George E. Marsh Jr. Photography Collection
Collection
Identifier: CCCLD-013
The collection is divided into series based on where the photograph was taken. Images from Clear Creek County have been grouped by city, district, or close geographic feature.
Dates
- 1903-1917
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Use
The collection is open to public research (no restrictions).
Extent
1 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Overview
The George E. Marsh Jr. Photography Collection consists of two albums of Marsh's original photographs, dating between 1903 and 1917. Most of the images are from around Clear Creek County, presumably from summer excursions, but many are also from the east coast or the Midwest, where Marsh lived during the early 1900s.
Biographical / Historical
George Everett Marsh Jr. was born in Georgetown, Colorado in May, 1877. Early images show that he aided his father in surveying in Clear Creek County as a young man. He attended and graduated from MIT in 1901. It is difficult to track specific years of his life, but he was definitely teaching engineering in Chicago in 1909, though it is quite likely he began earlier. He was still living in Chicago in 1917. He moved to Washington D.C. in 1928, and was employed as an Electrical Engineer for the Veteran's Administration. In the 1930s he did surveying work for the federal government. While holding this position, he photographed and collected stories of farmers and their land, particularly in the dust bowl regions. Some of his images have become quite iconic, particularly the "Dust Storm approaching Stratford, Texas," April 18, 1935 (digitized on NOAA's website). He died in 1953 in Port Republic, Maryland.
Arrangement
The pages in both scrapbooks have been completely detached for some time. At the time of processing, they were out of original order and were even jumbled between the two albums. We have, somewhat arbitrarily, assigned page numbers to each scrapbook page. To keep identification easy, we have assigned page numbers to the front and back of each page (thus the first physical sheet has page 1 as the front and page 2 as the back). The photographs are arranged thematically in this finding aid, even if they are not always physically located next to each other. Make sure to check the page number of the photograph in the identifier.
Custodial History
A note inside both albums reads "Presented to Georgetown Public Library by George E. Marsh, Jun." The note is not dated, so it may date anytime between 1917 and 1953 (when he died), but seems likely to be from the 1920s or 1930s.
Processing Information
Processed in November, 2017 by Sean. Item-level records for Clear Creek photographs added in October, 2018.
- Title
- Guide to the George E. Marsh Jr. Photography Collection (CCCLD-013)
Repository Details
Part of the Clear Creek County Library District Archives Repository