Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

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Collection

A Select Summer Vacation Tour to Marble, Colorado, 1909

55 photographs, 11 clippings, 6 pieces of ephemera, and 1 letter in 1 album

A Select Vacation Tour to Marble, Colorado contains 55 photographs, 11 clippings, 6 pieces of ephemera, and 1 letter documenting an inspection trip for potential investors to marble and slate quarries in Colorado organized by the Knickerbocker Syndicate.

A Select Vacation Tour to Marble, Colorado contains 55 photographs, 11 clippings, 6 pieces of ephemera, and 1 letter documenting an inspection trip for potential investors to marble and slate quarries in Colorado organized by the Knickerbocker Syndicate.

The album (18 x 25.5 cm) is lacking a front cover, but the contents are undamaged. The first item is an illustrated brochure attached to the album's front cover that describes the upcoming journey and provides a detailed itinerary and sample menu. While aimed primarily at current investors in the Colorado-Yule Marble Company and the Colorado Slate Company, “families and friends or acquaintances” were also welcome. The cost was not specified.

The rest of the album documents the trip and promotes the quality of company products. Photographs show Yule marble in use at the Cheesman Memorial in Denver and the Youngstown, Ohio, courthouse. Pamphlets and newspaper articles also declare the marble to be of better quality than Carrara marble and the slate is in quantities that will eclipse Wales in the industry, who was the world leader at the time.

The passengers made a thorough inspection of the Yule Marble site over two days and are shown riding from the mill to the quarry site in the new electric trolley powered by electricity generated from the Crystal River, on the quarry floor watching workers extract blocks that will be shaped into columns at the mill, and visited the site of the slate quarry which was in the early stages of development. Other highlights of the trip included stopovers at Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge and Colorado Springs, excursions to tourist sites like Pikes Peak and Cripple Creek, and city tours in Kansas City, Denver, and elsewhere. Local newspapers covered many of these visits, and clippings are included in the album.

Also present is a letter of appreciation to the mine supervisors signed by 31 of the travelers and an illustrated report on the state of the mine by a mechanical engineer on the trip named Arthur M. Chidester (who also took most of the album’s photographs).

Collection

Brearley-Pingree Collection, ca. 1860s-1949

approximately 166 photographs, 36 manuscript items, and 2 bound volumes

The Brearley-Pingree collection consists of approximately 166 autographed photographs of notable individuals that were originally compiled by Detroit-based newspaperman William H. Brearley and later added to by Detroit mayor and Governor of Michigan Hazen S. Pingree. In addition to the photographic materials, 36 manuscript items and two bound volumes are also included in the collection.

The Brearley-Pingree collection consists of approximately 166 autographed photographs of notable individuals that were originally compiled by Detroit-based newspaperman William H. Brearley and later added to by Detroit mayor and Governor of Michigan Hazen S. Pingree. An additional 36 manuscript items and 2 bound volumes are also included in the collection.

The collection appears to have been first started by Brearley during the mid-1860s, possibly during or immediately after his Civil War service. He seems to have solicited the autographs of a variety of famous individuals (including authors, performers, musicians, scientists, spiritual leaders, politicians, foreign rulers, and military officers) primarily by mailing them photographs of themselves and requesting their signatures. Possession of the collection appears to have been transferred to Pingree at some point, and he continued to make further contributions. Pingree’s daughter Hazel retained possession of the collection after her father’s death before eventually donating it to the Clements Library. All components of the collection are stored together in one box.

While most portraits in the collection are original studio photographs taken by a variety of photographers including Mathew Brady and Napoleon Sarony, a relatively small number of photographic reproductions of non-photographic portraits are also present (including depictions of James Monroe, Stonewall Jackson, and Henry and Clara Ford).

