Guide to the Ralph H. Anderson Stereograph Collection

This finding aid describes the Ralph H. Anderson Stereograph 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 3495
Accession Number: HFCA-02227
Creator: Anderson, Ralph Hopewell (1900-1964)
Title: Ralph H. Anderson Stereograph Collection
Dates: ca. 1950s
Extent: 78 EA
Language of Materials: English

Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized.

Conditions Governing Access: This collection is open to research use.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use: Use rights to these images were provided through donor letter. See In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted | Rights Statements for more information. See the NPS general copyright & restrictions information.
Provenance: Donated to the NPS History Collection by Barbara Kerr, Ralph Anderson’s daughter.
Processing Note: This collection was processed by Nancy Russell in June 2025.

Rights Statements for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Ralph H. Anderson Stereograph Collection, NPS History Collection (HFCA 3495)
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

Related Materials:

• NPS Historic Photograph Collection, NPS History Collection (HFCA 1607)
• NPS Stereograph Collection, NPS History Collection (HFCA 3431)
• Ralph H. Anderson Papers, Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, New Mexico History Museum
• Ralph H. Anderson Special Collection on Yosemite National Park and the American Southwest, Sierra Nevada-Central Valley Archive, University of California-Merced

Biographical Note

Ralph Hopewell Anderson was born on September 2, 1900, in Anderson, Ohio, to William D. and Alice Carey Steel Anderson. He grew up on the family farm. A talented artist, he provided cartoons for school papers and planned to become a cartoonist before a family friend introduced him to photography. Anderson attended Ohio State University but didn’t finish his degree. During World War I, he enlisted in the Students' Army Training Corps on October 19, 1918. He was honorably discharged on December 12, 1918.

Anderson entered government service in 1921, working as a forest ranger in the Skull Valley District of Prescott National Forest in Prescott, Arizona. During his five years there he became district ranger. He returned to college at the University of Cincinnati. He also briefly taught horseback riding at the Arizona Desert School near Tucson. While in the Southwest he began to grow a reputation as a photographer.

Working as a temporary park ranger at Yosemite National Park from June until September 1929, Anderson met Millie Watts who was vacationing with her parents at the park. They married on September 29, 1931. They had one daughter, born in 1937.

Anderson got a permanent ranger position at Yosemite in February 1930. In April 1932 he became an information clerk-photographer, although he regularly published articles in the newspaper using the titles “information ranger” or photographer. Working in the office of the superintendent, he functioned as the park photographer. In 1933 he passed the Civil Service examination for information specialist but refused all offers to stay in Yosemite.

He became known as an outstanding photographer of scenic and natural subjects. A 1939 newspaper article describes him as the “official photographer of Yosemite National Park.” In 1936 he was awarded the bronze medal from the International Salon of Photography in Madrid, Spain. In 1940 he became a member of the board of trustees for the Yosemite Natural History Association and authored many articles in Yosemite Nature Notes. He continued to take photographs in the park, including an iconic series of sailors and soldiers recreating in the park in 1944.

In 1946 Anderson was briefly promoted to administrative assistant position at Yosemite. In April 1947 he became an “information and educational specialist.” He remained in that position until August 1951 when he was reassigned again as administrative assistant. Although he continued to take photographs, he was also chief liaison officer for the park concessionaires and responsible for escorting visiting officials and celebrities around the park.

In January 1953 Anderson was reassigned indefinitely to the NPS Washington Office as an information specialist and chief photographer. He retired from this position in 1962.

After retirement Anderson was brought back to participate a special safety inspection and promotional tour of parks. He died of natural causes at Isle Royal National Park on August 28, 1964. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Scope and Content Note

A series of 36 homemade stereographs made by Ralph Anderson featuring twin black-and-white photographs mounted on slightly oversized cards. The scenes are not identified by overwhelmingly represent Yosemite National Park. Most document scenery, although two feature deer or elk, and a handful feature people. Based on the clothing worn in one photograph, Anderson made at least one stereograph using a late 19^th or early 20^th century image.

Also includes 42 black-and-white prints of commercially made, historic stereographs which Anderson copied in 1950 from other collections for research purposes. These images are primarily but not exclusively of Yosemite and are not mounded on cards. They are also smaller than original stereographs. In particular, he was interested in images by Carlton E. Walkins, an early photographer of Yosemite who is well represented in the collection. Other manufacturers present include C. L. Pond; F. & H.T. Anthony & Company; G. Fagersteen; American Scenery; John P. Soule; Thomas Houseworth & Company; C. Bierstadt; M. M. Hazeltine; J. J. Reilly & Company; Littleton View Company; John M. Moulton; and Keystone Views Company.

Arrangement

Unarranged.

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