W. H. Bass Photo Company (P 0130)

The W. H. Bass Photo Company Collection comprises approximately 200,000 items, including more than 144,000 black-and-white negatives and 20,000 photographic prints. Perhaps the company's 1906 city directory advertisement best describes the surviving collection: "Photos of Any Thing, Any Where, Any Time." These historic pictures of Indianapolis were made between 1903 and 1971. The collection is strong in architectural images, street scenes, aerial views, and transportation. The digitization of this collection is a work in progress.

W.H. Bass Photo Company--Indiana Rail Transportation Images (P 0130)

This online collection's focus is the history of public transportation in Indiana, from mule-drawn streetcars and steam trains to electric buses and diesel trains. Union Station, the Traction Terminal, small-town depots, and other facilities are also depicted.

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Mary Lyon Taylor (P 0178, P 0281)

Taylor was influenced by photography magazines and probably by photographic exhibitions held at the nearby John Herron Art Institute. Her photography work is classified as “pictorialist” style, an artistic photographic genre characterized by its soft-focus appearance. Family and friends posed for her in her upstairs drawing room parlor. Taylor’s models, usually women and children, were posed artistically, often holding open books, or flowers.

For more information on Mary Lyon Taylor please see the following article: Mary Lyon Taylor, Traces, Winter 1994 (PDF)

Collection Guide
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Panoramic Photograph Images

Cirkut cameras were invented in the late 19th/early 20th centuries to enable photographers to take panoramic photographs of scenery and large groups of people. Indiana photographers were hired to take pictures of family reunions, the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, military encampments, company picnics, conventions, church congregations, etc. This is a growing collection of panoramic images taken by different Indiana photographers.

Bretzman Photograph Studio (P 0338)

Charles F. Bretzman was a partner in the photo company Koehne & Bretzman of Chicago, Illinois. He may have come to Indianapolis in 1900, although he does not appear in city directories as a photographer until 1902. Charles’ earliest studios were located at 142 South Illinois Street (1902) and 22 ½ North Pennsylvania Street (1905). It was while Bretzman was in this studio that he became the first official photographer for the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. It was also in this studio that the Bretzman family began its long professional relationship with a young local photographer named Harry E. Clark.

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Cephas M. Huddleston Glass Plate Collection, ca. 1890
(P 0159)

Cephas M. Huddleston spent most of his life in Henry County, Indiana. The images in the collection depict the Spiceland Community. The Hoover Block, Spiceland Academy, Spiceland Sanitarium, train depot and Stigleman Manufacturing Company are among the landmarks shown.

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Herman List Collection (P 0017)

Herman List was a cook at the National Surgical Institute in Indianapolis in the late 1890s. Photography was his hobby and he took pictures of staff and patients at the Institute as well as pictures of his family at home. Some of the staff pictures are humorously posed.

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J.C. Allen and Son Collection, 1926-1952 (P 0490)

John Calvin Allen began his photography business in Tippecanoe County in 1912. His son, Chester, joined him in 1929 and the company became know for their agricultural subjects and excellent photography. This collection was donated by the Center for Agricultural Science and Heritage in Indianapolis, Indiana and includes images of the Indiana State Fair taken by the Allens from 1926-1952. The twentieth century witnessed the debut of 4-H in 1912 and the Better Babies competition in 1920. The fair was canceled in 1942 due to World War II. All images were taken at the Indiana State Fair unless otherwise noted.

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