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Finding Aid to the David Ross Brower Photograph Collection
BANC PIC 2001.211
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Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: David Ross Brower photograph collection
Creator:
Brower, David Ross, 1912-2000
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 2001.211
Physical Description:
5560 items
in 24 boxes and 1 volume (approximately 5560 photographs, negatives and transparencies)
Date (inclusive): 1903-2000, bulk 1930s-1990s
Abstract: Portraits and personal snapshots of David Brower, his family, and associates, photographs taken on wilderness excursions chiefly
in California and the American West, and photographs taken during his career as a conservationist and leader of environmental
organizations (meetings, public events and campaigns, speaking engagements, colleagues, etc., often related to Friends of
the Earth or the Sierra Club, and a few related to the Earth Island Institute.) Also present are photographs of book production,
photographs collected for use in publication projects, and other materials pertaining to published and unpublished projects.
Physical Location: Many Bancroft Library collections are stored off-site and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language of Material:
English
Collection is open for research.
COLLECTION STORED, IN PART, OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.
NEGATIVES and TRANSPARENCIES: RESTRICTED. Available for use by appointment only.
NITRATE NEGATIVES: CLOSED TO RESEARCH DUE TO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RESTRICTIONS.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the David Ross Brower papers (BANC MSS 79/9 c), chiefly from 1998 and 2001 additions to the collection.
The finding aid is arranged into 7 series. The first 6 series are arranged based upon subject, with folder level description
of contents. Series 7 is a general listing of negatives and transparencies by container, which is based on the size and format
of the negatives.
David Ross Brower was born on July 1, 1912 in Berkeley, California, where he continued to live most of his life. He was the
son of Ross J. and Mary Brower, and had three siblings, Edith, Ralph and Joseph. He married Anne Hus on May 1, 1943. Together
they had a daughter, Barbara, and three sons, Kenneth, Robert, and John.
During his youth he went on outings and camping trips with his family, and then rock climbing, camping, backpacking, mountaineering
and ski mountaineering trips with friends. When Brower joined the Sierra Club in September 1933, he began to lead High Sierra
trips. With his mountaineering expertise, Brower enlisted in the US Army's 10th Mountain Division, and was stationed in the
Italian Alps during World War II.
In the 1930s he worked at Yosemite National Park and Curry Company. When he became publicity manager at the park, his main
job was to photograph visitors. At Yosemite, he met Ansel Adams, who became his friend and photography mentor. He continued
to be involved with publishing as an editor of the Sierra Club Bulletin, and an editor at University of California Press.
While at the Sierra Club, he began producing exhibit format photography books of wilderness areas, often working with photographer
Ansel Adams. Such publication projects continued during his involvement with other organizations.
Brower became the Sierra Club's first Executive Director in 1952. Under his direction, the club became a leader of the conservation
movement. In 1969 he resigned from the Sierra Club Director position and moved on to found, or co-found, environmental organizations
such as Friends of the Earth, Earth Island Institute, John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, and the League of Conservation
Voters. He continued to influence the environmental movement by speaking, lobbying, and writing throughout the remainder of
his life. Brower died at his home in Berkeley on November 5, 2000.
Sources: Brower, David R. For Earth's Sake: The Life and Times of David Brower. Layton, Utah: Peregrine Smith Books, 1990;
Turner, Tom. David Brower: The Making of the Environmental Movement. Oakland, California: University of California Press,
2015.
Alternative Form of Materials Available
Digital reproductions of selected images are available.
[Identification of item], David Ross Brower photograph collection, BANC PIC 2001.211, The Bancroft Library, University of
California, Berkeley.
Processed by Lori Hines and Don Anderson, chiefly in 2013-2014 and 2018-2019.
David Ross Brower papers (BANC MSS 79/9 c)
Photographs from the David Ross Brower papers (BANC PIC 1979.109)
David Ross Brower Motion Picture Collection (MP 999)
Includes portraits and personal snapshots of David Brower, his family, and associates, photographs taken on wilderness excursions
chiefly in California and the American West, and photographs taken during his career as a conservationist and leader of environmental
organizations (meetings, public events and campaigns, speaking engagements, colleagues, etc., often related to Friends of
the Earth or the Sierra Club, and a few related to the Earth Island Institute.) Also present are photographs of book production,
photographs collected for use in publication projects, and other materials pertaining to published and unpublished projects.
Subjects of note include Sierra Club trips and visitors enjoying themselves outdoors at Yosemite National Park, a backpacking
trip Brower took with Hervey Voge to survey Sierra Nevada routes, and a clutch of snapshots pertaining to Brower's military
service training with US Army mountaineering troops and on tour in Italy during World War II.
Includes items by numerous photographers. Several images by Ansel Adams, Philip Hyde, and Eliot Porter are present.
The following item was transferred to the audio-visual collections of the Bancroft Library: "Choices III, Ethics in Action,
Aspen, Colorado," August 23- 29, 1988, Phonotape 4058 C no.1-12
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Copyright for material
created by David Ross Brower has been assigned to the University of California Regents, managed by The Bancroft Library. In
addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements,
donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected
by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public
domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively
with the user. For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please
see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Backpacking -- Photographs
Conservationists -- California
Mountaineering -- Photographs
Outdoor recreation -- California -- Photographs.
Wilderness areas -- West (U.S.) -- Photographs
Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.) -- Pictorial works
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)--Pictorial works
Hiking -- Photographs
Rock climbing -- Photographs
Environmentalism -- United States
Environmentalists -- California.
Brower, David Ross, 1912-2000
Sierra Club
Friends of the Earth