Description
Digital images and original negatives of the stagecoaches on Mount Hamilton, Lick Observatory telescope and buildings, and
the Hotel Vendome (San Jose, California), taken by Fredrick W. Hill in 1892.
Background
A biography provided by the donor states that Fredrick Hill was born in Dawley, England, in 1864. He and his family immigrated
to New England in the mid-1870s. He worked in the printing press manufacturing industry from 1881 to 1948, in Taunton and
Whitman, Massachusetts, and Rutherford, New Jersey. Hill designed at least several printing presses (Patent No. 2,330,359,
September 1943). In 1892 he married Nellie F. Eaton, and they traveled across the United States from Taunton by train, taking
many photographs along the way with Hill's Kodak camera. In May, 1892, their journey took them through the West, including
San Francisco, where they took a side trip down to San Jose to visit Mount Hamilton. After viewing Lick Observatory, Hill's
fascination with telescopes led him to design and make his own telescopes, including grinding the glass for the lenses. The
Hills lived in Chicago after their trip west, eventually moving back to New England in the mid-1890s.
Restrictions
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions
of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a
photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used
for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy
or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution
reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation
of copyright law.
Availability
The images are available to researchers by appointment with the Curator of Library and Archives. Scanned images may be provided
instead of original negatives for preservation reasons.