Reginald Sellman negatives, 1911-1935

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Access restricted. Nitrate negatives removed for digitization in December 2025 and are closed to use. Digital access copies will be available after digitization.
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Summary

Creator:
Sellman, Reginald, 1884-1952 and Archive of Documentary Arts (Duke University)
Abstract:
Collection consists of 898 nitrate negatives and two prints, all taken by amateur photographer Reginald Sellman from 1911 to 1935, chiefly in Baltimore, Maryland and environs. There is also a detailed handwritten index to over 100 images. Subjects include Susie Ford, possibly Sellman's fiancée; his wife Obedience (Bedie) Darden Sellman, and their son Bruce Darden Sellman. Places featured include Baltimore residences, streets, bridges, railway stations, monuments, parks, and hospitals and medical institutions such as Johns Hopkins Medical School and the Biedler and Sellman Sanatorium, founded by Reginald Sellman's father, William A. B. Sellman. There are many snapshots of family members, and photos taken during hikes, camping trips, and visits to parks. Maryland locations include Baltimore County historic sites and parks: the Owing's Mills area, Gwynn's Falls, Chatalonee, Loch Raven, Druid Lake, the Chesapeake's Eastern Shore, Elk River, and the Patapsco River. The Sellmans often visited relatives in North Carolina; thus, there are also many images taken in early 20th century Beaufort, Goldsboro, La Grange, Kinston, and Raleigh, including the Raleigh Methodist Orphanage. Some photographs feature commercial fishing scenes and cotton transport.
Extent:
1.5 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.01166

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of 898 nitrate negatives and two small prints, all taken by amateur photographer and Baltimore resident Reginald Sellman from 1911 to 1935. They were originally stored in four black cases, one of which has been retained for the collection. The collection also includes Sellman's meticulous hndwritten index cards. The images are arranged in original chronological order and listed by the photographer's original identification number has been retained; the titles were also taken from the original index cards.

The snapshots were chiefly taken in Baltimore, Maryland and Baltimore County, and depict buildings, streets, bridges, railway stations, parks, rivers, and monuments, and many family members, especially Reginald's friend (possibly fianceé) Susie Ford, and later, his wife Obedience, and their son Bruce. There are quite a few photographs taken on day trips to historic sites and parks in Baltimore County such as St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Chattalonee, Gwynn Falls, Owings Mills, Massey, and Lake Roland. Sellman clearly enjoyed being outside; there are many images of activities such as camping, hiking, and visiting parks and Eastern Shore recreation areas.

Reginald's father, William A. B. Sellman, was the founder of a Baltimore sanatorium, thus there are views of hospitals, including many marked "B.S.S.," almost certainly the Biedler Sellman Sanatorium on Charles Street, where Reginald Sellman was listed as a physician; a few interior shots of the "B.S.S." include an operating room. There are also exterior views of medical teaching institutions such as Johns Hopkins Hospital. In one of the two positive prints in the collection, Susie Ford is shown wearing a nurse's uniform.

There are images of apartment buildings and houses where Reginald and other family members lived, and some interior shots of rooms. There are many casual snapshots of family members. Later images depict Sellman's young son, Bruce, as a baby and young boy, along with his mother, Obedience (Bedie) Darden Sellman (O.D.S.). She first appears in the images as Obedience Cox Darden, at her own commencement at a nursing school in May 1914.

Reginald and Obedience Sellman often visited her Darden family relatives in North Carolina; thus, there are many vacation photographs from the 1920s taken in Raleigh, Beaufort, Goldsboro, La Grange, and Kinston, N.C. Depicted are train stations, relatives' houses, railroads, street scenes, and businesses, some owned by relatives. A long series features scenes from the Methodist Orphanage in Raleigh, possibly where relatives worked. Zylpha or Zylphia Darden, Obedience's cousin, often appears with baby Bruce. There are many scenes from Beaufort, N.C., with commercial fishing, streets, and the waterfront.

Other earlier vacation spots depicted that Reginald visited with Susie Ford include the Eastern Shore, with Tollchester Beach and its amusement part and piers; Harper's Ferry, West Virginia; and the Blue Ridge in Virginia. The last images from 1935 feature Susie Ford's grave and monument in Mount View Cemetery (undentified state); she probably died in spring 1914.

Also in the collection are four sets of handwritten index cards listing each negative's identification number, roll of film and frame, caption, and technical details such as camera settings, exposure, film number, and date when image was developed. The cards are filed at the beginning of each group of negatives represented by the set. One original black storage case has also been retained, as well as advertisement and leaflets featuring photographic supplies, and an envelope of paper corner mounts.

Apparently, Sellman also photographed with glass plates, but these are not present in the collection. There were also several places in the storage case where the film negatives were missing; in these cases, only the titles remain, taken from the index cards.

Biographical / historical:

Reginald Oliver Sellman (1884-1952) was a physician and amateur photographer of Baltimore, Maryland. He was the only son of Baltimore physician and gynecologist William Alfred Belt Sellman and Mary Oliver Sellman. Sellman attended Johns Hopkins University and received a B.A. in 1908, and an M.D in 1912. He began work as a physician at the Biedler-Sellman Sanatorium (B.S.S.), which was co-founded by his father.

During his time at B.S.S., Sellman may have had a romantic relationship with Susie Ford (later Stansfield) (1885-1917), who appears in many of the photos betwen 1911-1914 and is mentioned as "my darling" in some captions. Ford trained at the B.S.S. nursing school and continued as a nurse there from 1914-1916. She married John W. Stansfield in 1916 and died following childbirth in May 1917. Sellman later married Obedience "Bedie" Cox Darden (1880-1954), who also attended nursing school at B.S.S. and worked as a nurse from 1914-1915, sometime between 1915-1919. The couple had one son, Bruce Darden Sellman (1919-1994). By 1920, Sellman was working in private practice in Baltimore. He died in January 1952.

Acquisition information:
The Reginald Sellman negatives were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2009.
Processing information:

Titles, numerical identifiers, and dates are taken from Sellman's handwritten photographic processing indexes, also included in the collection, and most likely reflect the date the image was taken, with the exception of some images dated from the 1930s. Sellman often used abbreviations for family member names - most of these have been spelled out for the user. Processed by Joanne Fairhurst, Matthew Warren, March 2013.

Encoded by Joanne Fairhurst, Paula Jeannet, Matthew Warren, March 2013.

Accession(s) represented in this collection guide: 2009-0184.

Arrangement:

Negatives are arranged in chronological order.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

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Restrictions:

Access restricted. Nitrate negatives removed for digitization in December 2025 and are closed to use. Digital access copies will be available after digitization.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Reginald Sellman negatives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1307v