Search Results

Creator:

Baekeland, L. H. (Leo Hendrik), 1863-1944  Search this

Names:

Bakelite Corporation  Search this

Nepera Chemical Co.  Search this

Extent:

15 Cubic feet (49 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Professional papers

Clippings

Laboratory notes

Personal correspondence

Photographs

Notebooks

Diaries

Date:

1976

1863 - 1968

Summary:

The papers document Leo H. Baekeland, a Belgian born chemist who invented Velox photographic paper (1893) and Bakelite (1907), an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile plastic. The papers include student notebooks; private laboratory notebooks and journals; commercial laboratory notes; diaries; patents; technical papers; biographies; newspaper clippings; maps; graphs; blueprints; account books; batch books; formula books; order books; photographs; and correspondence regarding Baekeland, 1887-1943.

Scope and Contents:

Baekeland documented his life prolifically through diaries, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and correspondence. These constitute the bulk of the collection. The Bakelite company history is also incompletely documented in this collection through Baekeland's correspondence, the commercial laboratory notebooks, and some company ledgers.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Reference Materials, 1863-1868 and undated

Subseries 1.1: Biographical, 1880-1965

Subseries 1.2:Company History, 1910-1961

Subseries 1.3: Related Interests, 1863-1968 and undated

Series 2: Published and Unpublished Writings (by Leo H. Baekeland), 1884-1945

Series 3: Correspondence, 1888-1963 Subseries 3.1: Personal Correspondence, 1916-1943

Subseries 3.2: Charitable Donations, 1916-1938

Subseries 3.3: Family Correspondence, 1888-1963

Subseries 3.4: Clubs and Associations, 1916-1943

Series 4: Diaries, 1907-1943

Series 5: Reading and Lecture Notes, 1878-1886

Series 6, Laboratory Notebooks, 1893-1915

Series 7: Commercial Laboratory Notebooks, 1910-1920

Series 8: Bakelite Company, 1887-1945

Series 9, Patents, 1894-1940

Series 10: Bakelite Corporation Ledgers, 1910-1924; 1935; 1939

Series 11: Photographs, 1889-1950 and undated

Subseries 11.1: Photographs, 1889-1950 and undated

Subseries 11.2: Film Negatives, 1900-1941 and undated

Subseries 11.3: Photoprints, 1894-1941

Subseries 11.4: Stereographs, 1888-1902 and undated

Subseries 11.5: Film and Glass Plate Negatives, 1899-1900 and undated

Series 12: Audio Materials, 1976

Biographical / Historical:

Leo Hendrik Baekeland was an industrial chemist famous for his invention of Bakelite, the first moldable synthetic polymer, and for his invention of Velox photographic paper. Baekeland's career as an inventor and innovator was punctuated by an urge to improve existing technologies and a willingness to experiment both meticulously and daringly. Born in Ghent, Belgium in 1863, Baekeland was a distinguished chemistry student and became a young professor at the University of Ghent. He had a long standing interest in photography and sought to further photographic technology with his expertise in chemistry. In 1887 he obtained his first patent for a dry plate which contained its own developer and could be developed in a tray of water. With the support of a business partner/faculty associate, Jules Guequier, he formed a company named Baekeland et Cie to produce the plate, but the venture failed due to lack of capital.

On August 8, 1889, he married Celine Swarts, daughter of his academic mentor Theodore Swarts, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Ghent. After his wedding he travelled to different countries using a traveling scholarship he had been awarded two years previously. His travels ended in the United States where he was offered a job researching chemical problems associated with manufacturing bromide papers and films with A. and H.T. Anthony and Company, a photographic supply producer. Leo and Celine Baekeland had three children: George, Nina and Jenny (1890-1895).

He left Anthony and Company in 1891 to be a consulting chemist. During that time he invented a photographic print paper using silver chloride which could be developed in artificial light instead of sunlight and thus offered more flexibility and consistency to photographers. In 1893, with financial support from Leonard Jacobi, a scrap metal dealer from San Francisco, he formed the Nepera Chemical Company in Yonkers, New York, to manufacture "gaslight" paper under the trade name Velox. The paper became quite popular and the company expanded its operations after its first three years. Finally, George Eastman bought the company for a reported $750,000 which afforded Baekeland the time to conduct his own research in a laboratory he set up on his estate, "Snug Rock," in Yonkers.

Baekeland worked on problems of electrolysis of salt and the production of synthetic resins. He was hired as a consultant to work with Clinton P. Townsend to perfect Townsend's patented electrolytic cell. Baekeland's work there contributed to the success of the Hooke Electrochemical Company which began in operations in Niagara Falls in 1905.

Simultaneously, in 1902 Baekeland began researching reactions of phenol and formaldehyde, and by 1907 was able to control the reactions and produce a moldable plastic (oxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride) which he named Bakelite. Although the process was not perfected for another couple of years, Baekeland applied for a patent for Bakelite right away. He announced his discovery to the scientific community in 1909, and in 1910 formed the General Bakelite Company. Bakelite was a thermosetting resin that, unlike Celluloid became permanently solid when heated. It was virtually impervious to heat, acids, or caustic substances. It could be molded into a wide variety of shapes and was an excellent electric insulator that came to replace hard rubber and amber for electrical and industrial applications. It was also suitable for a wide variety of consumer products such as billiard balls, jewelry, pot handles, telephones, toasters, electric plugs, and airplane instrument knobs. Two companies challenged Bakelite with significant competition, Condensite Corporation of America and Redmanol Chemical Products Company. Bakelite finally merged with these two companies in 1922 to become the Bakelite Corporation. Union Carbide finally bought the corporation in 1939.

Baekeland sustained his interest in photography by taking numerous photographs throughout his lifetime. He also devoted much of his spare time to professional societies and received various honorary degrees and awards such as the Perkin Medal. He had several hobbies such as boating, wine and beer making, and, exotic plants. He also traveled extensively throughout the world, which is documented in his diaries and photographs.

Baekeland spent his final years mostly in his Coconut Grove, Florida home where he became increasingly eccentric until his mind failed him and he was institutionalized. He died in 1943 at the age of eighty.

Scope and Content: Baekeland documented his life prolifically through diaries, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and correspondence. These constitute the bulk of the collection. The Bakelite company history is also incompletely documented in this collection through Baekeland's correspondence, the commercial laboratory notebooks, and some company ledgers.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Albany Billiard Ball Company Records (AC0011)

Celluloid Corporation Records (AC0009)

J. Harry DuBois Collection on the History of Plastics (AC0008)

Materials at Other Organizations

The Hagley Museum and Library, Manuscripts and Archives Department in Delaware also several related collections including: the Directors of Industrial Research Records, 1929 -982; the Du Pont Viscoloid Company, Survey of the Plastics Field, 1932; The Society of the Plastics Industry, 1937-1987; the Roy J. Plunkett Collection, 1910-1994 (inventor of Teflon); and the Gordon M. Kline Collection, 1903.

Separated Materials:

The National Museum of American History, Division Medicine and Science has several artifacts associated with Baekeland including the original "Bakalizer" the apparatus in which Bakelite was first made. See accession numbers: 1977.0368; 1979.1179; 1981.0976; 1982.0034; 1983.0524; 1984.0138.

