Scope and Contents note

Series II spans the period from ca. 1912 to 1937 and includes both film and glass negatives varying in size from 4 x 5 to 11 x 14 inches. Negatives are arranged according to format and size, and thereunder by negative numbers assigned by The New-York Historical Society. Upon accession, staff assigned numbers between 9001 and 9499 to Roege's negatives which were arranged first by size and thereunder very loosely by geographic location. This order may reflect Roege's own filing system.

Oversize negatives in this collection were once part of the George P. Hall & Son Photograph Collection, and were assigned new negative numbers beginning with 666 and with a -D suffix (which was used to indicate oversize negatives) for inclusion in the Negative Collection card catalog. These numbers are still listed on the negative enclosures and are given in parentheses after image descriptions within this finding aid. Where there are gaps in the negative numbering, the negatives were not present at the time of processing and are presumed to have been destroyed.

Hotels, street scenes, rooftop views, and churches in Manhattan are well represented, and are joined by a large group of photographs of Columbia University and other institutions, primarily in Manhattan. A few images of business districts in the Bronx, the New Jersey waterfront, and other locations near Manhattan are included. Although many of Roege's views consist of systematic documentation of businesses, probably done on commission, he also turned his camera to less commonly photographed sites including saloons on Chatham Square in the Bowery, and German ocean liners interned in New Jersey during World War I. Images also include those of Temple Emanu-El and Rockefeller Center soon after they were constructed.