Search Results

Photographer:

Vogel, Susan M.  Search this

Extent:

672 Slides (photographs) ((1 volume), color)

361 Negatives (photographic) ((1 box), black and white, 35 mm.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Slides (photographs)

Negatives (photographic)

Negatives

Color slides

Place:

Côte d'Ivoire

Africa

Date:

between 1970-1979

Summary:

The collection is comprised of photographs taken by Susan Vogel in Côte d'Ivoire during the 1970s. Most depict the Baule peoples, including during their Goli Dance in Bokpli.

Scope and Contents:

This collection consists of (482) color slides and (381) black and white negatives taken by Susan Vogel. Her negatives, taken between circa 1972 and circa 1986, primarily depict the arts and culture of the Baule people of central Côte d'Ivoire. In particular, Vogel extensively documents scenes of Goli dance performances and the variety of masks and instruments used therein. Also included are several images of wooden figure sculptures—alone or as a part of ancestral shrines. Other Baule art pieces documented within Vogel's negatives are ancestral stools, diviners' gongs and mallets, war belts, and bo mun amuin masks. Several of these images are published in Baule: African Art, Western Eyes (exhibition catalogue, 1997). Vogel also documents puppet masquerade performances among the Bamana people of Mali.

Arrangement note:

Negatives arranged chronologically. Slides were arranged by the donor.

Biographical / Historical:

Susan Mullin Vogel (1942-) lives in New York, grew up in Beirut, and has lived for long periods in the Ivory Coast and Mali. Vogel has a PhD in art history and has held the positions of curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Founding Director of the Museum for African Art, Director of the Yale University Art Gallery, and Professor of Art History at Columbia. Vogel also holds an MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and now makes films.

Restrictions:

Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.

Rights:

Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Baule (African people)  Search this

Genre/Form:

Negatives

Color slides

Citation:

Susan Vogel Photographs, EEPA 1999-008, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

EEPA.1999-008

Archival Repository:

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-eepa-1999-008

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Names:

Emerson College  Search this

Kelly, Margaret M.  Search this

Marschell, Phyllis.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (4" x 5".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Place:

Boston (Mass.) -- 1920-1930

Massachusetts

Date:

1926

Local Numbers:

RSN 18356

General:

Currently stored in box 3.1.70 [227A].

Orig. no. A-204.

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Commencement ceremonies -- Massachusetts  Search this

Portrait -- Massachusetts  Search this

Universities and colleges -- Massachusetts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1920-1930 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass.

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 3: Underwood & Underwood glass plates / 3.1: Underwood and Underwood Negatives / RSN Numbers 18289-18412

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref14783

Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Publisher:

American Stereoscopic Co.  Search this

H. C. White Co.  Search this

Killela, J.J.  Search this

Underwood, Bert, 1862-1943  Search this

Underwood, Elmer, 1859-1947  Search this

Photographer:

Ponting, Herbert George, 1870-1935  Search this

Underwood, Bert, 1862-1943  Search this

Underwood, Elmer, 1859-1947  Search this

White, Clarence W.  Search this

Extent:

160 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Stereographs

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Lantern slides

Date:

1895-1921

Scope and Contents:

The major part of the collection, series 1-4, contains nearly 28,000 glass plates, including original stereoscopic negatives, interpositives, and both negative and positive non-stereoscopic plates used to produce lantern slides and paper prints. The photographs were taken all over the world. The majority are from the Underwood & Underwood active files, but plates from other publishers are also included. Series 5 is a small collection of paper stereographs. Series 6 contains 4 Underwood & Underwood descriptive sales catalogs and 1 H. C. White & Co. catalog (numbers on the Underwood plates correspond to the numbers on catalog captions). Series 7 is apparatus--four stereoscopes.

The approximately 28,000 glass plates in this collection have not been completely inspected at this point due to handling problems associated with asbestos contamination of the collection. A preliminary survey, however, indicated that the selections of images cover the full range of subject matter encompassed by the "Underwood Travel System." The subject matter is most easily comprehended by consulting one of the Underwood sales catalogs which accompany the collection. The catalog captions are arranged geographically, for the most part, and generally represent an organized "tour" which could be purchased as a boxed set, complete with maps and guide book, although individual images could be purchased separately. The catalogs indicate that the Underwood files were continually updated, for extensive modifications in some of the sets can be seen from edition to edition, and actual inspection of published stereographs shows that alternate views with identical Underwood catalog numbers were substituted from time to time, and that new subjects (with new catalog numbers) were sometimes introduced into the sets and old subjects were retired. There are glass plate negatives as well as positives in this collection. The positive images were probably interpositives used for the production of duplicate negatives. Some of the original stereo negatives were cut apart and the images transposed; they were then bound with an additional glass support (in many cases the tape has deteriorated). Half stereo positives also appear in the collection: these probably were intended for use in lantern slide production. Frequently a drawer of plates contains several incarnations of a single image, including the original negative, a copy negative, an interpositive, and a positive lantern slide. In other cases a drawer may contain only a single mode, e.g., original negatives, while corresponding positives and/or lantern slides appear in separate drawers.

A small quantity of the Underwood & Underwood plates are not from the Travel System, but represent humorous and genre subjects which were cataloged and marketed separately. The work of several other publishers, usually without Underwood catalog numbers, is also represented, including H. C. White, American Stereoscopic Company, and J. J. Killela.

The arrangement of the collection seems to reflect a combination of permanent reference storage as well as active use files. The apparent anomalies or inconsistencies probably indicate the pulling of plates from permanent files into temporary work files, and the collection may consist of a combination of permanent storage and temporary working files. As the drawers do not appear to have been renumbered according to any easily discernible pattern, they have become intermixed and rearranged in storage. The contents of each drawer usually have been found in good order, however, and the plates were nearly always arranged numerically,usually with the low numbers at the rear of the drawer and the highest number at the front. As the plates have been rehoused, the reverse numerical order has been corrected. When all the plates have been rehoused and inventoried, consideration will be given to general collection rearrangement and renumbering of the containers, either strictly in numerical order or topically and/or geographically with a numerical sequence within each group.

The collection is in good condition for the most part, although conservation attention will be required. There is a certain amount of emulsion peeling or frilling at the edges of some plates, but this is a condition to which emulsions on glass frequently are prone. A few plates, bound in a sandwich arrangement between cover glass and acetate facing the emulsion, have suffered severe damage, peeling, and image losses through the apparent ferrotyping and sticking of emulsion to the plastic, probably under conditions of high humidity at some stage. There is surprisingly little glass breakage within the collection.

Most of the stereoscopic negatives and many of the positives are defaced with a double "XI' scratched into the emulsion of either the left or right side, as described above in the historical note. Of particular interest and presumed rarity are cards found interfiled with plates in many of the drawers. These cards, filed by Underwood (i.e., catalog) numbers, bear printing'or production dates and notes, along with the unique, chronological accession numbers which the company assigned to each plate, regardless of the "active" number which it might eventually receive. A check mark on a card usually refers to a plate actually in the collection and with which the card is found physically associated; additional accession numbers without check marks listed on the cards possibly refer to variant views which were discarded or may in fact be in the Keystone Mast Collection (pending further research). For ease of handling and in the interest of conservation, the cards have been separated from the plates within each drawer and are arranged as a group at the rear, but can still be located easily. Frequently when a plate and/or its original envelope does not bear both the "active" and accession numbers, the missing number can be located on one of these cards.

Photographers represented include Herbert G. Ponting and Clarence W. White. A photographer and/or publisher named J. J. Killela is also represented.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in seven series. Series 1, 2, and 3 are each divided into negative and positive subseries. Plates are arranged numerically in groups based on geographical and subject content. Controlled at the series level in the finding aid and at the item level in a computer database.

