Photographs, circa 1898-1950s

Extent:

85 items

Scope and content:

Eight-five photographs make up the series, all black-and-white gelatin silver prints ranging in size from about 4x5 to 8x10 inches, with the great majority in the latter size category. There are also three larger prints roughly 11x14 inches. About a third are vintage prints, with the rest being modern copy prints made from negatives or contact prints. Many thus have a corresponding duplicate in the contact prints series, and though smaller, some contacts offer lighter, clearer images. There are a number of contact prints whose images are not found in the Photographs series. There are also images present in the Negatives series without a corresponding positive print in the collection.

Because Parnell took over the Cole-Holladay studio around 1919 or 1920, there are some pre-1919 prints that originated from Holladay; prints taken after 1920 were the Parnell studio's work. Credit for the Bennett place photograph has been given by the Library of Congress to a John Chapman Michie; it is not known how the print came to be in the Parnell's collection.

Written on the backs of the vintage prints are various captions and other remarks in Parnell's hand, and sometimes reproduction and layout markings, probably for use in the local newspaper. A few are signed by Parnell, or marked with his studio stamp.

The prints are in numerical order as assigned by library staff, in rough chronological order within subseries. Descriptions of subject content are found in the subseries notes and individual entries for each photograph.

Arrangement:

Prints were formerly in random order; they have been organized into three series: Places, Transportation, People, and Other.

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