Multiple Exposure

Hampton Institute Photograph Album

C1: 134
ca. 1880–1890
1 album, 32 cyanotypes

In Hampton Roads, Virginia, 1868, the Union general and educator Samuel Armstrong (1839–1893) opened Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute on the grounds of a former slave-holding plantation, with the stated purpose of “train[ing] selected Negro youth who should go out and teach and lead their people first by example… to replace stupid drudgery with skilled hands, and in this way to build up an industrial system for the sake not only of self-support and intelligent labor, but also for the sake of character.” The institute (today Hampton University) received its first Native American students, refugees from the Red River War, in 1878. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the date of these cyanotype images, the institute saw a dramatic increase in enrollment and course offerings, emphasizing not classical studies but practical experience in trades and industry, such as carpentry, clock making, printing, tailoring, bricklaying, and, of course, farming, as well as rigorous classes in mathematics and the sciences.

The cyanotypes suggest an artistic sensibility at work on the campus. All images appear to have been taken by the same photographer, probably a member of a student photography club, among which cyanotypes were popular because they were inexpensive and relatively easy to process. Imposing exterior shots of college buildings, most notably Memorial Church and Virginia-Cleveland Hall, contrast with more delicate images of dogwood blossoms, sailboats … Read the rest

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Virginia State Chamber of Commerce Photograph Collection

Photograph Collection

C1:161
1922–1972
approx. 30,000 8 x 10 inch photographic prints

One of the Library’s most important image collections, the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce Photograph Collection is one of the most organized and comprehensive visual resources for twentieth-century Virginia history and culture. Think of it as the official photo album of the commonwealth of Virginia, documenting activity associated with cotton, peanut, textile, tobacco, and fishing industries; farming and harvesting; government; public and higher education; the arts; recreation and entertainment; and countless local festivals for the fifty years between 1922 and 1972. In its subjects, the collection resembles (and is indeed the source for) many of the images in our 1939 World’s Fair Photograph Collection (C1:001), also produced by the Chamber of Commerce. Highlights include, but are by no means limited to, photographic coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s 1957 visit to Jamestown, the restoration/re-creation of Colonial Williamsburg, historical reenactments, and areal photos. Images are generally of high quality and upbeat in mood and tone—not at all photojournalistic, but nevertheless capturing fascinating details of locale, transportation, décor, and clothing. The item numbers by which the collection is arranged also reflect the images’ chronology.

Arrangement and access:
A significant portion of the collection is available through the Library’s online collections searchable by keyword and date. The photographs are also searchable by subject using the collection’s original … Read the rest

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Hamblin Studio Photograph Collection

Photograph Collection

C1: 162
ca.1909–1979
approx. 1,360 glass-plate and film negatives

The Hamblin Studio Collection represents the collective output of four Suffolk photographers working throughout the 20th century. Their photos represents a variety of subjects, including portraiture, sporting events, fraternal organizations, medical facilities, public utilities, local unions, manufacturing plants (in particular Planters Peanuts), and schools, including black private schools and segregated and integrated public schools. As well as being a good general portrait of 20th-century Virginia, the Hamblin Studio Collection is an excellent documentary resource for African American community life in Suffolk.

Note: The collection includes images from the city of Nansemond prior to 1974, when it merged with the independent city of Suffolk.

Arrangement and access:
The entire collection is available through the Library’s online collections searchable by keyword and date.

Related resources and collections:
C1: 163 Hamblin Studio Service Station Photograph Collection

C1:162 Hamblin Studio Photograph Collection. Suffolk Jubilee Quartet, October 6, 1945 (vdlp_suffolk_ng0088)

C1:162 Hamblin Studio Photograph Collection. Mrs. Boykins (vdlp_suffolk_ng0256) — C1:162 Hamblin Studio Photograph Collection. Suffolk Jubilee Quartet, October 6, 1945 (vdlp_suffolk_ng0088)

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Life Scenes of a Confederate Soldier

Ephemera Collection, Print Collection

C1: 011
ca.1865
12 lithographic cards, 2 x 3 inches

The mild pastels of these lithographic novelty cards belie their content, which is uncharacteristically downbeat for Southern wartime images. They feature Dixie caricatures populating scenes of defeat and despair, such as a man in gray—who appears to be lonesome, cold, and hungry—reminiscing about the “good times” of 1861. Most of these “life scenes” are not historically specific. “A Flank Movement” visually puns military action, showing a hungry soldier armed with a stiletto stalking an oblivious pig. “Heroes Still,” apparently a post-War scene, or one anticipating the fruits of pursuing a lost cause, shows humbled white Southerners tilling their own fields. Other scenes include “In a Bad Place,” “First Winter,” “Homesick,” “In the Trenches,” “The Vidette,” “The Camp Darkey,” “Following Stonewall,” and a sea battle captioned “No. 290.” The cards were originally held together into a dainty, homemade fascicle, fashioned from sackcloth, which includes the handwritten title of the collection along with an almost indecipherable name written in pencil: “Hope Stewart.”

Provenance:
Donated, 1951

References:
Six of the images were reproduced in Cavalcade (winter, 1951).

C1: 011 Life Scenes of a Confederate Soldier

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Stereograph File

Photograph Collection

C1: 060
1860s–1910s
approx. 318 stereographs (most albumen) and other photographic prints mounted on 4 x 7 inch cards

Stereographic views were a popular nineteenth-century novelty that enabled photographs to be viewed in three dimensions. What appear to be identical photographic images paired adjacently on a cardboard support are actually slightly different and, when viewed through the lenses of a stereoscope, they “merge” to yield an unexpectedly convincing 3D effect. The Library’s Stereograph Collection contains over 300 images from many prominent photographers from the Civil War to the World War I eras. Photographs and publishers represented in the collection include the Keystone View Co., George S. Cook, Lee Gallery, D. H. Anderson, E. S. Lumpkin, Underwood & Underwood, George Ennis, Selden & Co., the Kilburn Bros., and Timothy O’Sullivan. Most of the images offer views of Richmond and other Virginia locales, such as the Old Stone House (now the Poe Museum), interiors of Washington’s Tomb, Salt Point, the Executive Mansion and Capitol Grounds (including the long-vanished wrought iron gazebo that housed the statue of Henry Clay), Monumental Church, and Libby Prison. There are also several rare photographs of Blue Ridge Springs and other long-defunct Virginia resorts, as well as a one-of-a-kind series of homemade stereographs with views of late- nineteenth-century Petersburg.

Arrangement and access:
The collection is available for view on Digitool.

Provenance:… Read the rest

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Hampton Institute Photograph Album

C1:134 Hampton Institute Photograph Album

Virginia State Chamber of Commerce Photograph Collection

C1:161 Virginia State Chamber of Commerce Photograph Collection. Virginia Beach Sand Festival, 1952 (vcc_014973)

Hamblin Studio Photograph Collection

C1:162 Hamblin Studio Photograph Collection. Thomas Rose, October 4, 1945 (vdlp_suffolk_ng0156)

Life Scenes of a Confederate Soldier

C1: 011 Life Scenes of a Confederate Soldier (LVA 11_1148_002)

C1: 011 Life Scenes of a Confederate Soldier (LVA 11_1148_004)

Stereograph File

C1:060 Stereograph File. Building spire of Lutheran Church, Winchester, Va. (LVA 07_0786_329)