Library Guides: Manuscripts of Modern America: Drawings and Photographs

Drawings and Photographs

What follows is a descriptive list of drawing and photograph collections of the post-Civil War era, dating wholly or primarily from 1865 to the present day. Drawings and photographs associated with collections of textual manuscripts are described with those manuscripts, and are not included here.

The descriptions that follow may be linked to finding aids, which will provide readers with fuller information on that particular collection.

Kaletta Statuary Company Drawings, ca. 1915-1944
545 drawings and blueprints. A collection of architectural drawings and blueprints of church furnishings, from the archives of the Kaletta Statuary Company of St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded in 1876 by the German immigrant Andrew T. Kaletta (1847-1916); it grew and prospered under the management of his sons before ceasing operations in 1969. Kaletta was initially known for the manufacture of religious statuary. In the 20th century it expanded to include the design and manufacture of ecclesiastical appointments and furniture, for churches throughout the central and western U. S. The greater part of the company's clientele was Roman Catholic. Among the product types represented in this collection of drawings are candlesticks and candelabra; lanterns and sanctuary lamps; tabernacles; altars; fountains and baptismal fonts; vestment cases; chairs and choir stalls; and pews. MSN/MN 9201-1-F1 to MSN/MN 9201-150-O. [Finding Aid]
Suspenders Manuscript, 1872
1 vol., 12.5 cm., 8 leaves, with 8 pages of drawings and script in pencil. A homemade pamphlet with eight pages of elaborate pencil illustrations and accompanying verse, telling a moralizing tale of a young man's search for a new pair of suspenders. MSN/MN 9205-1. [Finding Aid]
Photograph Album, [1909]
1 volume, 47 leaves, with 159 4 x 6 inch silver photographic prints. An album of vernacular photographs taken by an unknown party at locations from Washington, D.C. to Florida, apparently in the winter and/or spring of 1909. Included are 23 images of William Howard Taft's inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue (4 March 1909); 18 additional views of Washington and Arlington, Virginia; 18 views of Mt. Vernon; 13 views of Richmond; 6 grandstand shots of a professional baseball game at Jacksonville, Florida; and 81 additional photographs of Florida, including many of festivities at Fort St. Marco in St. Augustine. Many of the photographs are captioned in white ink. MSN/MN 9200-1-B.
Photograph Album, [ca. 1920s]
1 volume, 62 leaves, with 207 photographic prints tipped in. An album of vernacular photographs recording the automobile travels of an unidentified couple from the Boston area in the 1920s. Fifty of the photos, all 3 x 5 inch prints, were taken on an auto trip from Boston to Kirksville, Missouri; these include images of Detroit, Chicago, and Washington DC, as well as scenic and roadside shots. Others were taken on individual trips to the White Mountains (16 3 x 5 inch prints); the Catskills and Chittenango, New York (33 2.5 x 3.5 inch prints); Plymouth and Cape Cod (25 2.5 x 3.5 inch prints); and Mt. Washington and Canada (50 2.5 x 3.5 inch prints). All the above images bear handwritten captions, lacking dates. An additional 33 photographs at the end of the album are undated. MSN/MN 9202-1-B.
Ernst Family Photograph Albums, 1899-1905
2 vols., 25 x 33 and 28 x 38 cm., 24 and 24 leaves, with 260 and 267 silver photographic prints tipped in. Two albums of vernacular photographs recording the travels and activities of the Louis and Josephine Ernst family of Rochester, New York. The photographs were apparently taken by Louis Ernst (1849-1924), a hardware merchant; most are 3 1/4 inches square, though a few are larger. The albums were meticulously compiled. Prints are grouped by the occasion or outing they record, with each occasion identified and dated; many individual prints bear captions. The Ernsts (Louis, Josephine, and their son Joseph) were cycling enthusiasts, and many of the photographs are views taken on trips by bicycle (i.e., "Bicycle Tour Cleveland to Buffalo", 1899, and "Bicycle Tour among the [Finger] Lakes", 1900). Most of the images are of locations in upstate New York, including a group of 20 prints taken at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo in 1901. MSSP 7011-1-B to MSSP 7011-2-B.
Photograph Album, 1888-1900
1 volume, 29 cm., 12 leaves, with 48 photographic prints laid in. The 48 3 x 4 inch sepia-toned paper prints enclosed in this album include vernacular shots of a host of popular American destinations. Most of the photographs appear to have been taken in 1900; a few (from Virginia) are from 1888. Included are views of Mt. Washington, Plymouth, Nantucket, New York City, automobile races at Guttenberg, New Jersey, and a GAR parade in Chicago. The album's assembler is unidentified. MSN/MN 9203-1-B.
Photograph Album, 1930s
1 volume, 27 x 37 cm., 33 leaves, with 145 photographic prints tipped in. The photos in this album appear to derive from a voyage aboard the American ocean liner S. S. President Hoover, which provided a trans-Pacific service between the U.S. and the Far East from 1931 to 1937. There are images of Hawaii, Japan, China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. Some are vernacular photos; others are of commercial origin. Prints range in size from 1 1/4 x 1 3/4 inches to 8 x 10. The album’s compiler is not known. Gift of Ed Rood, 2012. MSN/MN 9204-1-B.
Robert C. Morgan Collection on Conceptual Art, 1968-2015
5 containers and 4 bound volumes; 5 linear feet. A collection of research files comprised of printed ephemera, correspondence, manuscripts, audio recordings, and other materials documenting the activities and work of more than 100 conceptual artists, assembled by Robert C. Morgan during his professional career as an artist, art historian, curator, and author from 1968-2015. MSN/MN 9206-1 to MSN/MN 9206-218. [Finding Aid]