Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Cronise Studio records, 1867-1973
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Cronise Studio
- Title
- Cronise Studio records
- Dates
- 1867-1973 (inclusive)18671973
1902-1973 (bulk)18671973 - Quantity
- 3.52 cubic feet , (6 boxes and 1 oversize box)
- Collection Number
- Mss 2692
- Summary
- This collection contains financial ledgers and other business records of the Cronise Photo Studio in Salem, Or., started in 1902 by portrait photographer Thomas Jefferson Cronise and continued by his son, Harry W. Cronise, until circa 1973. There is also one volume of business records of another well-known Salem photographer, Myra E. Sperry, as well as records from Thomas Jefferson Cronise's first career as a printer and some personal papers kept by Harry W. Cronise.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open to the public.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Thomas Jefferson Cronise was born on October 11, 1853 in Peru, Ill. to Henry and Louise Hosmer Cronise. The family later moved to Seville, Oh., and when Thomas was fourteen, he apprenticed as a printer with newspaper owner John Clark in Wadsworth, Oh. and later worked for newspapers in Seville and York, Oh. In 1875, Thomas’ older brother, Harry H. Cronise, moved to Oregon. Five years later, Thomas followed his brother west and moved to Spokane, Wash., later moving to Salem, Or. in 1882. He first worked in Salem for a printing business owned by Mrs. A. L. Stinson and later for R. J. Hendricks, owner of the Oregon Statesman.
In 1884, Thomas Jefferson Cronise married Nellie Riggs, daughter of Oregon pioneers Rufus and Evelyn Nicklin Riggs. By 1886, Thomas operated his own print shop in Salem in the State Insurance Building on Commercial Street, and from 1891-1893, he partnered with Gaylord W. Cooke in a commercial printing firm. However, due to an allergy to printer’s ink, Thomas eventually ended his career as a printer and took up photography. In 1893, he joined his sister, Anna Louise, who had moved from Ohio to Salem the year before, at her photography studio at the corner of State and High Streets, and the two advertised themselves as “Cronise & Cronise, The Photographers.”
In 1893, Anna Louise Cronise married Howard D. Trover, a photographer who worked in the Cronise & Cronise studio. After that year, Thomas Jefferson Cronise left the partnership, and Anna and Howard continued to operate the business as Cronise Photo Studio. Thomas did not pursue photography again until 1902, when he opened the Tom Cronise Photo Studio in the Bush-Brey Building at Commercial and Court in Salem; to avoid confusion, Anna and Howard Trover renamed their studio in 1907 as the Trover-Cronise Photo Studio. The location for Thomas' new studio was one used previously by other influential Salem photographers, including William P. Johnson; portrait photographer Myra E. Sperry, also known as “Sperry the Artist"; and Preston M. Hart and Martha F. McLennon's Elite Studio.
Thomas Jefferson Cronise died in 1927, and his youngest son, Harold ("Harry") W. Cronise, helped Nellie Cronise run the business for the next few years. In 1930, Harry Cronise assumed sole ownership of Cronise Photo Studio. He ran the business until circa 1973.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The collection consists mostly of financial ledgers, correspondence, advertising material, photo notebooks and formulas, and other business records kept by the Cronise Photo Studio from 1902-1973. These records also include printed material about photography used by the studio, including published instructions and formulas, equipment catalogs and advertisements, photomechanical examples of portrait photography, and two serial journals about photography. Additionally, there are some photographs taken by the Cronise Photo Studio included in the business records.
The collection also contains business records documenting Thomas Jefferson Cronise's previous career as a printer, as well as financial ledgers belonging to two unidentified printers in Salem. Harold W. Cronise's personal papers are also represented, including a set of six notebooks on the art of photography kept while he was enrolled at the Eastman School of Professional Photography, circa 1914. Additionally, there is one photo order ledger kept by photographer Myra E. Sperry from 1892-1894, and other papers, business advertisements, and catalogs not relating to photography that were kept by the Cronises.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.
Preferred Citation
Cronise Studio Records, Mss 2692, Oregon Historical Society Research Library
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into the following series:
- Series A: Cronise Studio business records, 1885-1973
- Subseries 1: Financial ledgers, 1902-1973
- Subseries 2: Other business records, 1885-1973
- Subseries 3: Printed material about photography, circa 1900-1942
- Series B: Printing business records, 1877-1899
- Series C: Harold W. Cronise personal papers, 1914-1966
- Series D: Myra E. Sperry photo order book, 1892-1894
- Series E: Miscellaneous material, 1864-circa 1911
Acquisition Information
Library accession no. 16715.
