Cameron Photography Digital Exhibit

During the first half of the 20th century, photography became accessible to anyone with pocket change to spare. This was reflected on Earlham's campus as well, with student-produced prints gradually increasing in number over the years. 

The image in this print to the right was taken on July 4th, 1903 in front of old Earlham Hall. At that time, Theodore Roosevelt was the President and it would be five months before the Wright brothers flew the first airplane. These summer-school students seem to have taken a horse-drawn cart ride to celebrate the July 4th holiday, and they stopped for a photo to mark the occasion. The dirt-path around the Heart and the ivy climbing up old Earlham Hall (a popular design choice then) certainly point to a different time from our own, but both Earlham mainstays are still recognizable. 

Below, you'll find a variety of Earlham photos created from 1900-1950, a time when photography was still developing as an art form. 

Earlham Glee Club, unknown artist, 1912

This postcard image, taken on February 29th, 1912, depicts our very own Glee Club. Postcards were a popular format for early photography, and we have multiple examples of Earlham photo postcards in the archives. 

Unfinished Business, unknown artist, 1925

This 1925 aerial image was used to develop plans for proposed new buildings on Earlham's campus... buildings which were evidently never actually built. One can see these early Photoshop-esque edits in the lower lefthand and upper righthand corners, but also the familiar outlines of Earlham Hall, Tyler Hall, Carpenter Hall, Bundy Hall, and other still-present campus features. 

Graduation, Martha Sellers, ~1945-48

Not every photo has an attribution in our collection, but this one was taken by a student named Martha Sellers. Graduates of a class from the late-1940s process out of the ivy-covered Carpenter Hall (ivy damages a building's structural integrity, so it was removed sometime in the 1950s or so). 

July 4th at Earlham, unknown artist, 1903

The Great War Reaches Earlham, unknown artist, 1917

These students were soon to ship out to join the war effort -- the US had only just entered World War I in 1917. Portrait photos of this period were often of groups to make the most of high-quality (and expensive) professional cameras, as opposed to cheaper ones like the popular Kodak Brownie camera. 

The Man in Black, unknown artist, 1939

This photographer was caught unawares as the subject of a photo himself! He is probably using a field camera such as the popular Graflex as he takes an all-campus portrait in front of Carpenter Hall in 1939. 

The Kicking Post, unknown artist, 1940s

Some traditions haven't changed. Besides the noble kicking post, the comparative emptiness of the field behind it point to something of a simpler time (well, one free from parking lots, anyway).