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Finding Aid to Frank B. Rodolph Photograph Collection
BANC PIC 1905.17146-17161--PIC
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Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Frank B. Rodolph Photograph Collection
Creator:
Rodolph, Frank B.
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 1905.17146-17161--PIC
Physical Description:
1254 photographs
in 16 albums and 620 digital objects
: chiefly albumen prints
Date (inclusive): approximately 1880-1905, bulk 1882-1892.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English
Collection is open for use.
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies
[Identification of item], Frank B. Rodolph Photograph Collection, BANC PIC 1905.17146-17161--PIC, The Bancroft Library, University
of California, Berkeley
Digital Representations Available
Digital representations of selected original pictorial materials are available in the list of materials below. Digital image
files were prepared from selected Library originals by the Library Photographic Service. Library originals were copied onto
35mm color transparency film; the film was scanned and transferred to Kodak Photo CD (by Custom Process); and the Photo CD
files were color-corrected and saved in JFIF (JPEG) format for use as viewing files.
Materials Cataloged Separately
Materials concerning Frank B. Rodolph and the Rodolph family were transferred to the Manuscripts Division (BANC MSS 95/103
c). The Bancroft Library also holds a Frank B. Rodolph diary (BANC MSS 68/14 c).
The Frank B. Rodolph Photograph Collection was a gift of Margaret E. Schlichtmann, February 2, 1968.
Frank Bequette Rodolph (1843-1923) was a commercial photographer active in Oakland during the 1870s, 1880s, and into the 1890s.
Born in Wisconsin, he and his family traveled overland to California in 1850. They settled first in Placerville and later
operated a ranch on Cache Creek. Moving to Oakland in 1869, Rodolph attended business college and opened a stationery store
on Broadway in partnership with his father. The store also sold school books and sheet music, and in the 1880s Rodolph began
doing printing work as well. Many of his photographs were taken on his extensive travels throughout California.
The Frank B. Rodolph collection consists of 1,254 original photographs taken chiefly by Frank B. Rodolph in the 1880s and
early 1890s. His subjects include a variety of cityscapes, Oakland residences and other buildings throughout the San Francisco
Bay Area, Sonoma County, Santa Cruz and Monterey areas of California. Many of the photographs are of recreational and leisure
activities, including outings and camps of a Bay Area group that called themselves "the Merry Tramps of Oakland." Rodolph
was also active in the Oakland Camera Club, and other photographers are sometimes visible in outing photographs. It is not
clear how much cross-over there may have been between the Camera Club and the Merry Tramps, and any given excursion pictured
may have been taken with members of one or both clubs.
Some photographs are present taken by associates of Rodolph, including well-known San Francisco photographer (and Oakland
resident) Isaiah W. Taber. The Taber photographs, primarily of Alaska, can be found in volume 14 (BANC PIC 1905.17159).
Numbers in parentheses on the caption lists are photographer's numbers that appear on the photographs. (Many images have no
photographer's numbers.) Many captions in the container listing were provided by the donor of the collection, Margaret E.
Schlichtmann. These have been enhanced by information in square brackets by library staff making revisions in 2020.