Guide to the Stereograph File
[1855-1964] (Bulk 1860-1900)

The New-York Historical Society
Two West 77th Street
New York, NY 10024

Contact: Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections
Phone: (212) 873-3400 ex. 228
Fax: (212) 787-9474

© 2001 The New-York Historical Society . All rights reserved.

New York University Libraries, Publisher

Processed by Janet Murray

Machine-readable finding aid derived from Microsoft document, 1999. Machine-readable finding aid created by Melissa Haley. Description is in English.

May 2001. Electronic finding aid revised according to local applications, by Jenny Gotwals.

2003 stereograph converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by one2two.xsl.

Historical Note

Over 800 photographers and publishers created the work represented in the Stereograph File. Major publishers including E & H.T. Anthony, Keystone, Underwood & Underwood and Kilburn Brothers make up much of the collection. Views by well-known western photographers Carleton Watkins, William Henry Jackson, J.J. Reilly and C.R. Savage are included, along with photographers who worked in eastern locales such as John P. Soule, D. Barnum, the Bierstadt Brothers, and George Barker. Many of the photographers worked in established tourist areas, such as Niagara Falls however, dozens of photographers working in their local areas are also included in the file. Portraitists who worked in stereo include Mathew Brady, Pach Brothers, Napoleon Sarony and J. Gurney & Son. Some of the photographers were amateurs, such as F. F. Thompson, who photographed Central Park in the 1860s and was one of the founders of the Amateur Photographic Exchange Club. Another significant amateur was Alfred T. Loonam, whose stereographs of New York in the 1950s and 1960s capture modern skyscrapers, expressways under construction, and the emerging television industry.

Scope and Content Note

Views in the Stereograph File depict a wide range of subject matter. Most of the items show known locations, and over one third of the collection depicts New York state. 4,000 of these items depict New York City. Other well-represented geographic locations include California, with 739 items, Massachusetts with 598, Pennsylvania with 798, New Hampshire with 475, Washington, D.C. with 320, New Jersey with 226 and Connecticut with 210. Subject areas with substantial holdings include the Civil War, Indians of North America, and the expeditions in the west led by Fisk, Hayden, Powell and Wheeler. There are also a substantial number of portraits, primarily those of celebrities.

Items in the series that are arranged geographically depict homes, churches and other institutions and organizations, public buildings, offices, schools, restaurants, farms, businesses and industries, and include some interior views. Industries that are well represented include mining, logging, shipping, and the early petroleum industry in Pennsylvania. Because of a personal interest on the part of George T. Bagoe, who collected many of the stereographs in the file, the files contain many views of photographers or their studios or equipment. Sometimes the views depict historically significant sites, such as the Old North Church in Boston, and the armory where John Brown was captured in Harper's Ferry.

Many types of transportation are depicted. Railroads, particularly the Central and Union Pacific, and the Pennsylvania Railroads are well represented. There are images of the Erie and Delaware and Hudson canals, as well as ocean and river shipping. Stagecoaches, carriages, carts and wagons, omnibuses and street-railroads are seen in street views and in the country. Elevated railroads and the subway in New York City are documented, and even modern expressways were photographed in stereo and included in the file.

Community activities such as parades, anniversaries of historic events and holidays such as the Fourth of July are documented, as well as the sports of rowing, croquet, archery, horseback riding and hunting. Other activities for enlightenment and amusement photographed include camp meetings and chatauquas, reading, band concerts, circuses, merry-go-rounds, and picnicking.

Tourist attractions are also well represented, including Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon and mountains in New Hampshire and Colorado, and hot and mineral springs. Also present are souvenirs of the Centennial Exposition of 1876, and the World's Columbian Exposition, as well as exhibitions in the Crystal Palace in London and various expositions in Paris.

Photographers and publishers also took advantage of spectacular events to produce and market stereographs, including, balloon ascensions, Blondin crossing Niagara Falls on tightrope, the Chicago and Boston fires, the San Francisco earthquake, train wrecks, dam failures, tornado damage and other disasters. Scientific discoveries and technological advances were a focus of public interest in the nineteenth century and are also represented in the stereographs. Feats of engineering such as canals, railroads, aqueducts and bridges are well represented. In addition there are views showing a fascination for scientific advances and discoveries, such as images of the fraudulent Cardiff Giant, and views of the full moon.

There are many kinds of people depicted in the file. The official visits of the Japanese embassy, the Prince of Wales and the Grand Duke of Russia in the 1860s are all documented. Other foreign-born individuals are identified, including Chinese laborers in Massachusetts and California, and Irish-, German-, and Scandinavian Americans. African Americans are depicted in many locales, as are Native Americans. A fascination with people with different life-styles is evident in the images of the Shakers, the Oneida Community and the Mormons. The collection database provides indexing for various classes of people, such as women, and children.

War has offered perennial subject matter for stereographers. Some of the earliest views in the collection show Crimean War sites. Besides the heavily documented United States Civil War, other military actions that were recorded include the Modoc Indian War, the Spanish American War, South African War (Boer War), the Russo-Japanese War, and World War I. Usually the scenes do not show battle action, but are important for the images of soldiers, battlefields, armaments and important persons related to the war.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers, by appointment only.

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 30 photocopies per day per person. Suitability of the original for photocopying is at the discretion of the staff. Neither blueprints nor tracings can be copied under any circumstances. Duplication of large-format items will be done by the house photographer. See Print Room guidelines for details.

Use Restrictions

Permission to reproduce any Print Room holdings through publication must be obtained from

Rights and Reproductions
The New-York Historical Society
Two West 77th Street
New York, NY 10024

Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282
Fax: (212) 579-8794

The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials.

Related Material at The New-York Historical Society

The Transparency file includes stereoscopic views, including glass and film views. There are some stereoscopic lantern slides, as well as a large number of Stereo Realist format slides. The Cased Photograph File includes stereographic daguerreotypes.

Administrative Information

Provenance

The majority of the Stereograph File is from the collection of George T. Bagoe, and was donated by Mrs. Elihu Spicer in 1960-1961. Another series was taken by Alfred C. Loonam in the 1950s and 1960s, and donated by his wife. Others were purchased, or transferred from other institutions. There are over 300 accession dates and numerous sources recorded in the database.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as Stereograph File.

Container List