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Robert L. Bracklow photograph collection

Call Number

PR 8

Date

1882-1918 (bulk, 1896-1905), inclusive

Creator

Bracklow, Robert L., 1849-1919

Extent

17.74 Linear feet (34 Boxes, plus approximately 2200 glass negatives)

Language of Materials

This collection is primarily visual. Any text is likely to be in English.

Abstract

Bracklow photographed New York City and surrounding areas around the turn of the century. He focused on architectural views, as well as areas or buildings that were being torn down to reshape the city environment.

Glass negatives from Series I are digitized and available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.

Biographical Note

Robert Louis Bracklow was born in Germany on December 3, 1849. He arrived in New York City at age 4 with his parents, Eliza and Theodore. By 1865 Theodore had died, and Robert continued to live with his mother at several different addresses in Hell's Kitchen, settling in 1884 at 457 W. 44th Street, where he lived until his death. From his early 20s, Bracklow worked as a clerk in the printing and stationery store of R. G. Hutchinson at 84 William Street, a business that catered to the legal profession. By 1901, Bracklow had taken over the business and moved it to 18 John Street. In 1907 the shop moved to 141 Fulton Street for a year, then back to 20 John Street. Bracklow moved the store again in 1909 to 85 Maiden Lane, and down the street to 101 Maiden Lane in 1916. He photographed his store in each of these locations. In addition to legal stationery, he was able to sell his early photographs out of his store. These were albumen prints pasted on mounts and inscribed on the verso "Glimpses Through the Camera. Robert L. Bracklow, New York."

Robert Bracklow began taking photographs in the 1880s. During that decade photography became a more accessible hobby with simplified equipment and procedures, and amateur photographers grew in numbers. The New York Society of Amateur Photographers was established in 1884; Bracklow joined shortly afterward. "Field excursions" provided members of the Society a chance to experience new photographic settings, as well as time to socialize. In addition, common darkroom materials allowed those who could otherwise not afford supplies or space a chance to practice photography. Bracklow's photographs were first seen at the Member's Exhibition in November 1889. He continued to exhibit with the Society each year, as well as in joint exhibitions with photographic clubs in Boston and Philadelphia. Bracklow showed 24 photos at the 1891 Exhibition of the Society of Amateur Photographers, held at the American Institute. In 1893, Bracklow received the Membership Exhibition Award from the New York Society of Amateur Photographers for The Surf at Marblehead. (Alfred Steiglitz took the second place prize.) In 1894 he was awarded the prize lens in a Bausch and Lomb contest. Bracklow served the Society in many capacities, as Director (1890, 1893, and 1895), Corresponding Secretary (1894), Librarian (1895), and Recording Secretary (1895 to 1896). He also helped organize many exhibits and served on the Society's Print Committee.

In May of 1896, the Society of Amateur Photographers merged with the New York Camera Club to become the Camera Club of New York, under the leadership of Alfred Stieglitz. Bracklow remained a dedicated member of the club; serving as Librarian in 1897 and as a Trustee in 1901. As Steiglitz promoted the artistic uses of photography over the documentary; more documentary minded photographers like Bracklow did not receive the promotion they deserved during his leadership of the Camera Club. For example, Bracklow was never published in Steiglitz's magazine, Camera Work. However, Bracklow continued to exhibit his photos at Camera Club shows and competitions until 1908. His photos were last shown during his lifetime at the Carnegie Institute in 1915. While Bracklow's straightforward techniques and quotidian subjects may not have been among the most celebrated at the Camera Club, his images hold our interest to this day.

Little is known of Bracklow's personality or interests. Edward Steichen, a Camera Club member, remembered that Bracklow was afraid of the dark, earning the nickname "Daylight Bob." He apparently invented a daylight developing tank to accommodate his fears.

Mary (Molly) Granger (1845--1940), a New York public school teacher, was Bracklow's romantic companion for most of his adult life, and accompanied him on many country outings, such as one to the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts in 1903. Granger lived with her cousin's family in Brooklyn. When Bracklow died on January 12, 1919, his possessions and photographs were left to Mary Granger.

Arrangement

This collection is organized in four series:Series I: Alland PurchaseSeries II: Trappan Gift: AlbumsSeries III: Trappan Gift: Other MaterialsSeries IV: Other Sources

Series I: Alland Gift is organized into subseries:Subseries I.1: Alland Purchase: NegativesSubseries I.2: Alland Purchase: Prints

Series II: Trappan Gift: Albums, is organized into subseries, with each subseries representing an album.

Series III: Trappan Gift: Other Materials, is organized into subseries:Subseries III.1: Trappan Gift: Documentary MaterialSubseries III.2: Trappan Gift: LogbooksSubseries III.3: Trappan Gift: Vintage PrintsSubseries III.4: Trappan Gift: Lantern Slides

Series IV: Other Sources, is organized based on the year of the gift or purchase.

