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.

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.

6,026 photographs (9 linear feet)

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.

Collection is open for research use.