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Michael Cirelli collection on Northwest photography, 1865-2000

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Cirelli, Michael, 1944-2002
Title
Michael Cirelli collection on Northwest photography
Dates
1865-2000 (inclusive)
1890s-1910s (bulk)
Quantity
6 boxes, (5 linear feet including approximately 450 photographs)
Collection Number
2002.50
Summary
Research files and photograph collection of a researcher of Seattle and Northwest photography and history.
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Michael Cirelli was an avid researcher of Seattle and Northwest photography and history. A Seattle native, Cirelli grew up in South Seattle, served in the Navy as a photographer in the 1960s, and afterwards continued to work with photography as a printer. When Cirelli lost his job around 1980, he managed to live on a modest fixed income and devote his time to research. Though he had researched and collected all his life, after 1980 he spent much of his time at local libraries photocopying and hand copying old newspaper articles and looking at photographs, and visiting local antique shops, collecting historic photographs and ephemera. Considered a local authority on historical photographers that visited or settled in Seattle or the Northwest, Cirelli amassed extensive files on early regional photography and history over his years of research and corresponded regularly with other local history aficionados and people engaged in genealogical research.

Michael Cirelli died at 58 years old in 2002.

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Content Description

The collection consists of research files on Seattle and Northwest photography and history, and Cirelli’s collection of photographs of Northwest subjects, largely by photographers who worked or lived in Seattle. The bulk of the materials dates from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

The direction of Cirelli's research was informed by his focus on photography and the photographic record of early Seattle, Washington State and (to a lesser extent) Northwest history. The collection reflects the branching nature of his research; in addition to files on particular photographers, the collection includes files on the people, places, and events that were the subjects of early regional photography. So while Cirelli collected materials on established photographers like Frank LaRoche, the Lomen Bros. and Webster and Stevens, as well as on lesser known photographers, he also accumulated materials about Washington Territory pioneers, local politicians, prominent families, and picturesque local characters (such as Seattle’s “Umbrella Man,” Robert Patten), as well as on buildings, neighborhoods and events. In addition to the subject files, the collection contains a large amount of materials which remained unsorted at the time of Cirelli’s death, mostly photocopies, transcribed articles and notes.

The photography collection provides examples of work by many of the major photographers of the Northwest, largely photographers based in Seattle. Most of the photographs depict people and places in Seattle and Washington State, but a few depict other Northwest locations such as Alaska and British Columbia.

The collection also includes two sketchbooks created by Seattle pioneer Alfred M. Schillestad.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format by clicking on the camera icons in the inventory below.

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Michael Cirelli Collection on Northwest photography, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in 3 series:

  • Research files
  • Photographs
  • Alfred M. Schillestad sketchbooks

Location of Collection

3a.2.5, 7-9

Acquisition Information

Donated by the estate of Michael Cirelli via Rosemary Pimentel, August 2002.

Separated Materials

24 photographic and lithographic postcards of local subjects were relocated to the Museum’s postcard collection.

13 books were relocated to the Sophie Frye Bass Library book collection

Ephemera from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was transferred to the Museum’s Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Collection, Accession No. 2006.3.

Bibliography

Hendrickson, Jody. "The Schillestad Family: Sketches of Salmon Bay Life ." HistoryLink.org:The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State. 2007 <http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=8334>.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Photographers--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Pioneers--Washington (State)--Seattle

Geographical Names

  • Seattle (Wash.)
  • Washington (State)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Glass negatives
  • Photographic prints

Finding aid prepared by Jody Hendrickson
2007

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

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