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Guide to the E. F. Joseph Photograph Collection
MS 126
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Title: Joseph (E. F.) photograph collection
Dates: 1915-1964
Collection number: MS 126
Creator:
Joseph, E. F. (Emmanuel Francis), 1900-1979.
Collection Size:
22.5 linear feet
(28 boxes)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Abstract: Photographer Emmanuel Francis (E. F.) Joseph (1900-1979) was born on November 8, 1900 in St. Lucia, West Indies. He was the
first professional African American photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area operating a commercial and studio photography
business in his home initially at 1303 Adeline St. and then at 384 50th St. in Oakland. The E.F. Joseph photograph collection
includes 2,518 photographs from Joseph’s work as a portrait and commercial photographer. The collection is organized into
four series: Portraits, Commercial photography, Assorted photographs, and Letter and customer card.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Permission to publish from the E. F. Joseph Photograph Collection must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library
at Oakland.
Joseph (E. F.) photograph collection, MS 126, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland,
California.
Processed by Sean Heyliger, 03/20/2014.
Biography / Administrative History
Photographer Emmanuel Francis (E. F.) Joseph (1900-1979) was born on November 8, 1900 in St. Lucia, West Indies. After graduating
from the American School of Photography of Illinois, he moved to Oakland, California in 1924 where he served as an apprentice
in a photography studio. He was the first professional African American photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area operating
a commercial and studio photography business in his home initially at 1303 Adeline St. and then at 384 50th St. in Oakland.
Beginning the 1930s, Joseph worked as a photojournalist for a number of Bay Area newspapers including the
California Voice,
San Francisco Examiner,
Oakland Post, and the
Pittsburgh Courier. In addition to his work studio and newspaper work, Joseph also maintained a thriving commercial photography business photographing
furniture, interior decor, funeral homes, restaurants, and industrial products for retail catalogs and newspaper advertisements,
and he was the official photographer for many East Bay lodges, churches, schools, clubs, and athletic teams. During World
War II, he also served as a photographer for the United States Office of War Information taking many of the iconic “Rosie
the Riveters” photographs at the Kaiser Shipyards.
After the war, Joseph continued working as a studio and newspaper photographer until his retirement in the early 1970s. He
was a lifetime member of the Professional Photographers of America and active in the local branch of the N.A.A.C.P. and the
William J. Anderson Lodge #57 F. & A.M. He was married to Alyce Joseph, who often assisted with the photography business,
until her death in 1963. In 1968, he married Lucy Lartique to whom he was married until his death on September 27, 1979.
Scope and Content of Collection
The E.F. Joseph photograph collection includes 2,518 photographs from Joseph’s work as a portrait and commercial photographer.
The collection is organized into four series: Portraits, Commercial photography, Assorted photographs, and Letter and customer
card. The portrait series consists of 621 group and studio of portraits taken by Joseph of subjects in his Oakland studio
beginning in the late 1920s through the early 1940s. The series is divided into studio portraits of men, women, boys, girls,
infants, couples, and families and group photographs of church choirs, clubs, masonic organizations, schools, athletic teams,
and weddings.
The commercial photography series is arranged alphabetically by subject and includes photographs of furniture, restaurants,
department stores, automobile dealerships, flower shops, funeral homes and caskets, cabinetry, and industrial lighting later
used for retail catalogs and advertisements. The bulk of the photographs are of furniture and consists of images of sofas,
armchairs beds, desks, living room sets, and vanities for BP John, Metropolitan, Montgomery Ward, and Langsam furniture companies
in the 1930s-1950s. Other commercial photography includes interior and exterior photographs of Slim Jenkins’ supermarket,
nightclub, and restaurant, Don Lee Oldsmobile, Fruitvale Canning Company, and Mayflower Doughnut Shop.
Assorted photographs include photographs of the funeral of Rev. G.C. Coleman and an unidentified woman, family photographs
of the Collier / Taylor, Frederick Madison Roberts, and Hall families, and the aftermath of a 1920s automobile accident. The
manuscript series includes a letter written by Mrs. Harold Greer to E.F. and Alyce Joseph requesting additional photographs
of her kitchen, an E.F. Joseph customer card offering a free portrait compliments of Superior Beauty Parlor, and assorted
envelopes, inventories, and a ribbon related to E.F. Joseph’s commercial photographs for BP John Furniture Company.
Series I. Portraits
Series II. Commercial photography
Series III. Assorted photographs
Series IV. Letter and card
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
African Americans--California--Oakland--History--Pictorial works.
African American photographers.
Furniture--1930-1940.
Furniture--History--20th century--Pictorial works.
Oakland (Calif.)--History--Pictorial works.
Photography--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Portrait photography--California.
Portraits--1920-1940.