Freighting in the Black Hills. John C.H. Grabill. Between 1887 and 1893. Prints and Photographs Division. LC-DIG-ppmsc-02502. bibliographic record
The sheer vastness and variety of Prints and Photographs Division holdings, which comprise an estimated 13.5 million items,
make the division a rich resource for researchers in women's history.
Chronological and Geographical Strengths
Collection materials relating to women in American history date from before the American Revolution to the present day. Because
photographs make up the bulk of the collections, the holdings are strongest for the period between 1860 and 1970.
Although some of the division's collections are strong in coverage of the American West, women do not figure prominently in
them. Coverage of women tends to be stronger for the eastern states, to the extent that the geographic location is apparent
in the pictorial materials at all. Among the exceptions, where women in the American West do appear are:
Mary Anderson, full-length portrait, standing, facing left; as Galatea. Copyright 1883. Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZ62-90477. bibliographic record
The collections encompass the kinds of pictorial materials routinely found in historical societies, government archives, and
art museums. Unlike many of these institutions, however, the Prints and Photographs Division stands out for its mammoth holdings
of visual materials originally created for commercial purposes, including images intended for sale directly to the public
or those designed for use in publications or advertising.
The Library's relationship to the Copyright Office has contributed greatly to this strength. Starting in the 1870s, artists
and publishers who wished to protect their rights in a pictorial work deposited copies of it in the U.S. Copyright Office.
By no means did all of the deposited images enter the Library's collections, but hundreds of thousands of visual items were
retained and are now part of the division's holdings. The variety of images acquired in this way include the following:
Currier & Ives lithographs, such as the company's 1869 satire on the women's rights campaign
Napoleon Sarony's portraits of theatrical personality Mary Anderson
photographs of Native American women made by Edward Curtis for his multivolume work The North American Indian
circus posters highlighting the exploits of performers such as Madam Ada Castello
panoramic photographs of women's colleges
The Prints and Photographs Division has also, over the years,
accumulated a wealth of graphic images created for use in magazines, books, and newspapers, as well as vast collections of
photographs, referred to as “photo morgues,” assembled by news photo agencies and by three major American publications:
Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows - Madam Ada Castello. Copyright 1899. Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZC4-920. bibliographic record
Although images designed for commercial or publication purposes are a particular strength of the collections, pictures of
many types and depicting many subjects can be found in the division's holdings, acquired from a great variety of sources.
Scattered throughout are images that reflect the activities and proclivities of particular individuals and institutions, largely
acquired through transfer from the Manuscript Division.
The division's holdings also incorporate fine art prints and photographs (the division does not generally collect paintings)
that came in through purchases and generous gifts.