Series 1, H. C. White glass plates

Series 2, American Stereoscpopic Co. glass plates

Series 3, Underwood & Underwood glass plates

Series 4, Broken glass plates

Series 5, Original company catalogs

Series 6, Paper stereographs

Series 7, stereoscopes (viewers)

Biographical / Historical:

Underwood & Underwood was established at Ottawa, Kansas, by the young brothers Elmer and Bert Underwood in 1882. They initially operated as distributors for eastern photographers' stereographs to new markets in the West. Their activities included door to door canvassing with views by Charles Bierstadt, J. F. Jarvis, and Littleton View Co.(1) Underwood & Underwood, Publishers, opened a branch office in Baltimore in 1887.(2)

Soon Underwood & Underwood and other large stereograph publishers began recruiting college students to work as salesmen during summer months (1890). Underwood and Underwood claimed that their organization alone sent out as many as 3,000 college students in one Summer [sic]. With the other ... big companies each employing more than 1,000, it is easy to understand how the countryside of the Nation literally swarmed with stereograph salesmen throughout the summer months! ... The competition between the salesmen themselves was likewise aggressive, with no holds barred. Many successful business and professional men of today relate with considerable pride that they got their start on their careers in this practical and very effective school of salesmanship.(3)

The company moved its main office from Ottawa, Kansas to New York City (1891),(4) and gradually began to publish its own stereographs. Bert Underwood finally took photography lessons from M. Abel in Mentone, France during the same year.(5) B. L. Singley, erstwhile salesman for the Underwood & Underwood and James M. Davis & Co. firms, in 1892 formed the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania, which was to become Underwood & Underwood's chief competitor and imitator.(6)

Underwood & Underwood entered the education market (1895) by producing packaged sets of 100 or more stereographs with descriptive texts.(7) From 1897 the firm employed full time staff photographers as well as free lancers. By 1901 the Underwoods were publishing 25,000 stereographs per day (i.e.,total number of cards). Increasing production levels led them to gain control of the Jarvis, Bierstadt, and William H. Rau photoprinting facilities in 1897 1898.(8)

The Keystone view Company created its own Educational Department in 1898. This division sustained the Keystone View Company past the period of the stereograph's popularity. In this year Underwood & Underwood reprinted Oliver Wendell Holmes's series on the stereograph and stereoscope which originally appeared in The Atlantic Monthly between 1859 and 1863. This eighty page booklet included testimonials from eminent scholars on the value of the stereograph in education. The company had been test marketing what itlater called "The Underwood Travel System." This consisted of a boxed set of stereo views of a country or region, a guide book describing the significance of the places shown, and a map showing their location and the viewpoints from which the stereographs were taken. Captions on the backs of the stereographs were sometimes printed in six languages.(9) As stereographs began to be used in schools as visual aids, the firm promoted its Travel System with endorsements from prominent educators, citing the usage of the system by various schools and universities.(10)

The H. C. White Company, which had manufactured stereoscopes for several decades, entered the stereo publication field in 1899.(11) Much of its production seemed to imitate Underwood & Underwood cards, including typography and the color of mount stock. Underwood & Underwood expanded into news photography by 1910 and gradually decreased its stereographic work. Few new stereo negatives were added to the file after 1912 except for a flurry of activity during the early war years, 1914 1916. The total number of Underwood & Underwood "titles" in stereo were from 30,000 to 40,000 (there might be a substantially larger number of actual negatives, since the files frequently were updated with newer views for old catalog numbers).(12)

Underwood & Underwood sold a portion of its negative file to the educational division of Keystone View Company in 1912,(13) and between 1921 1923 conveyed to this competitor their remaining stereo stock (presumably both cards and negatives) and rights.(14) In addition to its involvement as a news photographic agency, the company eventually opened portrait studios which flourished during the World war II years. A former Smithsonian employee, Vince Connolly, worked for Underwood & Underwood, which competed with Harris & Ewing in general portrait work during that period: he did portraiture and other photography, but says he was unaware of his employer's earlier stereo publishing activities.

Underwood & Underwood donated approximately 6000 negatives to the Section of Photography of the Division of Graphic Arts (1964). These photographs are primarily 4" x 5", captioned glass plate and film negatives. The subjects are news events and theatrical, sports, and political subjects of the early 20th century. In a letter to the Smithsonian of March 25, 1966 (in accession number 270586), Mrs. John M. Stratton described another collection of Underwood & Underwood photographs, stating that her husband had been a partner in Underwood & Underwood Illustrations and owned Underwood & Underwood News Photos. In November of the same year Mr. and Mrs. Stratton donated this collection of glass plates by Underwood & Underwood and other publishers to the Division of Photographic History (then the Section of Photography of the Division of Graphic Arts) . This material consists of both negative and positive stereographic plates, as well as non stereoscopic plates, chiefly copies made from the stereographs, with some catalogs, stereoscopes, and other material. The donor estimated 12,900 plates, but in 1983 the Smithsonian Institution inventory yielded a total of approximately 28,000 plates.

The Keystone View Company's stereoscopic production continued much later than Underwood & Underwood's. It was not until 1939 when declining interest in stereography led the firm to discontinue stereograph production and enter the field of visual optometrics. The stereoscopic negative collection, including material obtained from Underwood & Underwood and other firms, was placed in storage in concrete vaults. The Mast family of Davenport, Iowa, eventually purchased the collection in 1963, and in 1977 donated the collection to the University of California for its California Museum of Photography in Riverside. The University took physical possession of this vast collection in 1979.(15)

Many of the Underwood & Underwood plates donated by the Strattons (which were transferred to the Archives Center in 1983), in effect have been cancelled by having diagonal lines (double "X" marks) scratched into the emulsion of either the left or right image of each stereo pair (never both sides). These cancellation marks do not appear on the Underwood & Underwood plates in the Keystone Mast Collection in Riverside. This leads to several theories: (a) that these cancellations were in fact the reason that the Smithsonian plates were not purchased by Keystone in either 1912 or 1921, since Keystone clearly intended to use the Underwood material for stereograph production and the defaced plates would be of no value to them for this purpose; or (b), as stereo collector John Waldsmith suggests, that the cancellations were part of an agreement between Underwood & Underwood and Keystone: Keystone may have asked Underwood & Underwood to cancel one side of each stereoscopic plate not being sold to Keystone so that Underwood & Underwood would no longer be able to compete with Keystone in the stereo market. The defaced plates, as well as other material which Keystone did not purchase, apparently remained in Underwood custody and eventually were acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Stratton. The cancellation marks in the Smithsonian's collection are the subject of further conjecture. Edward Earle at Riverside feels that, since Underwood & Underwood sought to abandonded stereograph production much earlier than Keystone's departure from the field in order to enter the non stereoscopic lantern slide market, the cancellation may have served to indicate which side of each sterescopic pair should be converted to lantern slide production use; the existence of the 4" x 5" copy negatives and positives from stereographs in this collection seem to corroborate this. The Underwood & Underwood conversion from stereograph to lantern slide materials seems to coincide with the ascendance of lantern slide projection as visual aids in schools. The company apparently modified the type of photographic product which they published at least partially in recognition of this new educational trend.

NOTES

1. edward W. Earle, ed., Points of View: The Stereograph in America A Cultural @ Visual 'g . E!Ltory, Rochester, F.Y., Th Studies Workshop ress, 1979, p. 60; William Culp Darrah, The World of Stereographs, Gettysburg, Pa., 1979, p. 46.

2. Tbid., p. 62.

3. George E. Hamilton, Oliver Wendell Holmes, His Pioneer SLtuereoscope and Later Industry, New York, New )men Society, 1949, p. 17, quoted in Points of 1=e w:, 6 4 . P.

4. Points of View., p. 66.

5. Darrah, p. 47.

6. points of View, p. 66.

7. Ibid., p. 68.

8. Darrah, p. 47.

9. Points of View, p. 70.

10. Howard S. Becker, "Steteographs: Local, National, and International Art Worlds," in Points of View, p. 95. 11. points of View, p. 72.

