Showing 1 - 10 of 773 Records
Porter C. Thayer Photographs
- Description: This archive contains 1300 photographs made by Porter C. Thayer,scanned from silver gelatin prints, held in the collection of the Brooks Memorial Library. The prints were made in 1980 from the 5x7 glass plates negatives created by Porter Thayer. These images are also available on microfilm at the Brattleboro library. Porter Thayer was born Porter Charlie Thayer on January 6, 1882 on Main Street in Williamsville, Vermont. He grew up in the red house called the Tillotson Place in the Parish section of Newfane, Vermont. He photographed Windham County, Vermont, beginning in 1906 through around 1920. Like most Vermont men of his generation he was a farmer, specifically an apple orchardist, managing his 50 acre apple orchard on Baker Brook Farm in Newfane. He turned to his apple business after ending his photographic career. The postcard craze that most likely reached Vermont by about 1905, was perhaps the impetus for Porter Thayer starting up a photographic business. His diaries tell that he sold 1,197 postal cards during a six-month period at the height of his career. The cards were for sale as souvenirs to summer tourists at small general stores, local inns, boarding houses and hotels. Local folks purchased his photographs as well, especially around the Christmas season, to send to distant relatives. A Brattleboro, Vermont directory of 1909 lists Porter as advertising that he would come to anyone’s home and make images for a reasonable fee. Around 1911 he recorded that he had 720 customers. Eventually he photographed in all the towns within a 25 mile radius of his home in Newfane. Porter Thayer perfectly fits the archetype of the town photographer. He traveled the narrow dirt roads in his buggy, behind his faithful mare Lady, who accompanied him daily. He could apparently take extended naps while Lady brought him safely home, as she always knew the way. He used two cameras: a 5 x 7 and a 6.5 x 8.5 view camera and made glass dry-plate negatives. He traveled with stacks of postcards to be delivered at stores along the way to his days work. Working continually through seasons and years, Porter Thayer left an archive that is a cultural treasure for southeastern Vermont. The quality of his work shows that he was able to combine business needs with aesthetic ones. During the time period Porter worked, Vermont was extremely poor and rural, yet held a close-knit population that shared the labors of life. Farmers helped one another to survive in a subsistence and barter economy. For women, men, and children, life meant constant work. Thayer’s images describe the work and the tools involved. His landscape images reveal this working landscape, which today is mostly hidden by trees. The fruits of his labor as a photographer have grown in importance, as both the landscape and culture of Vermont has shifted into modern spheres of living. Written by Jessica Weitz and Forrest Holzapfel, 2010.
Tennie Toussaint Photographs
- Date Created: 2007-04-10
- Description: The Tennie Toussaint collection includes photographs of agricultural landscapes, logging, mills, barn raisings, and railroad bridges from the Danville, Vermont area, circa 1900. Tennie Toussaint was a columnist for the Burlington Free Press in the 1960s - 1970s. In addition, she was an artist, librarian, made maple syrup, and refinished antique chairs. The photographs were taken by Elgin Gates, a North Danville blacksmith. Other notable figures in this collection are Frank Valley, a carpenter responsible for a lot of the new barns built at this time and the remodeling of many local houses who was known for his meticulous craftmanship, and Arthur Sanborn, who owned the sawmill and whose home had modern touches such as electricity, an aluminum roof, and a stained glass window. The mill owned by Sanborn had previously been run by the McFarlands and produced one million board feet a year at its peak.
Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, September 29, 1873
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- Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
- Date Created: 1873-09-29
- Description: Morrill writes about the potential for government aid for scholarships and Buckham's recent remarks that the University has not had any students in the agricultural course.
- Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, April 23, 1877
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- Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
- Date Created: 1877-04-23
- Description: Morrill writes about the academic progress of James Morrill and with his thoughts on a candidate for the Professor of Greek at the University.
- Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, October 29, 1888
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- Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
- Date Created: 1888-10-29
- Description: Morrill writes about a proposed Military Hall and Gymnasium to be named after him at the University of Vermont and about some enclosed remarks about Morrill and Agricultural Colleges by President Andrew Dickson White of Cornell University.
- Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, January 4, 1878
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- Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
- Date Created: 1878-01-04
- Description: Morrill writes about the behavior of his son James and negative coverage of the University in Vermont newspapers.
- Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, September 2, 1881
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- Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
- Date Created: 1881-09-02
- Description: Topics include a proposed deal to purchase the library of George Perkins Marsh for $10,000.
- Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
Railroad workers pictured with a steam powered shovel
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- Date Created: 1900
- Description: Railroad workers pictured with a steam powered shovel
- Parent Collections: Tennie Toussaint Photographs
Dam with piles of logs in the background
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- Date Created: 1900
- Description: View of a dam with piles of logs in the background. Dam was the source of power for the Sanborn sawmill and grist mill. Three men are standing on the edge of the water next to a small building (left to right, William Dumuskey, C. Wormwood, Mr. McFarland).
- Parent Collections: Tennie Toussaint Photographs
North Danville sawmill
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- Date Created: 1900
- Description: Sanborn sawmill. Caption to Tennie Toussaint article in Burlington Free Press December 30, 1971 reads, "Taken at North Danville sawmill about 1900, this picture also could have been taken three weeks ago. The only changes are a small bridge in the center, which used to be wooden and is now iron, and the barn on the right is now gone."
- Parent Collections: Tennie Toussaint Photographs