mammoth wagon; J. L. Cope) [3 images]
  • J. W. Fothergill's Mammoth Photograph Car [1 image]
  • F. Z. Fritz [2 images]
  • William R. Godkin [1 image]
  • M. C. Goodell [4 images]
  • William Griffin [2 images]
  • Harry Gurlitz’s Photograph Car [1 image]
  • W. H. Heiss [2 images]
  • J. J. Hodge [2 images]
  • J. M. Horning & Co. [2 images]
  • Huested Bros. [1 image]
  • Johnson & Sullivan’s Portable Railroad Gallery [1 image]
  • King & Co.’s Traveling Gallery [1 image]
  • George V. Knecht [5 images]
  • Josiah Knecht [8 images]
  • H. F. Knoderer & Bro. [1 image]
  • C. L. Leonard [3 images]
  • J. Loveridge [1 image]
  • C. D. Luccock [1 image]
  • J. H. McGowan (U.P.R.R. Photographic Car) [1 image]
  • A. J. Miller [1 image]
  • S. R. Miller's Photograph Car [2 images]
  • William Nick [3 images]
  • Nick & Knecht [2 images]
  • E. W. Peirce (The Railroad Photograph Coach) [1 image]
  • Lewis P. Peter [7 images]
  • Peter & Kresge [1 image]
  • Peters & Brother [1 image]
  • F. B. Pine's Floating Photographic Studio, of the St. John's River, Fla. [1 image]
  • S. Place [1 image]
  • Portable Picture Palace [1 image]
  • G. M. Primrose [2 images]
  • W. H. Rector [4 images]
  • C. S. Roshon (Mammoth Union photograph car) [1 image]
  • J. B. Silvis (U.P.R.R. Photographic Car) [2 images]
  • C. H. Sisson [1 image]
  • C. M. Stark [1 image]
  • N. L. Stone [1 image]
  • A. Stoppel [1 image]
  • Tucker & Powell [1 image]
  • W. A. Vale [1 image]
  • M. C. Vance [1 image]
  • D. S. Von Nieda [1 image]
  • Horace L. Webber [1 image]
  • West & Lewis (Travelling photographers) [1 image]
  • Whalen's Portable Art Gallery (Abel J. Whalen) [1 image]
  • L. H. Whitson (Professor L. H. Whitson's Rail Road Photographic Car) [1 image]

Volume 1: Tintypes
  • Bishop's Portable Photograph Gallery [1 image]
  • J. Davidson [1 image]
  • Doolittle & Humphrey's Tintype and Ferrotype Car [1 image]
  • Dougherty & Cope (Mammoth wagon; J. L. Cope) [1 image]
  • Douglass’ Traveling Car [2 images]
  • Paul’s Mammoth Travelling Photograph and Ferro-type Car [1 image]
  • W. H. Pearce (The Algonquian Bon Ton Tent) [1 image]
  • E. B. Squier [2 images]
  • A. D. Terhune [1 image]
  • Williams & Dodge’s Photograph Cars [2 images]
  • C. C. Williams [1 image]

