This collection comprises 97 cabinet photographs, mostly albumen, primarily of portraits of actors and actresses who performed in Chicago in the late 1890's through the early 1900's. Some of the more prominent individuals represented in the collection are: Maude Adams, Sarah Bernhardt, James J. Corbett, Edith Crane, Fanny Davenport, John Drew, William Faversham, William Gillette, Anna Held, De Wolfe Hopper, Edna Wallace Hopper, Wilton Lackaye, Nellie Melba, Lillian Nordica, Ada Rehan, John Philip Sousa, and Ellen Terry. Also included in this collection are photographs of Robert G. Ingersoll, Ida McKinley, and Chicago mayor Carter H. Harrison. Most of these photographs were autographed for C. E. Stockdale, with his annotations on the verso indicating the date the portrait was taken, and the date and location of the presentation.

C. E. Stockdale was an actor who collected photographs of well-known theatrical figures while living in Chicago. He gathered autographs for this collection by waiting near stage doors and in hotel lobbies. Harry M. Gerhard of Santa Ana, California acquired the photographs in 1933 when his family moved into Stockdale's Chicago home.

0.4 linear feet (1 box)

Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

Collection is open for research.