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      NMAH Photographic History Collection

      Smithsonian Staff

      #nmahphc

      The Photographic History Collection (PHC) represents the history of the medium of photography. The PHC holds the work of over 2000 identified photographers and studios, about 200,000 photographs, about 15,000 cameras, pieces of apparatus, studio equipment and sensitized materials. The scope of the collection spans from daguerreotypes to digital and includes unidentified to well-known photographers, international and United States-centered objects, and familiar and experimental photographic formats.

      The Photographic History Collection, now at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, was founded in 1896. The PHC was established by Thomas Smillie, the Smithsonian's first official photographer. Smillie established two photography collections ---the PHC and the Photo Lab which is now part of the Smithsonian Institution Archives, and he ran them simultaneously until his death in 1917. 

      The PHC uses the Smithsonian Learning Lab as a place to offer a view into the collection's rich and diverse holdings. What is presented here online is not the entire Photographic History Collection. This digital space is a work in progress. We started publishing to the Learning Lab in February 2020 and are adding and improving as quickly as we can.

      How to use the Smithsonian Learning Lab to discover PHC collections. 

      • To see a list of photographer and maker names, go here [link to come].
      • In the Learning Lab, the PHC's collections are organized into four groups: Photographer, Format/Process, Subject, and Cameras and Apparatus.
      • The Learning Lab collection only contains objects that have images attached to digital records. There may be additional objects and record information found at collections.si.edu.
      • The Learning Lab collection may only contain a sampling of images if the collection is substantial. Additional materials may be found at collections.si.edu.
      • Email us if you are looking for something specific.
      • Tip, use the tool that allows the user to see the collections alphabetically.

      Collection Staff:  Shannon Thomas Perich, Curator

      Contact: nmahphotohistory@si.edu

      General Keywords: history of photography, photographic history, photographer, photographers, portraits, landscapes, cameras, photographic equipment, studio equipment, fine art photography, experimental photography, digital photography, patent models, photographic studio, ephemera, documents, cinema history, early motion picture, photojournalism, amateur photography, photography exhibitions, commercial photography

      Photographic keywords: daguerreotype, calotype, salted paper print, gelatin silver print, tintype, ferrotype, ambrotype, collodion on glass, glass plate negative, platinum print, platinum-palladium print, photographs on fabric, cyanotype, cased images, ivorytype, stereoview, waxed paper negative, hologram, lenticular, Kromograms, press print, photo jewelry, stanhope, micro photography

      Additional research resources: In December 2019, research resources that had been held in the division were distributed to other Smithsonian units. The "Personality Files" that contained biographies, obituaries, exhibition announcements, and such were absorbed by the Smithsonian Library NPG/AA branch; the list of subjects can be found here [link to come]. The "Archives Reference Files" that contained information about companies, products, and occasionally processes, were absorbed into the trade literature collection at the National Museum of American History branch of the Smithsonian Library. The Science Service images and files, the divisions's exhibition history files, personal files, correspondence files, and more can be found at the Smithsonian Archives.

      NMAH Photographic History Collection's collections

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      Photographer: Rushton, Charles #nmahphc

      <p>Charles Ruston is an American photographer that made portraits of New Mexico-based photographers between the years of 1980 and 1994.  This particular collection consists of thirty-eight prints.  The collection includes photographers Tom Barrows, Van Deren Coke, Betty Hahn, David Michael Kennedy, Patrick Nagatani, Beaumont Newhall, and Joel-Peter Witkin.  The earliest print in this collection is of Manuel Carrillo in 1982, and the last piece added to the collection is of Holly Roberts in 1994. <br></p> <p>Copyright Charles Rushton</p> <p>Keywords: photographs of photographers, people with cameras<br> <br>Rushton chose this particular project after attending a Zone VI workshop offered by Fred Picker in Vermont in 1980.  While at the workshop Rushton was given specific advice to pick a topic and stick to it instead of switching random topics every day.  This was when Rushton had the idea to photograph artists and photographers upon returning home to New Mexico.  With help of photographer friend, Bob Hooten, Rushton was able to obtain the names of  photographers that suited the parameters of his project.  After a few years Rushton sold some of his prints to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History for their collection of portraits of New Mexico Artists and expressed interest in seeing his future work.  With the permission of the museum, Rushton used the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History name to help him gain influence and access to more famous photographers such as Beaumont Newhall.  <br> <br>Rushton studied photography under Fred Picker, Oliver Gagliani (depicted in the collection), and Arnold Newman (depicted in the collection).  </p>
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      Photographer: Maroon, Fred J. #nmahphc