12. Darrah, p. 48.

13. Darrah, p. 48, quoted in Points of View, P. 82.

14. Darrah, p. 48.

15. Chris J. Kenney, introduction to "Perspective and the Past: The Keystone Mast Collection," CMP Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1982.

Related Materials:

California Museum of Photography, University of California--Riverside, Riverside, California 92521.

Underwood & Underwood stereographs in this collection and the Smithsonian Underwood & Underwood Collection originally were components of the same company file.

Provenance:

Collection donated by June Stratton (Mrs. John M.) on December 19, 1966.

Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

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.

Topic:

Traveling sales personnel  Search this

Travel photography -- 1890-1930  Search this

Genre/Form:

Stereographs -- 1890-1930

Photographs -- Interpositives -- Glass -- 1890-1930

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass -- 1890-1930

Photographs -- 1900-1950

Stereoscopic photographs -- Glass -- 1890-1930

Lantern slides

Photographs -- 1890-1900

Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0143

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0143

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Photographer:

Miller  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (piece, 5" x 8".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

Dublin (Ireland)

Ireland

Date:

1905

Local Numbers:

RSN 11913

Video number 11183

General:

Company catalog card included

Similar to RSN 19505

Currently stored in box 3.1.5 [166].

Cancelled by scratching.

Copy and Version Identification Note:

47149

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Stadia -- 1890-1920 -- Ireland  Search this

Competitions -- Ireland  Search this

Contests -- Ireland  Search this

Horses -- Ireland -- Dublin  Search this

Races -- Ireland  Search this

Steeplechases -- Ireland  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 3: Underwood & Underwood glass plates / 3.1: Underwood and Underwood Negatives / RSN Numbers 11869-11955

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref8588

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Photographer:

Jarvis  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (5" x 4".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Place:

Axenstein (Swiss Alps)

Lake Lucerne (Switzerland)

Switzerland

Date:

1906

Local Numbers:

RSN 13086

Video number 12355

General:

Company catalog card included.

Similar to RSN 13087, 13088, 13089 and 20292.

Currently stored in box 3.1.18 [175],

Orig. no. 110329.

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Lakes -- Switzerland  Search this

Mountains -- Switzerland  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 3: Underwood & Underwood glass plates / 3.1: Underwood and Underwood Negatives / RSN Numbers 13059-13144

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref9683

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Photographer:

Jarvis  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (5" x 4".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Place:

Axenstein (Swiss Alps)

Lake Lucerne (Switzerland)

Switzerland

Date:

1903

Local Numbers:

RSN 13087

Video number 12356

General:

Company catalog card included.

Similar to RSN 13086, 13088, 13089 and 20292.

Currently stored in box 3.1.18 [175].

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Lakes -- Switzerland  Search this

Mountains -- Switzerland  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 3: Underwood & Underwood glass plates / 3.1: Underwood and Underwood Negatives / RSN Numbers 13059-13144

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref9684

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

2 Items (pieces, 3-3/4" x 7".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

Axenstein (Swiss Alps)

Lake Lucerne (Switzerland)

Switzerland

Local Numbers:

RSN 13088

Video number 12357

General:

Company catalog card included.

Similar to RSN 13086, 13087 and 13089; frames in separate envelopes.

Currently stored in box 3.1.18 [175].

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Lakes -- Switzerland  Search this

Mountains -- Switzerland  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 3: Underwood & Underwood glass plates / 3.1: Underwood and Underwood Negatives / RSN Numbers 13059-13144

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref9685

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (3 3/4" x 7")

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

Axenstein (Swiss Alps)

Lake Lucerne (Switzerland)

Switzerland

Local Numbers:

RSN 13089

Video number 12358

General:

Company catalog card included.

Similar to RSN 13086, 13087 and 13088.

Currently stored in box 3.1.18 [175].

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Lakes -- Switzerland  Search this

Mountains -- Switzerland  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 3: Underwood & Underwood glass plates / 3.1: Underwood and Underwood Negatives / RSN Numbers 13059-13144

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref9686

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Strohmeyer & Wyman  Search this

American Stereoscopic Co.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (3 3/4" x 7")

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

Dublin (Ireland)

Ireland

Nelson Pillar

O'Connell Monument

Sackville Street (Dublin, Ireland)

Date:

1896

Local Numbers:

RSN 9545

Video number 08825

General:

Company catalog card included.

Currently stored in box 2.1.7 [110].

Similar to RSN 10874.

Copy and Version Identification Note:

22169

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Carts -- Ireland  Search this

Horses -- Ireland  Search this

Monuments -- Ireland  Search this

Streetcars -- Ireland  Search this

Streets -- Ireland  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 2: American Stereoscpopic Co. glass plates / 2.1: American Stereoscopic Negatives / RSN Numbers 9526-9550, Cards AS 617-AS 771

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref18753

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Brown Bros.  Search this

H.C. White Co.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (3-3/4" x 7".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

Broadway (New York, N.Y.) -- 1900-1910

New York (N.Y.) -- 1900-1910

Post Office -- 1900-1910 -- New York

Singer Building -- 1900-1910 -- New York

Local Numbers:

RSN 5

General:

Currently stored in box 1.1.1 [162], moved from [158]. Orig. no. 159-3.

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Buildings -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1900-1910  Search this

Cityscapes -- 1900-1910 -- New York  Search this

Construction -- 1900-1910 -- New York  Search this

Post offices -- 1900-1910 -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 1: H. C. White glass plates / 1.1: H.C. White Negatives / RSN Numbers 1-108

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref881

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Brown Bros.  Search this

H.C. White Co.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (3-3/4" x 7".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

New York (N.Y.) -- 1900-1910

Singer Building -- 1900-1910 -- New York

Date:

ca. 1910

Local Numbers:

RSN 6

General:

Currently stored in box 1.1.1 [162], moved from [158]. Assciated number: 10-A.

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Buildings -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1900-1910  Search this

Cityscapes -- 1900-1910 -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Construction -- 1900-1910 -- New York  Search this

Construction workers -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1900-1950.  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 1: H. C. White glass plates / 1.1: H.C. White Negatives / RSN Numbers 1-108

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref882

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

H.C. White Co.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (3-3/4" x 7".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

Blackwell's Island -- 1900-1910 -- New York (N.Y.)

New York (N.Y.) -- 1900-1910

Local Numbers:

RSN 7

General:

Orig. no. 63-B.

Currently stored in box 1.1.1 [162], moved from [158].

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Islands -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Boats  Search this

Bridges -- New York (N.Y.)  Search this

Buildings -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1900-1910  Search this

Cityscapes -- 1900-1910 -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Construction -- 1900-1910 -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Construction workers -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1900-1950.  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 1: H. C. White glass plates / 1.1: H.C. White Negatives / RSN Numbers 1-108

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref883

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Brown Bros.  Search this

H.C. White Co.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (3-3/4" x 7".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

Madison Square (New York, N.Y.) -- 1900-1910

Metropolitan Bldg. (New York, N.Y.)

New York (N.Y.) -- 1900-1910

Date:

1908

Local Numbers:

RSN 16

General:

Caption source uncertain. Original envelope marked "Metropolitan Building / Brown Bros. '08."

Associated number: 33-B.

Currently stored in box 1.1.1 [162], moved from [158].

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Buildings -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1900-1910  Search this

Cityscapes -- 1900-1910 -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Blue collar workers -- 1900-1910 -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 1: H. C. White glass plates / 1.1: H.C. White Negatives / RSN Numbers 1-108

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref892

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Brown Bros.  Search this

H.C. White Co.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (3-3/4" x 7".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

New York (N.Y.) -- 1900-1910

Date:

1909

Local Numbers:

RSN 21

General:

"BB '09" on envelope. Associated number 18-C.

Currently stored in box 1.1.1 [162].