Provenance:

The bulk of the collection was donated to the National Museum of American History's Division of Physical Sciences in November, 1981, by Celine Karraker, Leo H. Baekeland's granddaughter.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Phenolic resins  Search this

Travel -- Photographs  Search this

Chemists -- 1880-1970  Search this

Inventors -- 1880-1970  Search this

Plastics -- 1880-1970  Search this

Chemistry  Search this

Genre/Form:

Professional papers -- 1880-1970

Clippings -- 1880-1970

Laboratory notes

Personal correspondence -- 1880-1970

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass -- 19th-20th century

Notebooks -- 1880-1970

Diaries -- 1880-1970

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 19th-20th century

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Nitrate -- 19th-20th century

Citation:

Leo Baekeland Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0005

See more items in:

Leo H. Baekeland Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0005

Source:

Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI.  Search this

Creator:

Hammer, William J. (William Joseph), 1858-1934 (electrical engineer)  Search this

Former owner:

Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI.  Search this

Names:

Batchelor, George  Search this

Bell, Alexander Graham, 1847-1922  Search this

Berliner, Emile, 1851-1929  Search this

Curie, Marie  Search this

Curie, Pierre  Search this

Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931  Search this

Jehl, Francis  Search this

Johnson, Edward H.  Search this

Sprague, Frank J.  Search this

Tesla, Nikola, 1857-1943  Search this

Upton, Francis R.  Search this

Extent:

36 Cubic feet (124 boxes, 3 map-folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Photographs

Date:

circa 1847-1989

Summary:

Original documents and papers generated by William J. Hammer and by various companies and individuals with whom he was associated. Includes material related to the research and inventions of Edison, Bell, Tesla, the Curies, etc.

Scope and Contents:

This collection includes original documents and papers generated by Hammer and by various companies and individuals and various secondary sources assembled by Hammer between 1874 and 1934. Hammer's lifelong association with the foremost scientists of his day -- Edison, Bell, Maxim, the Curies, the Wright brothers, and others - afforded him a unique opportunity to collect materials about the development of science along many lines.

This collection, which includes rare historical, scientific, and research materials, was donated by the International Business Machine Corporation to the Museum of History and Technology in 1962 and held by the Division of Electricity. In 1983 it was transferred to the -Archives Center. The collection was badly disorganized when received and contained many fragile documents in poor condition. The collection was organized and arranged as reflected in this register.

The collection documents in photographs, manuscripts, notes, books, pamphlets, and excerpts, the beginnings of electrical technology. In its present state, it comprises four series: Series 1 contains twenty-two boxes of the William J. Hammer Papers, containing both biographical and autobiographical material; Series 2 has twenty boxes of material on Edison; Series 3 consists of thirty-three boxes of reference material; and Series 4 holds twenty-one boxes of photographs and portraits. See the container list beginning on page 39 for more detailed information on the contents of the collection.

Most of the material in the collection is chronologically arranged. However, in some cases alphabetical arrangement has been employed, for example, in the arrangement of portraits of eminent men of electrical science (Series 4, Boxes 78-80, 100-101), and the arrangement of publications (by authors' last names).

Hammer did original laboratory work upon selenium, radium, cathode rays, x-rays, ultra-violet rays, phosphorescence, fluorescence, cold light, and wireless. These aspects of his career are reflected in many parts of the collection: in Series 1 there are articles, notes, diagrams, sketches, graphs,, and correspondence; in Series 3 articles, magazines, news clippings, and bound pamphlets. Tie contributed many technical writings, some of which are found in Series 1.

Papers detailing Hammer's aeronautical activities were transferred to the National Air and Space Museum. They consist of two scrapbooks and one cubic foot of aeronautical photographs of balloons, airplanes, and gliders and one-half cubic foot of correspondence. For further information contact the National Air and Space Museum Archives at (202) 357-3133.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into four series.

Series 1: William J. Hammer Papers, 1851-1957

Series 2: Edisonia, 1847-1960

Series 3: Reference Materials, 1870-1989

Series 4: Photographs, 1880-1925

Biography of William J. Hammer:

William Joseph Hammer, assistant to Thomas Edison and a consulting electrical engineer, was born at Cressona, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, February 26, 1858, and died March 24, 1934. His parents were Martha Augusta Bech (1827-1861) and William Alexander Hammer (1827-1895). He attended private and public schools in Newark, New Jersey, and university and technical school lectures abroad.

On January 3, 1894, Hammer married Alice Maud White in Cleveland, Ohio. They had one daughter, Mabel (Mrs. Thomas Cleveland Asheton). Alice Hammer died in 1906.

In 1878 Hammer became an assistant to Edward Weston of the Weston Malleable Nickel Company. In December 1879 he began his duties as laboratory assistant to Thomas Edison at Menlo Park, New Jersey. He assisted in experiments on the telephone, phonograph, electric railway, ore separator, electric lighting, and other developing inventions. However, he worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In this first year, the plant under general manager Francis Upton, turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of Incandescent Electric Lighting"! (Hammer's memoranda and notes, Series 2).

In 1881 Edison sent Hammer to London as Chief Engineer of the English Electric Light Co. In association with E. H. Johnson, general manager, Hammer constructed the Holborn Viaduct Central Electric Light Station in London. This plant included three, thirty-ton "Jumbo" steam-powered dynamos (generators), and operated 3,000 incandescent lamps. Holborn was the first central station ever constructed for incandescent electric lighting. Hammer began its operation on January 12, 1882, by lighting the Holborn Viaduct.

In 1882 Hammer also installed a large isolated lighting plant containing twelve Edison dynamos at the Crystal Palace Electric Exposition and the Edison Exhibit at the Paris Electrical Exposition.

At this time Hammer also designed and built the first electric sign. The sign spelled the name "Edison" in electric lights, and was operated by a hand controlled commutator and a large lever snap switch. It was erected over the organ in the Crystal Palace concert hall.

In 1883 Hammer became Chief Engineer for the German Edison Company (Deutsche Edison Gesellschaft), later known as Allegemeine Elektricitaets Gesellschaft. Hammer laid out and supervised the installations of all Edison plants in Germany. While in Berlin he invented the automatic motor-driven "flashing" electric lamp sign. The sign, which flashed "Edison" letter by letter and as a whole, was placed on the Edison Pavilion at the Berlin Health Exposition in 1883.

On his return to the United States in 1884, Hammer took charge of some of Edison's exhibits, including Edison's personal exhibit, at the International Electrical Exhibition held under the authority of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. There he built the first flashing "Column of Light." He also became confidential assistant to E. R. Johnson, president of the parent Edison Electric Light Company. Together with Johnson and Frank J. Sprague, he became an incorporator of the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor company. He also was elected a trustee and the company's first secretary.

Hammer installed an all-electric house at Newark, New Jersey in 1884 and he devised various electrical devices and contrivances for an unusual party for friends and colleagues. (See "Electrical Diablerie" beginning on page 6).

At the end of 1884 Hammer became chief inspector of central stations of the parent Edison Electric Light Company. For over two years he made financial, mechanical, and electrical reports on the various stations throughout the United States. During 1886-87 he was chief engineer and general manager of the Boston Edison Electric Illuminating Company. He also acted as contractor for the company. He laid $140,000 of underground tubing and installed Sprague Electric Motors.

In 1888, acting as an independent engineer, he was placed in charge of completing the 8,000 light plant of the Ponce de Leon Hotel in St.Augustine Florida. At the time this was the largest isolated incandescent lighting plant ever constructed. Also in 1888 Hammer was appointed consulting electrical engineer to the Cincinati Centennial Expostition, and as a contractor designed and installed over $40,000 worth of electrical effects.

Hammer was appointed Edison's personal representative remarked, "There are a lot of crowned heads in the Edison business. How many of them am I subservient to?" Mr. Edison answered "You take no instructions except from Thomas A. Edison." Hammer asked "What are your instructions?" Mr. Edison replied, 'Hammer, I haven't any. Go and make a success of it.' In Paris he set up and operated all of Edison's inventions, which embraced nineteen departments and covered 9,800 square feet of space. He also built a huge Edison lamp forty-five feet high employing 20,000 lamps. Edison remarked, 'He had entire charge of my exhibit at the Paris Exposition, which was very successful." This was the largest individual exhibit at the Exposition, costing $100,000. Mr. Edison replied, "I want you to go right out and have a card engraved William J. Hammer, Representative of Thomas A. Edison. You are the only representative I have here," and he complimented him on his work adding, "The French government will do something handsome for you for your work." Hammer replied that he would not raise his hand to get it and did not believe in giving such honors to people who seek them. Mr. Edison said, "You are wrong. You are a young man and such things are valuable. At any rate if there's anyone in this exhibition who deserves recognition, you do, and I'm going to see you get it' (Hammer's memoranda and notes, Series 2). Thirty-four years later, in 1925, through the personal influence of Edison, Hammer was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French government.