Volume 1: Brearley collection reproduction souvenir album

This album (16.5 x 15 cm) has green leather covers with lines of poetry from Henry W. Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life stamped in gold on the front. An index included at the beginning lists the names of 96 individuals represented across the album’s 24 pages. After the index, a passage written by William H. Brearley and dated August 1st 1874 explains that he created a limited number of facsimile copies of his original autographed portrait collection at the “urgent solicitation” of many interested friends. Brearley also explains that he acquired the original photographs and autographs in his collection “by long and patient effort, & tending over a period of ten years, and involving an expense of several Hundred dollars.” Subsequent album pages each contain four individually pasted 5.5 x 4 cm albumen print photographic reproductions of original portraits found in Brearley’s collection. This item was acquired from a separate source and was not part of the original collection of materials donated to the Clements Library by Hazel Hope Pingree Mills.

Volume 2: Brearley-Pingree collection original album

This album (30 x 26 cm) has brown leather covers and the words “Portraits. Autographs” and “Brearley” stamped in gold on the spine. The original autographed portraits of the Brearley-Pingree collection were once housed in this album before Clements Library staff removed the original photographs and substituted them with photocopies in 2010 for conservation and preservation purposes. Manuscript captions were also added by Clements Library staff. The original photographs are housed separately in smaller boxes and have been arranged according to size/format and ordered alphabetically by subject surname. See below for a complete list of photographic subjects contained in each box.

Of additional interest are three manuscript items, including the clipped signature of Hyacinthe Loyson and an October 15th 1873 letter from Henry W. Longfellow containing the same lines of poetry from A Psalm of Life that appear on the cover of the Brearley collection souvenir album. Also present is a letter from Buckingham Palace sent to Brearley in 1873 by Sir Thomas Biddulph explaining that the “enclosed Photograph” of Queen Victoria is being returned but that “The Queen’s Autograph is never given away.” Three wax seals are also included in the volume including an “Imperial Chancellor’s seal” (associated with a portrait of Otto von Bismarck); “the Napoleon Seal” (associated with a portrait of Jérôme Bonaparte); and a Great Seal of the Realm attached to the 1873 letter from Buckingham Palace.

Box 1.1: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, A-E

This box contains 47 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Adams, Charles Francis, 1807-1886.
  • Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873.
  • Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888.
  • Anderson, Richard Heron, 1821-1879.
  • Anderson, Robert, 1805-1871.
  • Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906.
  • Bancroft, George, 1800-1891.
  • Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891.
  • Barrett, Lawrence, 1838-1891.
  • Beauregard, G. T. (Gustave Toutant), 1818-1893.
  • Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887.
  • Billings, Josh, 1818-1885. [Henry Wheeler Shaw]
  • Birney, David Bell, 1825-1864.
  • Bishop, Anna, 1810-1884. [Anna Riviere Schultz]
  • Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898.
  • Bonaparte, Jérôme, King of Westphalia, 1784-1860.
  • Bonner, Robert, 1824-1899.
  • Booth, Edwin, 1833-1893.
  • Breckinridge, John C. (John Cabell), 1821-1875.
  • Bright, John, 1811-1889.
  • Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878.
  • Buchanan, James, 1791-1868.
  • Bülow, Hans von, 1830-1894.
  • Bunker, Chang, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Eng Bunker]
  • Bunker, Eng, 1811-1874. [in portrait with Chang Bunker]
  • Burnside, Ambrose Everett, 1824-1881. [two portraits included]
  • Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893.
  • Carleton, Will, 1845-1912.
  • Chapin, E. H. (Edwin Hubbell), 1814-1880.
  • Clem, John Lincoln, 1851-1937.
  • Clough, J. E. (John Everett), 1836-1910.
  • Coan, Titus, 1801-1882.
  • Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885.
  • Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889.
  • Cook, Eliza, 1818-1889.
  • Coombs, Jane, 1842- .
  • Curtis, George William, 1824-1892.
  • Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876.
  • Dana, Charles A. (Charles Anderson), 1819-1897.
  • Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
  • Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889.
  • Dickinson, Anna E. (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932.
  • Dix, John A. (John Adams), 1798-1879.
  • Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883.
  • Doubleday, Abner, 1819-1893.
  • Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895.
  • Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882.
  • Emory, William H. (William Hemsley), 1811-1887.

