The Old Cambridge Photographic Club, 1892-1946

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Series Description and Folder Listing

Extent: 4 boxes, 2.5 linear feet Processor: Chessie Monks Date: February 2011
Acquisition: The collection was donated to the Cambridge Historical Society by the estate of Bremer W. Pond in 1960.
Access: Use of the original slides and negative copies of the photographs is restricted. Access to the collection is available primarily through the contact sheet print copies of the images.
Permission to Publish: Requests for permission to publish from this collection should be made to the Executive Director.
Copyright: The Cambridge Historical Society does not hold copyright on the materials in the collection.

Historical Sketch:
The Old Cambridge Photographic Club was founded on March 26th, 1892 by Alice C. Allyn, who hoped to create an association of Cambridge recreational photographers working with dry plate negatives. There were seven original members, including James A. Wells, who was elected the first president of the club and wrote A Short History of the Old Cambridge Photographic Club in 1903. The group met in the beginning to discuss the record keeping and constitution of the club, and on several occasions gathered to take photographs in the Cambridge area. It was decided that the club would hold a competition in the fall for photographs of groups of more than three people in an outdoor setting. By the time the fall of 1892 arrived, the membership of the club had increased to nineteen and the group had met several times to discuss photographic techniques and methods.

The first photographic contest was deemed a success, so the Club began to hold yearly theme competitions and corresponding exhibits. Some of the themes included snow landscapes, member portraits, and historic Cambridge buildings. The most popular of their competitions was an attempt to photograph the entirety of the Charles River Basin. This project began in approximately 1896, and was completed in 1897. The members of the Club divided the river basin into sections, and each worked over the course of the summer months to photograph their section. All told, the members took over two hundred photographs of the Charles River and its shores. These photographs were shown at the club’s fall meeting, and a select number of them were chosen to show in an exhibition. The chosen negatives were made into lantern slides, and were first shown at an exhibition at Brattle Hall in January of 1897. The exhibition was given as a benefit for the Social Union, and Joseph G. Thorp, Jr. acted as the lecturer. The exhibition was a great success, and was shown another twenty-five to thirty times that year, often for the benefit of the Metropolitan Park Commission.

In 1897, the Club elected to photograph historic Cambridge subjects as their next exhibit, and some research was done into the subject by Club members. After the preliminary research, and despite the members’ enthusiasm for potential related lectures, the competition never got off the ground and no exhibit was held. In 1898, one of the club members exhibited several gum bichromate prints, purportedly the first to have been shown in the United States. The Club continued to host contests and exhibitions, most relating to the Charles River and other Cambridge landscapes, and continued to hold lectures on photographic techniques and other related topics. Alice Allyn resigned from the club in 1899, and enthusiasm for the Club and exhibitions dwindled. Several attempts to sell pamphlets and catalogues featuring member photographs were unsuccessful, and many of the competitions received very few entries and were skipped entirely. In 1901, the club challenged members of the Boston Camera Club to a friendly competition judged by three Boston-area artists, and the Cambridge organization’s members were declared the winners. The Club continued to hold exhibits and lectures, but their numbers decreased more every year. James A. Wells wrote his Short History in 1903, and passed away in 1904 before it could be published. The Club was still active with approximately fifteen members in 1904, but no documentation exists as to when the Club ceased to exist. The last recorded President of the Club was Philip P. Sharples.

Source:
Wells, James A. A Short History of the Old Cambridge Photographic Club. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son Inc. Printers, 1905.

Arrangement:
The Old Cambridge Photographic Club Photograph Collection, 1892-1903, is arranged in five series:
Series I. Charles River
Series II. Buildings
Series III. Landscapes
Series IV. People
Series V. Other/Miscellaneous

Scope and Content Note:
The Old Cambridge Photographic Club Photograph Collection, 1892-1903, consists of glass negatives and lantern slides produced by members, as well as film negative and contact sheet print copies made of the slides at a later date. The existence of copies of the photographs are indicated in the index by an “S” for the original glass slide, an “N” for a film negative copy, and a “P” for a contact sheet print. Use of the slides and negative copies is restricted, and can be viewed on request if no print copy exists. Many of the glass slides are in fragile condition and are missing a glass layer, and a few are broken. Two inventories of the collection were created following its donation to the Cambridge Historical Society, resulting in two numbering systems for every slide. When no caption information was provided on the glass slides, the information from the inventories was used to describe the images as best as possible. These inventories are available in the collection’s records. Some, but not all of the images were also numbered much later on, but there was no discernible order to this numbering system, nor was there an index to the numbering system, so the images have been reordered and renumbered with a new system. All of the copied forms of each image have been marked with the corresponding new number.

