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Peter F. Dolan Photographs

Call Number

AIA.027

Dates

1932-1989, inclusive
; 1974-1989, bulk

Creator

Dolan, Peter F.

Extent

1 Linear Feet in 1 record carton

Language of Materials

English .

Biographical Note

Peter F. Dolan (1942-2011) was an Irish-American photographer. Born in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan on November 8, 1942, he attended both Manhattan Prep and Manhattan College. Throughout his life, he worked to document the political and social life of Irish and Irish-Americans in New York City through photography. Although a freelance photographer, his work has appeared in such publications as the Irish Echo and the Irish Advocate. His photography studio and apartment were located in Inwood, and many of his photographs depict Irish life in that neighborhood. In addition to his photographic interests, Dolan was also interested in Irish music, particularly in the Irish tenor John McCormack. He was the secretary of the John McCormack Society of America, and donated his collection on John McCormack to the Boston College Library. He lived in New York City from birth through the 1990s, working at Keshkerrigan, a now-closed Irish-language book store on the Lower East Side, and in the office of Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, and hosted Friday-night Irish music sessions in the Eagle Tavern (now closed) on 14th Street. Later in his life, he moved to Connecticut, and died in Hartford on January 2, 2011.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 5 series: Series I: Parades; Series II: Politics & Protests; Series III: Social Life; Series IV: People & Places; Series V: Photos by Other People. As the majority of the photos in the collection are dated, the materials within each series are arranged chronologically, as is the material within each folder. Any undated material appears at the back of the folder.

This collection is arranged into 5 series. As the majority of the photos in the collection are dated, the materials within each series are arranged chronologically, as is the material within each folder. Any undated material appears at the back of the folder.

Missing Title

  1. Series I: Parades
  2. Series II: Politics & Protests
  3. Series III: Social Life
  4. Series IV: People & Places
  5. Series V: Photos by Other People

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of approximately 250 photographs, arranged in 5 series. The majority of the photos are black and white, 8 x 10 prints. While the collection also contains some photos that Dolan collected from earlier in the twentieth century, the majority of the photos were taken and printed by Dolan himself during the 1970s and 1980s, and focus heavily on Irish-American social and political events in and around New York City. The activities of many well-known Irish-American groups, such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians, The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the United Irish Counties Association (as well as individual county associations), and the Irish National Caucus are documented in the collection, along with images of the day-to-day life of individuals. As Dolan lived and worked in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan, many of the photos are focused there. There is also a heavy emphasis on Irish-American politics, particularly on protests about the political situation in Northern Ireland at the time.

Dolan provided handwritten descriptions of the majority of the photos in the collection. Most descriptions note the date, the event, and if known, identify the people in the photograph. Often, there are individuals indentified in these descriptive notes who are not mentioned in the folder titles. Although Dolan worked on a freelance basis, some of his photographs were published in Irish-American newspapers, and the description notes if the photograph was published.

Access Restrictions

Open for research without restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the copyright holder. For more information, contact the Archives of Irish America at: irishamerica.archives@nyu.edu

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Peter F. Dolan Photograph Collection; AIA.027; box number; folder number; Archives of Irish America/Tamiment Library, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact irishamerica.archives@nyu.edu at least two business days prior to research visit.

Custodial History Note

Peter Dolan transferred ownership and copyright of his photos to the New York Irish History Roundtable, who then donated the collection to the Archives of Irish America.

Collection processed by

Kate Feighery

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:28:49 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English

Processing Information

This collection was donated by Peter Dolan to the New York Irish History Roundtable (NYIHR), who then turned it over to the Archives of Irish America. The NYIHR organized some of the photos, and included with the photo collection was a series breakdown that NYIHR had created. After going through the collection, the NYIHR series list was too extensive for the number of photographs in the collection. Archivists merged some of their series into slightly more inclusive categories (for example, moved "Religion," "Special Events," and "Sports" into the more general "Social Life"), but kept others ("Parades" and "Protests").

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012