John Henry Steen photographs

John Henry Steen photographs, approximately 1920-1959

Overview of the Collection

Creator

Steen, John Henry

Title

John Henry Steen photographs

Dates

approximately 1920-1959 (inclusive)

Quantity

132 photographs (4 boxes, 2 folders) ; various sizes
15 glass negatives
1 orotone photograph

Collection Number

PH1437

Summary

Photographs of Mt. Rainier and other mountains in the Pacific Northwest (mainly Washington state and British Columbia), the Seattle skyline, and wilderness in the Pacific Northwest.

Repository

University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu

Access Restrictions

Access restricted. Entire collection available on digital site. For terms of access, contact Special Collections.

Steen hand-colored and hand-painted many of the Mt. Rainier photographs.

One of the photographs is an orotone. Orotones were, in most instances, produced by projecting a negative onto a dry gelatin plate of sensitized glass. The result was a positive image. A gold-colored varnish was then either directly painted onto the dried emulsion side of the glass plate, or the metallic coating was brushed onto to a piece of cardstock or metal and subsequently affixed to the back. In some instances, the wet collodion direct positive process was utilized.

Languages

English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

John Henry Steen was born in 1877 and died in Seattle in 1969. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1903 and settled in Seattle after being stationed at Bremerton's Naval base. He is said to be one of the first people to photograph the Puget Sound Navy Yard. He worked with Asahel Curtis and briefly had a studio in Everett (prior to 1913). He became a professional photographer for the U.S. Navy during WWI. For his photographs of the Puget Sound and U.S. Navy, contact the Puget Sound Navy Museum.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The majority of photographs capture Mt. Rainier, mainly from Lake Washington where the current Mt. Baker Tunnel stands overlooking I-90 floating bridge or Mt. Rainier National Park. There are photographs of other mountains in Washington such as Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, Mt. Adams, and Mount St. Helens, as well as various wilderness views (i.e. waterfalls, hiking trails, etc.). Photographs of the Seattle skyline, looking southeast toward Mt. Rainier, UW campus, and views on a lake are also included.

Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top

John Henry Steen produced hand-colored and hand-painted copies of many black and white photographs for artistic purposes, attempting to provide varying representations of his images. These versions are in this collection. Much of the collection consists of variations in printing of the mountain photographs. He would print using different papers and different variations of hand-coloring. Sometimes he painted in trees or ships.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View the digital version of the collection

Restrictions on Use

Status of creator's copyrights is unknown; restrictions may exist on copying, quotation, or publication. Users are responsible for researching copyright status before use.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Preservation Note

Steen hand-colored and hand-painted many of the Mt. Rainier photographs.

Custodial History

The collection was originally donated to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington due to Steen's association with the U.S. Navy in Bremerton. The photographs that the Naval Shipyard did not want were donated to Mt. Rainier National Park due to Steen's obsession with photographing Mt. Rainier. The photographs that Mt. Rainier National Park did not want were then donated to the UW Special Collections.

Acquisition Information

Brooke Childrey, Mount Rainier National Park, September 2, 2016. The collection was given to the National Park by the Bremerton Naval Shipyard archives. It was originally donated to the shipyard by Joanne Lee, September 2, 2016.

Processing Note

Processed by Michelle A. Shannon, July 2018

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Mt. RainierReturn to Top

There are 12 versions of item 1 because Steen was experimenting with different representations of the same image.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/1	1a-1b	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
2/1	1c-1d	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Enlarged version.	1925?
1/1	1e-1g	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Hand-colored version.	1925?
2/1	1h-1j	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Enlarged hand-colored version.	1925?
1/1	1k	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Hand-colored version with trees, birds, and ships drawn in.	1925?
1/1	1L	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Enlarged hand-painted version with trees and ships drawn in.	1925?
box:oversize
3	1m	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Orotone in pie crust frame.	1925?
Box/Folder
1/1	1n	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/1	1p	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/2	2a-2b	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/2	3a-3b	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
2/2	3c	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Enlarged version.	1925?
1/2	3d	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Hand-colored version.	1925?
2/2	3e	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Enlarged hand-colored version.	1925?
1/2	3f	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/3	4	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Hand-painted.	1925?
1/3	5	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/3	6	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Hand-painted.	1925?
1/3	7	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	Tuesday, June 9, 1925
1/3	8	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/3	9	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	November 21, 1925
1/3	10	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/4	11a	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/4	11b-11e	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Enlarged and hand-colored version.	1925?
2/2	12a	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
box:oversize
XC2	12b	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Hand-painted version.	1925?
Box/Folder
2/3	13	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/4	14a-14b	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
1/4	15a-15b	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Item 15b is an enlargement.	1925?
1/4	15c	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Hand-colored version.	1925?
1/4	16	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington	1925?
2/3	17	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Hand-painted.	1925?
box:oversize
4	18	Mt. Rainier from Lake Washington Hand-colored in frame.	1925?
Box/Folder
1/5	19a -19f	Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
2/3	19g	Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park Enlarged hand-colored version.	between 1920 and 1930?
1/5	20	Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
1/5	21a-21b	Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
2/4	21c	Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park Enlarged version.	between 1920 and 1930?
1/6	22a-22b	Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
1/6	23	Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
1/6	24	Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park Hand-colored.	between 1920 and 1930?
1/6	25	West-face of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
1/6	26	Probably Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
2/4	27a-27b	Probably Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
2/5	28	Mountain	between 1920 and 1930?
2/5	29a-29c	Panorama of mountain Hand-painted.	between 1920 and 1930?
1/6	30	Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
1/6	31-32	Possibly Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad, Mt. Rainier National Park Item 31 is scanned from a negative.	between 1920 and 1930?
1/6	33	Person sledding on toboggan in Longmire, Mt. Rainier National Park	between 1920 and 1930?
2/6	34	Narada Falls, Mt. Rainier National Park Written on verso: Eagle Peak.	between 1920 and 1930?
1/6	35	Mt. Rainier from Halverson house, Green Lake Written on verso: Sun markings morning shot in Mr. Halversons yard.	April 1, 1927
2/6	36	Mt. Rainier from house	between 1920 and 1950?