In 1890 Hammer returned to the United States and opened an office as a consulting electrical engineer. He was in private practice until 1925, making reports, conducting tests, and giving expert testimony in patent suits.

On January 31, 1890, Hammer formed the Franklin Experimental Club of Newark where boys could come and carry on experiments, build apparatus, and listen to lectures. Hammer equipped the laboratory at his own expense. One side was an electrical laboratory and the other a chemical laboratory. About forty-five boys joined. Each boy had a key to the club and a section of a bench with his own drawer for keeping notes, tools, and other equipment. In 1892 the structure was destroyed by fire from a saloon next door, ending Hammer's plans for a large and useful institution.

In 1896 Hammer was elected president of the National Conference of Standard Electrical Rules, which prepared and promulgated the "National Electric Code."

In 1902 in Paris, Hammer visited Pierre and Marie Curie, the discoverers of radium and polonium. They gave him nine tubes of radium and one of polonium to bring back to the United States. He also acquired some sulphide of zinc, with which he mixed radium carbonates, producing a beautifully luminous powder. This was the first radium-luminous material ever made. By mixing the powder with Damar varnish he produced the first radium-luminous paint. He was also the first person to make colored (and white) luminous materials. In 1907 he invented and patented a process for producing colored phosphorescent materials by combining phosphorescent and fluorescent substances.

Back in the United States in the fall of 1902 and into 1903, Hammer applied his radium-luminous materials to thirty different objects: luminous dials for clocks and watches, toys, artificial flowers, radium luminous gun sights, taps and pulls for lamp sockets, switches, keyholes, push buttons, telephone transmitters, poison bottle labels, a small plaster figure, push pins, and writing implements among others. He did not patent the invention due to the scarcity and high cost of radium, but later in an important suit involving foreign and American patents of radium-luminous materials, his testimony and that of other noted scientists and professionals of the day who had visited his home and laboratory proved that his work completely anticipated that of all inventors both in the United States and abroad. In 1902 he was one of the first persons to be burned with radium.

Hammer gave eighty-eight lectures on the Curies' work and on radium and radioactive substances. He wrote the first book published on radium, Radium and other Radioactive Substances, 1903. Hammer proposed and used radium for cancer and tumor treatment, successfully treating and curing a tumor on his own hand in July 1903. Tie also supplied several hospitals with radioactive water he had made and conducted extensive experiments with x-rays, cathode-rays, radium-rays, ultraviolet lights, phosphorescence, fluorescence, and cold-light. He was probably the first to suggest many wartime uses for radium-luminous materials, such as airplanes, instruments, markers, barbed-wire, and landing fields.

Hammer also did important work with selenium, a nonmetallic element that resembles sulphur and tellurium chemically. It is obtained chiefly as a by-product in copper refining, and occurs in allotropic forms. A grey stable form varies in electrical conductivity depending on the intensity of its illumination and is used in electronic devices. Hammer invented selenium cells and apparatus, and suggested industrial uses for selenium and other light-sensitive cells.

In 1886 Hammer devised a system for automatically controlling street and other lights by use of a selenium cell. In 1892 he designed a torpedo that could be steered by searchlight and selenium cell. In the early 1900s he suggested many other uses for "light" cells, including burglar alarms, dynamo control, buoy, railroad signaling, automatic gun firing, transmission of music, stethoscope recorder, automatic operating shutters, automatic boiler feed, snow recorder, and electric motor control.

At the St. Louis Exposition of 1904 Hammer was Chairman of the Jury for Telegraphy, Telephony, and Wireless. He was also a member of the "Departmental" Jury ("Applied Science: Electricity") and of the committee appointed to organize the International Electrical Congress at St. Louis in 1904.

In 1906 Hammer received the "Elliott Cresson" gold medal from the Franklin Institute for his "Historical Collection of Incandescent Electric Lamps," accumulated over thirty-four years. This collection received a special silver medal at the International Electrical Exposition at the Crystal Palace, London, England, in 1882, and "the Grand Prize" at the St. Louis Exposition of 1904.

During the First World war Hammer served as a major on the General Staff of the, Army War College, Washington, D.C., where he was attached to the Inventions Section of the War Plans Division and later to the operations Division at the war Department in charge of electrical and aeronautical war inventions. He did special work at the U.S. Patent office, marking and delaying patents that might be useful to the enemy and served on the Advisory Board of Experts attached to the Alien Property Commission. He was elected Historian general of the Military order of the World War (1926-1928) and was a member of the Society of American Military Engineers.

Hammer was an early aeronautics enthusiast and became the owner of one of the first airplanes sold in the United States to an individual. Even in his last few years of his life, Hammer's interest in airplanes did not wane. In 1931, by the permission of the Secretary of the -Navy, Hammer made a twelve-hour flight in the Los Angeles dirigible from the Lakehurst, New Jersey airdrome along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean to New York, flying over New York City at night.

Hammer served on numerous committees. In 1916 he was a member of a special committee, appointed by the Aeronautical Society of America. one of his responsibilities on this committee was to recommend methods for the formation of a reserve force of civilian aviators for the Army. At the start of World War I, Hammer was appointed chairman of a committee on camouflage by the Aeronautical Society. During the war, he flew airplanes and tested sound devices and was also among the first five selected out of thousands for the dissemination of propaganda into many countries. He also examined documents and papers captured from spies and prisoners of war to see if these material contained any technical matter of value to the U. S. Army.

Hammer traveled extensively as a delegate of the Military Order of World War I. For example, in 1922 he attended the aeronautical Congress and Flying Meet in Detroit, Michigan. In the same year he also attended Immigration Conferences of the National Civic Federation in New York.

Between 1922 and 1928 Hammer intensified his efforts in collecting and organizing autographed portraits of eminent scientific men, a project he had been working on for over forty-five years. Tie displayed many of these portraits with his Historical Collection of Incandescent Electrical Lamps in -his New York home. At this time he also prepared an elaborate bibliography on selenium and its industrial and scientific applications.

Major William Joseph Hammer, described by Edison as "my most valuable assistant at Menlo Park" died of pneumonia March 24, 1934.

'Electrical Diablerie':

"ELECTRICAL DIABLERIE"

N.Y. World, January 3, 1885 and Newark, N.J. Daily Advertiser and Journal, January 3, 1885

Some years ago, (1884) on New Year's eve, an entertainment was given at the home of Mr. William J. Hammer, in Newark, N.J., which, for the display of the powers of electricity has seldom, if ever, been equaled. Mr. Hammer, who has for years been associated with Mr. Edison, both in this country and in Europe, desiring to give his old classmates, the "Society of Seventy-Seven," a lively and interesting time, invited them to "an electrical dinner"at his home.

The invitations which were sent out were written upon Western Union telegram blanks with an Edison electric pen. When the guests arrived and entered the gate, the house appeared dark, but as they placed foot upon the lower step of the veranda a row of tiny electric lights over the door blazed out, and the number of the house appeared in bright relief. The next step taken rang the front door bell automatically, the third threw open the door, and at the same time made a connection which lit the gas in the hall by electricity.

Upon entering the house the visitor was invited to divest himself of his coat and hat, and by placing his foot upon an odd little foot-rest near the door, and pressing a pear-shaped pendant hanging from the wall by a silken cord, revolving brushes attached to an electric motor brushed the mud and snow from his shoes and polished them by electricity. As he was about to let go of the switch or button, a contact in it connected with a shocking coil, caused him to drop it like a hot potato. Up-stairs was a bedroom which would be a fortune to a lazy man; he had only to step on the door sill and the gas was instantly lighted. The ceiling was found to be covered with luminous stars, arranged to represent the principal constellations in the heavens-while comets, moons, etc., shone beautifully in the dark. By placing one's head on the pillow, the gas, fifteen feet away, would be extinguished and the phosphorescent stars on the ceiling would shine forth weirdly, and a phosphorescent moon rose from behind a cloud over the mantel and slowly describing a huge arch disappeared behind a bank of phosphorescent clouds on the other side of the room; by pressing the toe to the foot-board of the bed the gas could again be relit.

