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John J. Vrooman Photograph Collection

Call Number

PR 252

Date

1937-1942, inclusive

Creator

Extent

2.68 Linear feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

Photographs of historic sites and houses in upstate New York.

Biographical Note

John J. Vrooman was an author and historian, born in 1882 in Schenectady, New York, a town founded by his ancestors. He graduated from the University of Arizona, attended Union College and received an honorary PhD from Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. Although Vrooman traveled throughout the country, working at a variety of jobs, such as managing a ranch in Iowa, taking part in an investment business in Missouri and operating a real estate business in Mississippi, he eventually returned to Schenectady. In 1944, he accepted the position of Supervisor of Historic Sites for the New York State Education Department, a job he held until 1951.

John Vrooman's continued interest in New York State is evident in his photographs and writing. He wrote several works of fiction and non-fiction; his books all deal with historic locations and events in upstate New York. His photographs of historic sites illustrate many of his books, and were also used to illustrate material produced for the New York State Education Department. After his retirement from the Education Department, John Vrooman lectured about historic New York State, including a talk given at the New-York Historical Society in 1956 and remained active in historic studies until his death in 1960, at age 78.

Arrangement

The photographs have been organized alphabetically by town/site shown.

Scope and Content Note

The John J. Vrooman Photograph Collection contains photographs of historically significant sites in New York State. These images show pre-Revolutionary War era landmarks throughout the Mohawk Valley and surrounding countryside. The images were used to illustrate Vrooman's book Forts and Firesides of the Mohawk Country, New York, first published in 1943.

The collection contains 56 silver gelatin prints taken by John J. Vrooman. They are all matted; most with notes regarding the image, which appear to have been written by someone other than Vrooman. During processing, the images and notes were compared to the images in Forts and Firesides of Mohawk Country, New York, and several differences were found. In those cases, the book was deemed to carry the correct information, and that information is recorded here, with the handwritten notes recorded in brackets.

The photographs have been organized alphabetically by town/site shown. The date each photograph was taken is given when available. Over time, some of the location names have changed. Current location names, as well as alternative names for sites, are listed in parentheses.

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 John J. Vrooman Photograph Collection, PR 252, 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.

Related Material

The New-York Historical Society's Library has several books written by John J. Vrooman. The Library of Congress' Prints and Photographs Division holds a small collection of Vrooman's work. Those images, taken for the Federal Writers' Project, show buildings in Crescent, New York.

Collection processed by

Kelly McAnnaney

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:50:03 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from vrooman.xml

Repository

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