Scope and Contents

The Robert L. Bracklow Photograph Collection spans the period from 1882 to 1918 and documents a city undergoing dramatic architectural change as it entered a new century. The collection, comprised of photographs of New York City, its immediate environs, and towns throughout New England, is arranged into three series based on provenance: Alland Purchase; Trappan Gift; and Other Sources. Within series, photographs are arranged by format. The Bracklow Collection includes: 2130 glass negatives; 1254 8 x 10" silver gelatin prints; 99 7 x 9" prints; 1510 5 x 7" prints; 90 4 x 5" prints; 29 albums including 24 6 x 8" prints, 12 2 x 6.5" prints, 658 4.5 x 6.5" prints, and 97 3.5 x 4.5" prints; 23 albumen prints mounted on board; 4 cabinet cards; 7 lantern slides; 2 logbooks; and several folders of documentary material. The images in Series I of this collection have been digitized.

Bracklow's photographs show a clear, documentary style. He often used a sharp focus, and did not retouch photographs, as did many others photographing at the time. During Bracklow's lifetime, New York ( as well as many other cities) experienced great changes that were visually exciting and new for many inhabitants. Bracklow set out to acquire images of both the old and the new. His photographs document areas of New York City that were about to be demolished, or retained antique features, such as wells or shanties. Architectural change was of great interest to Bracklow; he searched out and photographed new buildings, arches, and statues all over New York City. Downtown skyscrapers and the nearby streets turned into 'canyons' in relation to them are common subjects. Many Manhattan pictures also highlight older structures. Images of historic buildings and houses throughout New England are present in great numbers as well. Other views show pleasant journeys to New York suburbs, beaches, and rural places throughout the East Coast.

Many quintessential New York scenes from the turn of the century can be found in Bracklow's 29 photo albums, which he titled, captioning each image in ink. He often noted the date and time of day the photograph was taken. The opening of the Dewey Arch and the Naval Parade in commemoration of the Spanish-American War victory are well-documented, as are crowds at Newspaper Row reading Spanish-American war headlines on the newspaper buildings. One album shows crowds bustling to work in lower Manhattan, but in general people are not the focus of these photographs. A few group outings, especially Camera Club excursions, are shown, mainly by pictures of other photographers in action. Bracklow also photographed mass events, such as parades, but seemingly more for their historic value than to focus on the people in attendance. Bracklow's New York City was one defined by its monuments and history, rather than by its inhabitants. Those monuments include the Dewey Arch, Washington Arch, Lorelei Fountain in the Bronx, the Croton Reservoir and New York Public Library, the Flatiron Building, Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridges, Washington and High Bridges, City Hall and skyscrapers of downtown Manhattan. Bracklow's photographs also include many churches, historic houses, and university buildings. Street scenes of Hell's Kitchen (near Bracklow's home) and lower Manhattan (near his work) show that Bracklow was often just as interested in the familiar as in the monumental.

Unlike other photographers of his time, Bracklow was not interested in using photography to document social ills. Slums or other markers of urban poverty are not present in these photos. Bracklow did photograph what he called "shacks" on upper Riverside Drive, but these are almost rural farmhouses, notable for their connection to an early era of the city, and are not depicted as urban blight. While none of his writings survive to suggest his intentions, Robert Bracklow clearly respected the processes of city growth as much as he did its history. The New York visible through Bracklow's camera is a city shaped by its history, its willingness to change that history, and its resulting architectural beauty.

An exhibit of Bracklow's photographs, "Shanties to Skyscrapers: Robert L. Bracklow's Photographs of Early New York," was held at the New-York Historical Society from 15 December 1983 to 6 May 1984. The catalog to this exhibit can be found in the Collection File, as well as on the reference shelves in the Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections.

Series I. Alland Purchase consists of Bracklow's original glass negatives and silver gelatin prints made by Alexander Alland from those negatives. The negatives date from 1882 to 1918. Most prints seem to have been made between 1948 and 1950. The series is divided into two subseries, Negatives and Prints.