Pouring a teacup of water into the water clock on the mantel and setting the indicator would assure the awakening of the sleeper at whatever hour he might desire. There was also in the hall outside the room a large drum, which could be set to beat by electricity at the hour when the family wished to arise. The whole house was fitted throughout with electric bells, burglar alarms, fire alarms, telephones, electric cigar lighters, medical coils, phonographs, electric fans, thermostats, heat regulating devices, some seven musical instruments, operated by electricity, etc.

Upon the evening referred to nearly every. piece of furniture in the parlor was arranged to play its part. Sit on one chair and out went the gas, take another seat and it would light again; sitting on an ottoman produced a mysterious rapping under the floor; pressure on some chairs started off drums, triangles, tambourines, cymbals, chimes and other musical instruments; in fact, it seemed unsafe to sit down anywhere. The quests stood about in groups and whispered, each hoping to see his neighbor or a new comer caught napping.

One visitor (Brown) secured an apparently safe seat, and was telling a funny story--he had left electricity far behind--but just as he reached the climax, a pretty funnel-shaped Japanese affair like a big dunce cap, that seemed but a ceiling ornament which was held in place by an electromagnet, dropped from overhead and quietly covered him up, thus silently extinguishing the story and the story-teller.

A big easy chair placed invitingly between the folding doors joining the double, parlors sent the unwary sitter flying out of its recesses by the sudden deafening clamor of twenty-one electric bells hidden in the folds of the draperies hanging in the doorway. In a convenient position stood the silver lemonade pitcher and cup, the former was filled with the tempting beverage, but no matter how much a guest might desire to imbibe one touch convinced him that the pitcher and cup were so heavily charged with electricity as to render it impossible for him to pour out a drink or even to let go until the electricity was switched off from the hidden induction coil.

Some one proposed music, and half a selection had been enjoyed when something seemed to give way inside the piano, and suddenly there emanated from that bewitched instrument a conglomeration of sounds that drowned the voices of the singers, and the keys seemed to beat upon a horrible jangle of drums, gongs and various noise-producing implements which were fastened inside of and underneath the piano.

After the guest were treated to a beautiful display of electrical experiments, under the direction of Mr. Hammer, and Professor George C. Sonn, they were escorted to the dining-room, where an electrical dinner had been prepared and was presided over by 'Jupiter," who was in full dress, and sat at the head of the table, where by means of a small phonograph inside of his anatomy he shouted, "Welcome, society of Seventy-Seven and their friends to Jove's festive board." The menu was as follows: "Electric Toast," "Wizard Pie," "Sheol Pudding," "Magnetic Cake," "Telegraph Cake," "Telephone Pie," "Ohm-made Electric Current Pie," "Menlo Park Fruit," "Incandescent Lemonade," "'Electric Coffee" and "Cigars," etc., and music by Prof. Mephistopheles' Electric Orchestra.

About the table were pretty bouquets, and among the flowers shone tiny incandescent lamps, while near the center of the table was placed an electric fan which kept the air cool and pure, and at each end was a tiny Christmas tree lighted with small incandescent lamps, planted in a huge dish of assorted nuts and raisins. Each lamp had a dainty piece of ribbon attached to it upon which the initials of the Society and the date were printed, and each guest received a lamp to take away with him as a souvenir of the occasion. Plates of iced cakes made in the form of telephones, switches, bells, electric lamps, batteries, etc., stood on each side of the center piece.

Promptly at 12 o'clock, as the chimes of the distant churches came softly to the ears of the assembled quests, pandemonium seemed to change places with the modest dining-room. A cannon on the porch, just outside the door, and another inside the chimney, were unexpectedly discharged; and at this sudden roar, every man sprang back from the table; the lights disappeared; huge fire-gongs, under each chair beat a tattoo. The concussion produced by the cannon in the fireplace caused several bricks to come crashing down the chimney, and as the year of 1884 faded away, the table seemed bewitched. The "Sheol Pudding" blazed forth green and red flames illuminating the room, tiny tin boxes containing 'Greek" fire which had been placed over each window and door were electrically ignited by spirals of platinum iridium wire heated by a storage battery and blazed up suddenly; the "Telegraph Cake" clicked forth messages said to be press reports of the proceedings (it was also utilized to count the guests and click off the answers to various questions put to it); bells rang inside the pastry; incandescent lamps burned underneath the colored lemonade; the thunderbolt pudding discharged its long black bolts all over the room (long steel spiral springs covered with black cloth) and loud spirit rapping occurred under the table. The silver knives, forks and spoons were charged with electricity from a shocking coil and could not be touched, while the coffee and toast (made by electricity) were made rapidly absorbed; the "Magnetic Cake' disappeared; the "Wizard" and "Current Pies' vanished, and 'Jupiter" raising a glass to his lips began to imbibe.

The effect was astonishing! The gas instantly went out, a gigantic skeleton painted with luminous paint appeared and paraded about the room, while Jupiter's nose assumed the color of a genuine toper! His green eyes twinkled, the electric diamonds in his shirt front (tiny lamps) blazed forth and twinkled like stars, as he phonographically shouted "Happy New Year'. Happy New Year!" This "Master of Cererionies' now becoming more gentle, the guests turned their attention to the beautiful fruit piece, over four feet high, that stood in the center of the table. From the fruit hung tiny electric lamps, and the whole was surmounted by a bronze figure of Bartholdils "Statue of Liberty;" uplifted in "Miss Liberty's" right hand burned an Edison lamp no larger than a bean.

The dinner finished, and there was much that was good to eat, notwithstanding the "magical" dishes which they were first invited to partake of, speeches were delivered by Messrs. Hammer, Rutan, McDougall, 'Brown, Duneka, and Dawson, and an original poem was read by Mr. Van Wyck. Upon repairing to the parlors the guest saw Mr. Hammer's little sister, May, dressed in white and mounted upon a pedestal, representing the "Goddess of Electricity:" tiny electric lamps hung in her hair, and were also suspended as earrings, while she held a wand surmounted by a star, and containing a very small electric lamp.

Not the least interesting display of electricity took place in front of the house, where a fine display of bombs, rockets, Roman candles, Greek fire and other fireworks were set off by electricity, which was by the way, the first time this had been accomplished. The guests were requested to press button switches ranged along the front veranda railing thus causing electricity from a storage battery to heat to a red heat tiny platinum iridium spirals attached to each fuse of the various pieces of fireworks thus sending up rocket after rocket, as well as igniting the other pieces which had been placed in the roadway in front of the house.

An attempt was made to send up a large hot air balloon to which was attached a tiny storage battery and an incandescent signal lamp but a sudden gust of wind caused the ballon to take fire as it rose fr(xn the ground. This constituted the only experiment made during the evening which was not an unqualified success. The innumerable electrical devices shown during the progress of the dinner were all operated by Mr. Hammer, who controlled various switches fastened to the under side of the table and attached to a switchboard, which rested on his lap, while the two cannons were fired by lever switches on the floor, which he operated by the pressure of the foot. Electricity was supplied by primary and storage batteries placed under the table. After an exhibition of electrical apparatus and experiments with a large phonograph, the guests departed with a bewildered feeling that somehow they had been living half a century ahead of the new year."

Expositions and Exhibitions:

The many Expositions held at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries were important for the Edison Electric Company's future business. In particular the Paris Electrical Exposition, 1881, and the Crystal Palace Exposition in London in 1892 were introductions for the company's international business enterprises. Edison, therefore, sent his ablest men from the Menlo Park staff (Batchelor, Hammer, Jehl, Johnson) to Europe to oversee the installation and promotion of the company's exhibits.

