Photographs, circa 1888-circa 1910, 1933-circa 1972

Access Restrictions:

Access restricted. Nitrate negatives have been removed for digitization and deaccessioning as of October 2025 and are closed to use. Digital access copies will be available after digitization.

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Extent:

.75 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Scope and content:

The core of the series consists of 239 black-and-white 4x5 inch photographs and negatives, dating from 1933 to 1969. The prints were created sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s from original Warner negatives, and arranged in original order by negative numbers as assigned by the Warners, alpha-numerically in lots from 1-9E. Most of the photos were taken by the Warners during their travels to collect American folk music, and feature musicians and singers and often their families and homes as well. The Warners also appear frequently. There are several photographs in which Frank Warner is shown playing and singing along with musicians, as well as images that show the Warners engaged in recording these sessions and taking notes.

Among the families and individuals pictured are: Nathan, Roby Monroe, Buna Vista, Ray, and Linzy Hicks and their families, on Beech Mountain, N.C.; Frank Proffitt and family, in Pick Britches Valley (now Mountaindale), near Beech Mountain; "Yankee" John Galusha and singer Lena Bourne Fish, Adirondacks, N.Y.; singer Sue Thomas, the Tillett family, and others, of Nag's Head and Wanchese, coastal N.C.; Louis Solomon and others from the Mohawk tribe at the St. Regis reservation, N.Y.; and Carl Sandburg, who lived in Flat Rock, N.C., and others. The images often show relatives who joined in the singing and posed with the musicians for pictures, and their homes and surrounding landscapes.

The series also includes two additional sets of 53 original photographic prints of varying sizes, and include: historic photographs belonging to Frank Warner's father (circa 1888-1910); snapshots and portraits of Frank and Anne Warner in various locations between 1933-1972; photographs of musicians, singers, and their families; and portraits of the Warners and business associates from the YMCA, where Frank worked as an administrator (1960s).

Locations in the photographs include New York State; Vermont; the Outer Banks, North Carolina (Nag's Head and Wanchese); and western North Carolina, particularly the Beech Mountain area.

Arrangement:

Negatives and reproduction prints are arranged in original order by negative numbers as assigned by the Warners, alpha-numerically in lots from 1-9E, followed by unnumbered photographs and safety negatives.

Physical facet:

292 photographs and associated negatives

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