Hello, CMU Negative Photo Index!

[Monday, August 23, 2021. 8:05 AM. Heard over a crackly loudspeaker from a particularly enthusiastic member of the student body…]

Good Morning Students and Faculty!

This is not a test. This is the new Central Michigan University Negative Photo Index!

Time to slide on down to Clarke Historical Library website, and browse through list of eight consecutive decades of CMU photography. Is it me, or does this project look like it took a long time? That’s right, documenting nearly 32,000 rolls of film so you can have access to a catalog of pictures just in time for the new school year.

Want to find a file? Easy! Just open the Clarke website, and head over to Research materials. Under CMU materials, you will find the new Negative Photo Index. Click there, and you will be taken to a landing site for materials. Photos are separated by year, in five-year increments.

Some classics include:

• 67-416, the Korean Orphanage Drive Greased Pig Race
  
• 70-219, Greeks Pie in Face
  
• 73-419, Clown Headshots
  
• 2002-163, chess match with Smith playing students all at once
  
• 3293, Civil Defense Nuns and others learning to use Geiger Counters
  
• 3700, Students Laughing at EMU threat sign
  
• 4110, Bovee’s Miniature Animals

Is it a little too early this morning for this much information? That’s fine. The Negative Photo Index is here to stay, so you can head there anytime.

While this index may not look like much, there is history in every file. Did you know that Central Michigan University used to have a Most Eligible Bachelor Contest? Or, that Homecoming Festivities used to include a huge bonfire (negative 67-447b, look it up)! Some traditions never die, but these files show us traditions that did. It also shows us how the school has changed over the years. From the Sheep Sheds office where CMLife used to operate from, to the old library located in Ronan Hall, Central Michigan University’s campus looks different every decade (something we can all relate to right now).

Maybe you’re not a person who needs to be at the Clarke? You aren’t a history major, why is this important to you? Well, my good friend, let me tell you why! This is our school’s historical record. That seems cliche, but my point stands. If you’re an activist, the photos here tell the story of all activists before you, what worked and what didn’t. If you’re a student who’s curious about our school’s multicultural history, we’ve got photos of the first celebration of Black History Month at CMU, events hosted by students during Asian Heritage Week, and tons of photos of Office of Native American Programs events such as the Women’s Circle in 2000.

Maybe you’re a more technical major, and need some ideas for your senior project. We have photos of labs, student exhibitions, faculty research, and much more. Inspiration is here. Still not convinced? We have pictures of every single professor on campus. Want to see how they looked in the 80’s? Aquanets and shoulder pads as far as the eyes can see.

Thank you, CMU Negative Photo Index. From your professional purpose as a research tool, to your hidden purpose of giving a laugh to those that need it.

This is Nova Moore, and I am signing off to see 81-205. What is it? Guess you’ll have to come and see.

Greeks Pie in the face fundraiser,
Negative 70-219, 1970

Student in sculpture class,
Negative 82-082, 1982

Homecoming bonfire,
Negative 67-447b, 1967

Professor Smith plays chess against all students at once,
Negative 2002-163, 2002

Clown headshots,
Negative 73-419, 1973

Civil Defense Nun with Geiger counter,
Negative 3293, ca. 1960-64

Korean Orphanage Project fundraiser, greased pig race,
Negative 67-416, 1967

The Gems of Lake Superior

By Frank Boles

On February 27, Jack Deo presented a stereo-optic presentation on B.F. Childs 1870 photographic tour of Lake Superior, which was published on stereo-optic cards as “The Gems of Lake Superior.” Deo is the proprietor of the Superior View Gallery in Marquette. Childs loaded a small sailboat with a large format glass plate negative camera, as well as all of the necessary plates, and set sail with companion and a Native American guide to circle Lake Superior. The voyage, as well as supplemental work done later, resulted in the publication of more than 500 stereo-optic cards. The cards offered the purchaser amazing detail, considerable artistic merit, and an important visual record of the lake and the people who lived around it.


Deo’s presentation also featured one of the light proof boxes Childs took with him to store his undeveloped negatives, an important piece of equipment because it allowed him to leave the chemicals needed for developing back at the studio, rather than have to carry them along with him and do developing in the field. Deo also showed a number of antique stereo-optic cameras, and discussed the photographers who documented the Upper Peninsula in the nineteenth century, and an appreciation of just how accomplished those photographers were.

But the highlight of the presentation was less the history of the photos and the photographers and more the images themselves. Stunning in their clarity and artistry they gave a vivid sense of a time past. What was of particular interest was that Childs photographed not only scenery, a staple of many photographers, but also the people living around the lake. His images of Native Americans living near Sault Ste. Marie, for example, form one of the most complete visual records available of their appearance, living conditions, and fishing practices. Similarly, images taken inside mines of miners at work give us today pictures of otherwise largely unrecorded mining activity.

