Photography Collections
The holdings of the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery Special Collections contain more than 2.5 million images documenting the development of photography from daguerreotypes to digital imaging. We have digitized some of these collections to make them more easily accessible to researchers. Digitized collections include some that have influenced public thought or legislation such as the 5,400 photographs of child labor made by Lewis Hine and the mining photographs (1870-1895) by George Bretz.
Ardsley Park Album: photos of the estate of Cyrus Field.
George Bretz Collection: photos by George Bretz - mining.
Bruehl Studio: images taken by Anton & Martin Bruehl - advertising photos & Mexico.
Civil War Collection: photographs from the U.S. Civil War.
Lewis Hine Collection: photos by Lewis Hine - child labor.
Hughes Company Glass Negatives Collection: Baltimore street scenes, businesses, churches, schools, portraits, and advertising photographs.
Rooks Collection: images of African American history & culture.
Street Life in London: images and text depicting working class Londoners and London street scenes.
Selected Images: Samplings from various collections listed below.
Albums
Albums
This compilation of images consists mainly of portraits of people, including famous actors of the time period. The original photographs were taken between 1860 and 1889, and represent some of the popular photographic processes of the time period, including the carte-de-visite, cabinet card, and albumen processes.
Arbutus, MD
Arbutus, MD
These nine images were taken by photographer Keith Weller during the 1970s and 1980s. They show life in Arbutus, MD, which is a southwestern suburb of Baltimore, located in Baltimore County. Subjects include the annual Arbutus Arts Festival, street scenes, and the people of Arbutus.
![Calli e Canali [The Streets and Canals of Venice]](http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/site/icons/canali.png){kind=icon}
Calli e Canali
Calli e Canali
These twelve images comprise our holdings of Ferdinando Ongania's photogravures that document life in Venice, Italy during the late 19th century. Ongania edited the book Calli e Canali in Venezia [The Streets and Canals of Venice] in the 1890's, from which these images came. These photogravures depict the canals, gondolas, streets and alleys, squares, buildings, churches, and people of Venice at the time.
Circus Collection
Circus Collection
These circus photographs include portraits of performers, clowns, and groups; photographs of circus trains, animals, parades, and advertisements. They were taken circa 1900-1942. The complete collection contains over 130 images. This digital collection is composed of 29 images.
Jacobson Collection
Jacobson Collection
The Jacobson Collection is a diverse group of 19th and early 20th century photographs, c. 1860-1930. The images cover topics such as portraiture, architecture, scenic views, and travel. The entire collection comprises more than 1660 images, arranged in 52 boxes. This online collection contains images from Spain c. 1870's, predominantly of the Alhambra in Granada.
Lossing Collection
Lossing Collection
The Lossing Collection is another varied collection of photographs from the mid 1850's to the turn of the century. Subjects include portraits, architecture, scenic views, and travel. The physical collection is made up of over 1580 photographs. These digital images focus on naval parades in the United States from the late 1800's and images of Peru from the early 1900's.
William B. Poland Photos
William B. Poland Photos
This collection consists of William B. Poland's images from his travels overseas in the early 20th century. Under the supervision of Fred Day at Madeira School in Virginia, Poland's granddaughter, L. Poland, made contemporary gelatin silver prints from her grandfather's negatives. These images are from his travels to Peru.
Charles Ponzi
Charles Ponzi
The bulk of these images from the Baltimore News-American Collection show Charles Ponzi and his wife amid the scandal of his arrest, trials, time in prison, and deportation. Charles Ponzi was an Italian-born "financial wizard" who swindled thousands of American investors out of millions of dollars in his get rich quick scheme during 1919-1920. After stints in Canadian and U.S. prisons, Ponzi created the Securities Exchange Company in Boston, which would exchange foreign postage coupons into U.S. money. Unfortunately, his scheme, which later became known as a Ponzi Scheme or pyramid scheme, was not a real investment: investors were paid with money from new investors. Ponzi was arrested in 1920 on 86 counts of mail fraud, and spent the next several years in jail. In 1934, he was deported to Italy. He died in Rio di Janeiro Brazil in 1949.
James B. Warren Photos
James B. Warren Photos
James B. Warren's albumen photographs depict the resort town of Franklin, New Hampshire c. 1900. The Grandliden Hotel, along with several other rooming cottages, as well as bands and concerts, lake views, and vacationers are represented.
