Collection Guide
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Carlson (H. Leroy) Collection of Photographs from New Guinea and
the Philippine Islands
photCL 618
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library Photo Archives
Title: H. Leroy Carlson collection of photographs from New Guinea and the Philippine
Islands
Creator:
Carlson, H. Leroy
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 618
Physical Description:
4.42 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1930-1960
Date (bulk): 1944-1945
Abstract: A collection of 447 photographs and
other material related to the U.S. Navy in the Philippines and New Guinea during World War
II.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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.
[Identification of item]. H. Leroy Carlson collection of photographs from New Guinea and
the Philippine Islands, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Julie Sze and Sasha Abramsky, November 2019.
H. (Harry) Leroy Carlson (1906-1963) was born in Illinois and was living in Sacramento,
California when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943. He served in the Navy Seabees during
World War II, spending part of his time in New Guinea and the Philippines. After the war, he
and his wife, Fern Anderegg Carlson, and their son, Allen (born 1943), re-located to Lake
Tahoe, where Carlson worked as a commercial photographer. He died at age 57, in
Sacramento.
A collection of 447 photographs in two albums and other material related to the U.S. Navy
in the Philippines and New Guinea during World War II. The photographs were made by
commercial photographer and sailor H. Leroy Carlson, who created the albums as an inventory
of his images for sale as souvenirs and postcards. A printed catalog with descriptive
captions accompanies the albums. The first volume contains photographs taken in Finchhaven,
British New Guinea (April 1944), and Hollandia and vicinity, Dutch New Guinea, from 1944 to
1945, including Japanese prisoners of war. The second volume of photographs were taken in
the Philippines (1945), with scenes in Mindoro, Manila, Luzon, Tacloban, San Antonio, and a
U.S. Navy receiving station. Images depict New Guinea and Filipino people in portraits and
daily activities, along with street scenes, shops, rural villages, houses, tropical gardens,
wedding celebrations, fishing, and other activities. Images in the Philippines include
bombed-out buildings, schools, churches, a Chinese cemetery, indigenous Mangyan people, and
Javanese (Indonesian people). U.S. military personnel are seen working, in barracks, on navy
ships, and participating in recreational activities. Three of Carlson's 16mm motion picture
films are also part of the collection: one of the naval Seabees Camp in New Guinea during
World War II; and two home movies of Carlson family trips to New York, Nicaragua,
Yellowstone, and Canada. Other personal materials are: a volume of clippings (1947-1949) of
Carlson's photographs published in Lake Tahoe, California newspapers; the Cine-Kodak
Magazine 16mm movie camera used to shoot the films; and several snapshots, negatives, color
slides, and miscellaneous ephemera related to Carlson and his family. A hand-held Airequipt
automatic 35mm slide changer (1950s?) for viewing color slides is also part of the
colleciton.
Processed by Suzanne Oatey in October 2021.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Box 4: Negatives, slides and film reels housed in cold storage; extended retrieval and
delivery time required. Film reels not available for viewing until reformatted to digital
surrogate. Please contact Reader Services for more information.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Naval operations,
American
World War, 1939-1945 -- Papua New Guinea
World War, 1939-1945 -- Philippines
World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Japanese
Philippines -- History --
1898-1946
Papua New Guinea -- History
Photographs
Photograph albums
Negatives (photographs)
Slides (photographs)
Home movies
Motion pictures (visual works)
Slide viewers (hand held devices)
Motion-picture cameras
United States. Navy --
History -- World War, 1939-1945
United States. Navy. Seabees