Georgiana Lowell collection of stereographs of the Boston fire of 1872
Overview
Stereographs of the "Great Boston Fire of 1872." Photographs taken by four different Boston-area photographic firms.
Dates
- Creation: 1872
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
.5 linear feet (1 box)The photographs in this collection of 53 stereographs were taken by the following Boston-area photographers: John S. Moulton and Joshua W. Moulton of J.W. & J.S. Moulton of Salem, Mass., Asa Cheney Partridge of A.C. Partridge of Boston, Horatio G. Smith of H.G. Smith of Boston, and John P. Soule of Boston. All photographs were taken in 1872, but none of the cards show a date of printing or publication. There are autograph manuscript notes on verso of many of the cards that give more specific description of each view.
Biographical / Historical
The "Great Boston Fire of 1872" (November 9th and 10th) destroyed 775 buildings and caused millions of dollars in damage to the commercial section that we now know as Boston's business district. The fire started in an empty hoop-skirt factory on the corner of Summer and Kinsgton Streets and quickly spread to other areas of the city, including engulfing Old Trinity Church.
Arrangement
Organized by photographer into the following series:
- I. Stereographs by J.W. & J.S. Moulton
- ___A. American views
- ___B. Ruins of the Great Fire in Boston
- II. Stereographs by A.C. Partridge
- III. Stereographs by H.G. Smith
- ___A. Views of the burnt district, Boston
- ___B. Cards with no series labels
- IV. Stereographs by John P. Soule
- V. Loose images.
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Bequest of Georgina Lowell; received: 1924 May 6.
Recataloged from US 13178.1*
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Lowell, Georgina, collector. Georgiana Lowell collection of stereographs of the Boston fire of 1872: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00155
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440
Houghton_Library@harvard.edu