Overview of the Collection
Access
Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Sources Consulted
Related Materials
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Overview of the Collection
Title: A.C. Vroman Photograph
Collection
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1892-1909
Collection Number: photCL 86
Creator:
Vroman, A.C. (Adam
Clark), 1856-1916.
Extent:
169 photographs: 131 prints and 38 glass negatives in 5 boxes
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: Photographs made by Adam Clark Vroman, ca. 1892-1909,
spanning various subjects, primarily his bookstore in Pasadena, California, and
scenes from his travels to Pueblo villages of the Southwest. Other topics include
scenery, towns and buildings on the West and East coasts, and photographs of people
and architecture in Japan. Of particular significance is Vroman's handwritten
journal of a trip to see the Snake Dance at Walpi, Arizona, in 1895, written
sequentially on the back of 19 mounted photographs.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on March 5, 2020..
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
A.C. Vroman Photograph Collection. The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Provenance
This is an artificial collection of undetermined provenance. The photographs most
likely came from various sources, and were received prior to 1975. The 19
photographs inscribed with Vroman's journal of his trip to Walpi are mentioned
in a 1975 article by former curator Gary Kurutz ("Pictorial Resources: The Henry
E. Huntington Library's California and American West Collections,"
California Historical Quarterly, Summer 1975).
Image (88.1): Gift of Claire Lozier and Andrew Smith, December 2019.
Technical Details
The prints in this collection vary in size, mount, and types of paper. A few are
platinum prints, and some others are on paper that appears to have been part of
an album. Some prints are printed two to a page, possibly for an album. Most of
the prints have ink captions in Vroman's hand, often noting the negative number.
The glass negatives vary in size: 5 x 7 inches, 6 ½ x 8 ½ inches, and 8 x 10
inches.
Biographical Note
Adam Clark Vroman was born in La Salle, Illinois, on April 15, 1856, to parents of
Dutch ancestry. In 1893, after several years working on the railroads, he moved to
Pasadena, California, where he hoped the climate might help his wife, Esther Griest,
who had tuberculosis. Her health did not improve and she died in September 1894.
At the end of 1894, Vroman opened a bookstore in Pasadena with stationer J.S.
Glasscock at 60 East Colorado Street. The shop also sold cameras and photo supplies,
a reflection of Vroman's budding interest in the art and practice of photography. In
1895, he acquired a 6 ½ x 8 ½ inch glass plate camera and made his first trip to the
Indian pueblos. He made eight more trips to Arizona and New Mexico between 1897 and
1904. Three of these Southwest trips were Smithsonian-led expeditions that Vroman
was invited to join based on his skills as a photographer. He accompanied
anthropologist Frederick Webb Hodge's expeditions in 1897 and 1899, and the
Museum-Gates expedition in 1901.
Vroman's photographs appeared in
Land of Sunshine (a journal edited by
Charles F. Lummis), ethnological reports, tourist brochures and other publications.
It does not appear he sold his photographs in his store; he primarily photographed
for himself, his friends, and for ethnological and historical documentation.
He never returned to the Southwest after 1904, and his last travels were to the East
Coast, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Vroman's bookstore flourished (he had bought out
his partner in 1901), and he continued showing his Indian photographs and lecturing
in his remaining years. Vroman died of cancer in 1916.
Scope and Content
Photographs made by Adam Clark Vroman, ca. 1892-1909, spanning various subjects,
primarily his bookstore in Pasadena, California, and scenes from his travels. The
California images include scenery and travelers in the San Gabriel Mountains, Mount
Wilson, Mount Lowe and the Alpine Tavern, and travelers having a picnic; details of
missions; historic adobes of Monterey; Rancho Guajome Adobe in San Diego County;
Yosemite and one view of Indians living in Yosemite Valley. Locations depicted in
other parts of the United States are: Manitou, Colorado; Oregon, Illinois; Niagara
Falls; Grant's Tomb; a bird's-eye-view of Santa Fe, New Mexico; and other
miscellaneous views.
Vroman travelled to Japan in 1903 and 1909, and eight prints in the collection show
Japanese men and women in traditional dress, as well as details of architecture.
They are printed two on a page, side-by-side, and were possibly made for an album
(89-92).
