Guide to the Henry G. Peabody Photograph Collection

This finding aid describes the Henry G. Peabody Photograph Collection, part of the NPS History Collection. To search this guide for names, places, key words, or phrases enter Ctrl F on your keyboard (command key + F key on a Mac). Request an in-person research appointment or get more information by contacting the archivist.

Collection Overview

Collection Number: HFCA 1979
Creator: Peabody, Henry G.
Title: Henry G. Peabody Photograph Collection
Dates: ca. 1900s-1930s
Extent of Collection: 1,405 EA
Language of Materials: English

Digitized Copies: A small number of Peabody's glass lantern slides have been digitized.

Conditions Governing Access: This collection is open to research use. Materials in this collection published before January 1, 1927, are no longer in copyright. Materials published after that date are subject to copyright. See In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable | Rights Statements. See also the NPS general copyright and restricted information here.
Provenance: Donated to the NPS History Collection by the Western College Alumni Association.
Processing Note: This collection was processed and described by Nancy J. Russell in 2018 and updated in 2022.

Rights Statement for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Henry G. Peabody Photograph Collection, NPS History Collection (HFCA 1979)
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

Related Materials:

• Henry G. Peabody Collection, Record Group 79, National Archives & Records Administration (NARA)
• Henry G. Peabody Collection of Photographs and Negatives, The Huntington Library
• Henry G. Peabody Collection (1896-1939), University of Washington Libraries, Special Collection
• Henry G. Peabody Photographic Collection (1880s-1900s), Historic New England

Biographical Note

Henry Greenwood Peabody was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1855. He attended Washington University in St. Louis, the Pennsylvania Military Academy, and Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1876. While a senior at Dartmouth, Peabody became interested in photography, producing views of the Dartmouth campus and scenes along the New England coast. After graduation, Peabody spent a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying architecture, electricity, and physics. He then went to work briefly as an engineer for the Western Electric Company in Chicago and New York.

Peabody met and married Dora Phelps, and the two relocated to Boston where Peabody opened his own photography studio in 1886. He specialized in marine, landscape and architectural photography, winning several medals and awards for his images in 1887. He also served as the official photographer for the Boston and Maine Railroad and the Great Northern Railway, photographed the Americas Cup races, and published "Representative American Yachts" and "The Coast of Maine." He opened two galleries in Chicago with Alexander Hesler, noted photographer of President Abraham Lincoln.

Peabody's wife Dora died in 1898, and he had to raise their daughter Mildred alone. In 1899, he traveled to Mexico as photographer to the American Architectural Expedition; his photographs were published in Spanish-Colonial Architecture in Mexico by Sylvester Baxter.

From 1900-1908 Peabody served as field photographer on both the east and west coasts for the Detroit Publishing Company, the largest postcard publisher in the United States. Famed landscape photographer and company founder William Henry Jackson selected Peabody for this position because of the high regard in which he held Peabody's outdoor work. Shortly after joining the Detroit Publishing Company, Peabody relocated with his young daughter to Pasadena, and his primary focus shifted to the landscape of the American West. In 1908, he also traveled to England and France to photograph cathedrals and other architectural monuments for the Horace K. Turner Company of Boston.

From about 1910 to the end of his career, Peabody produced photographs and slides of the American landscape for educational purposes. He published series of educational lantern and film slides and educational films (the "Swastika Educational Series") with accompanying narratives that focused on national parks in the American West. He also delivered illustrated lectures that covered the Grand Canyon, the California Missions, Yosemite, and Mexico. By the early 1930s, he was making audio recordings designed to synchronize with the slide shows; he called these his "talking films" and they were included in his educational offerings.

In his later years, Peabody sold photographic equipment and photographed the landscape in the San Gabriel Valley. He died in 1951 at his home in Glendora, California, shortly before his ninety-sixth birthday. During his long career, Peabody covered the range of camera work from daguerreotypes through 35mm color film.

