William Henry Fox Talbot. Salted paper print from paper negative, ca. 1842, A Bush of Hydrangea in Flower; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Maurice B. Sendak, 2012; accession 2013.159.58

Happy Springtime! This Tips column has something for everyone, or so it seems to me. So much news about images and related items of interest. So, without further ado…..

World War One Centennial

There is a lot to be found online recently about WWI, because this year marks the centennial of the United States entry into that war, on 6 April 1917.  Arthur S. Mole and John D. Thomas, aka Mole & Thomas, Chicago photographers, were commissioned to make group portraits in military camps across the USA, including some made in Georgia. They called these photos “living photographs,” and each one took over one week to make. These images, made 1915-1921, were included in an album Mole & Thomas called Living and Symbolic Design Photographs, composed of officers and men in U.S. Army and Navy Service, which they presented to Secretary of the Navy Josphus Daniels. A very interesting post on the work of Mole & Thomas appeared a few months ago in The Public Domain Review. In the Review article you can read about the very involved process they used to produce their photographs. Take a look at many more of these photographs in the collection of the Library of Congress.

Speaking of LC, they have “the most comprehensive collection of multi-format World War I holdings in the nation — ” and right now they have an exhibition called “Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I.” If you cannot get to D.C. to see it, check out the related online exhibition.

Georgia’s involvement in World War I is highlighted in a number of exhibits taking place throughout the state. The Columbus Museum has used photographs from the Columbus State University Archives and elsewhere, as well as printed items and three dimensional objects, in their current exhibit From Flying Aces to Army Boots: WWI and the Chattahoochee Valley. 

For other images related to Georgia’s part in WWI, see the Georgia WWI Centennial Commission site. The Commission’s website includes a directory and photos of World War I markers and monuments throughout the state, information on training camps, and a database of Georgians who died in service during World War I, including African Americans. The Commission site also includes a 1918 film made about the 31st Division, Camp Wheeler, Macon. Take a look at the GWICC’s links to WWI commemoration efforts and events taking place around the United States – there is a such a lot going on!

Photograph by Mole & Thomas, ca. 1918. Formation photograph of eagle and machine gun insignia, Camp Hancock, Augusta, GA; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-63709

New News about Newspapers

Readers of this blog know how much I depend on newspapers to flesh out what I know about a photographer’s movements throughout Georgia, the south, and elsewhere. The ever-busy Kenneth R. Marks has updated most of his newspaper links, including Georgia, on his blog, The Ancestor Hunt. You will also find updated links on his blog to all the other southern, as well as near-south newspapers, listed by state.

Marks also posted news about two Virginia updates to the site Elephind, in March. And he recently posted links to Free Online Protestant Newspapers, including several published in Georgia.

New Free Image Sources

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has put all its images of public domain works in its collection under a CC0 license. This is great news. The CCO license (Creative Commons Zero (CC0)) means everyone can use, share, and remix these images, made available in high resolution, without restriction. There is an amazing assortment of images of all kinds found here. Read the Met’s February 7th announcement “Introducing Open Access at The Met” for more information.

Matthew B. Brady. Albumen silver prints, brass framed miniature wedding album of General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren, ca. 1863. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Joyce F. Menschel Photography Library Fund, 1999; accession 1999.89

Alice Atherton, Albumen photograph from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 7) produced by Allen & Ginter (Richmond, Virginia) for Dixie Cigarettes; Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick; accession 63.350.203.45.1165

So many of these images, such as the one of  actress Alice Atherton at right, and certainly the one above, can be used to illustrate trends in popular culture, as well as the history of fashion, advertising, theater, studio photography, etc. The one at the head of this post not only relates strongly to the history of photography, but could be used in an article related to botanical photographs. There is much to discover at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in person and online.

Researching Photographers Working in the South

There are more than a few items that have come to my attention that I think of as additions to my 2013-2014 six-part series Researching Photographers Working in the South.

New collections have been processed at some Georgia universities. Newly accessible at Columbus State University Archives is the Goetchius Family Collection Photographs (MC 292) which includes three daguerreotypes, at least three carte-de-visite by Van Riper (D. W. Van Riper worked in Columbus from spring 1867 to at least 1874; first for A.J. Riddle into 1871, and afterward on his own), and at least two by Jungermann (Ernst Jungermann had a photo studio in Columbus from 1891 until his death in April 1934; his daughter Katherine joined him in 1920). One 1912 photo in the collection is by T.C. Hudson. I need to investigate further but I believe this is Thomas Charlton Hudson, an amateur photographer who managed a cotton mill. 

The current exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, “East of the Mississippi: Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography,” includes images made in the South, with at least one by Jay Dearborn Edwards. Edwards eventually settled in Atlanta where he and his family had a prominent photo studio. Click on any image to see several used in that exhibit.

Take a look at my results for a search for “Georgia” in the more than 32,000 images now online via the “Calisphere” website of the California Digital Library. Although not all images of the 873 items found in 92 collections relate to our state (for example, women or streets named Georgia), there are many images here that were taken in Georgia, including those taken by Dorothea Lange.  

Photos relating to Xavier University are found in their Archives and Special Collections Digital Collections. This is a Catholic university located in New Orleans, important in the history of education. According to their history, of the “106 historically Black colleges and 251 Catholic colleges in the United States, yet only one [theirs] is both Black and Catholic”.  

There are some interesting things found in the Eastern Airlines Collections at Georgia State University, in particular those photographs found in the Carolyn Lee Wills Collection .

Women modeling evolution of Eastern Air Lines flight attendant uniforms, ca. 1960s; L1986-27_01_05_011, Carolyn Lee Wills collection of Eastern Airlines’ Southern Region Public Relations Office records, Southern Labor Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University.

Miscellaneous Photo-related Tips

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has digitized the four volumes of the Black Photographers Annual and placed them online. This publication, 1973-1980, represents the work of forty-nine photographers. There is much to see here, for instance, 118 photos were reproduced in the first issue alone. This is so nicely done! There is an index to photographers in each issue – click on a photographer’s name and you will immediately see their work.

The National Stereoscopic Association (NSA) has posted an online resource. There is now online checklists of stereoview titles and related materials, plus the first six issues of Stereo World. The checklists include those for U. S. photographers and photographers of the world, both updated in 2003. I have these publications in other forms but having them accessible online is so useful! 

I hope you found something meaningful to you in your work and in your own Hunting and Gathering. Have a fine and productive Spring, and think positive thoughts that our summer is a sweet one!

© E. Lee Eltzroth and Hunting & Gathering, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without written permission from this blog’s author is prohibited. The piece can be re-blogged, and excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to E. Lee Eltzroth and Hunting & Gathering, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.