Volume 2: Cabinet cards
  • Antoinette Palace Railroad Photo Car (Studio Antoinette) [2 images]
  • Blocker Palace Art Studio and Traveling Cottage Gallery [1 image]
  • Erik Borklund [1 image]
  • Boston and Albany R. R. Photo Car [2 images]
  • W. A. Bradley [1 image]
  • P. L. Britain (Palace R. R. Photo Car.) [1 image]
  • Clark’s Portable Gallery [1 image]
  • J. P. Coffey, Photo. Car. (J. N. Bayles) [1 image]
  • A. Couturier [2 images]
  • James H. Crockwell [1 image]
  • Currier & Parkinson [1 image]
  • J. W. Dalrymple [1 image]
  • Drum Rail Road Photo Car (Oscar Drum) [1 image]
  • Elite R. R. Photo Co. [1 image]
  • Fallman Parlor Photo Car [3 images]
  • F. M. Foster [1 image]
  • Gibson & Myres, Traveling Photographers [1 image]
  • F. L. Hale [2 images]
  • F. J. Haynes [3 images]
  • T. E. Hays [1 image]
  • Howell (Prairie Queen Gallery - Temple, Tex.) [1 image]
  • Hutchings Bros. Railroad Photo. Car [1 image]
  • Hutchings Rail-Road Photo-Car [3 images]
  • K. C. Photo Car [1 image]
  • Keil & Matula, Traveling Photographers [1 image]
  • Keystone Portable Gallery [1 image]
  • Lyden & Bellinger [1 image]
  • Malloy (20th Ave. No. & Wash. Minneapolis) [1 image]
  • William H. McMillan [1 image]
  • J. W. Merideth [1 image]
  • S. R. Miller [3 images]
  • National Art Company’s Railroad Palace Photographic Studio [1 image]
  • Newton & Sprague Photo Car. [1 image]
  • Nowack Bros. Floating Gallery [1 image]
  • Pacific Photograph Car [4 images]
  • Palace R.R. Photograph Studio [1 image]
  • Lewis DeArcy Rollow (Rollow’s Art Car) [2 images]
  • J. B. Shane [2 images]
  • Showman & Joy’s Palace Cars [1 image]
  • Smith Brothers [1 image]
  • C. H. South [1 image]
  • F. M. Steele [1 image]
  • The K. C. Art Chariot [1 image]
  • The Stuart Queen City Photo Co's. Great Australian Route, Car No. 12 [4 images]
  • The Traveling Art Company [1 image]
  • M. F. Timmerman (East Tenn. Photo Car) [1 image]
  • Tooley & Grigsby (The Monarch Traveling Photographers) [1 image]
  • Turner & Johnson [1 image]
  • N. A. Watkins [1 image]
  • Welsh & Harlow [1 image]
  • West & Lewis (Travelling photographers)
  • Whalen's "Accommodation" Photo. Car. (Abel J. Whalen) [2 images]
  • H. C. Williams (Williams' Floating Gallery) [1 image]
  • B. L. Wilson's Traveling Gallery [1 image]
  • Wilson's Railroad Photo Car. (B. L. Wilson) [1 image]
  • Winslow and Shobe [1 image]
  • Wolfe & Peiffer (Keystone Traveling Photo Studio) [2 images]
  • W. H. Yant [1 image]
  • Young, Portrait Artist (Boston Portrait Car) [1 image]

Volume 2: Stereographs
  • T. A. Aldrich [1 image]
  • Coggeshall’s Excelsior Photographic Car (John Ingersoll Coggeshall) [2 images]
  • Mrs. Emma A. Cooke's Traveling Photo. Pavillion (Emma A. Cooke and W. A. Cooke) [1 image]
  • J. P. Doremus [1 image]
  • H. H. H. Langill [1 image]
  • Palace R. R. Photograph Car Co. [1 image]
  • F. B. Pine's Floating Photographic Studio, of the St. John's River, Fla. [1 image]
  • W. E. Warren's Portable Photograph House [2 images]

Volume 2: Larger formats
  • J. A. Bellinger [1 image]
  • Carson Bros. [1 image]
  • Newton & Sprague Photo Car. [1 image]
  • D. R. White [1 image]

Collection

Thomas M. Bridges Crow Creek and Fort Hall Reservations Collection, ca. 1850-1918 (majority within 1892-1899)

approximately 242 photographs in 5 albums, 13 loose photographs, and 2 pieces of realia

The Thomas M. Bridges Crow Creek and Fort Hall Reservations collection contains approximately 242 photographs in 5 albums, 13 loose photographs, a Catlinite pipe bowl, and a ball headed war club. These materials were associated with Dr. Thomas Miller Bridges, a physician and surgeon who was employed on Native American reservations during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Thomas M. Bridges Crow Creek and Fort Hall Reservations collection contains approximately 242 photographs in 5 albums, 13 loose photographs, a Catlinite pipe bowl, and a ball headed war club. These materials were associated with Dr. Thomas Miller Bridges, a physician and surgeon who was employed on Native American reservations during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Photographs

Volume 1: This album (18.5 x 29.5 cm) has pebbled black faux leather covers with “Photographs” stamped in gold on the front and contains 51 photographs, all of which pertain to Crow Creek Reservation and primarily date to ca. 1892-1896. Detailed printed captions have been cut and pasted beneath every image in the album. Several captions have dates that were crossed out for unknown reasons. A handful of images also have numbers inscribed next to them. It is uncertain who took the majority of these photographs, though at least one photograph included in this album (a studio portrait of “White Ghost,” Yanktonai chief) has shown up elsewhere on mounts produced by a photographer based in Chamberlain, South Dakota, named H. B. Perry. It is possible that Perry produced a substantial number of the photographs in this album. Dr. Bridges may have also contributed many photographs.

