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Photographs of the American West, Alaska, and Niagara Falls

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    Photographs of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest by Mayo & Weed

    Visual Materials

    This album contains 122 photographic prints by the Chicago, Illinois, photography firm of Mayo & Weed that depicts scenery and glaciers in Alaska; Native Alaskans; some Native American totems, and a variety of scenic views in the western United States and Canada. These photographs were taken ca. 1890s. The organization of the album's photographs mirrors a trip from Denver, Colorado, to Alaska, with stops at various tourist destinations, and includes images of Caucasian tourists; Salt Lake City, Utah; Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs, Colorado; Wrangell, Alaska; Sitka, Alaska; Alaskan natives; glaciers; totems; British Columbia health resorts; and Western railway lines. Brigham Young, a leader of the Mormon Church, is listed as a personal name index term because a photograph of his grave is included in this collection. The photograph album has the word "Alaska" embossed on the cover and "Alaska / Mayo & Weed, Chicago" embossed on the spine. Almost all of the photographs have a printed caption included in the bottom of the photograph.

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  • Carl S. Dentzel Photograph Collection of the American West, 1870s-1890s : Alaska Views

    Carl S. Dentzel Photograph Collection of the American West, 1870s-1890s : Alaska Views

    Visual Materials

    Part of the photographs of the American West, dating from the 1870s to the 1890s, collected by Carl S. Dentzel (1913-1980), director of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, California, this is disbound album of photographs of Alaska taken by A. L. Broadbent. These views show Revenue Cutter Service ships and officers; Alaskan natives; towns; scenery; the fur trade and mission schools. The collection also depicts Alaskan native graves; missionaries; walrus hunting; whaling ships; totem poles; officers in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service; Greek Orthodox church buildings; the first grand jury in Nome, Alaska; James Gilchrist Swan; and a portrait of one of the collection's photographers, Alfred Lee Broadbent.

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    Bell family photograph albums of travel in the American West

    Visual Materials

    A collection of 10 family photograph albums, 1908-1924, chiefly of trips to tourist sites and national parks in the Western United States, depicting travel by car, mountain camping, natural scenery, and hiking. Little is known about the Bell family, but most of the snapshots have captions identifying locations and dates. One album says photographs by J. O. Downing, and there is a postcard album with postcards sent from all over the country, approximately 1910s. Album contents: Vol. 1. Sierra Club trip, Glacier National Park, 1924 -- Vol. 2. My 1923 Outing: Southern Nevada - Southern Utah - Northern Arizona (with two-page narrative describing an 1,850-mile automobile trip) -- Vol. 3. Construction of Granite Reef Dam, 1908, on the Salt River, Arizona, with workers' encampment and residences. Some snapshots of Native Americans; town of Roosevelt; Roosevelt Power Canal; Tonto Basin -- Vol. 4. Mount Rainier trip, August 1921 -- Vol. 5. Red Rock Canyon (Mojave Desert, Nevada), 1919 -- Vol. 6. Sequoia Park, July 1918 -- Vol. 7. High Sierra, Sierra Nevada Mountains, 1919 -- Vol. 8. Camp High Sierra, 1923 -- Vol. 9. Scenery and people at a log cabin, horseback riding, around Pinecrest, Tuolumne County, California, 1910s? -- Vol. 10. Souvenir postcards sent from various places in the United States, 1910s?.

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    Photograph album of Alaska, San Francisco and a citrus ranch in Riverside, California

    Visual Materials

    A photograph album of mounted albumen prints that begins with two views of totems in Fort Wrangell, Alaska, followed by one view of a woman named "Jummie Niehaus" in a backyard in Centerville, California, and the remaining views depicting buildings and scenes in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, and Riverside, California. The photographs are all numbered and have captions and dates handwritten in ink on the card mounts; the photographer is not identified. Golden Gate Park views depict people boating on Strawberry Lake and the Superindent's Lodge, Conservatory and other buildings from the 1894 Midwinter Fair. There is one view of unidentified men and women on the steps of a Victorian house at 1406 Grove St., San Francisco, followed by a photograph of a mission-style ranch house captioned: "New residence. Lot 4. Everest Rancho, May 16, 1898." Two additional Everest Rancho views show a large citrus grove covered with lath and canvas to protect crops from frost.

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  • Photographs of Alaska

    Photographs of Alaska

    Visual Materials

    The 54 prints in this collection depict Alaskan nature scenes, various views of town life (mainly in Sitka), and some Native American totems; these photographs were made ca. 1892. This collection provides insight into the Alaskan environment just before the Klondike Gold Rush. The collection is particularly strong in images of Muir Glacier and the cities of Sitka and Wrangell ca. 1892. In addition to images of these places, the collection includes images of Alaskan Natives; Alaskan Native totem poles; Killisnoo, Alaska; the Native American community of Kasaan, Alaska; the steamboat Star Queen; various glaciers; and Treadmill Mill and Mine at Douglas Island.

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    Niagara Falls: Niagara in Summer and Winter. [Philadelphia]: J. Murray Jordan

    Visual Materials

    This is a collection primarily of negatives and photographic prints depicting the growth of Santa Monica and Los Angeles, California, from 1860s to 1980s. Many views are cityscapes or street views, showing buildings, storefronts, homes and roads, and documenting the use of railroads, trolleys, streetcars, and automobiles. There are many card photographs by early professional photographers, and also a number of snapshots made by amateurs, some in personal photo albums. The collection's scope also includes early views of many other communities in Southern California (and a few in other states); the beginnings of aviation in Santa Monica, including the first Douglas Aircraft Company buildings; a photo album of residents in Topanga Canyon, ca. 1913; automobile racing in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, 1920s; maritime views; a photo album of U.S. troops in France during World War I; a 1949 real estate development in Apple Valley, California, and others. Besides photographs, a portion of the collection consists of scarce publications and historical ephemera, primarily related to Santa Monica and Los Angeles, including brochures, advertising cards, menus, event programs and other materials. Highlights of the Santa Monica images are aerial views of the buildings along the coast and pier (1920s); several views of the Arcadia Hotel (1880s); the Long Wharf and adjoining railroad and train depot; the first bath houses on the beach; the beach club culture of the 1920s and 1930s; the amusement piers of Santa Monica, Ocean Park and Venice; and the beginnings of the Douglas Aircraft Company. There is a large set of promotional photographs made late 1920s-1930s by Powell Press Service depicting people enjoying Santa Monica's beaches, clubs and outdoor recreation. An important subset within the collection is 407 negatives made ca. 1890 - 1908 by Los Angeles historian and amateur photographer George W. Hazard (1842-1914). Hazard travelled around Los Angeles and vicinity photographing the adobes, houses, streets and storefronts that told the early history of the city. Many of Hazard's negatives have handwritten identifications, naming streets, former homeowners, ranchos, and other historical details. There are a large number of cabinet cards and other card-mounted prints and stereographs. There are 1,264 stereograph prints, highlighted by the works of photographic pioneers William M. Godfrey, Francis Parker, Hayward & Muzzall, and Carleton Watkins. Other formats represented are: glass and film negatives; panoramic prints; 7 photograph albums, photographic postcards, 20th-century color prints and transparencies; and a small number of tintypes, cyanotypes and a set of chromolithographs.

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