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Charles Rogers Photographs, circa 1890-1935

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Rogers, Charles, 1856-1929
Title
Charles Rogers Photographs
Dates
circa 1890-1935 (inclusive)
Quantity
2 Linear feet of shelf space, (3 Boxes)
Collection Number
PC 208 (collection)
Summary
A collection of photographic prints and negatives produced by Charles Rogers from approximately 1890 to 1935. The majority of the photographs were taken in the Spokane area and around the Pacific Northwest; other locations include California, New York, Canada, and Alaska. The collection includes personal family photographs and commercial prints.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open and available for research use.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Charles Rogers (1856-1929) was born June 1856 in Iowa City, Iowa (other sources place Rogers’ birth place at Fort Atkinson, Iowa). He first married a woman named Jennet (Jeanette) Chance, though the details of their marriage are insofar unknown. Jennet had two children with Charles in Kansas, Mary J. Rogers in Oct. 1879 and Raymond H. Rogers in July 1881. Jennet died in 1885, two years after Raymond’s birth. Charles later made his way to the northwest where he met Katherine V. Winniford Smith at her photography studio, listed as Eureka Studio, K.V. Smith & Co., Pullman, WA. His obituary lists him as a 38 year resident of the region, implying he came to the area circa 1891.

Katherine (Katie) V. Winniford (1871-1955) had been born in Tennessee but came to Oregon with her father at a young age, living in Wilbur, OR, and in Portland. In Portland, she married Edward N. Smith in 1890, and they had three daughters: Hazel Margaret (b. July 1891 in Oregon), Ethel May (b. 1894 in Oregon), and Adalaine E. (b. 1895 in Washington). Edward Smith was killed in 1896 when the horses pulling his freight wagon bolted; it is unclear when Katherine came north.

Katherine and Charles married on Sept. 16, 1899; the 1900 census lists Charles in Spokane as a day laborer, and Katherine as a photographer. Katherine would have two children with Charles: David Laverne in 1902 and Katherine Virginia on October 10, 1910. By the time of the 1910 census, the family was living in Miles, WA, where Charles is listed as a fruit farmer. Charles took a number of photos from 1890 to 1915 for commercial reasons as well as personal interest in the art. While Katherine apparently did not take photographs after the two were married, Charles apparently continued to do so until his death. Charles died on October 20, 1929 in Spokane Washington.

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Content Description

The Charles Rogers Photographs collection consists of glass and film negatives as well as photographic prints. All of the images in the collection appear to have been taken between 1892 and 1935, and most were taken by Charles, though it is likely other members of the Rogers family continued taking photographs after Charles Rogers’ death. Rogers primarily used a wooden camera to produce the glass plate negatives. Approximately half of the glass plate negatives are 5”x 7” while the other half are 4”x 5”. The film negatives have a greater degree of variation in size, with a number of sizes between 4”x 5” and 1.5”x 2.5”.

The majority of the photographs in the collection were taken in the Pacific Northwest; other locations include California, New York, Canada, and Alaska. The collection includes personal family photographs and commercial prints. The collection showcases scenes of rural life from the time period as well as cityscapes and family portraits. Rogers had a particular interest in the railroad and ships so there are a number of photographs showing wrecks, train engines, and labor operations.

The 300s series appears to focus on the railroad in the Pacific Northwest, as well as buildings and construction in Spokane Washington.

The 500s series largely features human subjects, and other scenes depicting life in the 1892-1935 time period.

The 700s series features fishing, hunting, agricultural life, photographs from trips to Alaska and Portland Oregon, and children enjoying a beach day.

The 1000s series appears to be made up of mostly family photographs, including both personal family photographs and photographs taken of other families; photographs from trips to California, Oregon, and Canada; photographs of a large ship and a train wreck; as wells as photographs of cityscapes.

The 900s series does not appear to have any unique or distinct themes in terms of subject; it includes cityscapes; nature scenes; images of ships, trains, and automobiles; group photographs and individual portraits; photographs depicting hunting and agricultural labor; as well as photographs of construction work and individual buildings.

Images that were previously stored loosely, or in envelopes with multiple other items but no description, have been individually filed in box 3. Items in box 3 were assigned numbers 1-153, and were described by the processor. The subjects of these photographs were primarily children and families; groups of people; as well as some nature scenes and cityscapes.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions apply.

Preferred Citation

[Item description]

Charles Rogers Photographs, circa 1890-1935 (PC 208)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection retains most of the original order in which it came to WSU, though some reorganization and interfiling was done. Items labeled and identified form a first informal series, in boxes one and two, and then the unidentified items have been preliminarily described and are in box three. Box one is primarily larger photo prints and negatives; box two exclusively smaller.

This collection was arranged into several multi-subject series by the donor’s spouse, and as much of the arrangement at intake has been preserved as possible. The series numbers come from the item numbers given to the individual items by that prior owner, and include the 300s, 500s, 700s, 900s, and 1000s. The 300s, 500s, 700s, and 1000s series tend to be larger, 5”x7”, and are housed together in box 1; they were received that way. The 900s series are smaller, 3”x5”, and are located in box 2. A small number of sequential items appear to be missing from the collection including: 509, 707, 762, 781, 782, 783, 784, 973, 974, 975, 977, 977A, 1018A, 1064.

Custodial History

Nancy Hohenstein’s husband, Doug, was the grandson of Charles Rogers, and the photographs had always been in the family’s possession, first with Doug’s brother Jim, then with Doug. Doug had done much of the organizing, ordering, and labeling of the photographs.

Acquisition Information

Nancy Hohenstein donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries on June 5, 2022, where it was retained as UPC 2022-03. Two Eureka Studio cabinet cards, of unknown provenance, were added to the back of the collection in 2024.

Processing Note

WSU student Sam Boling processed this collection in late 2022 and early 2023. All materials were rehoused at the time due to the acidity of the existing folders, but all labeling was either retained or copied over.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Sam Boling
2023

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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