Collections

The Family travel photograph album contains approximately 335 photographs depicting the travels of an unidentified family to various locations in California, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Washington, and British Columbia.

The The Family travel photograph album contains approximately 335 photographs depicting the travels of an unidentified family to various locations in California, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Washington, and British Columbia. The album (19 x 28 cm) is partially disbound and has green burlap covers. Images include family snapshots primarily taken in Oakland, California (89 photographs in total), and East Orange, New Jersey (73 photographs in total); views of sights in Richmond (Virginia), Victoria (British Columbia), including many home interiors and exteriors, nurses and infants, family groups, and children in cribs and posed with dolls; photographs of parks and scenic views of Oakland; views of the battleships Vermont and St. Louis off the coast of Old Point Comfort, Virginia; and a street and waterfront view of New York City. Other photographs of interest include a light-hearted image of five women with their faces bursting through sheets of newspaper; views from locations in Virginia (Roanoke, Richmond, East Radford, Norfolk, and Jamestown), New York (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Schenectady, and Staten Island), Washington (Seattle and Big Lake), and California (Berkeley and Santa Catalina); White Fleet admiral Robley D. Evans in a carriage; and four real photograph postcards showing night views of San Francisco illuminated to welcome the Great White Fleet, May 6-17, 1908. Most photographs include manuscript captions indicating location and date.

Night Photos Taken Before and After the Earthquake and Fire is a photograph album containing 25 nighttime photographs of buildings and streets with electrical lighting in San Francisco, California, from 1901 to 1909.

Night Photos Taken Before and After the Earthquake and Fire is a photograph album containing 25 nighttime photographs of buildings and streets with electrical lighting in San Francisco, California, from 1901 to 1909.

The album (18.5. x 14.5 cm) has black cloth covers with “Photographs” gilt-stamped on front and black paper pages. An inscription on the inside of the front cover reads “Night Photos Taken Before and After The Earthquake and Fire by Cecil C. Cline S.F.” The photographer may possibly have been Cecil Cephas Cline (1884-1949), a San Francisco-based electrician. Buildings pictured include the Ferry Building, the Old Union Trust Building, the Old City Hall, the Tivoli Opera House, and more. While most photographs are exterior views, interior shots of the Ferry Building and Tivoli Opera House are also present.

Towards the back of the album one page is captioned “After the Earthquake and Fire.” Seven photographs are present in this section of the album including several images documenting the Portola Festival held in October, 1909, which was the first city-wide public event held in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake.

The USS New Jersey journal and postcard album collection consists of a log book kept by a crew member of the USS New Jersey battleship during its participation in the Great White Fleet from 1907 to 1909 as well as an album of postcards collected from locations visited during the voyage.

The USS New Jersey journal and postcard album collection consists of a logbook kept by a crew member of the USS New Jersey battleship during its participation in the Great White Fleet from 1907 to 1909 as well as an album of postcards collected from locations visited during the voyage.

Volume one (21.5 x 13.5 cm) is a sailor's personal logbook kept aboard the USS New Jersey from December 16th, 1907, to February 22nd, 1909. Joseph J. [Sulinski], one of 812 crew members, is listed as the author. Detailed entries describe speeches, daily life, notable events, and various aspects of the places visited over the course of the voyage. The logbook has line breaks whenever a new location is being discussed, and clippings and souvenirs associated with each location have been added in throughout. The entries made at locations where the USS New Jersey was anchored for extended periods of time are the most detailed, yet there are also thorough descriptions of day-long visits to places such as Valparaiso, Chile. Entries of note include a description of a “Crossing of the Equator” ceremony held on January 2nd 1908, remarks on the currency exchange process in Rio di Janeiro, a description of the return back across the equator, an account of a boxing match between crewmembers of rival ships in Los Angeles in April 1908, and a passage regarding an act of vengeance undertaken by crew members after they felt they were overcharged for supplies in Santa Barbara. Also of interest are entries regarding the death of Commander-In-Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet Admiral Charles M. Thomas, the deaths of two crewmembers in Melbourne, and the deaths of one crewmember who was lost at sea in a storm near Manila and another who was lost near Singapore. Notes about the voyage end on page 62 and are followed by a series of clippings that range from images of battleships to Philadelphia history, news about the Great White Fleet, and cartoons.

Volume two (26 x 20.25 cm) contains approximately 300 color postcards collected over the course of the Great White Fleet’s voyage around the world. The postcards begin with Trinidad and progress through various locations such as Rio de Janeiro, Marseille, Lima, Mexico City, California, Hawaii, Sydney, Melbourne, Manila, Yokohama, Tokyo, Badulla, Egypt, Sheffield, Cherbourg, and Messina. Also present are postcards depicting the USS Kansas, the overall course of the entire voyage up until July 1908, views of the Great White Fleet on Japanese postcards, and commemorative postcards involving the crew. While most of the postcards are blank, there are a few sentimental ones addressed to a Joseph Schlegel who seems to have resided in a number of U.S. military bases as well as Almont, Pennsylvania.

The Vacation travel photograph album contains a mixture of approximately 260 commercial and amateur photographs documenting a series of vacations to California, a Lake Michigan cottage, Alaska, and Canada.

The Vacation travel photograph album contains a mixture of approximately 260 commercial and amateur photographs documenting a series of vacations to California, a Lake Michigan cottage, Alaska, and Canada. The album (18 x 30 cm) has black cloth covers with two rivets. California-related photographs include views of beach scenes at Santa Catalina and La Jolla; the Theosophical Society Homestead and Temple on Point Loma; a cutler at work at his donkey-drawn cart; crates of fruit at a railroad station; passengers stretching their legs beside a stationary train; and Mount Lowe Railway and Observatory. Other Western photographs include views of pueblos and adobe buildings in New Mexico Territory.

A series of approximately 70 photographs taken in 1902 show a summer sojourn at Pine Knot Cottage, Macatewa, on Lake Michigan and includes interior and exterior cottage views, beach scenes, sailing a small boat on the lake, and views of the Hotel Ottawa. One whimsical snapshot shows a man standing on his head while being photographed by a man and woman holding a box camera. Images of a traveling party to Alaska include views of the group onboard a steamer and making stops in southeast Alaska; a street view of Wrangell; Tlingit totem poles in Wrangell and Fort Tongass; and commercial photographs of a Greek Church interior and Indian River Park in Sitka.

Additional photographs show Lake Agnes and the Canadian Rockies; Washington Park in Springfield, Illinois; Wall Street, Trinity Church Cemetery, and Grant's Tomb in New York City; Mission San Jose and Mission Concepcion in San Antonio, Texas; and bison and black bears, including a photograph of two men feeding a bear off the back of a wooden cart.