Vroman appears in a few photographs, including: a portrait; seated poses in his Arts
and Crafts style bookstore and residence; and some group camp scenes. There are
several portraits of Pueblo Indian men, some identified in Vroman's captions, as
well as scenes of Hopi Indians performing the Snake Dance at Walpi, Arizona. Vroman
wrote a personal journal of his trip to Arizona in 1895 on the backs of 19 mounted
photographs made during the trip (Series II, items 102-120). Vroman's traveling
companions were Horatio N. Rust, Mrs. Thaddeus (Leontine) Lowe, and Charles J.
Crandall, who are shown, along with Vroman, at pueblos, and traveling with supplies
and wagons. There are also views of the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest.
Item titles are supplied by the cataloger.
Sources Consulted
Adam Clark Vroman: Platinum Prints, 1895-1904. Essays by Jennifer
A. Watts, Andrew Smith. Los Angeles: Michael Dawson Gallery; Santa Fe, N.M.: Andrew
Smith Gallery, 2005.
Apostol, Jane.
Vroman's of Pasadena: A Century of Books,
1894-1994.
Pasadena, Ca.: A.C. Vroman, Inc., 1994.
Webb, William and Robert A. Weinstein.
Dwellers at the Source:
Southwestern Indian Photographs of A.C. Vroman, 1895-1904.
Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press, 1973.
Related Materials
Related materials in the Huntington Library:
Arrangement
The collection is organized in 3 series:
- Series I. Original and copy prints
- Series II. Photo-journal of trip to Arizona
- Series III. Glass plate negatives
Items are arranged numerically according to numbers previously assigned by Huntington
Library catalogers.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Vroman, A.C. (Adam
Clark), 1856-1916 -- Photographs.
Rust, Horatio N.
(Horatio Nelson), 1828-1906 -- Photographs.
Crandall, C. J.,
1855-1935 -- Photographs.
A.C. Vroman, Inc. --
Photographs.
Acoma Indians-- Photographs.
Adobe houses—California-- Photographs.
California Missions-- Photographs.
Cameras--1890-1910 -- Photographs.
Camping--1900-1910-- Photographs.
Hotels--California--1880-1910--
Photographs.
Hopi Indians-- Photographs.
Indians of North America—Southwest,
New-- Photographs.
Isleta Indians-- Photographs.
Japan--Buildings, structures,
etc.--Photographs.
Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson
Building (Washington, D.C.) -- Photographs.
Mount Lowe Railway-- Photographs.
Photographers--1890-1930--
Photographs.
Pueblo Indians-- Photographs.
Rickshaws--Japan--1900-1910 --
Photographs.
Snake dance -- Arizona -- 1890-1900--
Photographs.
Stores & shops -- California --
Pasadena -- Photographs.
Travel -- 1880-1900 -- Photographs.
Travelers -- West (U.S.) -- 19th
century -- Photographs.
Vroman's Bookstore-- Photographs.
Women travelers -- United States --
History -- 19th century -- Photographs.
Zuni Indians-- Photographs.
Places
Arizona--
Photographs.
California--
Photographs.
Chelly, Canyon de
(Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Echo Mountain
Observatory (Los Angeles County, Calif.) -- Photographs. (local term)
General Grant
National Memorial (New York, N.Y.) -- Photographs.
Grand Canyon
(Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Japan --
Photographs.
Lowe, Mount (Los
Angeles County, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Manitou Springs
(Colo.) -- Photographs.
Monterey
(Calif.)--Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
New Mexico--
Photographs.
Niagara Falls
(N.Y. and Ont.) -- Photographs.
Oraibi (Ariz.). --
Photographs.
Oregon (Ill.) --
Photographs.
Pasadena
(Calif.)--Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Pueblo of Cochiti,
New Mexico-- Photographs.
Rancho Guajome
(Calif.) -- Photographs.
Rubio Canyon (San
Gabriel Mountains, Calif.) -- Photographs. (local term)
San Felipe Pueblo
(N.M.) -- Photographs.
San Gabriel
Mountains (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Sandia Pueblo
(N.M.) -- Photographs.
Santa Fe (N.M.) --
Photographs.
Walpi (Ariz.) --
Photographs.
Wilson, Mount
(Calif. : Mountain) -– Photographs.
Zia Pueblo (N.M.)
-- Photographs.
Form/Genres
Glass negatives.
Journals -- Accounts -- Arizona --
19th century.
Negatives.
Photographs.
Platinum prints.
Portraits.