Box 1.2: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, F-N

This box contains 46 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Farragut, David Glasgow, 1801-1870.
  • Ferrero, Edward, 1831-1899.
  • Field, Cyrus W. (Cyrus West), 1819-1892.
  • Field, Kate, 1838-1896. [Mary Katherine Keemle Field]
  • Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874.
  • Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 1821-1877.
  • Fowler, O. S. (Orson Squire), 1809-1887.
  • Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879.
  • Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898.
  • Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885.
  • Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872.
  • Greenwood, Grace, 1823-1904. [Sarah Jane Clarke Lippincott]
  • Hall, John, 1829-1898.
  • Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872.
  • Hancock, Winfield Scott, 1824-1886.
  • Hay, John, 1838-1905.
  • Heintzelman, Samuel Peter, 1805-1880.
  • Hoar, E. R. (Ebenezer Rockwood), 1816-1895.
  • Holland, J. G. (Josiah Gilbert), 1819-1881.
  • Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
  • Hooker, Joseph, 1814-1879.
  • Howard, O. O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909.
  • Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885.
  • Jackson, Stonewall, 1824-1863.
  • Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875.
  • Kirby-Smith, Edmund, 1824-1893.
  • Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835-1905.
  • Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870.
  • Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
  • Locke, David Ross, 1833-1888. [Petroleum V. Nasby]
  • Logan, John Alexander, 1826-1886.
  • Longstreet, James, 1821-1904.
  • Loring, Charles G. (Charles Greely), 1794-1867.
  • Loyson, Hyacinthe, 1827-1912.
  • Lucca, Pauline, 1841-1908.
  • Mario, Giovanni, 1810-1883. [Mario, T.]
  • McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885.
  • Mitchell, Maggie, 1837-1918.
  • Moltke, Helmuth, Graf von, 1800-1891.
  • Monroe, James, 1758-1831.
  • Morse, Edward Sylvester, 1838-1925.
  • Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877.
  • Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh, Shah of Iran, 1831-1896.
  • Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902.
  • Nilsson, Christine, 1843-1921.
  • Nutt, Commodore, 1848-1881. [group portrait with Minnie Warren]

Box 1.3: Brearley-Pingree collection cartes de visite, O-Z

This box contains 36 cartes de visite. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Ord, Edward Otho Cresap, 1818-1883.
  • Parepa-Rosa, Euphrosyne, 1836-1874.
  • Patti, Adelina, 1843-1919.
  • Phillipps, Adelaide, 1833-1882.
  • Porter, David D. (David Dixon), 1813-1891.
  • Rogers, Randolph, 1825-1892.
  • Salvini, Tommaso, 1829-1915.
  • Saxe, John Godfrey, 1816-1887.
  • Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906.
  • Scott-Siddons, Mary Frances, 1844-1896.
  • Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888.
  • Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891.
  • Sothern, Edward Askew, 1826-1881.
  • Spinner, Francis Elias, 1802-1890.
  • Spurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon), 1834-1892.
  • Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904.
  • Stephens, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), 1812-1883.
  • Strakosch, Max, 1835-1892.
  • Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874.
  • Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892.
  • Terry, Alfred Howe, 1827-1890.
  • Thiers, Adolphe, 1797-1877.
  • Thomas, George H. (George Henry), 1816-1870.
  • Thomas, Theodore, 1835-1905.
  • Thumb, Tom, 1838-1883. [Charles Sherwood Stratton; group portrait with Lavinia Warren]
  • Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. [Samuel L. Clemens; both names signed on photograph]
  • Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 1794-1877.
  • Waite, Morrison R. (Morrison Remick), 1816-1888.
  • Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882.
  • Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878.
  • Willcox, Orlando B.
  • Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875.
  • Woodhull, Victoria C. (Victoria Claflin), 1838-1927.
  • Wright, Horatio Gouverneur, 1820-1899.
  • Yates, Edmund, 1831-1894.
  • Young, Brigham, 1801-1877.

