The City of Joseph in Focus: The Use and Abuse of Historic Photographs

BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 32 | Issue 1 Article 16 1-1-1992 The City of Joseph in Focus: The Use and Abuse of Historic Photographs Richard Neitzel Holzapfel T. Jeffrey Cottle Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Recommended Citation Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel and Cottle, T. Jeffrey (1992) "The City of Joseph in Focus: The Use and Abuse of Historic Photographs," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 32 : Iss. 1 , Article 16. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol32/iss1/16 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the All Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact , . Holzapfel and Cottle: The City of Joseph in Focus: The Use and Abuse of Historic Photog the city of joseph in focus the use and abuse of historic photographs richard neitzel holzapfel and T jeffery cottle careful documentation and publication of nauvoo photo graphs will enhance latter day saint historical scholarship by permitting researchers and authors to use these materials accurately as primary sources for studies of old mormon nauvoo just over one hundred and fifty years ago in september 1839 the first american photographers made the earliest images on metal daguerreotyper within a short time of its introduction plates called daguerreotypes in the united states the daguerreotype was brought to nauvoo by lucian foster a new york convert to the church of jesus christ of latter day saints he set up his daguerrean gallery at the corner of parley and hyde streets and produced the first photographic images of nauvoo and its citizens 1844 46 his work began a process that eventually created thousands of photographic views of nauvoo only a few of fosters views exist today among them the famous temple on the hill sometimes known as the temple over the outhouse besides foster other photographers to capture the city include thomas easterly a st louis photographer 1846 47 B H roberts church leader and historian 1885 F goulty a local photographer and businessman 1890 1900 james ricalton a professional phofrom the firm of underwood & underwood 1904 tographer to george edward anderson a utah portrait and landscape photographer 1907 and harold alien ailen an architectural photographer at allen the chicago art institute 1940 60 the early views of nauvoo produced by these photographers along with many other photographs housed in private and public repositories throughout the 1 richard neitzel holzapfel is the director of the irvine california institute of religion and T jeffery cottle is an attorney practicing in orem utah byustudies BYU Studies 32 nos 1 2 1992 Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1992 1 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 32, Iss. 1 [1992], Art. 16 byustudzes byustudies BYU Studies 250 united states make up part of the documentary sources upon which modem modern historical research and publication are based photographs as primary sources As historical sources photographs have a twofold nature first a photograph depicts past events or important personages and gives learn to read valuable and even unique information that one must leam properly second a historic photograph is also an artifact a part of the fabric of the past be it a stereograph or family portrait the image had a social function public and private photographs are artifacts of material culture representing far more than the pictorial image seen on their scratched or discolored surfaces several recent publications have shown how such non print nonprint material can be utilized john demoss now famous study of the puritans material culture A little common wealth wealtb family life in commonwealth tb colony 2 is a model for using sources that historians have plymouth Plymou by and large neglected similar possibilities exist for the photographic record instead of remaining solely in the hands of archiual photographs can be used by all architectual tectural tectural historians architectural architect historians as primary sources Photojournalism principles and practice and eadoms photojournalism clifton C edoms jefferson hunters image and word the interaction of twentieth next text4 suggest that photographs are a rich century photographs and texts text source of meaning and information for the scholar who learns how to read them for example much can be learned about economics by examining dress and exterior and interior views of buildings A great deal about social relationships can be ascertained by considering who stands where and in what position and religious values are sometimes revealed by architectural photographs historians interested in the latter day saint past should not ignore the value of photographs as primary source material problems with using historic photographs too often photographs in spite of their value as artifacts are used carelessly to illustrate an otherwise well researched and documented history many historians leave the tasks of selecting and identifying photographs to the designer or publisher of their articles and books this abdication mars their work if the wrong photograph is used or if an illustration is misidentified some scholars who do select and identify the illustrations themselves leave these tasks https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol32/iss1/16 2 Holzapfel and Cottle: The City of Joseph in Focus: The Use and Abuse of Historic Photog use and abuse of Histo ilc photographs historic 251 to the last minute and then devote far less care to them than to the other primary source materials of their study the scholar who chooses to use historic photographs not only to illustrate the text but also to inform the reader in ways not possible by the text alone faces significant problems finding out exactly what a photograph is can be difficult frequently old photographs mis labeled by the photographer the housing archival have been mislabeled institution or the researcher after obtaining the correct data the scholar needs to write a caption that will give the reader sufficient information as well as appropriate source documentation problems with captions for nauvoo photographs numerous historic nauvoo photographs have been printed in bieth centwentieth twentieth popular and academic publications since the early awen tury 5 in many instances however the use of photographic material has been problematic one problem involves mislabeling mis labeling when B H roberts visited nauvoo in 1885 for example he relied on local residents to identify historical sites for him since he had never lived there his tour of the city was conducted by M M morrill the mayor apparently morrill and others simply provided building identification based on longstanding traditions the story of mr W C reimbold former owner of the oriental hotel hotel nauvoo illustrates how nauvoo tradition is not always steeped in fact reimbold colle (...truncated)