Scope and Content Note

Collection Description: Lantern slides published as illustrated lectures by Henry G. Peabody for national parks including Zion, Bryce Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone. Individual lantern slides for parks such as Bryce Canyon, Crater Lake, Glacier, Hawai'i, Hovenweep, Monument Valley, and Grand Teton. Program "National Monuments of Deserts and Mesa" includes various National Park Service units. Other lantern slides feature subjects or locations such as the White Mountains in New Hampshire; seashore of New England; Boston, Massachusetts; and Southern California. One lantern slide of the Canadian Rockies is included. Lecture guides are present for some of the programs. Black and white photographic prints of national parks include Crater Lake, Canyon de Chelly, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Saguaro, Yellowstone, Zion, Death Valley, Grand Teton, Capitol Reef, Arches, Walnut Canyon, Craters of the Moon, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite. Other scenes include churches and historic buildings (possibly in Mexico), poppy fields, 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and unidentified images.

Arrangement

Organized into three series by format, as follows:
Series I: Photographic Prints, ca. 1900-1930s
Series II: Lantern Slides, ca. 1906-1937
Series III: Lecture Guides, 1906-1937

Series I: Photographic Prints, ca. 1900-1930s

Extent of Series: 640 EA
Unarranged.

Scope and Content Note

Black and white photographs taken by Henry G. Peabody. Primarily 5" x 7" prints, although some smaller prints are included. A small number of 8x10 prints are copies of images by Peabody in the National Archives. Labeling on original boxes indicated that matte prints were to be tinted but that was never completed for these prints. National park images include: Crater Lake, Canyon de Chelly, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Saguaro, Yellowstone, Zion, Death Valley, Grand Teton, Capitol Reef, Arches, Walnut Canyon, Craters of the Moon, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite. Other scenes include churches and historic buildings (possibly in Mexico), poppy fields, 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and unidentified images. Includes a small number of images attributed to F. Jay Haynes. Most images are undated.

Series II: Lantern Slides, ca. 1906-1937

Extent of Series: 707 EA
Arranged alphabetically by park name or lecture title.

Scope and Content Note

Hand-colored lantern slides and lecture programs created and sold by Peabody as part of his educational lecture series. Includes lantern programs for Bryce Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Zion National Park, as well as National Monuments of Desert and Mesa. A small number of lantern slides are included which do not appear to be part of these illustrated lectures include Crater Lake, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley, Hawai'i, Hovenweep, Glacier, Grand Teton, and Zion. Other programs present include "In the Footsteps of Cortes", "Seashore of New England", "Southern California" (parts I and II), "Tour of the White Mountains", "Colonial and Revolutionary Landmarks in Boston", and a single lantern slide for the Canadian Alps (i.e., Canadian Rockies).

Container List

BOX 01
Bryce Canyon to Canadian Alps

BOX 02
Colonial and Revolutionary Landmarks in Boston

BOX 03
Glacier to In the Footsteps of Cortez

BOX 04
In the Footsteps of Cortez to National Monuments of Desert and Mesa

BOX 05
National Monuments of Desert and Mesa to Seashore of New England

BOX 06
Seashore of New England to Southern California, Part I

BOX 07
Southern California, Part II to Tour of the White Mountains

BOX 08
Tour of the White Mountains to Yellowstone

BOX 09
Yellowstone to Yosemite

BOX 10
Yosemite to Zion

Series III: Lecture Guides, 1906-1937

Extent of Series: 58 EA
Arranged alphabetically by lecture series title.

Scope and Content Note

Lecture guides for Peabody's illustrated lectures.

Container List

BOX 01
Folder 01: Bryce Canyon National Park, 1932
Folder 02: Colonial and Revolutionary Landmarks of Boston, 1913
Folder 03: El Camino Real, Part 1, 1936
Folder 04: El Camino Real, Part 2, 1937
Folder 05: Grand Canyon National Park, 1906, 1930
Folder 06: In the Footsteps of Corte, 1907, 1918
Folder 07: Mexican Scenery and Architecture, 1932
Folder 08: National Monuments of Desert and Mesa, 1926, 1935
Folder 09: Round about Yosemite Walls, 1913
Folder 10: Seashore of New England, 1908
Folder 11: Southern California, Parts I and 2, 1936
Folder 12: Through the Canadian Alps, 1926
Folder 13: Tour of the White Mountains, 1907, 1919
Folder 14: Yellowstone National Park, 1928
Folder 15: Yellowstone National Park, Parts I-III, 1928
Folder 16: Yellowstone National Park (Film Slide Edition), 1928
Folder 17: Yosemite National Park (Abridged Edition), 1919
Folder 18: Zion National Park, 1932

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