Alexander Alland (1902-1989) was a photograph collector and documentary photographer in his own right. As described in his essay, "Robert Bracklow: Self-Appointed Recorder of New York," which appears in the Bracklow exhibition catalog, Alland fortuitously stumbled upon notice of Bracklow's glass negatives, which had been abandoned after the sale of the family home of Bracklow's friend and heir, Mary Granger. Alland 'rescued' the negatives, and perhaps Bracklow himself, from oblivion. In 1949 Alland offered to sell prints he had made from these negatives to The New-York Historical Society. At this time, Alland produced a numbered list of photos (1 -- 2215A) that forms the basis for the organization of this series. He also furnished N-YHS with proofs for their consideration. N-YHS chose the prints it wished to buy, and Alland delivered 8 x 10 prints, backed with linen and stamped with his copyright, to N-YHS. In 1983, upon the mounting of an exhibit on the work of Bracklow, the Society bought the original glass negatives from Alland, in addition to all remaining sets of prints he had made from those negatives. Upon careful analysis of Bracklow's subjects, Alland's numbering system is revealed as haphazard, and perhaps tells us something of the disorganization of Bracklow's negatives at the time Alland received them. Shots of similar subjects, or scenes dated the same day, are rarely contiguous in Alland's number set. Examination of the prints and corresponding negatives suggests that Alland did not make exact prints of Bracklow's negatives, but sometimes enlarged one part of an image. The photograph titles for this series come mainly from Alland (who used Bracklow's notes on negative envelopes for some information), additional information was added by an unidentified staff member of N-YHS, and generally appears in the title in brackets. Alland's original typed list can be found in the Collection File.

Series II and III, Trappan Gift, include 29 photograph albums (containing 793 prints), 395 5x7" vintage prints, 7 7x9" vintage prints, 4 cabinet cards; 7 lantern slides, 2 logbooks, and documentary material. All prints appear to be platinum prints. Subseries were determined based on format: Albums, Documentary Material, Logbooks, Vintage Prints, and Lantern Slides. Ruth Trappan, whose grandmother was Mary Granger's cousin, inherited Bracklow's albums, vintage prints and other paraphernalia. While the material was in her possession, Trappan began working on an exhibit of Bracklow's photographs. She removed several photographs from Bracklow's albums, and wrote captions for the photos. All removed photos have been replaced in albums. Her captions can be found in a folder in subseries III.1. Trappan commented on or identified several of the loose photos and the photos in the albums. Her remarks are in pencil and are signed "R.T."

Photo titles from the photo albums were input into the database of titles numbered by Alland, which has been migrated into Series I of this finding aid. The vintage prints in the album were matched, when possible, with numbered prints. 202 album prints are also represented in Alland's numbered run. In addition, unnumbered negatives were matched to 65 prints in albums. Alland numbers do not appear to exist for 592 prints in the album. In general, most of the prints from outside New York were not found in Alland's numbered list.

Many images found in the albums in Series II do not appear in Series I. These include scenes from a trip to Fort Washington, N.Y. (possibly a Camera Club trip, as other photographers are shown.) Outside of New York, albums show the building of a waterworks in Milford, CT, historic houses throughout New England, beach and harbor scenes from Marblehead, MA, and landscapes and street scenes of Harper's Ferry, VA (another possible Camera Club outing).

Album 1 is entitled "Glimpses Through the Camera," but none of these photos correspond to the copies of the mounted series by that name found in Series IV. Album 3 contains a photograph on the last page about which Bracklow noted, "From skyscraper competition, 1907. Negative and print by Wm. E. Wilmerding." This seems to be the only occurrence of another photographer's photo in an album. Album 4, "New York," opens with photos of a house in 23 Bond Street, and has laid in a mounted clipping (dated 1902) about the death of Ann Eliza Partridge, the owner of that address. The sole unnumbered album is entitled, as is Album 5, "Dewey Days," and contains the inscription "limited edition, R. L. Bracklow." Indeed, it seems to be made with higher quality paper than the other of Bracklow's albums. It is almost entirely a replica of Album 5, with two photos from Album 6 at the end. While most albums contain photographs from similar periods of time, several are more subject centered than chronological. Album 12 documents, over several years, the unveiling, destruction, and subsequent renovation of the Lorelei Fountain in the Bronx. Album 23 and 24 are both titled "Harper's Ferry." 23 has the initials "RLB" on the front. 24 has the initials "JMT." Perhaps Bracklow meant this album for one of the friends who accompanied him on the trip. Album 28 has an index card laid in with picture descriptions and relevant dates.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as Robert L. Bracklow Photograph Collection, PR 5504, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Materials were purchased in 1949, 1950, 1983, and 1984. Materials in Series II and III were a gift from Ruth Trappan in 1982 and 1984. Several prints were a gift of Charles Schwartz in 1992 and 2002.

Separated Materials

Bracklow's copy of the book, Romance and Reality of the Puritan Coast, by Edmund H. Garrett (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1897) was removed and added to the N-YHS library collection.

Related Materials

The John Judson Trappan Photograph Collection (PR 071) and the Alexander Alland Photograph Collection (PR 110) at the New-York Historical Society contain material relevant to the provenance of this collection. The Museum of the City of New York holds a Robert Bracklow collection that includes duplicates of photos held at the N-YHS as well as several prints that are not represented in this collection.

Collection processed by

Jenny Gotwals, 2003; database migrated to Archivist Toolkit by Jennifer Gargiulo, 2016

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:50:02 -0400.
Language: Finding aid written in English.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024