J. R. Hamrick photograph album, 1903-1946 1 Linear Feet
- Abstract Or Scope
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Bridge builder; resident of Staunton, Va. Collection comprises a photgraph album probably compiled by Hamrick, who built trestles and railroad bridges all over the South. Includes 339 photographs, including 333 black-and-white gelatin prints (possibly matte collodion prints), as well as 6 cyanotypes, primarily of concrete-and-metal bridges constructed in Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Alabama, as well as a few shots of construction sites in British Columbia. Many of the images, but not all, contain brief identifying markings made in pencil or pen on the surface of the photograph. Sizes range from 3"x2.5" to 4.5"x6.5, with several attempts by Hamrick to create "panoramic" views by pasting two images together. Large sections of the album are devoted to the Whitney and South Fork bridges in North Carolina, but topics generally include construction scenes in various stages of completion; work crews, engineers, and surveying teams; camps and homesteads used as residences, and family life there. The majority of the photographs date between 1903 and 1914, with only 3 shots dating from 1946. There are also images taken during excursions; for instance, to St. Augustine, Fla.; Mardi Gras in New Orleans (1906); and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis (1904). There are also unidentified groups of young people, including possibly a women's school, "Rockdale" (in Ga.?), as well as a few clearly marked images of parties and a football game at Virginia Polytechnical Institute.
- Collection Context