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Skyscrapers -- New York (State) -- New York. -- 1900-1910.  Search this

Buildings -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1900-1910  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 1: H. C. White glass plates / 1.1: H.C. White Negatives / RSN Numbers 1-108

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref897

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Brown Bros.  Search this

H.C. White Co.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (3-3/4" x 7".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

New York (N.Y.) -- 1900-1910

Date:

1909

Local Numbers:

RSN 22

General:

"BB '09" on envelope. Original no., 19-A.

Currently stored in box 1.1.1 [162].

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Buildings -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1900-1910  Search this

Harbors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Seascapes -- 1900-1910 -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Ships -- 1900-1910  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 1: H. C. White glass plates / 1.1: H.C. White Negatives / RSN Numbers 1-108

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref898

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Brown Bros.  Search this

H.C. White Co.  Search this

Photographer:

White, C. W.  Search this

Names:

Columbia University  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (piece, 3 3/4" x 7".)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

New York (N.Y.) -- 1900-1910

Date:

1909

Local Numbers:

RSN 99

General:

Company catalog card included.

"New York trip C.W.W. Sept. '09" on envelope. Orig. no. 121-B.

Currently stored in box 1.1.1 [162], moved from [158].

Collection Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Collection 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.

Topic:

Buildings -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1900-1910  Search this

Libraries -- 1900-1910  Search this

Universities and colleges -- 1900-1910  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass

Stereoscopic photographs

Collection Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection / Series 1: H. C. White glass plates / 1.1: H.C. White Negatives / RSN Numbers 1-108

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref974

Photographer:

Elisofon, Eliot  Search this

Extent:

14000 Negatives (photographic) (b&w, 35mm)

30000 Slides (photographs) (color)

80,000 Photographic prints (b&w, 25 x 20 cm. or smaller.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Negatives (photographic)

Slides (photographs)

Photographic prints

Negatives

Color slides

Black-and-white negatives

Black-and-white photographs

Place:

Africa

Congo (Democratic Republic)

Mali

Ghana

Côte d'Ivoire

Benin

Burkina Faso

Egypt

Kenya

Liberia

Niger

Rwanda

Senegal

Sudan

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Central African Republic

Date:

circa 1935-1978

Summary:

This collection is comprised of photographic and manuscript materials, primarily created by Eliot Elisofon to document his travels and work. The images portray many aspects of African life and culture including agriculture, wildlife, archaeology, architecture, art and artisans, children, cityscapes and landscapes, leaders, markets, medicine, recreation, ritual and celebration, and transportation. The manuscript materials include correspondence, essays, clippings, puobligations, notes, research, and itineraries.

Scope and Contents:

This collection is comprised of circa 14,000 negatives, 30, 0000 slides, 8,000 photographic prints, and 14 boxes of manuscript materials that date from circa 1945-1978.

The photographs document Eliot Elisofon's travels and work in Africa. The images portray many aspects of African life and culture including agriculture, wildlife, archaeology, architecture, art and artisans, children, cityscapes and landscapes, leaders, markets, medicine, recreation, ritual and celebration, and transportation. Artisans shown include an Asante weaver making kente cloth in Ghana; a Dogon carver in Mali making a kanaga mask; an Ebrie goldsmith in Cote d'Ivoire; Hausa dyers in Kano, Nigeria; and Nupe beadmakers in Nigeria; as well as artists at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Kinshasa, Congo. Portraits of leaders include the Asante court at Kumase in Ghana; Ebrie chiefs and notables in Cote d'Ivoire; the timi (king) of Ede, a Yourba town, Nigeria; the emir of Katsina, Nigeria; and the Kuba king and his court in the Congo. There are informal portraits showing children of the Kuba royal court dancing, Fulbe women with gold earrings in Mali, Mangbetu women in the Congo, and Maasai elders in Kenya. Masked dances documented include a Dogon dama festival celebration in Mali, an Igbo festival in Nigeria, and Kuba and Pende masked dancers in the Congo. There are also images of Yoruba gelede (men's association) masks in Nigeria. Non-masked dancers shown include Dan professional acrobatic dancers in Cote d'Ivoire, Irigwe dancers in Nigeria, Mangbetu dancers in the Congo, Mbuti dancers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Wodaabe men dancing in Nigeria. Events shown include Hausa riders in chain mail during the Independence Day celebration in Katsina, Nigeria. Images of art in situ include ancestral altars in the King of Benin's palace in Nigeria; Dogon rock paintings in Mali; and Yoruba Shango shrine sculptures in the palace courtyard of timi (king) of Ede in Nigeria. Landscapes include views of mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Animals shown include birds, buffalos, elephants and giraffes. Traditional architecture shown includes Asante shrine houses with raised wall decorations in Ghana, Dogon villages in Mali and mosques in Mopti.

The manuscript materials include correspondence, essays, clippings, puobligations, notes, research, and itineraries.

Biographical/Historical note:

A photographer best known for his work in Life magazine. Elisofon worked as a free-lance magazine photographer from 1933 to 1937, as a staff photographer for Life from 1933 to 1937 and on photographic assignments for various magazines, including the Smithsonian magazine, from 1942 to 1945. Elisofon traveled extensively in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America documenting the peoples of these lands as well as their arts and environments. A founding member and curatorial associate of the private Museum of African Art, which in 1981 became the National Museum of African Art (NMAfA), Elisofon bequeathed his collection of African photographs to the museum when he died in 1973. To honor Elisofon's contribution to the understanding of African art and culture, NMAfA named its archives after him.

Restrictions:

Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.

Rights:

Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Body arts  Search this

Nigeria  Search this

South Africa  Search this

Genre/Form:

Negatives

Photographic prints

Color slides

Black-and-white negatives

Black-and-white photographs

Citation:

Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

EEPA.1973-001

See more items in:

Eliot Elisofon Field collection

Archival Repository:

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-eepa-1973-001

Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Sears & Wendell  Search this

Olmsted Brothers  Search this

Harvard University  Search this

American Society of Landscape Architects  Search this

Donor:

Tibbetts, Eleanor Sears  Search this

Tibbetts, Eleanor Sears  Search this

Extent:

44.5 Cubic feet (4,317 glass negatives. 363 film negatives. 182 glass lantern slides. 12 photograph albums. 56 plans and drawings. 3 monographs. )

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Negatives

Blueprints

Albums

Plans (drawings)

Lantern slides

Date:

1899-1964

Summary:

The Thomas Warren Sears Photograph Collection documents examples of the design work of Thomas Warren Sears (1880-1966), a landscape architect and amateur photographer from Brookline, Massachusetts. Sears, who was based for most of his career in Philadelphia, designed a variety of different types of landscapes ranging from private residences, schools, and playgrounds to parks, cemeteries, and urban housing developments located primarily in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. In addition to some of Sears' design work, images in the collection document Sears' domestic and foreign travels, design inspirations, and family. The collection includes over 4,800 black and white negatives and glass lantern slides dated circa 1899 to 1930. While most images show private and public gardens, there are a significant number of unidentified views and views photographed in Europe during two trips he took there in 1906 and 1908. Few images are captioned or dated. In addition, there are over 50 plans and drawings, most notably for Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland and Reynolda in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and 3 monographs by or about Sears.

Scope and Contents note:

The Thomas Warren Sears Photograph Collection documents examples of the design work of Thomas Warren Sears (1880-1966), a landscape architect and amateur photographer from Brookline, Massachusetts. Sears, who was based for most of his career in Philadelphia, designed a variety of different types of landscapes ranging from private residences, schools, and playgrounds to parks, cemeteries, and urban housing developments located primarily in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. In addition to some of Sears' design work, images in the collection document Sears' domestic and foreign travels, design inspirations, and family. The collection includes over 4,800 black and white negatives and glass lantern slides dated circa 1899 to 1930. While most images show private and public gardens, there are a significant number of unidentified views and views photographed in Europe during two trips he took there in 1906 and 1908. Few images are captioned or dated. In addition, there are over 50 plans and drawings, most notably for Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland and Reynolda in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and monographs by or about Sears. Several of the glass lantern slides are duplicates of glass plate negatives in the collection. They apparently were chosen by Sears to illustrate some of his best design work, perhaps for lecture or client purposes.

