Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Ernest W. Myers photograph collection
- Dates:
- 1846-1974, bulk 1913-1974
- Creators:
- Myers, Ernest W.
- Abstract:
- The Ernest W. Myers photograph collection consist of 6,026 photographs documenting his interest in downtown Sacramento, hunting and fishing, and social and cultural events in the Sacramento area. The collection is organized broadly into 17 series by the subject matter of the photographs. Series 1. Aviation, Series 2. Buildings, Series 3. Businesses, Series 4. California State Fair, Series 5. California State Capitol / Government, Series 6. Christmas, Series 7. Churches, Series 8. Fishing / hunting, Series 9. Fraternal organizations, Series 10. Mining / Gold Rush, Series 11. Nature / animals, Series 12. Parades and pageants, Series 13. Parks, Series 14. Street scenes, Series 15. Veterans, Series 16. World War I (France), Series 17. Assorted.
- Extent:
- 6,026 photographs (9 linear feet)
- Language:
- Languages represented in the collection: English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Ernest W. Myers photograph collection, MS0054, Center for Sacramento History.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Ernest W. Myers photograph collection consist of 6,026 photographs documenting his interest in downtown Sacramento, hunting and fishing, and social and cultural events in the Sacramento area. The collection is organized broadly into 17 series by the subject matter of the photographs. Series 1. Aviation, Series 2. Buildings, Series 3. Businesses, Series 4. California State Fair, Series 5. California State Capitol / Government, Series 6. Christmas, Series 7. Churches, Series 8. Fishing / hunting, Series 9. Fraternal organizations, Series 10. Mining / Gold Rush, Series 11. Nature / animals, Series 12. Parades and pageants, Series 13. Parks, Series 14. Street scenes, Series 15. Veterans, Series 16. World War I (France), Series 17. Assorted.
Because of his business and social connections, Myers was able to photograph a wide variety of events and people in Sacramento. Of particular note are his negatives of aviation notables Charles Lindbergh and Richard Byrd plus an outstanding series of the U.S. Navy Airship Akron. A highlight of the collection are the images of President Harry S. Truman campaigning in 1948 and soon-to-be elected President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. Myers was an avid hunter and rifle marksman. The images of his hunting expeditions in California are unique documents of the open hunting laws of the first half of this century . Included in the image are game which now are included on endangered listings. There are also color Autochromes negatives that may be the earliest known color images of Sacramento plus may possibly be the earliest of street and city scenes in California.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Businessman and photographer Ernest William Myers (1891-1986) was born on August 19, 1891 in Valleton Monterey, California to J.S. Myers, a farmer who had migrated to the Monterey region from Ohio. As a young child, his family moved to Sacramento, California where he would eventually establish a successful jewelry business, E.W. Myers Co. After working for other jewelry stores, he opened his own store in 1919 at 722 K Street in downtown Sacramento. In 1936, he moved his store to 1005 9th street where he remained for over twenty years. He later worked at the downtown businesses of Sacramento Loan and Jewelry, Werner Jewelry, and California Loan and Jewelry. He developed a life long interest in photography and documented many of the neighborhoods and buildings in Sacramento, California, which he believed were threaten by redevelopment. The social network he built with his jewelry business allowed him access to take portraits of many of Sacramento's leading families. In addition to his interest in photography, he was also a champion skeet shooter and hunter, competing in shooting tournaments and belonging to several Sacramento shooting clubs.
- Acquisition information:
- The Ernest W. Myers Photograph Collection was donated to the Center for Sacramento History by step children of Ernest W. Myers, Don M. Russell and Mary Lou Douglass, on December 22, 1989 (accession #1989/41).
- Appraisal information:
-
Collection originally included 11,852 photographs when accessioned. As of 2019, there were 6,026 photographs in the collection.
- Processing information:
-
Collection catalogued by Sherry Hatch in 2001. Finding aid updated according to DACS by Sean Heyliger and encoded in EAD in 2019.
- Arrangement:
-
Series 1. Aviation Series 2. Buildings Series 3. Businesses Series 4. California State Fair Series 5. California State Capitol / Government Series 6. Christmas Series 7. Churches Series 8. Fishing / hunting Series 9. Fraternal organizations Series 10. Mining / Gold Rush Series 11. Nature / animals Series 12. Parades and pageants Series 13. Parks Series 14. Street scenes Series 15. Veterans Series 16. World War I (France) Series 17. Assorted
- Physical location:
- 2J3, 35J3, 35K3, 2E1 Drawer D, 4D1 Drawer F
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 2013
- Date Encoded:
- Machine-readable finding aid created by Sean Heyliger. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: September 10, 2019.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research use.
- Terms of access:
-
All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Ernest W. Myers photograph collection, MS0054, Center for Sacramento History.
- Location of this collection:
-
551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.Sacramento, CA 95811, US
- Contact:
- (916) 808-7072