Bibliography
For more information on the Cronise Studio, see The Art Perfected: Portraiture from the Cronise Studio (Portland, Or.: Oregon Historical Society, 1980), with an introduction by Susan K. Seyl in association with George Champlin.
Separated Materials
The Oregon Historical Society Research Library also holds the Cronise photographs collection (Org. Lot 1). Reproductions of all of the photographs in that collection are available in the photo card files in the Library.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Series A: Cronise Studio business records, 1885-1973Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
Subseries 1: Financial ledgers
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
This subseries contains 23 ledgers used by the Cronise Photo
Studio to keep track of accounts, bills, commissions, daily expenses, debts,
photo and frame sales, and receipts from 1902-1973. Not all years are accounted
for. Some of these ledgers also contain lists of negative numbers corresponding
to portraits taken, as well as samples of photographic work by the studio.
Loose materials from each volume have been removed and placed ina corresponding
folder.
|
1902-1973 | |
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1/1-1/2 | Account book
Folder 1/2 contains loose materials removed from
volume.
|
1902-1908 |
| 1/3-1/4 | Account book
Folder 1/4 contains loose materials removed from
volume.
|
1911-1927 |
| Box 8, 1/5 | Cashbook
Includes inventory lists and business statements. Folder
1/5 contains loose material removed from the volume.
|
1921 |
| 1/6-1/7 | Cashbook
Folder 1/7 contains loose materials removed from
volume.
|
1921-1922 |
| 1/8-1/9 | Cashbook
Folder 1/9 contains loose materials removed from
volume.
|
1923-1926 |
| 1/10-1/11 | Cashbook
Folder 1/11 contains loose materials removed from
volume.
|
Sept. 1927-May 1931 |
| 2/1-2/2 | Cashbook
Folder 2/2 contains loose materials removed from
volume.
|
Dec. 1927-Mar. 1935 |
| 2/3-2/4 | Cashbook
Folder 2/4 contains loose materials removed from
volume.
|
Apr. 1935-Dec. 1938 |
| 2/5 | Cashbook |
1939-June 1944 |
| 2/6 | Cashbook |
July 1944-1957 |
| Box 8 | Cashbook |
1956-May 1968 |
| Box 8 | Cash book |
June 1968-1973 |
| 2/7-2/8 | Daybook
Contains some account information. Folder 2/8 contains
loose materials from volume.
|
1904-Nov. 1913 |
| 3/1-3/2 | Daybook, duplicate and Kodak work
Folder 3/2 contains loose materials removed from
volume.
|
Nov. 1919-Dec. 1932 |
| 3/3 | Daybook |
Dec. 1930-Nov. 1931 |
| 3/4-3/5 | Daybook
Includes financial records of frame sale, 1943-1944.
Folder 3/5 contains loose materials removed from volume.
|
1933-1944 |
| 3/6 | Daybook (disbound volume) |
1962-1973 |
| 3/7-3/8 | Debt notice book
Folder 3/8 contains loose materials removed from
volume.
|
circa 1910 |
| Box 3 | Expense book, bills and receipts |
1920-1923 |
| 4/1 | Expense book, photographic supplies |
1944-1946 |
| 4/2 | Photo order book |
1909-1914 |
| 4/3 | Photo stamp book
Contains lists of negative numbers and corresponding
portraits.
|
1906-1908 |
| 4/4-4/5 | Photo stamp book
Contains lists of negative numbers and corresponding
portraits. Folder 4/5 contains loose materials removed from volume.
|
1910-1917 |
Subseries 2: Other business records
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
This subseries contains other, non-financial business papers
relating to the day-to-day operations of the Cronise Photo Studio.
|
1885-1973 | |
| Box/Folder | ||
| 4/6 | Address book |
undated |
| 4/7 | Advertising and price lists |
1931, undated |
| 4/8 | Appointment book |
1912, 1922 |
| 4/9 | Correspondence |
1885-1927 |
| 4/10 | Correspondence |
1928-1973 |
| 4/11 | Correspondence |
undated |
| 5/1 | Formulas for developers, toners, and other
solutions |
undated |
| 5/2 | Photo notebook
Contain formulas, accounts, and other studio notes.
|
circa 1903-1904 |
| 5/3 | Photo notebook
Contain formulas, medical prescriptions, and
photomechanical prints of portrait photography.
|
circa 1906-1916 |
| 5/4 | Photo notebook
Contain formulas and other studio notes.
