Collections

The Colombia photograph album contains approximately 110 photographs showing scenes from Cartagena, Turbaco, and Barranquilla in Colombia.

The Colombia photograph album contains approximately 110 photographs showing scenes from Cartagena, Turbaco, and Barranquilla in Colombia. The album (18 x 28 cm) is half bound in black leather. Images of particular interest include photographs related to diplomatic functions, such as views of the British and Spanish consulates, interiors of the American consulates in Barranquilla and Cartagena, two portraits of the British Consul and family, and a series of portraits of the large family of the Spanish Consul, "Familia Zubiria Stevenson." Other images of note include photographs of a bullfight, the tomb and former home of Rafael Núñez, street and architectural views, churches, thatched huts, local inhabitants including mule drivers and cemetery workers, guns at the Baluarte de San Javier, soldiers in formation, and harbor views including views of passanger sternwheel ferry Alicia and a clipper ship. Some photographs have handwritten captions in Spanish.

The Key West, Dry Tortugas album (10 x 12 cm) contains 14 collodion printing-out-paper prints consisting of architectural views of Fort Jefferson, Florida, portraits of government employees at Fort Jefferson and Key West, a view of Bird Key and a group of dairy cows on Key West.

The Key West, Dry Tortugas album (10 x 12 cm) contains 14 collodion printing-out-paper prints consisting of two exterior and seven interior views of Fort Jefferson, Florida, two group portraits of the "Commandant" with his brother and wife, a view of "Bird Key, near K[ey] W[est]", a group portrait of 25 men posed outdoors with the caption: "Govt. employees at Key West, Florida. All except 11 died, yellow fever, 1899.", and a picture of cows on a street captioned: "A walking dairy at Key West; the manner in which milk is delivered." Two photographs in mounts are labeled: "Burgert Bros., Key West, Florida.

The album has a half-cloth cover with floral cloth boards and the title "Photogs" imprinted in silver. Housed in a gray box.

The MacMillan Arctic Expedition photograph album contains approximately 160 photographs related to the Arctic Expedition to Greenland in the summer of 1925 led by Donald Baxter MacMillan aboard the ships Peary and Bowdoin.

The MacMillan Arctic Expedition photograph album contains approximately 160 photographs related to the Arctic Expedition to Greenland in the summer of 1925 led by Donald Baxter MacMillan aboard the ships Peary and Bowdoin. The photographs were removed from the journal of Chief Boatswain Earl E. Reber, an expedition pilot, and stored in plastic sheets in a green three-ring binder (30 x 30 cm). Images of interest include scenes from the departure out of Boston, Massachusetts; a stop at Labrador; many views of native peoples and landscapes of Greenland; and shipboard photographs including individual and group crew portraits, crew members playing pirate, and a view of the captain's table with officers and servants. Landscape views include rocky shorelines, glaciers, drift and pack ice, icebergs, and aerial photographs of Etah harbor, the Greenland ice cap, and Ellesmere Island. Crew members are shown in various images interacting with native Greenlanders onboard ships, showing a group of children how to use a camera, and visting a native Greenlander residence. Additional images include views of an Inuit summer hut and permanent shelter, sled dogs, and natives kayaking and cleaning a walrus carcass; the unloading and assembly of the Loenig amphibious aircraft; and waterfront views of Battle Harbor, Labrador, and of Gotthaab, Godhavn, and Umanak, Greenland.

Expedition members identified by typewritten captions include: Floyd Benney, Richard Byrd, Leo Max Davidoff, Albert Francis, Jacob Gayer, John La Gorce, Donald MacMillan, E. F. McDonald, A. C. Nold, W. D. Publicover, Earl E. Reber, Charles Rocheville, M. A. Schur, Nels Sorensen, and G. F. Steele.

The Oberlin, Ohio photograph album contains 11 studio portrait photographs, including several images of family members and friends apparently related to a biracial family based in Oberlin, Ohio.

The Oberlin, Ohio photograph album contains 11 studio portrait photographs, including several images of family members and friends apparently related to a biracial family based in Oberlin, Ohio.

The album (13.5 x 10 cm) has embossed leather covers and a broken metal clasp. The album spine has completely deteriorated and all pages are completely detached from one another. For conservation and preservation purposes, all original photographs have been removed from their album page slots and replaced with facsimile copies. The original photographs are stored in a separate container along with the album.