In addition, there are 56 plans and drawings, most notably for Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland and Reynolda in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They range in date from 1917 to 1937 and from 1955 to 1964. Sears photographed some of his early plans; they are included in with the photographic images. Sears also photographed a handful of design plans by landscape architect Sibley Coslett Smith who practiced in Providence, Rhode Island; Sears and Smith shared the same business address there.

The Thomas Warren Sears Collection does not fully document the extent of Sears' design work. The use of glass plate negatives—which make up the bulk of the Thomas Warren Sears Collection—as a photography medium waned sometime during the first quarter of the twentieth century. As a result, the images in the Sears Collection capture examples of Sears' early to mid-career design work but they do not include jobs designed by Sears during the latter half of his design career.

Arrangement note:

The glass plate negatives were originally housed in numerous cardboard boxes manufactured for the sale of undeveloped glass plate negatives. Sears annotated the outside of the boxes with project or client names and/or locations, but the contents do not always match these labels. In addition, because very few of the glass plate negatives and lantern slides were labeled or captioned, it is not always evident where one job ended and another began if multiple projects were stored in the same carton. As a result, there are many instances in the Sears Collection where images have been inadvertently mislabeled because their identification is not apparent. Misidentified images are subject to correction as their proper identification is discovered. Each project has been assigned its own unique AAG job number based on its geographic origin. Those groups of images that have not been identified as to their location have been assigned a project number starting with 'SRS.' The collection is arranged into 3 series: 1) Photographic images (including glass plate negatives, film negatives, glass lantern slides, and photograph albums) 2) Plans and Drawings 3) Monographs

Biographical/Historical note:

Thomas Warren Sears was born in 1880 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1903 and Bachelor of Science degree in landscape architecture from the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard in 1906. Sears was an amateur photographer who won awards for his photography while at Harvard. In 1915 his images were published in the monograph, Parish Churches of England. After graduation he worked for the firm of Olmsted Brothers Landscape Architects for two years and then briefly practiced in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1913, Sears established a landscape design office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he spent the remainder of his professional career. Sears at one point was in a professional partnership; some of his design plans list the firm name of Sears and Wendell. He was made a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1921.

Sears designed many different types of landscapes ranging from private residences, schools, and playgrounds to parks, cemeteries, and urban housing developments. His designs were primarily located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. Just a few of his private landscapes include Marengo in Easton, Maryland; Sunnybrook, the Isaac H. Clothier, Jr. estate in Radnor, Pennsylvania; and Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland. In 1915, Sears started work on Reynolda, a country estate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He generated design plans for the property intermittently over the next two decades. Reynolda's formal gardens, greenhouses, and acres of fields and woodlands subsequently became part of Wake Forest University.

During World War I, Sears designed Army camps in Battle Creek, Michigan and Spartanburg, South Carolina. He also helped lay out Langley Field, at that time an experimental aviation field in Hampton Roads, Virginia. In the 1940s, Sears designed the amphitheater at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania for concerts, outdoor performances, and other special events. During that decade he also worked on Colonial Revival gardens at Pennsbury, William Penn's country estate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania located by the Delaware River. Sears retired in 1964 and died in 1966.

Related Archival Materials note:

The Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project (PAB), administered by The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, includes references to design projects by Sears.

Harvard University's Loeb Library includes a number of images by Sears, some of them documenting gardens that he designed.

Harvard University's Fine Arts Library, Special Collections includes a collection of photographs and negatives of English parish churches by Sears, c. 1908. Some of the images were published in the monograph, Parish Churches of England.

The Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina includes plans by Sears of Reynolda in its Estate Archives.

Provenance:

Gift of Eleanor Sears Tibbetts, Sears' daughter, to the Horticulture Services Division (later Smithsonian Gardens) in 1992.

Restrictions:

Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Rights:

For information or study purposes only. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.

Topic:

Photographers  Search this

Landscape architects  Search this

Gardens -- United States  Search this

Gardens -- Switzerland  Search this

Gardens -- Scotland  Search this

Gardens -- Italy  Search this

Gardens -- Germany  Search this

Gardens -- France  Search this

Gardens -- England  Search this

Genre/Form:

Negatives

Blueprints

Albums

Plans (drawings)

Lantern slides

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection.

Identifier:

AAG.SRS

See more items in:

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aag-srs

Collector:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Printer:

Janus, Allan  Search this

Interviewee:

Hanfstaengl, Erna  Search this

Names:

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra  Search this

Chautauqua Institute  Search this

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation  Search this

Holland-America Cruises  Search this

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945  Search this

Extent:

87.6 Cubic feet (318 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Passports

Photographs

Travelogs

Receipts

Ephemera

Files

Filmstrips

Lecture notes

Personal papers

Silver-dye bleach process

Contracts

Notebooks

Prints

Press releases

Ships' passenger lists

Project files

Magnetic tapes

Posters

Postcards

Vertical files

Dye destruction process

Travel diaries

Letters (correspondence)

Professional papers

Bank statements

Correspondence

Audiotapes

Series 12.

Clippings

Card files

Concert programs

Dye destruction photoprints

Biography files

Awards

Business records

Birthday cards

Date:

circa 1790-1981

bulk 1945-1980

Scope and Contents:

This collection is primarily the work of one individual, Donald Harvey Sultner, known professionally as Donald Sultner-Welles (1914-1981). The collection forms a written and visual record of Sultner's family, life, and career from 1913-1980. Its major strength is Sultner's photographic documentation of the world during his travels, ca. 1950-1980. Work by other photographers and artists, correspondence, greeting cards, and contemporary memorabilia and ephemera are included, along with fewer than fifty examples of earlier materials, ca. 1790-1900, collected by Sultner.

The entire collection reflects Sultner's lifework and interests. Housed in @ boxes (.W cubic feet), the collection is organized into eleven series: Personal Papers; Professional Papers; Lecture Materials; Biographical Materials; Transparencies; Photoprints; Photonegatives; Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media; Audio Tapes; Miscellaneous; and Restricted Materials. The arrangement within each series is based as closely as possi-ble on Sultner's own organization of the materials. However, in several instances similar materials were found separated and have been placed together. In addition, obvious filing mistakes and spelling errors have been corrected. The spelling of geographic place names is based on Offi-cial Standard Names prepared by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Of-fice of Geography, U.S. Department of the Interior. Not all names given by Sultner were found in the gazetteers, so there may be errors.

The bulk of the collection consists of 2-1/4-inch by 2-1/4-inch color transparencies (Series 5). However, the manuscript materials (Series 1-4) provide a detailed complement to the transparencies. For example, from the mid-1950s until the late 1970s, Sultner kept a travel diary (Se-ries 1). Written on the backs of postcards, this stream-of-consciousness journal reflects not only his daily trips, but his impressions of the countries and thoughts on his photography. A juxtaposition of cards with images is especially useful in understanding what Sultner photographed as well as why and how he photographed it. Sultner's professional corre-spondence (Series 2) documents the various types of groups before which he performed and equipment manufacturers dealt with for cameras, projectors, and so on. Notes, drafts, and final lectures (Series 3) present the performance side of Sultner. This material, when viewed with tapes of concerts and slides, begins to recreate the photo-concert as Sultner presented it. Scrapbooks (Series 4), kept by Sultner from the 1940s to the 1980s, present Sultner's life and career in chronological fashion.

The transparency portion of the collection (Series 5), containing over 87,000 images, is especially rich because of its documentation of the countries of the world. People are seen at their daily tasks, such as washing clothes, marketing, shopping, and eating. Cities are documented as they changed over the years. Two areas in particular will be of spe-cial interest to European and Asian researchers. The first is Sultner's USIS Asian tour in 1959. He visited Japan, Java, India, Korea, the Phil-ippines, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The serene, prewar cities and coun-tryside of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam evince nothing of the devastation to come in the 1960a and 70s.