Items of particular interest include:
  • Portrait of Anna Lee Bridges at 18 months old
  • Group portrait captioned “With the Sioux, an Indian’s home” that shows Dr. Bridges standing outside of a home next to a Native American family
  • Group portrait of Crow Creek Agency employees including William Fuller (carpenter), R. Ryerson (blacksmith, miscaptioned as “N. Ryerson”), Joseph Wertz (miller), S. M. Childers (farmer), and Dr. Bridges
  • Multiple views of Crow Creek Agency buildings including the physician’s residence, Grace Howard Mission School, church and parsonage (William Fuller also appears in this image), hospital, aspects of the Crow Creek Indian School complex (including the girl’s and boy’s buildings, school rooms building, and dining room), and trader’s store
  • Group portrait of five men holding various tools captioned “the blacksmith and his helpers”
  • Two photographic reproductions of oil-on-canvas paintings by agency carpenter William Fuller, including a depiction of a scaffold burial overlooking Lower Brule Reservation painted ca. 1882 and a bird’s-eye view of the Crow Creek Reservation painted in 1893
  • Image captioned “A war party of Sioux Indians, So. Dak., 1893” that is possibly related to Sun Dance-Fourth of July celebrations
  • At least four images related to beef issue on Crow Creek Reservation
  • Three images documenting the transportation and assemblage of 500 wagons that were granted for issue at Crow Creek Reservation
  • Group portrait of members of the Crow Creek Indian Police
  • Group portrait of three men identified as “Burned Prairie,” “Robt. Philbrick” (Robert Philbrick, also known as Tahcaduzahan/Swift Deer), and “Wounded Knee” who are described as “Judges of the Court of Indian Offenses, Crow Creek Indian Agency, S.D.”
  • Group portrait of Crow Creek Agency employees including Robert Smith (blacksmith), Iron Shield (policeman), Dr. Bridges, Joseph Sutton (farmer), J. F. Geigoldt (issue clerk), J. C. Fitzpatrick (chief clerk), Fred Treon (U.S. Indian agent), and Thomas Stevens (assistant clerk)
  • Studio portraits of “‘White Ghost’, Chief of the Yanktonai Sioux” and “‘Iron Nation’, Chief of the Brule Sioux,” both of whom can be seen wearing mixtures of western and traditional clothing and holding objects such as a turkey feather fan, rifle, and pipes
  • Group portrait of two women wearing dentalium shell earrings (one of whom carries a child on her back) identified as “Fire Tail” and “Visible Lightning” posing outside of a tipi next to an empty chair draped with a blanket
  • Outdoor portrait of a man identified as “Two Crow” seated outside of his log cabin home
  • Outdoor portrait of a man identified as “Talking Crow” holding a rifle and wearing a feather headdress, arm bands, and otter fur breastplate fitted with mirror discs while sitting on a horse dressed in a buffalo scalp horse mask (images of horses wearing these masks are exceedingly rare)
  • Outdoor portrait of “‘Bull Ghost’, a sub-chief of the Yanktonai Sioux” seated before a tipi on a blanketed chair wearing a mixture of western and traditional clothing including an otter fur turban, hair feather, moccasins, and wool leggings while holding a tobacco bag, tomahawk, and pipe
  • Group portrait of ten schoolgirls posing with teacher Mary A. Reason
  • Photograph taken outside the home of a medicine man named “Eagle Dog” (possibly the man standing at left wearing a grizzly bear claw necklace) showing pots, pans, chairs, and animal skins drying
  • Group portrait captioned “A dancing party of Sioux Indians” showing nine men gathered around a drum while dressed in traditional clothing including otter fur bandoliers, moccasins, leg garters affixed with dance bells, an otter fur breastplate, and a split horn war bonnet
  • Photograph showing several men on horseback captioned “A band of Sioux, at the Agency, July 4th 1895?” with the year listed in the caption crossed out.