THE INTERNATIONAL PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1881

The International Paris Electrical Exposition was held during the summer of 1881. Many of Edison's electric lighting systems, ranging from arc lights to incandescent devices, were exhibited. A model of the Edison central-station lighting system showed an arrangement of incandescent lights within a complete electrical distributing system, including novel appliances and controls of the Edison system. "The completeness of its conception made a profound impression on the foremost European electrical engineers of that era." (Josephson, Matthew. Edison, A Biography. p. 252). Edison also exhibited his first "Jumbon generator. It was "direct-connected" to its driving engine, another area in which Edison pioneered. Edison improved upon the original design of William Wallace's "Telemachon' - a generator coupled to a water-powered turbine. Wallace had earlier in the decade produced the first dynamo in America.

Charles Batchelor headed the Edison exhibits within Paris. Edison received many gold medals and diplomas and was awarded the ribbon of the Legion of Honor.

The William J. Hammer Collection contains various reports and catalogues exhibited at the International Exposition of Electricity. (Series 3, Box 44, Folders 1-4)

THE CRYSTAL PALACE EXHIBITION OF 1882

At the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1882 in London, Edison displayed a great many of his inventions, including: the steam dynamo; specimens of street pipes and service boxes used in the Edison underground system of conductors, and the system of house conductors with devices for preventing abnormal increase of energy in house circuits; apparatus for measuring the resistance of his lamps, for measuring the energy consumed in lamps, and rheostats for restoring currents; also thermogalvano-meters, carbon rheostats, dynamometers, photometers, carbon regulators, Weber meters,, current regulators, and circuit breakers for controlling electric light circuits; the carbon relay, the pressure relay, and the expansion relay; the telegraph system in Morse characters; and the Roman character automatic telegraph.

Thomas Edison also exhibited the carbon telephone, the musical telephonograph, telephone repeater, and numerous apparatus for demonstrating the method of varying the resistance of a closed circuit by contact with carbon, illustrative of the experimental factors of the Edison carbon transmitter. Incandescent lamps, the process of the manufacture of lamps, and various designs of electric light chandeliers were also on display.

Hammer won the silver medal at the exposition for the first complete development of the incandescent electric lamp from its initial stages to date. At the exhibition the first hand-operated flashing electric lamp sign was displayed, which was invented and built by Hammer.

The collection contains photographs of the Edison dynamo, and the Edison Electric Lighting Plant of 1882 erected by Hammer. The official Catalogue of the International Electric and Gas Exhibition, and various articles from the Daily Telegraph, Daily Chronicle, and Daily News are also included within the collection (Series 4, Box 99 and Series 3, Box 42, Folder 1-2).

THE BERLIN EXPOSITION OF 1883.

The Berlin Exposition of 1883 had the first motored flashing electric sign designed, built and operated by Hammer. The electric sign spelled out the word "Edison" letter by letter and was used on the Edison pavilion in the Health Exposition. It has most features of today's flashing sign.

The collection contains two photographs of the first flashing sign (Series 4, Box 99).

THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE INTERNATIONAL ELECTRICAL EXHIBITION OF 1884

The Franklin Institute International Electrical Exhibition was held in Philadelphia from September 2 to October 14, 1884. Many of Edison's companies had display booths at the exhibition. The Edison Electric Light Company showed in operation their system of house lighting as supplied from a central station. The Edison Company for Isolated Lighting exhibited their system of lighting factories, hotels, hospitals, and other places situated beyond the reach of a central lighting station. A full assortment of Edison lamps and dynamos also made up parts of other exhibits. Also displayed at the exhibition was the first flashing column of light, which Hammer designed and built.

Included within the collection are a variety of photographs of the exhibitions. Four pamphlets also are contained in the collection (Series 3, Box 1, Folder 3), (Series 4, Box 99).

THE EXPOSITION OF THE OHIO VALLEY AND THE CENTRAL STATES OF 1888

The Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States, in Cincinnati from July 4 to October 27, was in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Cincinnati. The exposition showed the progress and ramifications of the first hundred years of this settlement.

The space occupied by permanent buildings was greater than that covered by any building for exhibiting purposes on the Western continent. T',ie exposition developed the Electric Light Plant to make a special feature of electric lighting in the evening. Several companies used this opportunity to make exhibits of their apparatus and for their equipment to be used for illumination. The Edison Lamps were used for displays in showcases and pavilions of exhibitors of the Park Building.

The collection contains photographs of the halls of the exposition and a poster which is a souvenir of the electrical display of the exposition. An official Guide of the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States is included within the collection. (Series 4, Box 99), (Series 3, Box 42, Folder 4).

THE SUMMER CARNIVAL AND ELECTRICAL EXHIBITION, ST. JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK, 1889

The Summer Carnival and Electric Exhibition held at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada was to celebrate the opening of the Canadian Pacific Short Line to St. John and Portland. The Electrical Exhibition was the most popular of the displays present, containing the Monster Edison Lanm, the Mysterious Electric Fountain, and many other inventions.

The William J. Hammer Collection contains a poster that illustrates some of the leading exhibits at the Electrical Exhibition (Series 4, Box 99).

PARIS UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION OF 1889

The Universal Exposition of 1889 held in Paris was larger than all previous expositions held there. The famous Eiffel Tower was its principal attraction.

A large portion of the exhibit hall within the Palace of Mechanical Industries contained Thomas Edison's electrical inventions, including various electric lamps for use in houses. Variations of the telephone also were shown. During the Paris Exposition Europeans were exposed to the phonograph for the first time. Hammer represented Edison's interests at the Paris Exhibition.

The collection contains articles from New York World, New York Herald and Electrical World on Edison's exhibits at the Paris Exposition (Series 3, Box 44, folder 6). A scrapbook of photographs from the exhibition showing exhibit buildings and halls and loose photographs showing Edison's exhibits are included in the collection (Series 4, Box 98).

THE CRYSTAL PALACE EXHIBITION OF 1892

The Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1892 was held in London. Hammer displayed a great variety of products in the machine room of the Electrical Exhibition. Sockets for controlling individual incandescent lamps on alternating currents and the Ward Arc Lamp for use on incandescent circuits were just a few of the items displayed. Edison's companies displayed specimens of all types of incandescent electric lamps for public and private illumination. They also displayed primary batteries for use in telegraphy, telephony, household work, and engines.

The William, J. Hammer Collection contains a variety of photographs of the electrical exhibition. The Official Catalogue and Guide of the Electrical Exhibition is also contained within the collection (Series 4, Box 99), (Series 3, Folder 2, Box 42).

LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION, 1904

The Louisiana Purchase Expostition of 1904, held in St. Louis, Missouri from April 30 to December 1, celebrated the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. The nineteen million people who attended made it the largest exposition ever. The year 1904 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of Edison's invention of the carbon filament lamp and central power station system.

F.J.V. Skiff, the exhibits classifier for the fair, developed a twofold classificatory arrangement. He organized exhibits in a sequential synopsis corresponding to the sixteen different departments of the exposition. The principal exhibition buildings were built in the shape of a fan. The departments of education, art, liberal arts, and applied sciences-including electricity - headed the classification, Skiff noted, because they "equip man for the battle and prepare him for the enjoyments of life.' Departments devoted to displays of raw materials such as agriculture, horticulture, !inning, forestry, fish and game came next. Anthropology, social economy, and physical culture concluded the classification.

The Hammer collection contains photographs of Hammer with other Chairmen of Domestic and Foreign Jurors of the Electricity Section of the International Jury of Awards of the Louisiana Exposition and Hammer as chairman of the jury on telegraphy, telephony, and wireless. (Series 4, Box 102). A pamphlet by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company on the exhibit of the Radiophone at the Department of Applied Science is also part of the collection (Series 3, Box 42, Folder 5).