|
undated |
| 5/5 | Samples of studio photographs and
supplies |
undated |
| 5/6 | Other business papers |
1919-1967 |
Subseries 3: Printed material on photography
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
This subseries contains articles, advertisements, catalogs,
formulas, photomechanical examples of portrait photography, and other printed
and published material relating to the profession of photography that were
collected by the Cronises for use in their studio.
|
circa 1900-1942 | |
| Box/Folder | ||
| 5/7 | Articles on photography |
1904 and undated |
| 5/8 | Equipment advertisements and price
lists |
circa 1904-1931 |
| 5/9 | Equipment catalogs |
circa 1890-1932 |
| 6/1 | Journals
Contains copies of The British
Journal Photographic Almanac, and Photographer's Daily Companion (1890)
and Photographic Mosaics: An Annual Record of
Photographic Progress (1900).
|
1890, 1900 |
| 6/2 | Manuals |
circa 1930-1942 |
| 6/3 | Photomechanical prints: Examples of children's
portraits |
circa 1900-1905 |
| 6/4 | Photomechanical prints: Examples of men's
portraits |
circa 1900-1905 |
| 6/5 | Photomechanical prints: Examples of women's
portraits (busts) |
circa 1900-1905 |
| 6/6 | Photomechanical prints: Examples of women's
portraits (full-length) |
circa 1900-1905 |
| 6/7 | Portrait book
Photomechanical prints pasted into a copy of
The Perfect Woman by Edith Wyatt (1906).
|
circa 1906 |
Series B: Printing business records, 1877-1899Return to Top
This series contains records relating to Thomas Jefferson Cronise's first career as a printer, circa 1886-1893, as well as the business records of two other, unidentified printing business in Salem, Or.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 7/1 | Cashbook, unidentified business |
1877-1886 |
| 7/2 | Cashbook, unidentified business |
1899 |
| 7/3 | Thomas Jefferson Cronise business
records
Contains examples of Cronise's printing work, both as a solo
printer and in partnership as Cooke & Cronise, articles and pamphlets about
printing, and studio advertising and stationary.
|
circa 1886-1893 |
Series C: Harold W. Cronise personal papers, 1914-1966Return to Top
This series contains personal papers and ephemera kept by Harold W. Cronise that are not related to his management of the Cronise Photo Studio. Some of the material does, however, relate to his education as a photographer before he joined his father's studio in 1927.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 7/4 | Papers
Contains souvenir programs and tickets to events in Salem, a
certificate of appreciation from the Ladd & Bush branch of the United
States National Bank of Portland, research notes about "The Parsonage," and
hand-written song lyrics.
|
1935-1966, undated |
| 7/5 | Photo notebooks (6 volumes) from the Eastman School
of Professional photography |
1914, undated |
| 7/6 | Salem Centennial souvenir programs and promotional
material |
1940 |
Series D: Myra E. Sperry photo order book, 1892-1894Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 7/7
Photo order book for the studio of Myra E. Sperry, known as "Sperry the Artist," containing tear-out receipts with names of clients, accounts, and types of photos ordered from 1892-1894. Probably found by Thomas Jefferson Cronise when he opened the Tom Cronise Photo Studio in the Bush-Brey Building at Commercial and Court in Salem, Or., the space where Sperry's studio was previously located.
Series E: Miscellaneous material, 1867-circa 1911Return to Top
This series contains other papers and documents in the collection that are not apparently related to the profession of photography, the operations of the Cronise Photo Studio, or to the personal lives of Thomas Jefferson Cronise and Harry W. Cronise.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 7/8 | Other papers
Contains two receipts for property valuation made out to W.
W. Irvin of Oregon City, Or. in 1882; a hand-written receipt for medical goods
dated 1867; an undated recipe for currant brandy; and hand-written hymn
lyrics
|
1864-1882, undated |
| 7/9 | Other business advertisements and
catalogs |
1879-circa 1911 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Photographers--Oregon--Salem
- Portrait photographers--Oregon--Salem
- Portrait photography
- Printers--Oregon--Salem
Corporate Names
- Cronise Studio--Archives
- Cooke & Cronise (Salem, Or.)
Form or Genre Terms
- Advertisements
- Cashbooks
- Correspondence
- Daybooks
- Financial records
- Ledgers (account books)
- Photographic prints
- Photomechanical prints
- Trade catalogs
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Cronise, Harold W., 1887-1974 (creator)
- Cronise, Thomas Jefferson, 1853-1927 (creator)
- Sperry, Myra E. (creator)