At the reception that followed the presentation, a number of Childs original cards that are in the Clarke Library’s holdings, as well as a vintage stereo-optic viewer, were available for individuals to use and truly experience the images as they had been seen almost 150 years ago.





It was an educational evening, with the added benefit of being a whole lot of fun.

BF Child's original negative case, ca. 1870, courtesy of Jack Deo

Brewer Family Ambrotypes

by Marian Matyn
A recent addition to the Dwight J. Brewer Collection, 1862, 2012 includes 3 ambrotypes from the 1850s and 1860s and a CD of the 3 images.

Dwight J. Brewer and two of his wives, sisters Carrie and Ellen Stearns as children.

From left: Carrie (Stearns) Brewer (1850-1935) from the early 1850s;
Ellen (Stearns) Brewer (1839-1918) and her brother Edwin (1844-1921) probably taken in the early 1850s;
Dwight J. Brewer (1844-1881) probably taken around 1860.

Carrie and Ellen were born in NY and both died in Clare, MI.

Dwight J. Brewer (1842-1881) was the son of Jairus and Lucy Brewer. After Lucy died, Jairus married Mary Langdon and, later, Ellen Stearns (1839-1918) sister of Edwin Stearns (1839-1918). Dwight had two siblings: Augusta and Julius. By 1850 Jairus moved his family to Mich. Dwight enlisted in Company F, 20th Mich. Infantry on Aug. 9, 1862 at Brooklyn, Mich., for three years, at age 20. He was mustered on Aug. 18, 1862. Dwight was discharged at Knoxville, Tenn., May 24, 1865. He contracted small pox at the end of war and spent time in two hospitals in Knoxsville recovering (as documented in his last three letters). After the war, Dwight married Edwin and Ellen's younger sister, Carrie (1850-1935) with whom he had three children. Dwight died in 1881 and was buried in Cherry Grove Cemetery, Clare, Mich. Edwin Stearns enlisted at Norvell for three years, on Aug. 11, 1862 in the same company as Dwight and was also mustered on Aug. 18, 1862. Edwin was wounded in action on June 17, 1864. He was promoted to corporal on May 1, 1865. On May 30, 1865 at DeLaney House, D.C., Edwin was mustered out. (This information is from the collection.)

You can read the Brewer family collection catalog record at http://catalog.lib.cmich.edu

U.Comm photos moved to the Clarke - Part 2

By: Marian Matyn

Last week, we introduced the recent acquisition of historic photographs and other materials from CMU's office of University Communications. This week, we talk about what it takes to turn that acquisition into accessible archives.

U.Comm photos arrived last week and we've been re-boxing them to move them into the archives stacks since then. There are all formats and sizes of photographs, negatives, slides, printed materials, videos, and prints of digital photos, some cross reference cards, and some indexes. Also, parts of the beta station are still in the processing room. Not pictured is my son, Zach, who also helped. Now, all that remains in the Clarke hallway are empty storage tubs and empty cabinets waiting to go to the CMU surplus sale. We have lots of collections we are in the middle of processing, so the U.Comm materials will have to wait until later in the spring. First, we'll do an inventory and then, it will go in line to be processed. It is going to take hundreds, if not thousands, of hours to process this collection because it is almost 200 cubic feet and there are multiple negatives and photographs in each sleeve. To accommodate all of the new photographs I will much more in the way of supplies. Here are some photos of the re-boxing event.

 Cassie and Jen with the shelves they filled in one morning

Kipp and Cassie packing up the last 5 negative cabinets - which took all morning

Suli and I boxing up slides- these were of CMU football teams

Except for 2 boxes of a separate collection, we felled 1 entire stacks section (159 cubic ft.)

2 more sections plus 4 boxes = 40 cu. ft.= total for the collection of 100 cubic ft

U.Comm photos move to Clarke

by Marian Matyn

Before: Empty Clarke hallway

On February 18, the Clarke received a literal truckload of historic photographic materials and videos in various formats delivered by the CMU moving crew from U.Comm (CMU University Communications) to the Clarke back hallway. Everything arrived safely. This move occurred suddenly due to an immediate need to empty the space to allow renovations in West Hall.

Over the decades we've received several collections of photographic materials from the CMU photographers and what was then called Information Services. Digital photography has been used for some of their work since the 1990s and today, all photographic images are digital. They also have some databases which should also be coming my way soon.

Materials ready for the Clarke

Last week, I met with the photographer, Steve, and videographer, Adam, and helped identify cabinets and other materials I wanted in the archives. I left empty boxes in which the two of them could transfer some of the materials. We also received a Betamax video station. Part of it came with the movers and part of it Adam and I will move in the near future. The estimated total cubic feet of all of the material -- Betamax video, VHS raw footage and master videos, CDs of some of these videos, negatives, photographs, contact sheets, slides, some old newsletters, and a small pile of matted, oversized CMU photographs --- is approximately 230 cubic feet. Most of it is organized by format and topic and there is an inventory of videos.