The second area of interest is Sultner's passion for documenting archi-tecture. As a guest of the German government in 1954, Sultner documented the devastation of World War II and photographed both the reconstruction of bombed buildings and the construction of buildings reflecting "new" postwar architectural styles. In addition to photographing post-WW II styles, throughout his career Sultner documented Palladian, baroque and Rococo architecture. This interest manifested itself in several of his lectures.

A third subject area of interest to Sultner was gardens. Among his first lectures following his USIS tour was "Gardens of the World." Sultner de-veloped this theme into an ongoing commitment to ecology, culminating in a filmstrip, "The Time is Now" (Series 10), prepared for the Hudson River Conservation Society in the 1960s. Carl Carmer, a noted author, wrote the text for the filmstrip. Sultner's taped interviews, lectures, and program music (Series 9) complement the transparencies. During his USIS-sponsored Asian tour in 1959, Sultner recorded impressions of his trip on tape. Interviews with people living in the countries he visited, radio interviews, and his own personal reflections are included. Of particular interest are his "No Harm Asking" interviews in Manila (tape #2), his interview of two French hotel managers in Saigon discussing post-French control conditions (tape #9), and--perhaps the most unusual--his discussion with Erna Hanfstaengl about her personal relationship with Adolf Hitler (tape #107). Scripts for lectures (Series 3) round out the documentation of Sultner's profes-sional work.

Because of the arrangement of the transparencies, it is necessary to check several areas for the same subject. For example, Vietnam images are in the "World" section alphabetically under Vietnam (box 81). Sult-ner also lectured on Vietnam, so there are Vietnamese images in the "framed subjects" (Boxes 137-138). Another example, perhaps more compli-cated, but more common to Sultner, was his distinguishing between images of unidentified "People" and identified "Portraits." Transparency stud ies of human beings will be found under the subseries "People." "Subjects --Portraits," various countries in the subseries "World," and "Lectures." There are also individuals in the black-and-white photoprints (Series 6), and photonegatives (Series 8). The painter and print-maker Charles Shee-ler appears in a number of locations, as does tenor Roland Hayes. Another area of complexity with regard to people concerns the transparencies and negatives. Sultner interfiled his transparencies and negatives of iden-tified individuals. For appropriate storage, these two different formats have been arranged in separate series. Therefore, instead of container lists for the two series, there is a combined alphabetical index to both (pp. 166-206).

Of tangential interest are the photoprints (Series 6), etchings, wood-cuts, and other prints (Series 8) collected by Sultner. One particular subseries of interest contains photographs presented to Sultner by Asian photographers during his 1959 tour. Over 45 images were given to Sultner and represent the standards of camera-club photography in the 1950s. Thesecond subseries consists of over 25 prints by the Italian-American art-ist Luigi Lucioni (1900- ). For further information on this artist,see The Etchings of Luigi Lucioni, -A Catalogue Raisonne', by Stuart P.Embury (Washington, 1984). Lucioni also painted Sultner's portrait in1952 and the "People" section of the transparencies contains a number of images of Lucioni at work. Another significant category is the Japanese prints, including two by a major nineteenth-century artist, Ando Hiro-shige (1797-1858).

Series 11 contains restricted letters to Sultner from friends. These materials will become available to the public in the year 2031. Twenty-three document boxes of clippings and magazine articles found in standard magazines and newspapers (e.g., Time, Life, Look, Modern Ma-turity, etc.) were destroyed. These materials represented general arti--cles being published on a number of topics during Sultner's lifetime. A list of subject file headings Sultner used is with the manuscript mate-rials.

A second grouping of materials destroyed were nine filing cabinet drawers of travel material--maps, guide books, and other tourist pamphlets used by Sultner on his travels. This material, as with the first group of ma-terial, was of the common variety easily found. Any books or pamphlets found with the clippings were sorted out and sent to Smithsonian Institu-tion Libraries. Other library material that came in with the estate was sent immediately to the library and disposed of through their channels. Any office equipment, such as filing cabinets and supplies, etc., has been put to use in the National Museum of American History.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Personal Papers, 1923-1981

Series 2: Professional Papers, 1954-1980

Series 3: Lecture Materials, 1952-1980

Series 4: Biographical Materials, 1954-1980

Series 5: Transparencies, 1947-1980

Series 6: Photoprints, 1913-ca. 1980

Series 7: Photonegatives, 1929-1981

Series 8: Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media, ca. 1790-1979

Series 9: Audio Tapes, 1947-1980

Series 10: Miscellaneous, 1947-1980

Biographical / Historical:

Donald Harvey Sultner was bom in York, Pennsylvania, on April 13, 1914, the son of Lillian May Arnold Sultner and Harvey A. Sultner. In 1923 Sultner attended the Lewis Institute in Detroit, Michigan, to overcome a speech impediment. He entered the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1932 and graduated in 1936. Sultner studied merchandising and sang in the glee club, then under the direction of composer Harl MacDonald. Sultner, a baritone, continued his interest in music and studied voice with Reinald Werrenrath and with Florence Benedict and Bruce Benjamin in New York City. In the late 1940s and early 1950s he appeared in concert with accompanists at schools, clubs, and resort hotels along the East Coast. It appears that photography was always an important part of Sultner's life. Using a small format (120) camera, he recorded his vacation travels around the United States and Canada, parties, and his family. While living in New York, Sultner continued photographing friends and family and began photographing the famous people he encountered on his concert tours. In the early 1950s he began taking 2-1/4-inch by 2-1/4-inch color transparencies (slides) of landscapes and architecture as he traveled giving concerts.

Sultner, who had taken the stage name of "Sultner-Welles," began what was to be his lifework as a professional "photo-lecturer" in 1952. He illustrated his talks on nature, art, architecture, and the environment with his color slides. In 1954 Sultner toured West Germany as a guest of the Bonn government, and in 1959 he lectured in Asia under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. He was dubbed the "camera ambassador." Constantly adding new material to his collection of slides, Sultner traveled extensively throughout the United States, speaking before garden clubs, cultural organi-zations, and schools. He also appeared aboard various ships of the Holland-America line during a number of cruises abroad.

Sultner had established his performance style by the early 1960s. He expanded his lectures to include a combination of art, words, and music. The expanded presentation resulted in the "photo-concert," a unique synthesis of light and sound that Sultner frequently per-formed with a symphony orchestra. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra commissioned "Concertino for Camera and Orchestra" by Eric Knight with Sultner in mind. The world premiere was in Baltimore in March 1979. While he spoke on many art, garden, and architectural topics, Sultner specialized in subjects relating to the baroque and rococo periods and Palladian architecture.

Sultner died of cancer in York, Pennsylvania, on March 25, 1981, at the age of 67.

1914 -- April 13, born York, Pennsylvania.

1929 -- In Detroit at Lewis Institute to overcome a speech impediment.

1932 -- To University of Pennsylvania.

1935 -- Summer trip to Roanoke (VA), Picketts, Hershey (PA); fall trip to New England for fraternity (AXP) convention.

1936 -- Spring glee club trip; graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; summer trips to Newport News (VA), northern trip to Canada, Picketts (PA).

1937 -- Fall trip to Williamsburg (VA), Duke University (NC); Sultner family begins building "Glen Hill" (Dover, PA).

1938 -- Summer at home, and Picketts (PA), Camp Pratt.

1939 -- Spring trip to Washington, D.C.; September trip to The Homestead (WV), Hot Springs (WV), Virginia; Lake Mohonk (NY).

1940 -- Summer trip to New Orleans, Blowing Rock (NC); winter trip to Skytop Club (NY); fall trip to Atlantic City (NJ), Philadelphia (PA), Annapolis (MD).

