Guide to the Albert W. Stevens Aerial photographs MS.434
Maureen Carey
University of California, Santa Cruz
2018
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz 95064
speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Albert W. Stevens Aerial photographs
creator:
Stevens, A. W. (Albert William), 1886-1949
Identifier/Call Number: MS.434
Physical Description:
1.25 Linear Feet
2 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1920-1946
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Property rights for this collection reside with the University of California. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. The publication or use of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use
for research or educational purposes requires written permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility for obtaining permissions,
and for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information on copyright or to order a reproduction, please visit
guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/reproduction-publication.
Preferred Citation
Albert W. Stevens aerial photographs. MS 434. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California,
Santa Cruz.
Biography
Birth: Mar. 13, 1886
Belfast, Waldo County, Maine, USA
Death: Mar. 26, 1949
San Carlos, San Mateo County, California, USA
Acclaimed aerial photographer, stratosphere balloonist, MacKay Trophy winner (twice) and winner of the Distinguished Flying
Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster. Albert was born the third child of Nathan Whitten and Alice Anderson. Alice died 5 months after
Albert was born and he was adopted by Andrew and Nancy Stevens. Albert grew up in Belfast, Maine, and then attended the University
of Maine eventually graduating in 1909 with a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering. During his college days he became
an experienced photographer. For the next 8 years he worked as an engineer in the gold fields of Idaho, Alaska, California
and Montana. He enlisted in the U. S. Air Service in January 1918 at the age of 31. He was commissioned a 1st Lt. and after
attending the aerial photography school at Cornell University, he served with distinction during WWI as the commanding officer
of the 6th Photo Section. Stevens became arguably the best aerial photographer of the First World War having perfected the
art of oblique photography. He won the Purple Heart during the war. For the next several years, he was one of the leading
aerial photographers for the U. S. Army Air Corps. He also took aerial photographs for the National Geographic Society. During
1934 and 1935, he was the driving force behind the Explorer and Explorer II Stratosphere Balloon Flights sponsored by the
National Geographic Society with cooperation from the U. S. Army Air Corps. On November 11, 1935, he and Capt. Orvil A. Anderson
set a new altitude record of 72,395 ft. inside the Explorer II Gondola. This record stood for 20 years. Stevens' last great
achievement came on June 8, 1937 when he took the "perfect" photo of the total eclipse of the sun from 25,000 ft. over Chile
while working for the Hayden Planetarium. He was medically discharged from the Army in April 1942 and died at his home in
San Carlos, CA. His only marriage was to Ruth Fischer on August 8, 1938. They had no children.
Biography by Charles Gannon.
Scope and Content
This collection contains nineteen matted silver gelatin aerial photographs of the San Francisco Bay Area and other locations,
and twenty two black and white glass mounted slides of Mount Rainier and other locations, taken by Captain Stevens.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Aerial photographs
Box 1
Golden Gate, 21,000 ft. taken by Capt. Albert Stevens [no bridge yet]
Box 1
Sutro Bay - Sal Rocks from the Air [#1]
Box 1
Sutro Bay from the Ait #2
Box 1
San Francisco and Bay - Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lasson from 21,000 ft. [#12]
Box 1
Marin Hills in snow from the air [#4]
Box 1
Marin Hills, Golden Gate, San Francisco Peninsula and Bay, East Bay region and Southern Sierra Nevada from 21,000 ft [#15]
Box 1
Formation 0-25S (02-30M-15) (9-19-30-11A) (12-700)
Box 1
Bomber formation over Golden Gate, San Francisco, CA (0198-321-15)(4-26-30-11A) (12-500)[#14]
Box 1
Oakland and Berkeley, San Francisco [#10]
Box 1
San Francisco Peninsula and Bay from about 20,000 ft [#7]
Box 1
Marin Hills, Golden Gate - San Francisco Peninsula and Bay and Southern Sierra Nevada from 21,000 ft [#8]
Box 1
San Francisco Bay and peninsula and Northern Sierra Nevada from 21,000 ft.
Box 1
Colorado River - Boulder Dam Fire
Box 1
Mt. Shasta from the North
Box 1
Sacramento - Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lasson from over 20,000 ft. - infrared film
Box 2
6 - Wyoming - Lake Shoe Drive Shoshone Dam
Box 2
7 - Wyoming - Three Tunnels on Lake Shore Drive
Box 2
8 - Wyoming - Shoshone Canyon
Box 2
9 - Wyoming - Chimney Rock 100 ft. high
Box 2
22 - Wyoming - Lone Star Geyser 50 ft.
Box 2
26 - Wyoming - Grotto Geyser Yellowstone
Box 2
33 - Washington - Mt. St. Helens El. 9671 Ft
Box 2
34 - Washington - Mt. Washington El. 6290 Ft
Box 2
35 - Washington - Mt. Rainier El. 14, 408 Ft.
Box 2
36 - Washington - Mt. Rainier El. 14,408 Ft.
Box 2
37 - Washington - Mt. Rainier El. 14, 408 Ft.
Box 2
38 - Washington - Mt. Rainier El. 14,408 Ft.
Box 2
39 - Washington - Mt. Rainier El. 14, 408 Ft.
Box 2
40 - Washington - Mt. Rainer El. 14,408 Ft.
Box 2
41 - Washington - B-17 near Mt. Rainer
Box 2
42 - Washington - B-17 near Mt. Rainier
Box 2
43 - Washington - B-17 near Mt. Rainier
Box 2
44 - Washington - B-17 over Mt. Rainier
Box 2
45 - California (1946) - USS-Saratoga San Francisco Bay
Box 2
141 - Siam - Fishing Boat
