Collection Guide
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Collection of glass plate negatives, circa 1872-1920
MVC047
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Contributing Institution:
Museum of Ventura County
Title: Collection of glass plate negatives
Identifier/Call Number: MVC047
Physical Description:
9.13 Cubic Feet
(31 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1872-1920s
Abstract: This collection consists of glass plate negatives donated by Bert Seymour and photographer David W. Hill. Both donations include
images captured by local photographers John C. Brewster and Waldo Henry Dingman, Sr. The collection is composed entirely of
glass plate negatives, mostly gelatin glass negatives, and some photographic prints. The images are of various Ventura County
locations, historic sites, persons, and events, such as parades and community celebrations.
Physical Location: Stored at the MVC Research Library. All requests to access special collections can be made in advance by emailing the Research
Library reference desk: library@venturamuseum.org.
Language of Material:
English
.
COLLECTION STORED ON-SITE: Open for research. Advance requests can be made to Research Library staff via email: library@venturamuseum.org.
Some materials may be too fragile to handle and may require stabilization or digitization before they can be viewed.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Museum of Ventura County. Literary rights, including copyright, have
not been determined. Contact the Research Library for further information: library@venturamuseum.org.
[Identification of item], Collection of glass plate negatives, (Collection MVC047), Museum of Ventura County, Research Library,
Ventura, California.
Provenance/Source of acquisition
David W. Hill; gift; 1989.
Bert Seymour, gift; 1992.
Processed by Library Staff, circa 2010. Additional processing of unprocessed materials by Isabel Cline and Krystell Jimenez,
2022, and Stephanie Zager, 2023.
This collection consists of glass plate negatives donated by Bert Seymour and photographer David W. Hill. Seymour's donation
was composed of items originally from the collection of Robert Brakey and later Judge Walter Fourt. Both Seymour and Hill's
donations are negatives of photographs taken by John C. Brewster and Waldo Henry Dingman, Sr. Both men were local photographers.
Brewster moved to Ventura County in the 1870s and was the first to establish a studio on Main St. He eventually built a custom
studio and many photographs of early Ventura County and its residents were taken by him. Waldo Henry Dingman Sr. was born
May 17, 1872, in Union City, Iowa and died on July 16, 1955, in Ventura, California. He was a professional photographer in
Des Moines and Seattle before moving to Ventura in 1911. The Dingman family operated a photo studio for many years. While
most of the images in this collection were captured by either Brewster or Dingman, some may be the work of other photographers.
This collection consists of glass plate negatives, mostly gelatin glass negatives, and some photographic prints. While most
of the images in this collection were captured by either John C. Brewster or Waldo Henry Dingman Sr, some may be the work
of other photographers. The negatives are largely of Ventura County locations, historic sites, persons, and events, such as
parades and holiday celebrations. There are also several boxes of unidentified negatives.
Description of the identified glass plates and images are available in this
Inventory
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document. There is additional description for the unnummbered and unidentified glass plates available in this
Unidentified Inventory document.
This collection has no series. Negatives are all individually numbered and are largely in numerical order. However, some negatives
may not be in order due to their size. Confirm the box number before requesting to look at a particular negative.
There are two sets of unidentified negatives. Boxes 11-24 were partially processed and arranged, while Boxes 25-30 were not.
The order and groupings of unidentified negatives have been maintained in order to aid with potential identification.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Historic Buildings -- California -- Ventura County -- Photographs
Special events -- California -- Ventura County -- Photographs
Parades -- California -- Ventura County -- Photographs
Celebrations -- California -- Ventura County -- Photographs
Ventura County (Calif.) -- Photographs
Brewster, John Calvin, 1841-1909
Dingman, Waldo Henry, Sr., 1872-1955
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