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T.S. (Theodore Sherman) Palmer Photograph Collection: Finding Aid
photCL 416  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement
  • Related materials in the Huntington Library
  • Indexing Terms

  • Overview of the Collection

    Title: T.S. (Theodore Sherman) Palmer Photograph Collection
    Dates (inclusive): 1849-1954
    Collection Number: photCL 416
    Creator: Palmer, T. S. (Theodore Sherman)
    Extent: 90 photographs (87 photographs and 3 lantern slides) in 2 boxes + lantern slide box
    Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Photo Archives
    1151 Oxford Road
    San Marino, California 91108
    Phone: (626) 405-2191
    Email: reference@huntington.org
    URL: http://www.huntington.org
    Abstract: This collection contains 87 card photographs and 3 lantern slides taken between January and September 1891 during a United States Department of Agriculture scientific expedition led by T.S. Palmer from Death Valley, California, to Mt. Whitney to collect flora and fauna. The collection includes photographs of Death Valley, as well as the Antelope Valley, Owens Valley, and San Joaquin Valley.
    Language: English.

    Access

    Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

    Administrative Information

    Publication Rights

    The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], T.S. (Theodore Sherman) Palmer Photograph Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    Gift of Mrs. Theodore S. Palmer, the widow of T.S. Palmer, on December 14, 1955. Mrs. Palmer also donated Palmer's papers, including his 1891 expedition diary and family correspondence (housed in the Manuscripts Department) and ephemera materials (now part of the California Promotional Literature Collection).

    Processing Information

    The collection was previously housed in a subject file but has since been catalogued into a discrete collection. Old call numbers are on file with the curator of photographs.
    Three lantern slides (items 88-90) and accompanying box were reintegrated into the collection in 2003.

    Biographical Note

    Naturalist Theodore S. Palmer (1868-1955) was born in Oakland, California, and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1888. He joined the United States Department of Agriculture as field agent and ornithologist and shortly thereafter, in 1891, led an expedition from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney. In 1895 he received his M.A. degree from Georgetown University and in 1896 began work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Biological Survey. He became assistant chief there in 1897 and rose through the ranks until he was named Senior Biologist in 1928. After his retirement in 1933, he worked as an assistant zoologist, specializing in the nomenclature of mammals and birds, at the United States National Museum. He was a member of many distinguished organizations, was active on governmental regulatory bodies for game laws, and wrote numerous books and articles.

    Scope and Content

    This collection contains 87 card photographs and 3 lantern slides taken between January and September 1891 during a United States Department of Agriculture scientific expedition led by T.S. Palmer from Death Valley, California, to Mt. Whitney to collect flora and fauna. The collection includes photographs of Death Valley, as well as the Antelope Valley, Owens Valley, and San Joaquin Valley. William C. Burnett, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter who traveled with the expedition from February to May, took many of the Death Valley pictures (identified by his initials "W.C.B." in the image captions). A smaller set of Death Valley pictures was taken by John R. Spears, a New York correspondent who visited Death Valley (December 1891) in the wake of the Palmer party. Palmer and various members of his party are responsible for the remaining photographs.
    The cards measure between 4 x 5.25 inches and 6 x 8.25 inches and include handwritten captions on the versos.
    Item titles primarily transcribed from handwritten captions in ink on card versos; titles for items 39, 50, 60-68, 70-73 transcribed from penciled captions below images. Cataloger-supplied titles in square brackets.

    Arrangement

    The photographs are arranged numerically by item number, with 12 oversized photographs (approximately 6 x 8.25 inches) housed in Box 2.

    Related materials in the Huntington Library

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    Subjects

    Palmer, T. S. (Theodore Sherman), 1868-1955 -- Portraits.
    Burnett, William C., active 1890-1891 -- Portraits.
    Indians of North America -- California -- Portraits.
    Death Valley (Calif. and Nev.) -- Photographs.
    Antelope Valley (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    Owens Valley (Calif.) -- Photographs.
    San Joaquin Valley (Calif.) -- Photographs.

    Additional Entries

    Palmer, T. S. (Theodore Sherman), 1868-1955, photographer.
    Burnett, William C., active 1890-1891, photographer.
    Spears, John Randolph, 1850-1936, photographer.
    Palmer, T. S. (Theodore Sherman), 1868-1955, former owner.
    Palmer, Theodore S., Mrs., donor.
    United States. Department of Agriculture.

    Forms/Genres

    Lantern slides.
    Photographs.