THE PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION OF 1915

The Panama Pacific Exposition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal and the four hundredth anniversary of the European discovery of the Pacific Ocean. It was held in San Francisco from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Approximately nineteen million people attended the exposition.

The eleven main buildings of the exposition were grouped around a central court of the Sun and Stars at the entrance of which was the famous Tower of Jewels. The main group of exhibits comprised the Palaces of Education, Liberal Arts, Manufactures, Varied Industries, Mines,

Transportation, Agriculture, Horticulture and all kinds of food products. During the exposition special days were set aside to honor industrialists Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company provided a large searchlight to flash out a Morse code greeting on the nighttime sky for their arrival.

The William J. Hammer Collection contains a pamphlet on the "Illumination of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition." The pamphlet describes the lighting of the exposition, and the use of arc lamps ' searchlights, incandescent electric lamps, and gas lamps (Series 4, Box 99), (Series 3, Box 43).

Provenance:

Collection donated by IBM, 1962.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Fluorescence  Search this

Electrical engineering  Search this

Incandescent lamps  Search this

Phosphorescence  Search this

Selenium cells  Search this

Cathode rays  Search this

X-rays  Search this

Radium  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence -- 1930-1950

Photographs -- 1850-1900

Photographs -- 20th century

Citation:

William J. Hammer Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0069

See more items in:

William J. Hammer Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0069

Creator:

Draper, John Christopher, (chemist), 1835-1885  Search this

Draper, Henry, 1837-1882  Search this

Draper, John William, 1811-1882  Search this

Mora, José Maria, ca. 1846-1926  Search this

New York Meteorological Observatory.  Search this

University of the City of New York.  Search this

Nye, Dorothy Catherine Draper  Search this

Draper, Daniel, (meteorologist), 1841-1931  Search this

Extent:

4.3 Cubic feet (13 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Wills

Certificates

Photomicrographs

Reprints

Photographs

Lectures

Diplomas

Date:

circa 1826-1936

Summary:

Miscellaneous documents and photographs related to the scientific careers of members of the Draper family. Includes publications of the University of the City of New York, with which the Drapers were associated, reprints of papers by John William Draper, F. Melloni, John C. Draper, and Henry Draper, publications of the New York Meteorological Observatory, photographs of the observatory, rare scientific photographs, including photomicrographs (paper prints) by the Drapers, correspondence addressed to Daniel Draper, certificates, diplomas, and other documents.

Scope and Contents:

This collection contains materials that revolve around the scientific interests, research, and professional activities of John W. Draper and his three sons. The materials are as diverse in subject as were these four men, with meteorology, solar observation, astronomy, chemistry, and optical science all represented. The collection contains a large number of separate journal issues and articles on these subjects as well as publications of the University of the City of New York, with which the Drapers were associated, mainly covering the periods of 1835, 1838, 1852, and publications of the New York Meteorological Observatory (NYMO), 1876. Included among the NYMO materials are correspondence addressed to Daniel Draper, some acknowledging receipt of publications from NYMO, circa 1892-1908, and photographs of NYMO. The collection also contains reprints of John William Draper, circa 1844-1877; M. Melloni, "A Radiation of Incandescence and Elementary Colors," 1848; John C. Draper, 1856; and reprints of Henry Draper, 1873, 1882.

Also included in the collection are some of the Draper's notebooks, lecture notes, experiment literature and notebooks, and experimental photographs concerning the Draper's professional endeavors in meteorology, chemistry, and astronomy in the late 19th century. There are also a number of materials relating to biographical information on the Draper family, including a substantial number of certificates and diplomas received by the Drapers. In addition, there is personal correspondence, articles on the members of the family, and a copy of Dorothy Catherine Draper Nye's will. While most of the documents are originals, the collection also contains many photocopied or reproduced documents.

A photograph by Mora in the collection, marked "J.W. Draper," does not appear to depict the same man as in Neg. No. 52,757.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into five series.

Series 1: Draper Family, 1829-1936

Series 2: John W. Draper, 1811-1936

Series 3: Henry Draper, 1837-1882

Series 4: Daniel Draper, 1841-1931

Series 5: John Christopher Draper, 1835-1885

Biographical / Historical:

The Draper family made a number of important contributions to American science, particularly in the fields of meteorology, astronomy, and chemistry during the 19th and early 20th centuries. John William Draper (1811-1882), primarily a chemist, did pioneer work in photography, and on the chemical effects of radiant energy. He took the first photograph of the moon in 1839-1840 and the first photograph of the diffraction spectrum.

Draper's three sons also did notable work. John C. Draper (1835-1885) was a noted Physician and chemist. Henry Draper (1837-1882) was an early astronomical photographer and also did work on stellar spectra and spectrum analysis. Daniel Draper (1841-1931) was a meteorologist and established the New York Meteorological Observatory in Central Park in 1868. He served as its first director until 1911.

Provenance:

Deeded to the Smithsonian Institution by John William Christopher Draper and James Christopher Draper on January 2, 1972.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Spectrum analysis  Search this

Scientists  Search this

Astronomy  Search this

Astronomers  Search this

Astronomical photography  Search this

Physical sciences  Search this

Physicians  Search this

Photographers  Search this

Meteorology  Search this

Chemists  Search this

Chemistry  Search this

Photography  Search this

Genre/Form:

Wills

Certificates

Photomicrographs

Reprints

Photographs -- 19th century

Photographs -- 1840-1850

Lectures

Diplomas

Citation:

Draper Family Collection, 1835-1908, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0121

See more items in:

Draper Family Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0121

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

Creator:

Fleischman, Lawrence A. (Lawrence Arthur), 1925-1997  Search this

Names:

American Federation of Arts  Search this

Archives of American Art  Search this

Corcoran Gallery of Art  Search this

Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum  Search this

Kennedy Galleries  Search this

Kraushaar Galleries  Search this

M. Knoedler & Co.  Search this

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Midtown Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Milwaukee Art Center  Search this

Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

National Gallery of Art (U.S.)  Search this

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this

Philadelphia Museum of Art  Search this

United States Information Agency  Search this

University of Michigan. Museum of Art  Search this

Whitney Museum of American Art  Search this

Allston, Washington, 1779-1843  Search this

Arms, John Taylor, 1887-1953  Search this

Bailey, Grace  Search this

Bailey, Truman E., 1902?-1959  Search this

Bohrod, Aaron  Search this

Burchfield, Charles Ephraim, 1893-1967  Search this

Culver, Charles B. (Charles Beach), 1908-1967  Search this

Eakins, Thomas, 1844-1916  Search this

Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973  Search this

Fleischman, Barbara  Search this

Gentle, Esther, 1900-  Search this

Krentzin, Earl, 1929-  Search this

Marin, John, 1870-1953  Search this

Pollack, Peter, 1909-1978  Search this

Rattner, Abraham  Search this

Richardson, Constance, 1905-  Search this

Richardson, Edgar Preston, 1902-1985  Search this

Ryder, Albert Pinkham, 1847-1917  Search this

Sellers, Charles Coleman, 1903-  Search this

Watkins, Franklin Chenault, 1894-1972  Search this

Extent:

4.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Typescripts

Photographs

Date:

1837-1984

bulk 1935-1979

Summary:

The papers of art collectors, art patrons, and philanthropists Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman measure 4.9 linear feet and date from 1837 to 1984, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1935-1979. The papers are comprised mostly of correspondence with artists, museums, and arts organizations. Also found are scattered biographical materials, artists' autograph letters purchased by the Fleischmans, exhibition files, notes and writings, printed material, and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of art collectors, art patrons, and philanthropists Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman measure 4.9 linear feet and date from 1837 to 1984, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1935-1979. The papers are comprised mostly of correspondence with artists, museums, and arts organizations. Also found are scattered biographical materials, artists' autograph letters purchased by the Fleischmans, exhibition files, notes and writings, printed material, and photographs.