      <p>This is a selection of photographs from the Photographic History Collection by Fred J. Maroon of the Nixon Presidency.<br></p> <p>These photographs are from the exhibition <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/photographing-history-fred-j-maroon-and-nixon-years-1970%E2%80%931974">Photographing History: Fred J. Maroon and the Nixon Years, 1970-1974</a> hosted at the National Museum of American History, July 29- December 5, 1999.<em></em></p> <p>Copyright Fred J. Maroon.</p> <p>Keywords: gelatin silver prints, photojournalism, photojournalist, documentary photography, impeachment process, Nixon resignation, President Richard M. Nixon, congressional processes, television, current events, historical events, United States history, presidential history, Washington, DC, White House, Capitol Building, Senate hearings</p>
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      Subject: Early Motion Picture Collection by Gatewood W. Dunston #nmahphc

      <p>Gatewood W. Dunston (1908-October 18, 1956) was a motion picture projectionist and later, a collector and scholar of the history of motion picture technology who bequeathed his important collection to the National Museum of American History.<br></p> <p>Keywords: motion picture history, motion picture equipment, motion picture apparatus, motion picture images, motion picture collecting, history of collectors, movie theater history, motion picture advertising, motion picture props, mutoscope, lantern slide, motion picture film</p> <p>The Dunston accession, number 212314, included 864 items, comprised primarily of 294 theater slides, 162 stereo views, 150 lantern slides, 157 films, 59 early projectors, 6 editing machines, 6 posters, over 100 photographs and a mutoscope reel. Additionally, Dunston left his correspondence relating to the collection, which offers a look at this formative period in the historiography of motion pictures. The films, many of which were on nitrate, were transferred to the Library of Congress in the 1960s, but the remainder of the material was cataloged and is found at numbers 4994-5099 in the Photographic History Collection. The Dunston collection at the National Museum of American History remains one of the most complete and important showing the evolution and history of the motion picture projector, as well as the motion picture industry and art.<br><br>Dunston worked the projection booth at the Granby and Lowe’s Theaters in Norfolk, Virginia, where he lived until his death. He was a friend of the early Western star  and actor, William S. Hart, and obtained a number of Hart films, posters and even a Civil War-era pistol used by the actor in his films. It appears that Dunston began seriously researching and collecting movie cameras, projectors and memorabilia in the early 1940s, through correspondence with film historians Merritt Crawford and Terry Ramsaye, early projectionist Francis Doublier and a number of movie personalities and machine manufacturers. He was disheartened by the deaths of many motion picture pioneers in the 1930s and 40s, and by his perception that the history of motion picture technology was fading into obscurity. Dunston collected 35mm and 16mm copies of notable silent films, old projectors and cameras, glass theater slides, a small number of mutoscope items and editing equipment as well as stereo views and optical toys. As his health deteriorated in the early 1950s, he was forced to sell off many of his films, which were on nitrate and posed a fire hazard, and he wrote a will that stipulated his collection be left to the Smithsonian National Museum’s Section of Photography, now NMAH’s Photographic History Collection.<br><br>This finding aid is one in a series documenting the PHC’s Early Cinema Collection [COLL.PHOTOS.000018]. The cinema-related objects cover the range of technological innovation and popular appeal that defined the motion picture industry during a period in which it became the premier form of mass communication in American life, roughly 1885-1930. See also finding aids for Early Sound Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000040], Early Color Cinema [COLL.PHOTOS.000039], Early Cinema Film and Ephemera [COLL.PHOTOS.000038] and Early Cinema Equipment [COLL.PHOTOS.000037].</p>
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      Subject: Photo Albums #nmahphc

      <p>This is a sampling of photographic albums from the Photographic History Collection.<br></p> <p>Please note, viewing these albums may require patience on the part of the viewer. Most of these albums have pages visible to the public. The pages may be included in photographs attached to the "More Info" record. If pages are not individually visible through the record, go to collections.si.edu and search for the <strong>catalog number</strong> found on the "More Info" record; the pages of the album can be seen in a pdf slide show.</p> <p>The Photographic History Collection contains many albums with and without images. For additional photographic objects, search collections.si.edu.</p> <p>Keywords: photo album, photography album, album pages, gem tintypes, carte-de-visite, cartes-de-visite, cabinet card, cigarette cards, studio photography, studio portraiture, snapshots, travel photography, celebrity photography, collectible photography, vernacular photography, portrait photography, Civil War, WWI, photography, family record keeping, Disneyland, Disneyworld, tourist destinations, yearbooks, college years, cyanotypes, circus, scrapbook, wallpaper sample book, composition notebook, actors, actresses, stage performers, soldiers, photographers</p> <p>(The objects included in this Learning Lab collection are all intact albums. Not included are individual album pages or photographic images that were previously included in albums or books.)</p> <p><br></p>
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      Photographer: Black Star Photographers #nmahphc

