Formal children's portrait   Save
Albert J. Ewing Collection
Description: Taken by traveling photographer Albert J. Ewing, ca. 1896-1912, this photograph shows a girl, boy, and young girl posing outside in front of a dark backdrop, with a woman holding up the backdrop on the right side of the image. Both girls wear white dresses and the seated young girl holds a doll in her lap. The boy wears breeches with suspenders, a shirt with ruffles, and a boutonniere. Writing at the bottom of the negative seems to indicate that this was taken in Nutter Farm, West Virginia. Born in 1870 in Washington County, Ohio, near Marietta, Ewing most likely began his photography career in the 1890s. The 1910 US Census and a 1912-1913 directory list him as a photographer. A negative signed "Ewing Brothers" and a picture with his younger brother, Frank, indicate that Frank may have joined the business. After 1916, directories list Albert as a salesman. He died in 1934. The Ewing Collection consists of 5,055 glass plate negatives, each individually housed and numbered. Additionally, the collection includes approximately 450 modern contact prints made from the glass plate negatives. Subjects include infants and young children, elderly people, families, school and religious groups, animals and rural scenes. In 1982, the Ohio Historical Society received the collection, still housed in the original dry plate negative boxes purchased by Albert J. Ewing. A selection of the original glass plate negatives were exhibited for the first time in 2013 at the Ohio Historical Center. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV71_B14_F749
Subjects: Ewing, Albert J. (1870-1934); Portrait photography--United States--History; Children
Places: Nutter Farm (West Virginia)