Scope and Contents

The William G. Butler photography collection consists primarily of vintage photographs of New York City collected by Butler. Many of the photographs were taken for publication and originally owned by newspicture agencies or press associations. The content of the photographs is varied, however many are views of cityscapes or street scenes and city life. The majority of the photographs are silver gelatin prints. While some artists are known, the collection does not consist of a series by any particular artist. Many of the photographs seem to have been titled by a third party rather than the photographer and are bracketed in this finding aid to distinguish them as later additions. The collection also includes a small number of non-photographic pictorial works. The container list includes a complete item level inventory of the collection.