1941 -- Winter 1941-42 appearance in "Hit the Deck." Lake Mohonk (NY) with Ted Walstrum (Sept. 22-23); Skytop Club (NY) (February); summer trip to Canada, Lake Chazy (NY) (Aug. 17-23).

1942 -- Spring in Atlantic City (NJ); summer to Buck Hill Falls, Lakes Chazy and Mohonk.

1943 -- Summer trip to Mohonk (NY).

1944 -- Summer: To Toronto (Ontario), Muskoka Lake, Bigwin Island, Montreal (Quebec), Mohonk (NY).

1945 -- Summer: To Winnepesauke (ME), Woodstock (NY), Ogunquit (ME), Bridgeport (CT).

1946 -- To Mohonk (NY), Ogunquit (ME), Old Saybrook (CT), Nantucket (RI).

1947 -- Singing tour of Canada and New England; winter-spring tour to Georgia and Florida.

1948 -- To Florida and Nassau, Feb.-Mar., Vermont, July-Aug.; Nassau-Havana-Miami-Bermuda, October.

1949 -- Singing tour of North and South Carolina.

1950 -- Summer trip to South.

1951 -- To District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, [New Jersey?], New York, Vermont.

1952 -- January 9: first public photo-concert, Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts, Philadelphia; trips to Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont.

1953 -- To Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont.

1954 -- Guest of German government for a study tour in the fall. To District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia.

1955 -- To Holland; Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

1956 -- To California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.

1957 -- Holland-America Cruise to Germany, Austria, Italy. To Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1958 -- Holland-America Cruises to Germany, Austria, Holland, Italy, Switzerland. To Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota., Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin.

1959 -- United States Information Service (USIS)-sponsored tour of Asia: Burma, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam. Also visited Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Spain; Alaska, California, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania.

1960 -- Holland-America Cruise to Austria, Belgium, Caribbean, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Morocco. To Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

1961 -- To Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland; Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode.Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

1962 -- Portfolio, "Autumn in Vermont," with introduction by Carl Carmer, published in Autumn issue of Vermont Life. Holland-America Cruise to Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden. To Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

1963 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Canada, Sweden, Thailand. To Alabama, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, N;w York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington.

1964 -- Holland-America Cruise to Germany, Canada, England, Holland, Wales. To Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia.

1965 -- Holland-America Cruise to Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Wales. To Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1966 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Germany, France, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland. To New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.

1967 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Austria, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Wales. To Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia.

1968 -- To Germany; Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1969 -- To England, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland; Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

1970 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden. To Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

1971 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Sweden. To Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania.

1972 -- Holland-America Cruise to Asia, Pacific, Caribbean, Africa, Austria, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Turkey. To California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia.

1973 -- Holland-America Cruise to Austria, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Sweden. To California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont.

1974 -- To Germany, Switzerland; California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

1975 -- To Austria; California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

1976 -- To Canada; Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah.

1977 -- To Canada, Germany; New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1978 -- To Scotland; Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina.

1979 -- To England; Florida.

1980 -- To Florida.

1981 -- March 25: Sultner dies of cancer, York, Pennsylania.

Introduction:

The Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection, ca. 1790-1981, came to the National Museum of American History in 1982 from the estate of Mr. Sultner. The collection was created by Sultner over his adult life and represents one of the most extensive collections of color transparencies created by one individual and held in a public repository. Sultner's emphasis was on world culture. He took the majority of his photographs in the eastern United States, western Europe, and Asia. Gardens, architecture, and people are the three major subject areas represented in the collection. Of additional interest are Sultner's taped impressions of his 1959 United States Information Service (USIS)-sponsored Asian tour. The collection occupies 309 boxes and covers more than 83 cubic feet.

The Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection is open to researchers in the Archives Center, third floor east, of the National Museum of American History, between 12th and 14th Streets, on Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20560. The Archives Center is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Written and telephone (202/357-3270) inquiries are welcome and researchers are encouraged to contact the Archives Center before their arrival. The FAX number is 202/786-2453.

This is the eleventh in a series of occasional guides to collections in the Archives Center. Finding aids to other collections are available. The Guide to Manuscript Collections in the National Museum of History and Technology (1978) and an updated compilation contain brief descriptions of all archival holdings in the Museum. All current Archives Center holdings are available for search on the Smithsonian Institution Bibliographic Information System (SIBIS), an online database.

General:

References in notebook to tapes not located:

5/1960 Laddsl--Pasadena, CA (Thornton Ladd, Helen Peabody, me, Mrs. Ladd

5/11/1968 Glen Foerd, dinner party--F. Tonner, T[onner] tribute

List of Illustrations:

Frontispiece: Portrait of Donald Harvey Sultner-Welles by Ludwig Harren, Nuremberg, Germany, May, 1957. Series 6: Photo¬prints, box 6; Series 7: Photonegatives, 700.1.

vii Donald Sultner-Welles inspecting slides at his 2101 E. Market Street apartment. Photograph by Gretchen H. Goughnour, York, Pennsylvania, December 1958. Series 6: Photoprints, box 6, folder 5; Series 7: Photonegatives, Box 11, 696.1.

 Sultner-Welles with Rollei, Kobe, Japan, April 1959. Press photograph, photographer unknown. Series 7: Photonegatives, 687.1.

10 Americana by the Roadside" (boy with soda, Beech Creek, North Carolina). Series 5, Subseries 5: Subjects, Box 102: 6.3.

20 "Americana in Europe" (sign: "To the Elephant Kraal," South Africa). Series 5, Subseries 5: Subjects, Box 102: 6.33.

39 North Miami Beach Motel, Florida, February 1960. Series 5, Subseries 1: United States, Box 8: 9.11. SI Neg. 87-326, Videodisc Frame 2942.

40 Beech Creek, North Carolina (portrait of elderly woman), June 1956. Series 5, Subseries 1: United States, Box 28: 12.10. SI Neg. 87-327, Videodisc Frame 10156.

97 Brookgreen Sculpture Garden, South Carolina, ca. 1963. Series 5, Subseries 1: United States, Box 35.35.11. SI Neg. 87-328; Videodisc Frame 12747.

98 "Six Irrigation Paddlers Outside Hue," South Vietnam, 1959. Series 5, Subseries 2: World, Box 81: 35.11; also Series 7: Photonegatives, 658.1 (copy neg.). Videodisc Frame 27960.

151 Alkmaar Cheese Market, The Netherlands, September 1969. Series 5, Subseries 2: World, Box 70: 17.9. SI Neg. 87-329; not shown on videodisc.

152 African Cruise: Victoria Falls, Rhodesia, February 1972. Series 5, Subseries 3: Cruises, Box 83: 9.12. SI Neg. 87-330, Videodisc Frame 28344.

166 Il Galero, Italy, July 1966. Series 5, Subseries 4: European Architectural Styles, Box 99: 48.4. SI neg. 87-331.

179 "Baroque--Germany: Alterding," July 1965. Series 5, Subseries 4: European Architectural Styles, Box 94: 1.8. SI Neg. 87-332, Videodisc Frame 31310.

180 Design Elements, Hotel Fontainebleau, New Orleans,, Louisiana, April, 1961. Series 5, Subseries 5: Subjects, Box 106: 23.2. SI Neg. 87-333, Videodisc Frame 34912.

192 Charles Sheeler, ca. 1957-1965. Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 169: 49.2. SI Neg. 87-334. Videodisc Frame 52713.

238 "Ba-Rococo," Detail, Ottobeuren Church, Bavaria. Series 5, Subseries 7: Framed Subjects, Box 141: 47.7, Videodisc Frame 45665.

276 Villa Barbaro, Maser, Treviso, Italy. Series 7. Photonegatives, 715.1. SI Neg. 87-335.

281 "Water--Economics," Storm-Damaged Beach House. Series 5, Subseries 8: Notecard Transparencies, Box 155: 22.12. SI Neg. 87-336.