Mountains in Washington other than Mt. RainierReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/7	37	Big Four Mountain, Snohomish County, Washington Scanned from negative.	July 17, 1955
1/11	37a	Silvertip Mountain, Washington Scanned from negative.	July 17, 1955
1/7	38-42	Mt. Baker from Baker Lake	between 1920 and 1950?
1/7	43	Mt. Shuksan probably from Picture Lake	between 1920 and 1950?
1/7	44a	Mt. Adams	between 1920 and 1950?
1/7	44b	Mt. Adams Hand-colored version.	between 1920 and 1950?
1/7	45	Whitehorse Mountain	1923
2/6	46	Mountain range Hand-painted.	between 1920 and 1950?
2/7	47	Road through mountains	between 1920 and 1950?

Seattle and Washington scenesReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/8	48a-48c	Seattle skyline and Mt. Rainier from Queen Anne Hill Shows large Frederick & Nelson sign, Times Square building, Smith Tower.	1923
box:oversize
XH8	48d	Seattle skyline and Mt. Rainier from Queen Anne Hill Panorama.Shows large Frederick & Nelson sign, Times Square building, Smith Tower.	1923
Box/Folder
1/8	48e-48f	Seattle skyline and Mt. Rainier from Queen Anne Hill Hand-colored version.Shows large Frederick & Nelson sign, Times Square building, Smith Tower.	1923
1/8	49	Seattle skyline and Mt. Rainier from Queen Anne Hill	April 20, 1952
1/9	50	Red Square, University of Washington Scanned from negative. Written on sleeve: A.M.	July 16, 1953
1/9	51	Red Square, University of Washington Scanned from negative. Written on sleeve: P.M.	July 16, 1953
1/9	52-54	Red Square, University of Washington Transparency.	1950s
1/9	55	Drumheller Fountain, University of Washington Transparency.	1950s?
1/9	56	Canadian geese at Green Lake, Washington Written on verso: Canadian Honkers Green Lake-looking south.	November, 1959
1/10	57	Naval ship in bay, possibly Seattle	between 1920 and 1950?
1/10	58-60	Seaplane on lake, possibly Seattle Scanned from negative.	between 1920 and 1950?
1/10	61-65	People swimming and jumping off dock in lake, possibly Seattle Scanned from negatives.	between 1920 and 1950?
1/10	66	People standing near lake, possibly Seattle Scanned from negative.	between 1920 and 1950?
1/10	67	Possibly Franklin Falls in Snoqualmie, Washington Written on verso: [Franklin Falls?] Mt. Baker. Narada Falls? [Not Narada Falls].	between 1920 and 1950?
1/10	68	Sailboat in Olympia Harbor	July 21, 1930
1/10	69	Daffodil field and Mt. Rainier, Puyallup Daffodil field formerly known as the Van Lierop Bulb Farm.	April 10, 1954
1/10	70	Building and cars near boat launch Scanned from negative.	between 1920 and 1950?
1/10	71-72	Ferry Marjory carrying people and car across water, probably Lake Crescent Scanned from negative.	between 1910 and 1920?
1/10	73	Number not used

LandscapesReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/11	74	Person looking through telescope in wilderness	between 1920 and 1950?
1/11	75	Car driving through mountain range	between 1920 and 1950?
1/11	76	Burnt trees and mountains	between 1920 and 1950?
1/11	77a-77b	Snowy trail	between 1920 and 1950?
1/11	77c	Snowy trail Hand colored. Version of 77a-b. Written on photo: The First Snow.	between 1920 and 1950?
1/11	78	Man in flower field throwing something Scanned from negative.	between 1920 and 1950?
2/7	79	Wooden bridge in forest	between 1920 and 1950?
1/12	80-81	Ocean shore	between 1920 and 1950?
1/12	82	Lake possibly in Canada	between 1920 and 1950?
1/12	83	River dam Scanned from negative.	between 1920 and 1950?
1/12	84	Four dogs	between 1920 and 1950?

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Archives West Finding Aid

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