Volume 2:This album (18 x 30 cm) has pebbled black leather covers and contains 5 photographs. While no captions or dates are provided, most of these images were likely taken ca. 1910. Four of the images are outdoor group portraits that appear to have been taken during a lakeside cottage trip to an unidentified location, possibly somewhere near Idaho Falls or Yellowstone National Park. A young girl (likely Berenice Bridges) appears in three photos wearing a white dress, while Dr. Bridges likely appears in two photos sporting a long beard. Several other unidentified individuals (likely including Maggie and Anna Lee Bridges) are also present in these images. The fifth photograph in this album is a group portrait of four unidentified individuals, including three Native American people (two older adults and one child) and a white woman, standing outside of a tipi.

Volume 3: This album (19 x 26 cm) has red string-bound cloth covers with “Photographs” stamped in gold on the front cover and contains 47 photographs, the majority of which document aspects of Fort Hall Reservation and primarily date to ca. 1896-1899. Detailed printed captions have been cut and pasted beneath most images in the album. A handful of images also have numbers inscribed next to them. While some images may have been produced by Dr. Bridges himself, many of these photographs (especially images from regions outside of Fort Hall Reservation) were likely taken by other photographers.

Items of particular interest include:
  • Group portrait of the “Conn. Indian Association Scholars and others,” with missionary, educator, and close friend of the Bridges family Amelia J. Frost identified in the lineup
  • Images of various Fort Hall Agency buildings such as the Fort Hall Indian School, the physician’s and agent’s residences, main office
  • Several pictures of Fort Hall Indian School employees and students including a group portrait of the Fort Hall Indian School brass band
  • Photograph showing a well being bored
  • Several images documenting a train wreck on the O.S.L.R.R. at Ross Fork, Idaho
  • Outdoor portrait of Cahuilla basket maker Ramona Lubo captioned “Ramona at Cahuilla”
  • Photograph of human remains inside of a coffin captioned “Sioux grave, method of bur-ial in the sixties, after the Government stopped bur-ial in trees or on scaffolds”
  • Two photographs, including one captioned “Dress Parade,” that show two unidentified Native American men wearing traditional clothing (the man wearing a bone hairpipe breastplate may possibly be Levi Levering, also known as He’-con-thin’ke or White Horn, an Omaha Indian teacher at Fort Hall Indian School)
  • Three images showing US Army 4th Cavalry Troop F performing drills
  • Group portrait of Anna Lee Bridges with friends “Eulia Churchill” and “Maggie Funkhouser”
  • Group portrait of two white girls identified as “Maggie & Bertie Funkhouser” wearing Native American costumes
  • Group portrait of Fort Hall Agency employees taken in 1899 including W. H. Reeder (carpenter), C. M. Bumgarner (farmer), Dr. Bridges, P. J. Johnson (blacksmith), M. Timsanico (interpreter), Paul Bannock (stableman), W. H. Evans (farmer), E. C. Godwin (clerk), Lieut. F. G. Irwin (acting agent), C. M. Robinson (issue clerk), and Ed. Lavatta (farmer)
  • Four images related to the Warm Springs Indian Agency in Oregon
  • Two views of the San Gabriel Mission Church, one of which was produced by Warren Bros.
  • Two views of Mt. Putnam
  • Group portrait of Native American boys of various ages wearing military-style uniforms captioned “School boys, Ft. Hall Indian School, Idaho”
  • Group portrait showing the family of Old Ocean (Bannock guide said to have aided Lewis and Clark) aged “112 yrs old.”

Volume 4: This album (23 x 26 cm) was produced by the Eastman Kodak Company and has string-bound black cloth covers with “Photographs” embossed in gold on the front cover. It contains 85 photographs, the majority of which document aspects of Fort Hall Reservation and primarily date to ca. 1896-1899. Detailed printed captions have been cut and pasted beneath many images in the album. Dr. Bridges possibly produced all or most of these images and captions himself.