One folder of biographical material includes a biographical account and a certificate of appreciation from the Common Council for the City of Detroit.

The bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence documenting the Fleischman's art related activities and interests primarily during the 1950s and 1960s. Individual correspondents include Aaron Bohrod, Charles E. Burchfield, Charles B. Culver, Philip Evergood, Earl Krentzin, John Marin, Jr., Abraham Rattner and Esther Gentle, Peter Pollack, Edgar P. and Constance Richardson, Charles Coleman Sellers, and Franklin Watkins. One letter from Charles E. Burchfield includes four etching plates used to create the color print of Hot September Wind.

Arts organizations and galleries represented in the correspondence include the American Federation of Arts, the Archives of American Art, the Arts Commission of the City of Detroit, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Detroit Institute of Art, Kennedy Galleries, M. Knoedler and Co., Inc., Kraushaar Galleries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Midtown Galleries, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the School of the Society of Arts and Crafts, the United States Information Agency, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Winterthur Museum.

Autograph letters purchased by the Fleischmans include letters written by artists Washington Allston (addressed to Thomas Sully), Albert Pinkham Ryder, and John Taylor Arms.

Exhibition files document the various exhibitions of art work from the Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman Collection at the University of Michigan Museum of Art; the Detroit Institute of Art; in Central and South America; in Greece, Israel and Russia; and at the Milwaukee Art Center. The files contain letters, notes, printed material, and photographs.

Three folders of notes and writings include "Introduction to Earl Krentzin Catalog" by Lawrence Fleischman and "Selection of Excerpts from the Soviet Press and Radio Attacking U. S. Culture" by unidentified authors.

Scattered printed material includes miscellaneous clippings and catalogs not connected with the Exhibition Files series. There is also a book John Marin: The Man and his Work by E. M. Benson that was autographed by Marin to the Fleischmans in 1953.

Photographs include portrait photographs of Lawrence Fleischman, photographs of Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman with colleagues, of art work from the Fleischman Collection, of Truman and Grace Bailey in their studio, and a copy photograph of Thomas Eakins as a boy.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 7 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1958 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1949-1984 (Boxes 1-4, 7; 3.8 linear feet)

Series 3: Autograph Letters, 1837-1942 (Box 4; 4 folders)

Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1953-1960 (Boxes 4-5, 7; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1957-1962 (Box 5; 3 folders)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1935-1969 (Box 5-6; 6 folders)

Series 7: Photographs, 1953-1965 (Box 6; 13 folders)

Biographical / Historical:

Lawrence Fleischman (1925-1997) of New York City was an American art collector, patron, philanthropist, and benefactor. He and his wife, Barbara Greenberg Fleischman, assembled an impressive collection of art and artifacts that they shared with the public as part of their philanthropic activities aimed at fostering a wider appreciation of the arts around the world.

Lawrence Fleischman was born on February 14, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Stella and Arthur Fleischman, the owner of a large carpet business. He attended the Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois, and studied engineering at Purdue University. In 1942, he interrupted his studies to volunteer for service in the U.S. Army during World War II. While serving in France, he met a doctor who further fostered Fleischman's ever growing interest in American art. Following the war, he graduated with a degree in physics from the University of Detroit. Fleischman met Barbara Greenberg in Detroit and they were married in 1948.

Beginning in the late 1940s, Fleischman established a fledgling television station, developed holdings in real estate, and began purchasing art work. Initially the Fleischmans collected undervalued 20th century American art and were friends with several artists, including John Marin, Charles Burchfield, Stuart Davis, and Ben Shahn. They also expanded the scope of their collection to include 19th century American works.

During the 1950s, Lawrence Fleischman realized how there were few American art historians and college departments, as well as a lack of primary source material. Fleischman worked with Edgar P. Richardson, then director of the Detroit Institute of Art, to raise funds and they founded the Archives of American Art at the Detroit Institute of Art in 1954. The Archives of American Art was, and still is, dedicated to the collection, preservation, and study of primary source records that document the history of the visual arts in the United States. Lawrence A. Fleischman is a founding Trustee of the AAA and served as the Chairman of the Board from 1958 to 1966. His wife, Barbara joined the Board of Trustees in 1997 and served as Chair from 2003 to 2007. She is a Trustee Emerita.

Lawrence Fleischman's business and philanthropic interests included the Arthur Fleischman Carpet Company, the Lee Plaza Hotel-Motel in Detroit, Art Adventurers, the Art School of the Society of Arts and Crafts in Detroit, the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Cultural Committee of the United States Information Agency, and the Art Commission of Detroit, which governed the Detroit Institute of Art. He also served as an officer of the Board for many of the arts-related organizations.

In 1996, the Fleischmans moved their family from Detroit to New York City, where Lawrence Fleischman became a partner in the Kennedy Galleries.

The Fleischmans philanthropic activities include generous support of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Art, the Cleveland Museum, the British Museum, the Vatican Museum, and lifelong support of the Archives of American Art.

Lawrence Fleischman died on January 31, 1997 in London, England. Barbara Fleischman lives in New York City and continues to be an active supporter of the visual arts.

Related Materials:

Among the Archives holdings are two oral history interviews with Lawrence A. Fleischman. The first was conducted by Paul Cummings in 1970 and the second conducted by Gail Stavitsky in 1994 . Both interviews have transcripts available.

Separated Materials:

The Archives of Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming, the majority of which was later donated, except for five letters on reel D197. These include one postcard from Constance Richardson, 1956; one letter from Constance Richardson, 1957; one letter from Franklin Watkins, 1955; one letter from Lawrence Fleischman to Wilbur H. Hunter, 1960; and one letter from Richard D. Tucker, 1960. This material remains with lender and is not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

The Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman papers were donated in several accretions by Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman from 1954 to 2007. Letters were also loaned for microfilming in 1965, but nearly all of them were subsequently donated.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Painters -- United States  Search this

Topic:

Painting, American  Search this

Art patrons Michigan Detroit  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Philanthropists  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States  Search this

Genre/Form:

Typescripts

Photographs

Citation:

Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman Papers, 1837-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Identifier:

AAA.fleilawr

See more items in:

Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-fleilawr

Photographer:

Brooks, Warwick  Search this

Steckel, Geo. (George), 1864-  Search this

Weston, Arthur  Search this

Sarony, Napoleon, 1821-1896  Search this

Collector:

Coffin, Ernest Edwin  Search this

Creator:

Falk, B. J. (Benjamin J.), 1853-1925  Search this

Sandwina, Katie  Search this

Weider, Joe (author)  Search this

Donor:

Manhart, Harrison D., II  Search this

Names:

World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.)  Search this

Sandow, Eugen, 1867-1925  Search this

Extent:

11.5 Cubic feet (26 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pamphlets

Articles

Correspondence

Photographs

Glass plate negatives

Scrapbooks

Date:

1889-1954

Summary:

The collection documents Eugen Sandow and other bodybuilders through correspondence and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The collection contains original and copy photographs of Eugen Sandow and other bodybuilders and actors, by well known photographers Warwick Brooks, Napoleon Sarony, Benjamin J. Falk, George Steckel, and others; correspondence with well-known bodybuilders such as Joe Weider and Katie Sandwina; and periodicals and books about Sandow.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into four series.

Series 1: Background Materials, 1894-1958

Series 2: Correspondence, 1902-1954

Series 3: Publications, 1926-03-1955-01

Series 4: Photographs, 1889-1952

Biographical:

Ernest Edwin Coffin (1898-1954) was a California amateur bodybuilder, and weightlifter and collector of bodybuilding memorabilia, especially on the subject of Eugen Sandow. Coffin considered himself the world's expert on "Sandowania" and spent over 40 years writing and collecting memorabilia about Sandow as well as other strongmen such as Joe Weider, Milo Steinborn, and Katie Sandwina.