Box 2: Brearley-Pingree collection cabinet cards

This box contains 27 cabinet cards. Represented individuals include the following:

  • Andrade, Ignacio, 1836-1925.
  • Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886.
  • Bernhardt, Sarah, 1844-1923.
  • Booth-Tucker, Emma, 1860-1903.
  • Booth-Tucker, Frederick St. George de Lautour, 1853-1929.
  • Bull, Ole, 1810-1880.
  • Cable, George Washington, 1844-1925.
  • Chamberlain, Joseph, 1836-1914.
  • Dickinson, Donald McDonald, 1846-1917.
  • Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881.
  • Garfield, Lucretia Rudolph, 1832-1918.
  • Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893.
  • Janauschek, Francesca Romana Magdalena, 1830-1904.
  • Kellogg, Clara Louisa, 1842-1916.
  • Kennan, George, 1845-1924.
  • Kruger, Paul, 1825-1904.
  • Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882.
  • Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884.
  • Ranavalona III, Queen of Madagascar, 1861-1917.
  • Reed, Thomas B. (Thomas Brackett), 1839-1902.
  • Stead, W. T. (William Thomas), 1849-1912. [three portraits included]
  • Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896.
  • Urso, Camilla, 1842-1902.
  • Victoria, Queen of Britain, 1819-1901.
  • Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892.

Box 3: Brearley-Pingree collection large photographs and manuscript materials

This box contains 9 large format mounted photographs and 33 manuscript items. Represented individuals among the photographs include the following:

  • Cleveland, Frances Folsom, 1864-1947.
  • Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908.
  • Ford, Clara Bryant, 1866-1950.
  • Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.
  • Gibbons, James, 1834-1921.
  • Guzmán Blanco, Antonio, 1828-1899.
  • Mace, Aurelia Gay, 1835-1910.
  • Milles, Carl, 1875-1955.
  • Wilder, Marshall P.

Manuscript materials of interest include a number of letters dating to the mid-1870s from various individuals (including John A. Dix, C. H. Spurgeon, H. W. Longfellow, and Lucretia R. Garfield) possibly sent to William H. Brearley in response to autograph solicitations and other requests; and numerous letters addressed to Hazen S. Pingree from various individuals (inlcuding William Thomas Stead, Ignacio Andrade, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley) dating to the 1890s. Other items of interest include a copy of "Special Order No. 166 'Extract' Head Quarters 2d Brigade 3d Div 2d A.I." dated June 15th 1865 stating that the 1st Mass Heavy Artillery had been ordered by Brig. Gen. Franklin Pierce to repost to General Hancock; calling cards for "Sixto Sanchez Director General de Coreeos - Postmaster" as well as "The Admiral of the Navy" George Dewey from "when he called on Gov. Pingree in Detroit"; a clipped signature of "Louis Botha Commandant General"; an undated note to poet Louise Chandler Moulton; a document dated August 1st 1892 detailing financial investment information related to the Michigan-Peninsular Car Company with pasted clippings of wealthy politicians and their net worths as well as annotations by Pingree; a letter dated Feb 19th 1892 from Don M. Dickinson to Pingree regarding the prospective visit of Grover Clevland to Detroit, Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan; a letter dated March 9th 1949 from Hazel Hope Pingree Mills to Director of the William L. Clements Library Randolph G. Adams regarding progress being made on research regarding the life of William H. Brearley; and an undated typed copy of a short essay titled "Brearley - Man of Action, Started Many Important Detroit Activities" by historian George B. Catlin.

Collection

Camp Wihakowi Photograph Albums, 1923-1926

approximately 236 photographs, 49 pieces of ephemera, and 11 drawings in 2 albums

The Camp Wihakowi photograph albums are a two-volume set of albums containing images and ephemera documenting a Northfield, Vermont, summer camp for girls from 1923 to 1926.

The Camp Wihakowi photograph albums are a two-volume set of albums containing images and ephemera documenting a Northfield, Vermont, summer camp for girls from 1923 to 1926.

Volume One (22 x 15 cm) has a black pebbled cover bound with cord and the word “Photographs” stamped in green on the front. The inside back cover includes a stamp with Dorothy Young’s address. The volume contains approximately 83 snapshots primarily dated to 1923 and 1924. Many of the images are either snapshots of natural scenery or portraits of people. The camp nicknames of a number of individuals are inscribed below their portraits. Images of interest include pictures of the 1923 camp counselors, Young’s cabin for the summer of 1923, a portrait of Dorothy Young (captioned “Dot”) with long hair, group portraits of the entire 1923 and 1924 camps, outdoor views of the Camp Wihakowi, a trip to the beach, and a hike on Scrag Mountain. Also present are 4 honors badges stored in envelopes, 7 pieces of ephemera, and 7 pen and ink drawings including two drawings of camp uniforms and sketches of the Scrag Mountain hike.

