Guide to the William Henry Jackson. Photographs 1870-1878


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Table of Contents

• Descriptive Summary
• Information on Use
• Access
• Digital Images
• Citation
• Biographical Note
• Scope Note
• Related Resources
• Subject Headings
• INVENTORY

Descriptive Summary

Information on Use

Access

This collection is open for research.

Digital Images

Original documents, texts, and images represented by digital images linked to this finding aid are subject to U. S. copyright law. It is the user's sole responsibility to secure any necessary copyright permission to reproduce or publish documents, texts, and images from any holders of rights in the original materials.

The University of Chicago Library, in its capacity as owner of the physical property represented by the digital images linked to this finding aid, encourages the use of these materials for educational and scholarly purposes. Any reproduction or publication from these digital images requires that the following credit line be included: Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

The images presented here may include materials reflecting the attitudes, language, and stereotypes of an earlier time period. These materials are presented as historical resources in support of study and research. Inclusion of such materials does not constitute an endorsement of their content by the University of Chicago.

The University of Chicago Library appreciates hearing from anyone who may have information about any of the images in this collection.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Jackson, William Henry. Photographs, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

William Henry Jackson was born in Keeseville, New York in 1843. He began selling his drawings and retouching photographs at an early age and, after serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Jackson opened his own photography studio with his brother Edward in 1867. Jackson spent less than three years at his new studio, however, before leaving it in the care of his wife and two of his brothers while he headed West, photographing landscapes, railroads, railroad workers, and many new settlements. In 1870 Professor Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden invited Jackson to join the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey expedition. For the next 8 years (1870-78), Jackson took thousands of photographs and many stereograph images of the West, particularly in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. During this time, Jackson produced the first published photographs of the Yellowstone area. His work played an important role in persuading Congress to name Yellowstone the first national park in the United States in 1872.

In 1879, funding for Survey expedition ended and Jackson again opened his own studio, this time in Denver, Colorado. There he continued photographing the West, taking on many side projects photographing for hotels and railroad companies like the Mexican Central, New York Central, and the Baltimore & Ohio. In 1893 many of these photographs were displayed at the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. Moreover, Jackson was asked to be the official photographer of the fair, a job he desperately needed after losses during the Panic of 1893. Soon thereafter, Jackson was offered an all-expenses paid trip around the world by railroad publicist Joseph Pangborn as part of the World's Transportation Commission. Jackson traveled to and photographed many parts of Europe, Asia, North Africa, and Australia.

Jackson returned from his trip in 1896 and in 1897 he became a partner in the Detroit Photographic Company. There he began to experiment with color photography, thanks to the recently developed Photochrom processing. Thousands of postcards and prints were issued by the company, now that they were able to colorize Jackson' new and old negatives. In 1924, due to the decline in postcard sales after WWI and the expense of the Photocrom process, the Detroit Photographic Company went out of business and Jackson went into retirement.

Jackson wrote two autobiographies after he retired. The first, published in 1929, was entitled The Pioneer Photographer: Rocky Mountain Adventures with a Camera. Jackson' second autobiography, Time Exposure: The Autobiography of William Henry Jackson, was published in 1940. Jackson died at the age of 99 in 1942.

Scope Note

The William Henry Jackson Photograph collection consists of 85 unique photographs and 17 duplicate prints of the West taken for the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories (1870-78). Areas include Colorado, Mexico, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. Prints in box 4 are not identified as part of the Survey, but appear to be from roughly the same time period.

Related Resources

Browse finding aids by topic.

Surveyors of the American West. New York Public Library. http://digital.nypl.org/surveyors/index.html

William Henry Jackson. Papers. New York Public Library Digital Papers. http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/human/jacksonw/

Around the World in the 1890s: Photographs from the World' Transportation Commission, 1894-96. Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wtc/wtchome.html

Subject Headings

• Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942
• Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (U.S.)
• Colorado -- Photographs
• Mexico -- Photographs
• Montana -- Photographs
• Utah -- Photographs
• Wyoming -- Photographs
• Yosemite National Park -- Photographs
• Photographs

INVENTORY