Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1890-1910 (Creation)
Extent
1.26 linear feet
Name of creator
Biographical history
In 1843, William Henry Jackson was born in Keeseville, New York. As a child, Jackson became interested in photography. After service in the Civil War, he opened a studio in Omaha, Nebraska. Here, Jackson photographed local Native American tribes and scenes from the Union Pacific Railroad. From 1870 to 1878, Jackson was the official photographer for the United States Geological and Geological Survey of the Territories. Photographs taken by Jackson during this time showed the remarkable surroundings of the United States’ American West, including Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and the cliff dwellings of Colorado (Mesa Verde National Park). When the survey was finished, he opened a studio in Denver, CO, in 1879.
In 1897, William A. Livingstone, Jr., one of the founders of the Detroit Photographic Company, persuaded the William Henry Jackson to join the firm. By doing so, the Detroit Photographic Company added the thousands of negatives produced by Jackson to the company’s image inventory. Jackson's photographs included city and town views, images of important buildings, scenes along railroad lines, and views of hotels and resorts from all over the world, including North and South America and Europe.
In the 1890s, the Detroit Photographic Company purchased the rights to use the Swiss "Photochrom" process of converting black-and-white photographs into color images, printing them by photolithography. This process allowed large scale production of color postcards, albums, and photographic prints for sale to the general American public, including those images taken by Jackson.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Contained in this collection are 832 William Henry Jackson chromolithographs. Total number of images, including duplicates, are 1243. The images are organized by serial number, including those that are duplicates. If an image has duplicates, the number of additional copies are noted after the caption in the finding aid.
The description of each image is the caption as printed on the chromolithograph. Copyright of these images, as stamped on the chromolithograph are all dated few years before and after 1900. Images depicted on the chromolithographs are from Europe, especially Germany, Austria, and Great Britain, and North America. Subjects shown include prominent buildings or groups of buildings, views of cities, country sides, and mountains, such as Yellowstone, cliff dwellings in Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Niagara Falls.
The Library of Congress has many of these chromolithographs already scanned and available in different file formats, including as TIF files. Those already scanned by the Library of Congress were not scanned again; instead, a link is provided for under each image that is available through the Library of Congress. Those that were not available through the Library of Congress have been scanned and are available through the Repository @ St. Cloud State.
System of arrangement
Images are filed by their unique identifier.
Records are located at 56.2a-c.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
There are no access restrictions.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Permission to publish, quote, and reproduce must be secured from the copyright holder.
Languages of the material
- English
- French
- German
- Italian
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
The chromolithographs were gifted mostly by John H. Daniels, Jr., between 2000 and 2008. In 2003, Christopher G. Cardoza and Elizabeth M. Koffman also gifted chromolithographs and were integrated into this collection. Two donations were accessioned formally - A08-013 and A09-011.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
The Library of Congress has many of the Detroit Photographic Company chromolithographs already online and downloadable in different file formats, including as TIF images. Additional information may be found at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/pgz/
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Processed by Lisa Savage, June-July 2008.