Volume Two (22 x 25 cm) has a tan cover bound with cord and the words “My Summer Camp” stamped on the front in black. Inside the front cover there is a printed cover page with Young’s address and two certificates from the Winchester Junior Rifle Corps. Many album pages are printed with categorical headers such as “Snapshots”, “Hikes” and “Motor Trips.” The album contains approximately 153 photographs, 42 pieces of ephemera and realia, and 4 drawings. Items of interest include a written account of the location of the camp, lyrics to camp cheers and songs, an hourly schedule from the 1925 camp, a drawing and record of costumes worn at the 1926 masquerade, written accounts of “The Hike to the Sanborns/July 10, 1925” and “Uncle Emmett’s Slate Quarry”, a list of campers along with their addresses and nicknames, a small mail duffel bag filled with souvenir pictures of Boston, and more honors badges. Also present are photographs of campers playing sports and shooting rifles, a trip to Sanborn Cottage, camp counselors, Young’s August cabin, and a picture of campers from West Roxbury.

Collection

Cora Smith photograph album, ca. 1895-1902

approximately 214 photographs in 1 album

The Cora Smith photograph album contains approximately 214 photographs documenting the travels and daily life of a woman living in Cornwallville, New York, in the late 1890s.

The Cora Smith photograph album contains approximately 214 photographs documenting the travels and daily life of a woman living in Cornwallville, New York, in the late 1890s.

The album (26 x 22 cm) is a blank page scrapbook with "Cora M. Smith" written in pencil on the fly leaf. Photographs consist primarily of snapshots and cyanotypes, and many of the people represented in this album (including members of the Smith and Olcott families) are identified with captions. Several trips are documented including visits to New York State destinations such as the Catskills, Niagara Falls, and Cambridge as well as Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Virginia.

Images of note include views of the Brooklyn Bridge; an older African American woman captioned "Aunt Caroline, Virginia"; young girls on "Poverty Row"; scenes around Cambridge, New York, and Cornwallville; a wedding party; the Smith family home; “Dr. Carter” preparing to remove a tooth from the mouth of an African American man; a semi-domesticated bear; the 1899 Dewey Land and Naval Parade; and Niagara Falls. Cora Smith appears in photographs on pages 24 and 33. Also present is a note regarding a store display designed by Cora to advertise Payne’s Celery Compound.

Collection

David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography, ca. 1845-1980

Approximately 113,000 photographs and 158 volumes

Online
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.

Collection

Edward R. Mullin, USS Albany in Asia Photograph Albums, 1919-1920

3 photograph albums

The Edward R. Mullin, USS Albany in Asia photograph albums consist of three volumes containing images and ephemera that document an American sailor’s experiences aboard a US Navy ship in the Asiatic Fleet from 1919 to 1920.

The Edward R. Mullin, USS Albany in Asia photograph albums consist of three volumes containing images and ephemera that document an American sailor’s experiences aboard a US Navy ship in the Asiatic Fleet from 1919 to 1920.

Volume A: This album (14.5 x 21 cm) contains photographs of scenes in Panama, Hawaii, Japan, Russia, China, California, and the Philippines that mostly depict the USS Albany, American soldiers and sailors, local citizens, and tourist scenes. Numerous ephemeral items compiled by Edward R. Mullin (the album’s creator) from various foreign places are also present, including tickets, stamps, bank notes, and an Asahi beer label. Of note is a “familiar phrases” card for translating English to Japanese. On the inside back cover of the album a handwritten log lists arrivals and departures of the USS Albany, while a typescript description of a military takeover of Vladivostok, Russia, is also included.