Born Frederich Muller (1867-1925) in Konigsberg, Prussia, Muller emigrated to England in 1889 and become a citizen in 1906. Muller adopted the stage name of Eugen Sandow and ran several schools of physical culture, performed, lectured, and wrote about strength amd mental and physical health. Sandow toured the United States in 1893 with his manager, Florenz Ziegfeld, the "Follies" showman. Sandow's first American appearance was at the World's Fair in Chicago where he was an instant success. Ziegfeld marketed Sandow as "the perfect man," and "the modern Hercules." Sandow used his popularity to market books, a magazine (Physical Culture), and exercise equipment.

Separated Materials:

Materials in the Division of Culture and the Arts

The Division of Culture and the Arts holds hand weights, a cut-out, and a dumbbell belonging to Eugen Sandow. See accession #2001.0179.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Dan Manhart in 2009.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Physical education and training  Search this

Modelling  Search this

Bodybuilding  Search this

Books  Search this

Periodicals  Search this

Genre/Form:

Pamphlets

Articles

Correspondence

Photographs -- 20th century

Photographs -- 19th century

Glass plate negatives

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Citation:

Ernest Edwin Coffin Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1152

See more items in:

Ernest Edwin Coffin Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1152

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

H.C. White Co.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

43 Plates

Type:

Archival materials

Plates

Photographs

Place:

Cleveland (Ohio) -- 1900-1910

Date:

1909

Scope and Contents:

Set of 43 glass positive or interpositive images, non-stereoscopic, but derived from stereo pairs, depicting phases of manufacture of the 1909 Peerless automobile at the plant in Cleveland, Ohio.

Arrangement:

In numerically arranged box, but the numbering does not place the images in a logical subject order.

Local Numbers:

89-12289 to 89-12319, etc. (OIPP Neg. Nos.)

General:

All plates originally were in envelopes marked "Auto Plant HCW '09".

Restrictions:

Unrestricted research access on site. Must be handled with white cotton gloves provided by Archives Center staff, and with special care due to the fragile nature of the items.

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:

Automobiles -- 1900-1910 -- Ohio -- Cleveland  Search this

Automobile industry and trade -- 1900-1910 -- Ohio -- Cleveland  Search this

Industrial buildings -- 1900-1910 -- Ohio -- Cleveland  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 20th century -- Phototransparencies

Photographs -- 1900-1910 -- Interpositives -- 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 1: H. C. White glass plates / 1.2: H.C. White Interpositives / RSN Numbers 8505-8610

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref28374

Publisher:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

H.C. White Co.  Search this

Photographer:

Ponting, Herbert George, 1870-1935  Search this

Collection Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Extent:

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

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Place:

Switzerland

Local Numbers:

RSN 3422

General:

Currently stored in box 1.1.18 [12].

Orig. No. 3-B.

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:

Telescopes -- 20th century -- Switzerland  Search this

glaciers -- Switzerland  Search this

Mountains -- Switzerland  Search this

Tourists -- 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 1: H. C. White glass plates / 1.1: H.C. White Negatives / RSN Numbers 3363-3468

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref3413

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

Scope and Contents:

Image of five children with toy or makeshift musical instruments, including pans and sticks, standing in front of a house.

Arrangement:

Formerly stored in box 1.1.30 [159], moved from [151].

Local Numbers:

AC0143-0005455 (AC Scan No.)

RSN 5455

General:

Original no., 3-B.

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:

Bands (Music) -- 1900-1910.  Search this

Toys -- 20th century  Search this

Children  Search this

Dwellings  Search this

Musical instruments  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 5436-5533

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5396

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".)

Culture:

African Americans -- 1890-1910  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Scope and Contents:

Young African American girl, barefoot, seated on steps, holding head in hand.

Arrangement:

Formerly stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

Local Numbers:

AC0143-0005668 (AC Scan No.)

RSN 5668

General:

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period (although this particular image is relatively neutral compared to the rest of the series). The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

Original no., 1-B.

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:

Children -- 1890-1920  Search this

Dwellings  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5609

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".)

Culture:

African Americans  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Local Numbers:

RSN 5669

General:

"South" on envelope.

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period (although this particular image is relatively neutral compared to the rest of the series). The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

Cancelled by scratching.

Orig. No. 3-B.

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:

Agriculture -- 1890-1920  Search this

Children -- 1890-1920  Search this

Sugarcane  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5610

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

Local Numbers:

RSN 5670

General:

"South. E. F. Kellar / 555 E. 179th St. / New York / Nat Exp prepaid" on envelope.

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period (although this particular image is relatively neutral compared to the rest of the series). The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

Original no. 8-G.

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:

African Americans -- 1890-1920  Search this

Playing cards  Search this

Dwellings  Search this

Gambling -- 1900-1910  Search this

Games -- 1890-1920  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5611

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

Local Numbers:

RSN 5671

General:

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period (although this particular image is relatively neutral compared to the rest of the series). The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

Orig. no. 4-E.

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:

African Americans -- 1890-1920  Search this

Playing cards  Search this

Dwellings  Search this

Gambling -- 1900-1910  Search this

Games -- 1890-1920  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5612

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

Local Numbers:

RSN 5672

General:

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

Original no. 5-F.

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period (although this particular image is relatively neutral compared to the rest of the series). The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

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:

African Americans -- 1890-1920  Search this

Playing cards  Search this

Dwellings  Search this

Gambling -- 1900-1910  Search this

Games -- 1890-1920  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5613

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".)

Culture:

African Americans  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Local Numbers:

RSN 5673

General:

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

Orig. no. 26-D.

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period. The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

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:

Playing cards  Search this

Dwellings  Search this

Gambling -- 1900-1910  Search this

Games -- 1890-1920  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5614

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

Local Numbers:

RSN 5674

General:

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

Cancelled by scratching. Associated number: 9-F.

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period. The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

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:

African American children -- 1890-1920  Search this

African Americans -- 1890-1920  Search this

Children -- 1890-1920  Search this

Dwellings -- African American -- 1890-1920.  Search this

Family -- 1890-1930  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5615

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

Local Numbers:

RSN 5675

General:

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period. The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

Orig. no. 10-B

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:

African American children -- 1890-1920  Search this

African Americans -- 1890-1920  Search this

Children -- 1890-1920  Search this

Dwellings -- African American -- 1890-1920.  Search this

Family -- 1890-1930  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5616

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".)

Culture:

African Americans -- 1890-1920  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Date:

1905

Scope and Contents:

African American children on porch, gambling. Orig. no. 12-C.

Local Numbers:

RSN 5676

General:

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period. The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

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:

Children -- 1890-1920  Search this

Dice -- 1890-1920  Search this

Gambling -- 1900-1910  Search this

Games -- 1890-1920  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Porches -- 1890-1920  Search this

Dwellings -- African American -- 1890-1920.  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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5617

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

Local Numbers:

RSN 5677

General:

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period. The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153]. Orig, No. 18-C.

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:

African Americans -- 1890-1920  Search this

Children -- 1890-1920  Search this

Dice -- 1890-1920  Search this

Gambling -- 1900-1910  Search this

Games -- 1890-1920  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5618

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

Scope and Contents:

Interior with young men gambling on floor.

Local Numbers:

RSN 5678

Video number 04440

General:

Currently stored in box 1.1.31 [161], moved from [153].

Orig. no. 19-B.

Editorial comment: This image is part of a series intended to amuse white audiences, pandering to and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes of the period. The series title, which many late 20th-century and early 21st-century audiences would consider offensive in itself, makes the intentions of the publisher clear. --David Haberstich, Archives Center.

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:

African Americans -- 1890-1920  Search this

Dice -- 1890-1920  Search this

Gambling -- 1900-1910  Search this

Games -- 1890-1920  Search this

Wit and humor, Pictorial -- 1890-1920  Search this

Ethnic wit and humor -- 1890-1920  Search this

Racism -- 1890-1920  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1890-1920 -- 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 5632-5742

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0143-ref5619