Collection Summary
| Title | National Photo Company collection |
|---|---|
| Inclusive Dates | 1850-1945 |
| Bulk Dates | 1909-1932 |
| Call No. | Guide Record |
| Creator | National Photo Company, photographer |
| Collector | French, Herbert E., 1883-ca. 1950, collector |
| Extent | ca. 40,000 photographic prints : gelatin silver ; various sizes. |
| Extent | ca. 40,000 negatives : glass, and some safety film ; from 4 x 5 in. to 8 x 10 in. |
| Language | Collection material in English |
| Location | Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. |
| Finding Aid Permalink | Cite or bookmark this finding aid as: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/eadpnp.pp021030 |
| LCCN Permalink | LC Catalog record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2005684470 |
| Summary | The National Photo Company Collection documents virtually all aspects of Washington, D.C., life, including inaugurations, sports, landmarks, conventions, and topics of local interest. During the administrations of Presidents Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, the National Photo Company supplied photographs of current news events in Washington, D.C., as a daily service to its subscribers. Herbert French, the National Photo Company owner and a photographer himself, was a member of the White House News Photographers at the time of its founding. He covered the administrations of Presidents Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. His collection of portraits includes many prominent officials and social figures. Visitors to the capital, protests and parades, conventions and meetings, events in Congress, inaugurations and White House events, and to a limited extent, world events in general are represented in the collection. Herbert French was particularly fond of baseball, and the Washington Senators are documented thoroughly, especially in years when they were the contenders for the pennant. Similarly he covered horse shows and automobile racing. |
| Note | Terminology in collection materials and descriptions may include negative stereotypes or words some may consider offensive. The Library includes historic captions because they can be important for understanding the context in which the images were created. Content of the images themselves and transcribed language in online records do not reflect the views of the Library of Congress. For questions or to provide more information about this material, please contact Prints and Photographs Division staff through our Ask a Librarian service. |
| Note | For more information about the entire collection, refer to the Collection Profile: National Photo Company Collection. |
| Online Content | To see already digitized images from this collection, search our Online Catalog by call number or descriptive words. |