Most of the individuals represented in this album have been tentatively identified through the presence of inscriptions made on album pages; all or most of the subjects appear to have been biracial/African American. Many page captions appear to be associated with friends and family members of the Vaughn family (alternatively spelled “Vaughan”) of Oberlin, Ohio. One group portrait of two boys present in the page captioned “John & Louis Vaughn” may depict brothers John Sewell Vaughn and Wendal Louis Vaughn, the latter of whom went on to become a professional photographer. While it remains unclear who the original compiler of the album was, it is possible that it was assembled by either a member or close friend of the Vaughn family.

The following list includes inscriptions present on album pages (in order of appearance) and/or descriptions of the portraits associated with each inscription:

• “Oscar Viney Dolph Viney’s father”: Carte de visite portrait of a bearded man with a hat. Possibly Oscar F. Viney (approximately 1830-1904) of Gallipolis, Ohio, who had a son named Adolphus E. Viney (1873-1947)
• “Aunt America Vaughn Clark”: Tintype portrait of a young woman. Possibly America Vaughn Clark (approximately 1845-?) of Gallipolis, Ohio. Includes revenue tax stamps on verso dated January 16 1866 as well as pasted-on clipped newspaper obituary for a woman named Maude Cooper Horton (1880-1903). The obituary mentions a surviving three-year-old daughter by the name of Louise; a Columbus, Ohio, death certificate for a Louise Horton (1900-1918) with parents listed as “Maud Cooper” and “William Horton” indicates that this family was "colored."
• “Will Vaughn”: Carte de visite portrait of a man with a large mustache by H. M. Platt of Oberlin, Ohio. Possibly William Craddock Vaughn (approximately 1835-1912)
• “John & Louis Vaughn”: Carte de visite group portrait of two boys by H. M. Platt. Possibly John Sewell Vaughn (1857-1931) and Wendel Louis Vaughn (approximately 1860-1918).
• “John Vaughn": Carte de visite portrait of a young man by H. M. Platt. Possibly John Sewell Vaughn, though also appears to possibly resemble older version of Wendel Louis Vaughn when compared to preceding group portrait.
• “Aunt Margaret”: Carte de visite portrait of a woman with curly hair.
• “Aunt Margaret”: Tintype portrait of a woman with curly hair. Same woman photographed in preceding image.
• “Thresa Madey”: Carte de visite portrait of a woman by C. W. Howland of Cincinnati, Ohio.
• “? Cooper”: No photograph in page slot.
• “Mary Hamilton”: Tintype portrait of a young African American woman.
• [Unidentified African American infant]: Carte de visite portrait of an unidentified infant by an unidentified photographer of St. Louis, Missouri.

The Raymond family travel and portrait photograph album contains approximately 315 items (including photographic prints and illustrated postcards) related to the family, acquaintances, and travels of Francis J. Raymond, Jr., of St. Louis, Missouri.

The Raymond family travel and portrait photograph album contains approximately 315 items (including photographic prints and illustrated postcards) related to the family, acquaintances, and travels of Francis J. Raymond, Jr., of St. Louis, Missouri. The album (25 x 34 cm) has black cloth pages and is largely disbound. The majority of photographs have printed or typewritten captions. Many images are posed individual and group portraits of men, women, and children wearing fashionable clothing in a variety of settings, including on porches, patios, indoors, and beside trains. Several photographs appear to have been taken at the Antler Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, over a number of years, including images taken of a children's party on the hotel lawn replete with a group of Native American performers wearing war bonnets and carrying drums. Francis Raymond, Jr., is also shown visiting Charles L. Raymond and family in Detroit, as well as the Keelyn family and other friends in Los Angeles and Riverside, California. Other images show a golf outing; numerous cats and other animals; attractions in Colorado Springs, including the Cheyenne Mountain Lodge; scenes from Hawaii, including colored commercial prints of Mt. Muana Loa and a portrait of "Phillip Abdul" playing a ukelele on a Honolulu beach; several photographic silhouettes; a beach scene at Northport Point, Michigan; and a cottage at Topinbee, Michigan. Laid in images include two photographs of children's parties in 1917 and 1919, and two family groups from the same period.

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.