Items of particular interest include:
  • Several views of various Fort Hall Agency buildings
  • Several views related to travels in Teton Pass, Jackson Hole, and Snake River in Wyoming
  • View of the “Conn. Indian Association Mission School” with an additional manuscript caption stating “Miss [Amelia] Frost’s first mission"
  • Several group portraits of Native American and white cowboys
  • Outdoor portrait of an unidentified Native American man on horseback wearing a split horn bonnet
  • Two images related to Fort Hall Agency beef issue
  • Image showing several people examining an older Native American woman captioned “Granny Pokibro, on parade”
  • Multiple images that include Anna Lee Bridges
  • Several images showing members and officers (including Lieut. Holbrook and Capt. Hatfield) of US Army 4th Cavalry Troop F
  • Three photos of Omaha Indians including two portraits of an unidentified Omaha man (possibly Levi Levering) wearing a feather headdress as well as a group portrait showing Levi Levering sitting beside his wife Vena Bartlett Levering while she holds their infant child
  • Group portrait of three members of the Fort Hall Reservation Police crossing Snake River
  • Images of geysers, waterfalls, and other scenery likely taken at Yellowstone National Park
  • Two solo portraits (including a man identified as “F. M. Parsons”) of men standing at the top of the Malad Divide
  • Portrait of a young child identified as “Little Bill Mo-cats Jr.”

Volume 5: This album (18 x 29 cm) has black pebbled faux leather covers and contains 54 photographs primarily related to Fort Hall Reservation ca. 1896-1899. Detailed printed captions often including sequential numbers have been cut and pasted beneath most images in the album. Some album pages have missing photographs with captions still present. Dr. Bridges may have produced many of these images and captions himself.

Items of particular interest include:
  • Three group portraits of a Fort Hall Agency employee picnic held near the head of Ross Fork Creek in 1898
  • Image showing “Bannock and Shoshoni Indians horse racing” far in the distance
  • Image of hay being stacked at Fort Hall Agency
  • Several views of various Fort Hall Agency buildings including the carpenter’s residence, physician’s residence, and agent’s office
  • Outdoor portrait of an unidentified Bannock girl on horseback captioned “No. 67. Bannock Indian Girl, showing squaw saddle”
  • Group portrait taken in 1899 of Levi Levering (far right) and Rueben P. Wolfe (far left), both Omaha Indian teachers employed at Fort Hall Indian School, posing with their wives Vena Bartlett Levering (second from right holding infant) and Rose E. Cordier (second from left, also known as Rose Wolf Setter and Rose C. Setter)
  • Group portrait of two white girls dressed as “Imitation Indians”
  • Group portrait of several Omaha Indian men likely visiting Fort Hall Reservation dressed in “handsome native dress of buck-skin & beads”
  • Two halftone reproductions of photographs taken by Lee Moorhouse in October 1898 of infant Cayuse twins Emma and Edna Jones (also known as Tax-a-Lax and Alompum) in cradleboards (miscaptioned in album as “Umatilla Indian twins”)
  • Image of a scaffold burial captioned “a man and his wife buried in 1872, this negative was made in 1886”
  • Photos of a Chinese merchant and a Chinese grave at Fort Hall Agency
  • Eight images documenting a rabbit drive
  • Portrait of Old Ocean “age 112”
  • Three images of buildings in Salt Lake City, Utah, identified as the “Mormon temple,” the “Bee-hive,” and “Eagle Gate”
  • Portrait of an unidentified man standing inside of the dispensary at Cheyenne River Agency, South Dakota
  • View of an uncovered sweat house
  • Six images showing various buildings, issue day, and hay work scenes at San Carlos Agency, Arizona
  • Photograph showing a man and dog outside of a building captioned “Pump house, Lower Brule, S.D.”
  • Image of a building with a sign above the front entrance reading “Govt. Trading Post.”

Loose Images: Also present are 13 loose photographs. Items of interest include an unmounted photographic reproduction of a ca. 1880 lithograph depicting a group of Native Americans preparing a scaffold burial with a typed caption on the verso reading “Scaffold burial, as practiced by the Crow Indians, elevating the corpse to the scaffold. (Copied by permission, from the 1st annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology)”; an unmounted group portrait of several Mohave people including two women and seven children; an unmounted portrait of an unidentified Native American man seated outside of a dwelling made of mud and straw captioned “An old time medicine man and his hut”; an unmounted group portrait taken outside a Fort Hall Reservation building captioned “School House, teacher & pupils at Ross Fork”; an unmounted view of a building captioned “Fort Hall. Location. The old adobes”; a studio portrait of an adult Anna Lee Bridges wearing a nurses uniform taken by F. R. Lambrecht, likely ca. 1918; and a studio portrait of Berenice Bridges as a child.

Realia

The first piece of realia is a pipe bowl (7.5 x 3.5 x 3 cm) made from Catlinite that likely dates to the 1850s and is most probably of Lakota/Dakota origin.