Next week, my goal is to have a re-boxing event and move the entirety of this acquisition into the stacks as quickly as possible. These 230 feet worth of documentation of thousands of historic moments at Central is a continuation of the transfer of CMU photographic materials, of which we have received several deposits over the decades.

Some of the materials ready to come to the Clarke

Small storage cabinets

Examples of negative cabinets

Part of the Betamax Station

Part of the fab CMU Movers

After: Full Clarke Hallway

New Exhibit Opening Thursday

The Clarke holds thousands of photographs in dozens of formats. Generally, these images are used to study a subject: a discussion of early lumbering in Michigan can be bolstered with a daguerreotype of a lumber baron, researchers studying Michigan Civil War soldiers will come across tintype portraits of servicemen, and the history of Central State Normal School (CMU's previous name) in the 1920s is brought to life with historic silver-gelatin prints.

In the Clarke's new exhibit, Photography: Process, People, and Preservation, photographs are displayed and explained for their own sake, not the content or subject of the images. To guide visitors through the history of pre-digital photography, the exhibit explains the processes involved in producing photographs, from the toxic and labor intensive early days to the time when a roll of color film could be dropped off at a lab and picked up a few days later. The chemistry, the equipment required, and the challenges of producing a variety of photographs are explored.

In addition to the processes, the exhibit examines how photography played a role in the careers of various people, including an itinerant daguerreotypist, a commercial portrait photographer, and a team of university photographers. The exhibit also points out how photographs can be damaged and how they naturally deteriorate over time. Realizing the degradation of these images is essentially losing a piece of history can be discouraging, so the exhibit details the measures that museums, archives, libraries, and even individuals can take to preserve their images for generations to come.

An exhibit on photography would not be complete without the tools used to produce photographs. Fortunately, the CMU Department of Art and Design is a wonderful resource for consulting on this subject, particularly Professor Al Wildey. He has loaned several of his historic cameras, some pieces of old photographing equipment, and many rare images that illustrate the processes explained in the exhibit.

Beyond consulting and loaning materials, Professor Wildey is also opening our exhibit with a presentation on Thursday, September 18 at 7:00 pm. He will discuss the history of photography before the digital age. The event takes place in the Park Library Auditorium followed by a reception in the Clarke to give attendees the chance to look at examples of the historical processes mentioned in the presentation.

Wild West Image

by Marian Matyn

My students were sorting through a box of mostly duplicates and peripheral visual items when they found this and wondered what it was. My first thought, based on the headdress of the man in the lower left, was a Wild West show. The original image has some lightening on the left side, so I asked Pat Thelen, our digitizing specialist, to darken it. If you click on the image to enlarge it, you can clearly see the crowd, flags, telegraph poles, and some large buildings. Perhaps the first is a barn? A group of men, carrying weapons, are walking ahead of the women in long dresses with long hair. Some men have feathered headdresses. There are wagon wheel marks circling in the right of the image which are hard to see except in the darkened image. Pennant flags are flying in the breeze. A number of ladies have parasols up to shield them from the sun on this very bright day. In the far upper left is a sign, which enlarged reads Coal Wood Hay Straw. This is clearly a wild west show, which performed outside, not in a tent. Is it being held on a fair grounds near fair buildings? Where, when, whose wild west show? Unfortunately, we have the backs of the performers. Note in the very lower left the derby of a nearby spectator.

The original image is sepia-tone 4.25 X 3.5 inches mounted on board. It has two accession numbers on the back. The first, Number 828, is not the accession number because the accession register says it is the number for a railroad ledger. The other number, 2731, is for a very large group of unidentified daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, stereographs, and other images, none of which are individually described, purchased for a lot price by Nina Ness and donated to the Clarke on Dec. 5, 1974. There are more than a thousand items in this group so this image may have been #828 in the entire group. It is most likely that over time, the lot collection was divided by format and topic and became many smaller collections. Nina was a member of the early Clarke Board of Directors.

Alpena Circus Image Identified

by Marian Matyn

I recently found an image of a circus parade in what I thought was Alpena, probably on 2nd street, in the late 1800s. The image is one of hundreds in the Fred R. Trelfa Photograph Collection, 1860-1961, which is 13.5 cubic ft. in 18 boxes. The Congregational Church is in the background of the photograph, on 2nd and Lockwood, with a unique spire that existed only from 1868 to 1888.

To learn more about the collection or to view the online finding aid, click here.

A circus friend and fan, Jim Fry, suggested I contact Alpena. What a great suggestion!