Series I. Charles River, ca.1896-ca.1897
This series consists of images of the Charles River Basin, the majority of which were taken for consideration in an exhibition put on by the club. Club members took over two hundred photographs of the Charles River, and the best images were selected for an exhibition. The club members prepared lantern slides of the chosen images, and they were first exhibited at Brattle Hall in January of 1896. The exhibit was shown approximately thirty times to different societies, in an attempt to benefit the Metropolitan Park Commission. These images include views of the Charles River and its shores, as well as scenes of the tributaries and lakes that make up the Charles River Basin. There are images of recreational activities on the Charles, such as canoeing, as well as dams, bridges, and a number of factories and other buildings along the River. These images are arranged by town, when possible, or by name of feature, as identified. There are also a number of images of unidentified areas of the River. Some of the slides may have been taken as a part of other exhibitions, such as one of Coolidge Farm, but no identification exists to differentiate between contests. Descriptions listed in quotes were copied from the original slides.

Series II. Buildings, ca.1892-ca.1946
This series is made up of images of buildings, mostly in the Cambridge area. It is likely that many of these images were taken as part of a proposed exhibit on historic Cambridge, intended as a follow-up to the Charles River exhibit. The exhibit never actually took place, but the members did engage in some preliminary work and research. These photographs feature interior and exterior images of some historic Cambridge buildings, such as the Dana-Palmer House and the Hooper-Lee-Nichols House. The images are organized by town, and then by name of the house when possible. There are also several lantern slides of drawings of buildings, including an image of the last house left standing in Medfield after it was burned by King Phillip in 1676. There are also a number of slides of unidentified buildings.

Series III. Landscapes, ca.1892-ca.1946
This series contains images of landscapes and lantern slides of maps related primarily to the Cambridge area. This series also includes photographs of Alster Basin, in Hamburg, Germany, which was used as a model for the creation of the Charles River Basin. The lantern slides of maps include drawings of early Boston and Cambridge from approximately 1635 to 1868, as well as maps of Harvard Yard. Some of these maps appear to have been reproduced from books of maps, and were probably produced for lectures given by members of the club.

Series IV. People, ca.1892-ca.1946
This series consists of lantern slide reproductions of photographs, paintings, drawings, and etchings of various individuals. It is likely that these lantern slides were created for various lectures, but no record of their use is included with the slides. Many of these images were reproduced from book illustrations. Subjects include Agnes Surriage, John Elliot, George Herbert Palmer, and Alice Freeman Palmer. Also included are photographs of five consecutive Harvard Presidents: Quincy, Everett, Sparks, Walker, and Felton.

Series V. Other/Miscellaneous, ca.1892-ca.1946
This series contains lantern slides of miscellaneous images. Included are several slides reproduced from book illustrations, and a slide of the title page of the Elliot Indian Bible. A slide of an unidentified portion of Greek text is also included. These slides were most likely created for use in a lecture, but no slide listing exists.

Related Collections:
The Cambridge Historical Society also holds the Lois Lilley Howe Photographic Collection, 1884-1912, which includes prints and glass-plate negatives created by Howe and other members of the Old Cambridge Photographic Club.
The Cambridge Historical Society also holds the Howe Family Papers (currently unprocessed), which includes prints made by Howe as a member of the Old Cambridge Photographic Club.

Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Cambridge (Mass.)
Cambridge (Mass.)–Historic buildings
Charles River (Mass.)
Harvard College (1780- )
Landscape photography
Lantern slides
Maps
Photography
Wells, James A.

The Old Cambridge Photographic Club Photograph Collection, ca.1892-1946 (inclusive), 1896-1899 (bulk)

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The Old Cambridge Photographic Club, 1892-1946

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