282 Market in Madeira. Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 161: 48.12. SI Neg. 87-337, Videodisc Frame 48435.

298 Children (South Carolina?). Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 104: 17.2. SI Neg. 87-338.

311 Goethe Statue, Chicago, Illinois. Series 7: Photonegatives, 678.1.

316 Feeding Gulls, Florida. Series 7. Photonegatives, 684.1.

331 Montage for Sultner's concerts. Series 8: Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media, filing case. Series 7: Photonegatives, 740.1.

332 Sultner Showing Slides to Garden Club, Caterpillar Tractor Co. Auditorium, Dec. 1958. Photograph by Gretchen H. Goughnour, York, Penn. Series 7: Photonegatives, 690.1.

340 Montage for Sultner's concerts. Series 8: Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media, filing case. Series 7: Photonegatives, 742.1.

341 Children, Ohio (boy in box in wagon) Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 165: 13.2; Series 7: Photonegatives, 667.4 (copy neg.)

352 Publicity/brochure photograph. Drinking cup and water, Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania. Series 7: Photonegatives, 651.1.

353 Publicity/brochure photograph, Milles Gardens, Stockholm, Sweden. Series 7: Photonegatives, 659.1.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

A small number of letters and photographs are restricted until the year 2031. Identification list in box.

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.

Topic:

Portraits -- 20th century  Search this

Lecturers  Search this

Photographers  Search this

Gardens -- Photographs -- 1300-1980  Search this

Architecture -- Photographs -- 1300-1980  Search this

Travel photography -- 1950-2000  Search this

Genre/Form:

Passports

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film

Travelogs

Receipts -- 20th century

Ephemera

Files

Filmstrips

Lecture notes

Personal papers -- 20th century

Silver-dye bleach process

Contracts

Notebooks

Prints

Press releases

Ships' passenger lists

Project files

Magnetic tapes

Posters

Postcards

Vertical files

Dye destruction process

Travel diaries

Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.

Professional papers

Bank statements

Correspondence -- 1930-1950

Photographs -- Phototransparencies -- 20th century

Audiotapes -- 1940-1980

Series 12. -- Cibachrome (TM)

Photographs -- 20th century

Clippings

Card files

Concert programs

Dye destruction photoprints

Biography files

Awards

Business records

Birthday cards

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0145

See more items in:

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0145

Creator:

Adams, Molly, 1918-2003  Search this

Landscape architect:

Ireys, Alice Recknagel, 1911-2000  Search this

Stege, Friede  Search this

Weber, Nelva M.  Search this

Extent:

0 Photographic prints (color, 4 x 6 inches)

0 Photographic prints (black and white, 3 1/2 x 5 inches)

0 Photographic prints (black and white, 8 x 10 inches)

0 Contact sheets (black and white)

35mm slides (photographs) (color, 2 x 2 inches)

0 Negatives (35mm negatives, color)

0 Negatives (black & white, 4 x 5 inches)

0 Negatives (120mm negatives, black and white, 2 x 2 inches)

0 Film transparency (color, 4 x 5 inches)

0 Transparencies (120mm transparencies, color, 2 x 2 inches)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographic prints

Contact sheets

Negatives

Film transparency

Transparencies

Film transparencies

Color negatives

Black-and-white photographs

Photographs

Color photographs

Slides (photographs)

Black-and-white negatives

Date:

circa 1960-1994

Summary:

The Maida Babson Adams American Garden Collection documents the work of Molly Adams, a free-lance garden photographer who photographed hundreds of private and public gardens, many of them in the mid-Atlantic region, from the late 1950s through the mid-1990s. It includes slides, photographic prints, negatives and transparencies. A significant number of images document the work of landscape designers Nelva M. Weber, Alice Recknagel Ireys, and Friede Stege. Roughly 50 gardens do not have an identified location. Some images have captions and other information written on them.

Scope and Contents:

The Maida Babson Adams American Gardens Collection includes a total of 7,606 images documenting close to 400 gardens photographed by Molly Adams from the 1950s to the 1990s. Although most images document gardens in New Jersey, the collection also includes gardens in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. While the vast majority of gardens in the collection are private, there are also some public gardens and venues like the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in New Jersey, the International Flower Show in New York City, and the White House in Washington, D.C. A number of gardens were photographed during organized garden or horticultural tours or annual meetings of the Garden Club of America. A significant number of images document the work of landscape designers Alice Ireys, Nelva Weber, and Friede Stege. Approximately 85 gardens in the collection are unidentified as to their location and/or client. Relatively few images are captioned or dated; Adams often labeled a film envelope or back of a photograph or contact sheet with just a client surname and the designer (if it was Ireys, Weber, or Stege). In some cases, additional information about a garden's location or owner's full name was gleaned from the finding aids for the Alice Recknagel Ireys Papers or the Nelva Weber Papers. Some images were accompanied by clippings from newspapers or magazines that featured one or more related images by Adams; most of these clippings date from the 1950s and 1960s. There is also a file of general clippings of Adams' work; many of these do not identify the garden that is shown.

Most of the images are black and white, though there are a number taken in color. Adams' contact sheets and photo envelopes were sometimes marked with cropping marks or photo developing notes respectively.

Biographical / Historical:

Molly (Maida Babson) Adams (1918 - 2003) had a 40+ year career as a nationally recognized free-lance garden and wildlife photographer and conservationist. Her images were published under the name "Molly Adams." Adams was born in Orange, New Jersey and lived over fifty years in Mendham Township, New Jersey. As a teenager she became interested in photography; she later attended the New York Institute of Photography and became a member of the New York Camera Club.

Her photographs were featured in numerous newspapers and magazines including the "New York Times," "New York Herald Tribune," "House Beautiful," "Horticulture," "Home Garden," and "Audubon." During the Kennedy administration, she photographed the White House Rose Garden; these photographs were later published in "Flower Grower."

Adams provided hundreds of photographs for "How to Plan and Plant Your Own Property" (1967) by landscape architect Alice Recknagel Ireys and "How to Plan Your Own Home Landscape" (1976) by landscape designer Nelva M. Weber. Her images were also published in books including "The Reader's Digest Practical Guide to Home Landscaping," and "The Complete Illustrated Book of Garden Magic." Adams also occasionally wrote garden-themed articles. A longtime member in the Somerset Hills (NJ) Garden Club, which is part of the Garden Club of America, Adams once served as the latter's official photographer.

In the 1960's Adams' photographs drew attention to conservation issues related to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern New Jersey. These widely publicized photographs rallied public support against the proposed destruction of the Great Swamp for the construction of an airport. Adams was also active as a member of the Mendham Township Environmental Commission and the North Jersey Conservation Foundation. In the 1980's she was awarded the Buckley Medal of Merit for Horticultural Achievement by the Garden Club of America for her photographs used in the postcard campaign "Save Our Vanishing Wild Flowers."

Related Archival Materials Note:

The Alice Recknagel Ireys Papers in the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, include photographs by Molly Adams.

The Nelva Weber Papers in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University Library in Ithaca, New York, likely include photographs by Molly Adams.

Separated Materials:

The North Jersey History & Genealogy Center at The Morristown & Morris Township Library in New Jersey has a collection of images by Molly Adams showcasing nature scenes and birds.

Provenance:

Adams' family donated her collection of garden images to the Smithsonian's Archives of American Gardens after her death in 2003.

Restrictions:

Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.

Topic:

Gardens -- Pennsylvania  Search this

Gardens -- United States  Search this

Gardens -- Connecticut  Search this

Gardens -- Massachusetts  Search this

Gardens -- New Jersey  Search this

Gardens -- New York (State)  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographic prints

Film transparencies

Color negatives

Black-and-white photographs

Photographs

Color photographs

Negatives

Slides (photographs)

Contact sheets

Black-and-white negatives

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Maida Babson Adams American garden collection.

Identifier:

AAG.ADM

See more items in:

Maida Babson Adams American garden collection

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aag-adm