Volume B: This album (18 x 26 cm) contains photographs of scenes in Russia and China. Images show American soldiers and sailors exploring sites and interacting with local citizens as well as natural scenery and architecture. Of note are photographs of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City in China. Some photos have handwritten captions that identify locations and/or persons pictured

Volume C: This album (20.5 x 29 cm) contains photographs of scenes in Russia, the Philippines, Panama, Japan, China, Hawaii, and California. Of note are photographs of the Panama Canal and some images showing the compiler of the album, Edward R. Mullin. Many photos have handwritten captions. Also present are various types of ephemera including a beer label, tickets, and a fabric poppy flower, as well as a photocopy of Mullin’s service record, a large portrait of the USS Albany in Shanghai, China, and a loose photo of the USS Albany in Vladivostok.

Collection

Electric Railway Engineer Photograph Album, ca. 1882-1918

approximately 235 photographs and 1 booklet in 1 album

The Electric railway engineer photograph album consists of approximately 235 photographs and 1 booklet documenting the professional and personal life of an unidentified railway engineer specializing in electric rail line infrastructure.

The Electric railway engineer photograph album consists of approximately 235 photographs and 1 booklet documenting the professional and personal life of an unidentified railway engineer specializing in electric rail line infrastructure.

The album (25.5 x 30.5 cm) has dark green cloth covers with “Photographs” stamped on the front cover. All of the album pages are loose and fairly brittle, but the images are in generally good condition.

The first page contains sixteen signatures from participants in the 30th reunion of the Union College class of 1885. Subsequent photographs include several views of Union College campus, aspects of student life (including dorm room interiors and a group of portraits showing crossdressing men captioned “Minstrels"), and formal portraits of members of the Kappa Alpha Society in the mid-1880s, presumably including some of the attendees at the reunion whose signatures are represented.

The unidentified presumed compiler of the album can be seen in several photographs. He appears to have been an engineer specializing in infrastructure projects for electric-powered rail systems and was active in the early stages of when railroads in the United States were moving towards electrification. Many of the smaller circular photographs found throughout in the album were likely produced by a Kodak No. 2 camera, while larger format prints and cyanotypes are also present.

Contents are arranged chronologically starting with the compiler's student days before focusing on various professional assignments and elements of his personal life. During the ten years following his graduation from Union College the compiler apparently participated in several railroad development projects, mainly in what would become Washington State but also in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Idaho. Photographs from this period of his life include views of survey camps along the Columbia River and other regional waterways, interior and exterior views of the compiler’s home in Tacoma, portraits of his growing family, and snapshots of Klickitat people (including a group portrait of three women picking hops). By 1896 the compiler and his family appear to have moved back east, settling in New Rochelle, New York. Photographs from this period include documentation of projects on intercity lines on Staten Island and other nearby boroughs, a project in upstate New York, and numerous images of friends and family. The Albany and Hudson Railway and Power Company’s new electric train line to various towns between Hudson and Albany required establishing power sources along the route. As a small group of photographs in this album show, this necessitated constructing a dam at Stuyvesant Falls on the Kinderhook Creek which would provide electric power to the rail line and various local businesses. The final pages of the album document the construction of Hudson Park Dock in New Rochelle as well as leisure activities such as the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup auto races and a naval review in Oyster Bay.

A total of 18 loose photographs are included towards the back of the album. Images include a group portrait of Union College students from the 1880s, a studio portrait of a young woman and infant taken in the mid-1890s in Tacoma, and a double exposure of a woman standing next to an automobile in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1918. Also present is a printed pamphlet replete with numerous halftone reproduction images titled “Letter from Mayor Clarke to the Voters of New Rochelle with Pictures of Improvements Under His Administration” which highlights several civic infrastructure projects (including the Hudson Park Dock) undertaken during the tenure of mayor Henry Clarke.

Collection

Emmett M. Smith photograph album, 1914-1919

approximately 790 photographs and 6 pieces of ephemera in 1 album

The Emmett M. Smith photograph album contains approximately 790 photographs and 6 pieces of ephemera related to the experiences of American soldier and engineer Cpl. Emmett Merle Smith while he served with the United States Army Air Service’s 800th Aero Repair Squadron in France during World War I.

The Emmett M. Smith photograph album contains approximately 790 photographs and 6 pieces of ephemera related to the experiences of American soldier and engineer Cpl. Emmett Merle Smith while he served with the United States Army Air Service’s 800th Aero Repair Squadron in France during World War I.

