Grand Rapids Camera Club collection
Scope and Contents
This collection includes a sample of early 20th century photographic images taken by members of the Grand Rapids Photo Club, and made available here through the original glass plate negatives. The specific date and identification of the individual photographer is unknown, and most images are unidentified. Most of the views are of scenes, though they sometimes included individuals, unidentified. Several of the images show landscapes or waterways. Several include buildings.
The Club papers accompanying the images document the annual exhibit or salon for 1899-1940. Some of these exhibit catalogs include names of club members, as well as advertising. Only three of the annual program booklets are included in the collection, 1922/23, 1939/40, and 1940/41. A few additional exhibit catalogs include Grand Rapids members participating in national exhibits or competitions.
All positive prints of the images are in black and white. Some of the prints show evidence that the glass negative is damaged. Several images (contact prints) do not provide clear definition of the objects captured in the images.
Dates
- 1899-1931
Creator
- Grand Rapids Camera Club (Organization)
Biographical / Historical
Organized in 1898, the Grand Rapids Camera Club sponsored annual photographic exhibitions and provided the means for exchange of photographic information among Western Michigan residents.
Extent
5.5 Linear Feet (19 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Camera Club was organized in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1898. This collection includes 251 glass plate negatives, circa 1898-1910. Many of the images depict Grand Rapids area views, while others detail various turn-of-the-century (19th) Michigan towns, including Ada, Bay City, Delton, Holland, Middleville, and Spring Lake. The Grand Rapids views include buildings, street scenes and transportation, waterways, landscapes, events and many scenes including groups of people. Of note are the views of Grand Rapids carnival, crowds turning out for local troops leaving for and returning from the Spanish-American War, the 1904 flood, and a balloon ascension. Also included in the collection are exhibit catalogs (1899-1940), and a few annual program booklets, documenting club activities.
Numbering and Arrangement
The glass negatives have been numbered sequentially using the collection number “139” as the first element. This number is given on the back of the matching print, but can easily be confused with the print location number, which also begins with “139.”
The prints have been arranged by broad subject sets, in alphabetical order, rather than in numerical order.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Old Collection, the Camera Club and Library purchase of contact prints.
Accession number G10.BJ17 and unknown
Provenance note
The provenance of the collection seems to be the Camera Club, based on labels on the containers in which the negatives were housed. Since these containers are not original, there is a possibility that the images may have come from a different source.
Index
Ada (Mich.) - box 1, folder 1
AuSable River, 1902 - box 1, folder 2
Balloon ascension - box 1, folder 3
Bass Lake - box 1, folder 4
Bay City (Mich.) City Hall - box 1, folder 5
Bay City (Mich.) Harbor - box 1, folder 6
Bay city (Mich.) Train Station - box 1, folder 7
Black River - box 1, folder 8
Bos Horsemen's Party - box 1, folder 9
Bridge Street Bridge. Construction, c.1904 - box 1, folder 10
Bridges - box 1, folder 41,45
Bridges. Grand Rapids - box 1, folder 11
Bridges. Michigan box 1, folder 12
Butterworth Road box 1, folder 13
Campau Square views - box 1, folder 14,28
Carnival. Grand Rapids' first, 1897 - box 1, folder 15
Carnival. Grand Rapids' last - box 1, folder 16
Circus, Cadillac (Mich.) - box 1, folder 17
City halls - box 1, folder 5
Clam wagon - box 1, folder 18
Comstock Park (Mich.) - box 1, folder 19
Courthouses. Interiors - box 1, folder 39-40
Crescent Street view - box 1, folder 21
Delton, Mi. - box 1, folder 20
Division Ave. S. views - b.2, folder 7
Dredge. Ludlow - box 1, folder 22
Farm scene - box 1, folder 23
Fire Department equipment - box 1, folder 24
Flood, 1904 - box 1, folder 25
Grand Haven (Mich.) - box 1, folder 26
Grand Rapids Battalion encampment - box 1, folder 27
Grand Rapids Battalion leaving, 1898 - box 1, folder 28
Grand Rapids Battalion returning, 1898 box 1, folder 29
Grand Rapids chamber of Commerce trip box 1, folder 30
Grand Rapids views box 1, folder 31
Grand River views box 1, folder 32
Gull Lake (Mich.) box 1, folder 33
Harbors - box 1, folder 6
Holland (Mich.) - box 1, folder 35
Holland (Mich.). Black Lake - box 1, folder 36
Hotels - box 1, folder 36
Ionia Street views - box 1, folder 28
John Ball Park - box 1, folder 37
Kent County Courthouse - box 1, folder 38
Kent County Courthouse. Interiors, 1907 – box 1, folder 39
Kent County Democratic Stand – b.1, folder 16
Kent County Probate Court. Interiors - box 1, folder 40
Leonard Street Bridge - box 1, folder 41
Lincoln Park - box 1, folder 42
Log cabins - box 1, folder 2
Michigan Veterans Facility - box 1, folder 43
Middleville (Mich.) - box 1, folder 44
Mills - box 1, folder 19
Native American – b.1, folder 15
North Park - box 1, folder 45
North Park railroad bridge - box 1, folder 45
Ottawa Beach Inn - box 1, folder 36
People. Alger Russell A. - box 1, folder 46
People. Julian family - box 1, folder 47
Picnic - box 1, folder 20
Plaster Mill - box 1, folder 49
Probate judges - box 1, folder 50
Prohibition - box 1, folder 51
Race tracks - box 1, folder 19
Reeds Lake views – box 1, folder 52
Republican Headquarters – b.1, folder 15
Rivers - box 1, folder 2,8
Soldiers - box 1, folder 27-29
Spring Lake (Mich. - box 1, folder 53
Star Knitting Mill workers - box 1, folder 54
Steamboat. Grand - box 1, folder 55
Steamship. Holland - box 1, folder 34
Thornapple Lake - box 1, folder 56
Train stations - box 1, folder 7,44
Trains - box 1, folder 57
United States Post office - box 1, folder 58
Walker Road - box 1, folder 58
- Title
- Finding Aid for the Grand Rapids Camera Club collection
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- January 1991
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Grand Rapids History Center Repository
Grand Rapids Public Library
111 Library Street NE
Grand Rapids Michigan 49503 USA
616-988-5497
localhis@grpl.org