The second piece of realia is a ball headed war club (54 x 15 x 6 cm) that likely dates to the 1860s and is most probably of Lakota/Dakota origin. The club is made entirely of carved wood. The ball head is painted black and is lacking a spike while the main body is decorated with brass upholstery tacks on one side.

Both of these items were likely acquired by Dr. Bridges as a result of his personal interest in Native American material culture.

Collection

Same-Sex Affection and Gender Studies Photograph Collection, ca. 1850s-1940s

approximately 150 photographs

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.

Examples of images of interest include:
  • 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.
Collection

Russell C. Shaul photograph album, ca. 1927-1950

approximately 136 images in 1 album

The Russell C. Shaul photograph album contains images and ephemera related to the life and career of photographer Russell Clifford Shaul, who owned a studio in Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Russell C. Shaul photograph album contains images and ephemera related to the life and career of photographer Russell Clifford Shaul, who owned a studio in Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s.

The album (36.5 x 28 cm) has string-bound brown covers with the words "Scrap Book" and a depiction of a boy and girl wearing wooden clogs embossed on the front; the covers and pages are in poor condition. The structure of the album is roughly chronological, with material from the 1920s appearing towards the beginning and material from the 1940s appearing towards the end. However, candid snapshots and studio portraits made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early 1930s are scattered throughout and mixed in with photos from other periods. At least one page includes dated photos from the early 1930s and late 1940s that appear side by side. Certain names and people reappear often, but exactly how they relate to one another is not entirely clear. Many photographs document people drinking as well as posing in a humorous manner.

Photographer Russell Clifford Shaul appears to have been the compiler of this album. Shaul’s name appears on numerous images as the credited photographer, including portraits taken in Milwaukee in the early 1930s and a Chicago cityscape view from the mid-1940s. Several photos are also inscribed with messages to “Russell,” while snapshots arranged on a page captioned “The Shauls” show him and his third wife Sarah visiting various U. S. tourist destinations between 1944 and 1949. At some point during the 1930s it appears that Shaul relocated from Milwaukee to Chicago and set up a new photography business. Several pages in the album suggest that Shaul and his colleagues practiced door-to-door operations.

Two pages document a man’s World War II service. He is pictured driving a Jeep and wearing a uniform bearing an “Official U.S. War Photographer” patch, training on a shooting range, interacting with people on the streets “In India,” and taking photographs with both still and motion picture cameras. This man appears throughout the album (identified elsewhere as “Carl”), including in the earliest Milwaukee shots in 1927. He may have been Shaul’s friend and/or business partner.

Items placed toward the end of the album include some scrapbook materials including letterheads advertising a company called Chicago Thrill Tours and Chicago-based radio host called “The Nitehawk,” as well as business cards identifying a fellow photographer in Chicago named Charles Lonk and a trailer park in Eau Gallie, Florida.

In addition to the album there is also an envelope containing several loose photographs and ephemeral items including portraits of various people and groups; pictures of people drinking at bars; photographs of the man elsewhere identified as Carl drinking at a Milwaukee bar in 1927 as well as posing in a bathtub while another man bathes him; an image of a photo supply storefront with a cutout of an unidentified man pasted over the front door (possibly shop owner I. Dobkin); photography-related clippings; aerial images of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, taken in 1938; and a portrait by Acme Newspictures of a man in the radio studio of “The Nitehawk - WBBM” captioned “J. W. Clark.” Also present is an enveloped typed letter signed by “The Nitehawk” written to Shaul in 1948 asking him to be on the lookout for early copies of Reader’s Digest.

Collection

Robson family photograph album, 1911.

1 volume

The Robson family photograph album (14.25 x 19.25 cm) contains 29 snapshots of men and women related to the Robson family in the Missoula, Montana area and Illinois.

The Robson family photograph album (14.25 x 19.25 cm) contains 29 snapshots of men and women related to the Robson family in Illinois and the Missoula, Montana area.

Most of the photographs have inscriptions underneath. 3 loose photographs are tucked in the back pages and do not include inscriptions. An inscription inside the front cover indicates the album was a Christmas gift from Isabelle Cockburn Robson to her nephew, George McPherson, in 1911. Greenough Park in Missoula is featured throughout the album.

Of note are two photographs, one on page 22 of Native Americans standing on a street, and one on page 23 of a crowd listening to former President Theodore Roosevelt give a speech in Missoula.