Glass plate negatives, circa 1890-1922

Access Restrictions:

Use of the original glass plate negatives are restricted due to fragility, and access requires prior permission. Print and digital copies are available. Please contact the Rubenstein Library for more information.

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Extent:

34 boxes

Scope and content:

Series contains 937 collodion glass plate negatives, chiefly in half and quarter-plate sizes, bearing individual and group portraits of men, women, and children. Some scenes are more informal and show outdoor gatherings and a few show landscapes and city scenes. Often plates contain multiple images in rows, up to 24 per plate; these small portraits were often called "penny portraits" from the camera used to take multiple, small, and inexpensive images on one plate. Most of the subjects' names and locations are unknown, but some names and places have been identified through an ongoing collaboration with researchers and other individuals. Hugh Mangum and family members have been identified in several images; see additional notes for individual plate numbers in this series description.

All the negatives are slated for digitization; please see the online images for more detailed information about the image content.

Although most of the negatives are in good condition, there are several dozen that are partially or almost entirely deteriorated, adhered together permanently, or broken. All have received intensive conservation treatment and have been digitized.

With a few exceptions, glass plate negatives are arranged in size groupings of 3 1/4 x 4 1/4, 5x7, and 4 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches; there are also some 8x10 inch plates.

Notes on Individual Images

1. N5: First column, second row reproduces a photo portrait of Hugh Mangum in an oval frame.
2. N43: Hugh Mangum is in the top left corner.
3. N209: Possibly Hugh's mother, Sally, or a sister. Martha Sumler, a Mangum descendant, possesses a very similar chair.
4. N271: Hugh is in the picture on the right. The man is most likely one of Mangum's business partners. The woman is most likely his partner's wife.
5. N314: Hugh with three girls, possibly his sisters.
6. N478: Hugh Mangum in center of group on a bank outdoors, possibly sisters and a young male relative, circa 1890s. Some of these same girls appear to be in another image, N361, which portrays a large group of people, possibly many members of the Mangum family.
7. N517: Fifth column photos are of Julia Carden, Hugh's sister-in-law (he married Annie Carden in 1906). Last column is Perry Carden, Julia and Annie's brother.
8. N528: The Wharton Building in Radford, Va. Hugh established a studio in East Radford. This image also exists as a postcard. Radford area images were identified by the director of the Glencoe Museum in Radford.
9. N537: Hugh Mangum appears in the first column.
10. N545 reveals the original grist mill at West Point on the Eno River in Durham, NC, in flood waters.
11. N634: Hugh appears in the top left corner.
12. N647: First row is Hugh and Annie. Second row is Annie. Third row is Perry Carden, Annie's brother.
13. N652: Hugh Mangum, self-portrait, circa 1910.
14. N669: A view, circa 1900, of West Radford, Virginia. The large building in the foreground with the porch is the Radford Trust building, constructed around 1891.
15. N671: The Carden family (parents of Annie Mangum) house in East Radford, Virginia.
16. N674: La Belle Inn, a hotel in Radford, Virginia, circa 1890s, which once housed the State Normal School for Women. Demolished in 1935.

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