The album (28 x 37 cm) has black cloth covers with “Postal Souvenirs” stamped on the front; the covers and spine are in poor condition, as are a relatively small number photographs (some of which bear signs of insect damage).

On the inside of the front cover is a tipped-in copy of A History of the 800th Aero Repair Squadron, an official unit history account of the squadron published by its members in 1919. A small group of 10 loose photos and 6 pieces of ephemera are also present, including postcards, snapshots, YMCA guides to Paris and Marseilles, and two programs related to jointly held French and American Mother’s Day celebrations in Paris in May 1919 that were organized by L’Association des French Homes.

The first pasted-in photographs in the album are a series of 24 panoramic views showing Parisian scenery and famous landmarks. This section ends with another YMCA guide to Paris and a matriculation card for the Université de Paris Faculte des Sciences 1918-1919 for Emmett M. Smith that includes a portrait. Smith appears to likely have been the compiler of this album as he appears in numerous other photographs throughout. He was a member of the 800th Aero Repair Squadron’s Flight A, who were stationed at Camp de Souge near Bordeaux.

From pg. 15 through to the end of the album photographs are individually numbered from 1 to 781. While a typescript index describes photographs #25-28, there is no overarching index for the entire series. Numerous photos have captions (including manuscript captions), though the majority do not. Images come in a range of sizes and appear to have originated from numerous sources including German and French photographers as well as snapshots possibly taken by Smith himself. “AR” also appears on several photographs, possibly indicating that these images were taken by 800th Aero Repair Squadron photographers. However, by and large photographers are not identified for specific images.

In general, this album contains frontline scenes of battlefields, dead soldiers and animals, trench views, and ruined structures as well as images documenting camp life, military bases, and aerial reconnaissance views. Numerous photographs of military equipment, weaponry, airplanes, tanks, warships, soldiers, and street scenes showing cities/towns and civilians are also present. Post-war scenes include documented stays in Paris, southern France, Italy, and Spain.

Images of particular interest include:
  • #3 (image showing charging soldiers, some in gas masks, with one man appearing to be clutch his throat while falling; captioned “Actual photo of action at Verdune”)
  • #7, 651 (800th Aero Repair Squadron group portraits)
  • #12 (shot of Kaiser Wilhelm talking with German officers)
  • #15, 17 (aerial views of Albert, France, in November 1916)
  • #48, 70.1 (pictures of German tanks)
  • #73, 76 (view of citadel with German signage and view showing street signage by ruins; amongst other views that appear to be in Belgium)
  • #109 ("Toul - French plane ready for a flight")
  • #110, 111 (images showing the French and American sections of the 1918 panoramic painting Panthéon de la Guerre)
  • #142, 143 (two images of a train wreck by “Chiljian,” possibly Armenian American photographer Pvt. Henry B. Chiljian)
  • #146, 148 (two images showing plane crash wreckage)
  • #167 (French observation balloon being inflated)
  • #209 (Georges Clemenceau visiting aviation field)
  • #219 (clipping showing aftermath of the Halifax explosion with inscription reading “Spent 10 day aboard ship here right after explosion was supposed to have been here just before explosion but was delayed”)
  • #374 (post-war image captioned “U.S.A. bound” which precedes series of naval voyage images)
  • #451+ (images from Italy and Southern France)
  • #525 (railroad scene with “Chicago Opera Association” sign in view)
  • #631 (view of three men at typewriters working in an office with maps and aerial photographs pinned to the wall)
  • #638 (aerial view captioned “My aviation camp. Camp de Souge - North of Bordeaux from the 2nd Artillery Aerial Observation Island 1917-1918-1919”)
  • #649 (view showing surgery being performed on a man in operating room captioned “Hell - without [anesthesia]”)
  • #699 (view showing a queue outside of a YMCA in Bangor, Maine)
  • #712, 715 (two portraits of young women captioned “My Italian fiancée” and “My Spanish fiancée”)
Collection

Evans family photograph collection, ca. 1895-1960

6 volumes and approximately 60 loose photographs

The Evans family photograph collection consists of a six-volume set of albums and approximately 60 loose photographs mainly depicting the immediate family of Lucretia Booth Evans of Riverdale, New York. Three of the albums contain baby pictures of Evans and her brothers Mason and Morgan Jr. while the other three albums focus on family life and vacations taken by the family.