      <p>These photographs from the Photographic History Collection are by a number of photographers from the Black Star News Agency. Most of the photographs date from the late 1950s through the 1960s. They were acquired by the museum before 1971.<br></p> <p>Some images may be copyrighted.</p> <p>For additional images, search collections.si.edu</p> <p>Keywords: photojournalist, photojournalism, news photography, editorial photography, documentary photography, reportage </p> <p>Photographers in this collection:</p> <ul><li>Anthony, Eugene</li><li>Crane, Ralph</li><li>Haun, Declan</li><li>Herron, Matt</li><li>Hershorn, Shell</li><li>Lackenbach, Robert</li><li>Launois, John</li><li>Lawrence, Nick</li><li>Lockwood, Lee</li><li>Lukas, Jan</li><li>Massar, Ivan</li><li>Mayer, Heini</li><li>McCoy, Dan</li><li>Merritt, Vernon</li><li>Moore, Charles</li><li>Moore, David</li><li>Moss, John</li><li>Muramatsu, Konosuke</li><li>Salmo, Frank</li><li>Schapiro, Steve</li><li>Schulke, Flip</li><li>Schulthees, Emil</li><li>St. Gil, Mark</li><li>Strode, Bill</li><li>Swanson, Richard</li><li>Tsagris, Athanasios</li><li>Ward, Fred</li><li>Wilhelm, Henry</li><li>Wolff, Werner</li><li>Zagarino, Frank</li></ul> <p><br></p>
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      Photographer: Bordwell, Sally #nmahphc

      <p>This collection is small selection of work by photographer Sally Bordwell and author Lesley Sussman. Together, they traveled with carnivals through the south in the early 1970s.  The collection includes contact sheet for the 35mm film negatives.<br></p> <p>For additional images, search collections.si.edu.</p> <p>Keywords, carnival, carnival games, midway games, carnies, carnival rides, traveling carnival, freak show, frog eater, tattooed lady, snake charmer, sideshow, clown</p>
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      Subject: New York City #nmahphc

      <p>This is an assortment of photographs from the Photographic History Collection depicting New York City.<br></p> <p>For additional images see collections.si.edu.</p>
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      Subject: American Presidents and Vice Presidents #nmahphc

      <p>This is an assortment of photographs from the Photographic History Collection of American Presidents and Vice Presidents<br></p> <p>Please note, some of these photographs have copyright assignments.</p> <p>Keywords: POTUS, President of the United States, president at rest, president at work, Oval Office, White House, press conference, president at play</p> <p>Presidents:  Ulysses S. Grant, Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, George H. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon B. Johnson, William McKinley, Franklin Pierce</p> <p>Vice Presidents: Dick Cheney, Spiro Agnew, Al Gore, Hannibal Hamlin</p>
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      Cameras and Apparatus: Novelty and Souvenir Cameras #nmahphc

      <p>This is a small sampling of toy and souvenir camera from the Photographic History Collection.<br></p> <p>For specific cameras, search collections.si.edu. </p>
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      Photographer: Leipzig, Arthur #nmahphc

      <p>This a collection of photographs by Arthur Leipzig from the Photographic History Collection.<br></p> <p>This selection includes photographs of swamp loggers and swamp logging in the Everglades. He was on assignment for <em>Argus Men's Magazine</em> in 1954.<br></p> <p>This selection also includes two photographs of people using cameras, Zero Mostel, Joseph Welsh, and  Ernest Rice McKinney.</p> <p>Copyright Arthur Leipzig<br></p> <p>For additional work by Leipzig, search collections.si.edu.</p>
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      Subject: Pets #nmahphc

      <p>This an assortment of photographs of people and their pets, including a few mascots.<br></p> <p>Keywords: cat, cats, dog, dogs, pet, pets, people and their pets, children and pets, girls, boys, mascot</p> <p>For additional images, search collections.si.edu.</p>
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      Subject: The Beach #nmahphc

      <p>This is a selection of photographs from the Photographic History Collection related to the beach.<br></p> <p>For additional images, search collections.si.edu.</p> <p>Keywords (subject): beach, beaches, sand, shore, shoreline, boardwalk, ocean, sea, lake, bathing suit, bathing costume, swimsuit, sandcastle, Miami, Atlantic City, pier, dock, swimming, beach umbrella, tanning, tan line, sunbathing, tourism, vacation, holiday</p> <p>Keywords (photography): snapshot, fine art photographs, documentary photography, souvenir photography, stereoview, stereograph, glass plate negative, advertising, press print, nude study, Pictorailism, Burk Uzzle, Rudolph Eickemeyer, Jr, Elliot Erwitt, Ray K. Metzker, Edward Weston</p>
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