Agnes Fay Photograph Album, 1914-1943

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Summary

Creators:
Fay, Agnes
Abstract:
Bound volume of gelatin silver prints and photo postcards documenting the professional and personal life of Agnes Fay between 1914 and 1943. A portion of the album documents the French Hospital, where Fay worked as a registered nurse during the 1910s and 1920s.
Extent:
1.0 album (132 photographic prints); album 28 x 23.2 cm, prints 16.5 x 21.5 cm and smaller
Language:
Collection materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

Agnes Fay Photograph Album (SFP 63), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Background

Scope and content:

The bound volume contains 132 gelatin silver prints, including 11 loose prints, which document Agnes Fay's life between 1914 and 1943. A bulk of the photographs also documents the nurses, doctors, students, and patients at the French Hospital on Geary Street, where Agnes Fay worked as a registered nurse during the 1910s and 1920s. The album depicts her time in Europe as a nurse for the United States Army during World War I and includes images of soldiers and the scenery. The album includes photographs of friends and family in the 1920s -1940s, including her travels to Hawaii. Some of the prints include hand-written captions and dates, but for the most part the images are uncaptioned. The brown album cover reads "Postal Souvenirs" in gold on the front cover, and the album includes 49 photo postcards.

Biographical / historical:

Agnes Fay was born on October 28 in 1886 or 1888 in Ireland, and she immigrated to the United States around 1905. Fay served in the United States Army as a nurse during World War I between January 1918 and June 1919. She then moved to San Francisco and lived with her brother-in-law John at 278 Seventh Avenue in the Richmond District and found work as a registered nurse at the French Hospital around 1920. In November 1922, Fay traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii and returned to San Francisco in November 1923. Agnes Fay continued to work as a nurse through the 1940s for the Central Emergency Hospital and the Department of Public Health. In 1951 she moved to an apartment at 400 Hyde Street where she lived until her death on November 24, 1963.

Acquisition information:
Gift, 1984.
Physical location:
The collection is stored onsite in the Photo Room.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Available for viewing during the San Francisco History Center's Historical Photograph Collection hours.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish from the album must be submitted in writing to the Photo Curator. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.

Preferred citation:

Agnes Fay Photograph Album (SFP 63), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Location of this collection:
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102, US
Contact:
(415) 557-4567
sfhistory@sfpl.org
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