The Evans family photograph collection consists of a six-volume set of albums and approximately 60 loose photographs mainly depicting the immediate family of Lucretia Booth Evans. Three of the albums contain baby pictures of Evans and her brothers Mason and Morgan Jr. while the other three albums focus on family life and vacations travel.

Volume One: The Morgan Evans, Jr. Baby Book album (19.75 x 16.5 cm) contains 12 photographs of Morgan Evans Jr. as a young child. There is one photograph with his maternal grandmother, Susan Edwards Booth Robinson. Evans Jr.’s obituary, World War I draft registration certificate and a lock of his hair from when he was 14 months old are also present.

Volume Two: The Mason Robinson Evans Baby Book album (19.75 x 16.5 cm) contains 34 photographs of Mason Evans as a child. A lock of his hair from when he was 18 months old is also present.

Volume Three: The Lucretia Booth Evans Baby Book album (23.5 x 18.5 cm) contains 9 photographs of Lucretia Evans as a baby. Most pages remain blank, and a lock her hair from when she was 16 months old is also present.

Volume Four: The Point o' Woods album (22.25 x 39.5 cm) contains approximately 175 photographs and several negatives stored behind snapshots. This album focuses on summer trips to Point o' Woods on Fire Island, Suffolk County in New York State during the 1930s. Many of the individuals depicted in this album are identified with captions. Images of note include the aftermath of the September 1938 New England Hurricane.

Volume Five: The Lucretia Evans early adulthood album (26.75 x 34.25 cm) contains approximately 170 photographs and several negatives stored behind snapshots. The images include landscapes from the late 1930s and images of Lucretia's final days at the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and her time in school as an X-Ray technician.

Volume Six: The Lucretia Evans travel album (22.75 x 31.75 cm) contains approximately 200 photographs, 4 negatives and 35 pieces of printed ephemera representing trips to the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Canada in the 1950s. Inside the front cover is a 50th wedding anniversary clipping of Kitty and Morgan Evans Sr.

There are approximately 60 loose photographs that range from early 20th century cabinet cards of Kitty Evans' family to a large class picture of Lucretia Evans’ X-Ray Technician class.

Collection

George E. Boggs collection, ca. 1895-1947

1 photograph album, 1 letter, 1 box of ephemera

The George E. Boggs collection contains one photograph album, one letter, and one box of ephemera. These materials document the First World War service of George E. Boggs and to a lesser extent his brother Hamilton Irwin Boggs. Also included are numerous photographs of the Boggs family both prior to and after the war.

The George E. Boggs collection contains one photograph album, one letter, and one box of ephemera. These materials document the First World War service of George E. Boggs, and to a lesser extent his brother Hamilton Irwin Boggs. Also included are numerous photographs of the Boggs family both prior to and after the war.

The album does not have a strict order; many photographs from Boggs’ time in France are interspersed with images of family and at training camps in the United States prior to going to France. Captions are apparently written by both George Boggs and his mother Caroline. The majority of the images from France are of Châtillon-sur-Seine but other places are also represented. Please see the Subject Terms for a more complete list of locations.

Images of note include:
  • George and Hamilton Irwin Boggs in uniform with their Great-Uncle James P. Boggs, Civil War veteran who was wounded at Second Battle of Bull Run (loose photo in front of scrapbook, duplicate copy on page 46)
  • General Pershing awarding the Distinguished Service Cross to members of the 81st Division. (page 18)

The letter, written in France on December 28, 1918, is from Hamilton Irwin Boggs to an "Uncle Jim" (possibly his great-uncle James P. Boggs). In the letter, Hamilton Boggs gives a summary of his service in the army, and mentions George Boggs’ service.

The ephemera includes George E. Boggs' dog tags, an embroidered souvenir French handkerchief, an United States Army Air Service insignia pin, and a piece of "trench art" made from a French 75mm shell casing. Also present are eleven track and field ribbons and two medals, all from 1913-14.