This collection documents, through lantern slides, slides, prints and negatives, life in Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo, and other locations in the Middle East. The majority of the photographs were created and assembled by Stephen Haboush, although some were purchased. Haboush routinely traveled to his birthplace of Israel and he photographed his travels. He then used the photographs for lectures about his life as a shepherd and experiences in the Holy Land.
Scope and Contents:
This collection documents, through lantern slides, slides, prints and negatives, life in Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo, and other locations in the Middle East. The majority of the photographs were created and assembled by Stephen Haboush, although some were purchased. Haboush routinely traveled to his birthplace of Israel and he photographed his travels. He then used the photographs for lectures about his life as a shepherd and experiences in the Holy Land.
There is a specific emphasis on the activity of shepherding, but there are photographs depicting generally landscapes, flora, the Wailing Wall, pottery, sunsets, buildings, altars, churches, mosques, rock formations, boats on the river, camels, market scenes, donkeys, villages, tilework, streetscapes, maps of Egypt and Palestine, and individuals--shepherds, British soldiers, and women at a well.
The collections consists primarily of lantern slides which are loosely organized. Lantern slides are positive images on glass and the exterior glass. Lantern slides were intended to be projected for viewing and were a popular entertainment medium in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Small groupings of slides and photographs were identified, but there is little arrangement and identification of the materials. Some of the materials are identified and numbered, and when this was possible, these materials were grouped together. Many of the numbered groups of slides have great gaps. Some of the miscellaneous slides have been grouped and briefly identified, for example, "British Soldiers."
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1, Lantern Slides, undated
Series 2, Negatives and Transparencies and Prints, undated
Series 3, Slides, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Stephen Haboush was born on June 28, 1892 in Galilee, Israel. Haboush emigrated to the United States circa 1914 and became an American citizen in 1923. During the 1920s, Haboush joined the Chautauqua Lyceum Lecture circuit. The Chautauqua idea comes from the original Chautauqua Institution, which was founded in 1874 on Lake Chautauqua in western New York. The original idea was to offer one-to-two week summer retreats for adults to continue their education by attending lectures and performances. The lyceum version of Chautauqua was also offered to adults, but the lectures and performances were held during the fall, winter and spring, and took place in schools, church halls, or opera houses not located at Lake Chautauqua, but around the United States. Haboush died in March 1975.
Haboush lectured widely, sometimes with his wife, presenting slide lectures and musical travelogues about the Holy Land, and his experiences as a shepherd. Haboush photographed his travels throughout the Middle East, especially Jerusalem. He wrote two books, Over the Hills of Galilee (1924) and My Shepherd Life in Galilee: With an Exegesis of the Shepherd Psalm (1949). The latter was Haboush's interpretation of the 23rd Psalm.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Roger M. Lepley on January 1, 2009.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
