Eastman's Originals Collection, 1890-1960

Summary

Creators:

Eastman, Jervie Henry, 1880-1969

Abstract:

Collection includes photographs, negatives, and postcards for a wide variety of northern California locations and events, including dam construction, logging, mining, food processing, and community buildings and activities.

Extent:

113 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Eastman's Originals Collection, D-051, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Background

Scope and content:

Photographs, negatives, and postcards for a wide variety of northern California locations and events, including dam construction, logging, mining, food processing, and community buildings and activities.

Biographical / historical:

Jervie Henry Eastman was born, July 20, 1880, in White Cloud, Michigan. His family moved to northern California in 1886. In 1898, Eastman launched his photographic career in Sisson, California (later named Mount Shasta), as a view photographer. He became a partner in the Shasta View Company in 1907. Eastman lost his entire stock of plates and cards in a fire in 1912.

In 1921, Jervie Henry Eastman moved to Susanville and established Eastman & Company as a commercial photography and post card studio. In 1936 he hired Mirl Simmons, a young photographer from Hillsborough, West Virginia, to help with the postcard photography. In 1947, Eastman and Simmons became partners. The business had expanded to provide photographic supplies to southeastern Oregon and studios in Westwood, Weed, and Susanville.

Eastman retired from photography in 1959 and sold his share of the business to Simmons. He died in Susanville on February 11, 1969.

Simmons ran the Eastman Studios until 1980, when he retired and sold the business to John and Shirley Castle. Mirl Simmons died on April 27, 1987, in Jamestown, California. From 1983 to 1993, George F. Kliewer owned Eastman Studios in Susanville. Following George Kliewer’s death, his wife Marilyn worked with friend and photographer Henry Martinez, Jr. to organize and index the negatives. Marilyn Kliewer subsequently sold the business and offered the photograph collection to Henry Martinez.

A portion of the Eastman's Originals Collection (the historical postcards and negatives) was sold to Anne Fisher in 1982. She managed this portion of the collection until her retirement in 1994, at which time she donated the materials to the University of California, Davis. Following the sale of Eastman Studios, Henry Martinez, Jr. purchased the portion of the collection remaining with the studio. These images, which include all of George F. Kliewer’s works, were donated to the University of California, Davis in 2019.

Acquisition information:

Collection and publication rights - except for the production of commercial postcards by commercial establishments - were donated to the Regents of the University of California by Anne Fisher on March 22, 1994. A second portion of the collection was donated by Henry Martinez, Jr. in 2019.

Processing information:

Processed by Levi D. Phillips, Ph.D, Pamela Wilson, and Rebecca L. Wendt; machine-readable finding aid created by Jim Sylva.

Physical location:

Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Names:

Eastman, Jervie Henry, 1880-1969 -- Archives

Places:

California, Northern -- Pictorial works
California, Northern -- History -- Pictorial works

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Eastman's Originals Collection, D-051, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Location of this collection:

UC Davis, Special Collections

University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library

100 NW Quad

Davis, CA 95616-5292, US

Contact:

(530) 752-1621

speccoll@ucdavis.edu

Website