Collection P 049: Blackington Southwest photographs inventory

©2002 by Fort Lewis College Foundation, Center of Southwest Studies account (revised 2005)

Links to contents

Introduction/ Scope and contents

This collection consists of glass plates, cellulose nitrate film transparencies, and a few lantern slides.  Most date from the mid-1930s.  Some (especially those that show views prior to the 1930s) are photographs of photographs.  This collection is useful for anyone researching the history of these Southwestern topics, professors and students seeking visual materials for classroom instruction, and persons seeking the oft-elusive depictions of everyday scenes of  life during this period.  The size of most is 4x5” (some are slightly smaller).  Subjects include Mesa Verde (Colo.), Taos and Taos Pueblo (N.M.), Acoma Pueblo (N.M.), Carlsbad Caverns (N.M.),  Chaco Canyon (N.M.), Death Valley (Calif.), Canyon de Chelly (Ariz.), Grand Canyon (Ariz.), Walpi (Ariz.), Penitentes, and Indians and scenes in the Southwest.

The photos seem to have been compiled and labeled by Alton Hall Blackington, "Blackie," who evidently took some or perhaps most of  the photos, though that cannot be surely ascertained (see his son's note in the biographical section that follows).  It seems that Mr. Blackington compiled these photos for use in his traveling lecture show entitled "Turquoise Truths," which his pamphlet described as "A 10,000-mile camera trip through canyons and deserts of our glorious Southwest. Hopis and Navajos. Carlsbad Caverns. Taos, Grand Canyon. `Sky City of Acoma'." 

The Archivist tested a sample of the cellulose film on 7/25/2003 at the Chemistry Hall using the burn test and the Diphenylamine Test and determined that the film is indeed cellulose nitrate.

Quantitative summary of the items:   

Biographical note

Alton H. "Blackie" Blackington (1893-1963) was "a photojournalist and author who worked as a news photographer for the Boston Herald and later operated his own service offering illustrated lectures and commercial and news photographs." (Source: "The Yankee Photograph Collection," by Lorna Condon, in Old-Time New England, Vol. 73, No. 260, Fall 1995, p. 36.)  That author (p. 40) cites Blackington as writing in his book Yankee Yarns (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1954; ISBN 54-11233; OCLC: 1478322) that "`with note book and camera...I covered fires, floods, shipwrecks, and celebrities, always watching for the most unusual human interest angle.'"  According to an envelope in which  the Peter Balland photonegative in this collection was received by the Center, Mr. Blackington's photograph studio, Blackington Service, was located at 9 Hamilton Place, Boston, Massachusetts.

Though his own photos focused on New England, Blackington was so interested in the region, he produced a " Southwest Lecture flyer...to promote a new audience market.  While primarily famous as [one of] New England's leading photographer/lecture and radio story tellers; long before the TV days; he realized the need to widen his program offerings.  Thus he went to the Southwest for new lecture material and believe he went more than once.  Later he expanded to cover Cuba; Panama, Brazil, the Islands, Nova Scotia, etc."  

A photo taken of Mr. Blackington in the Southwest region shows Mr. Blackington "sporting a large hat and carrying his faithful 4x5 Graflex camera.  The fact  it was with him supports that in addition to his 35mm color slides, he undoubtedly took photos on 4x5 Kodak "B&W negative pack film,  but not color, in that size.  Thus he could have produced any number of B&W prints reflecting the area.  He prized photos he took of `people from the areas' visited." 

"Although he was an outstanding pioneer photographer, holding many awards and an annual speaker to the National Geographic Society; he also operated...a professional photo/file collection for media/advertiser outlets; from his office at 9 Hamilton Place, Boston.  Over the years, and especially after his death, it has become difficult to know - which photographs he took himself and which were from `The Blackington Collection' or `The Blackington Files'.

"Like any professional photographer, film was his least concern.  I've seen him shoot twenty rolls in day, especially in early color film days when there were only 8 shots on a roll.  Probably he did take all of the 35mm shots in the Southwest collection as market for Southwest stock shots would be low in New England for volume.

"Also at that time, as a color photography pioneer, he often used test film and cameras sent to him and others, by the Eastman Kodak Company.  So the bulk of his work would have been in 35 mm. 

"Any other photos, including those...from Peggy's Cove (Nova Scotia) could have been in color separation sheets; or the old 4x5 "lantern slides," many of which were later hand colored for his lectures; before color film became commercially available.

"He had the advantage of shooting B&W news photos for the Boston Herald on assignment, then using the same photos for his lectures.  Thus he produced many black and white negs on his 4x5 Graflex camera. ...

"Since he was basically a Boston and New England area photographer, B&W's and color 35mm's. from `out of the area' are probably not his; unless connected with a specific lecture visit project.  He was known to shoot both B&W, color and 16mm movies; B&W and color; on assignment.  In his late years, he produced two New England shows in 16mm motion picture color and did about 13 TV programs in sequence." (Source of the preceding quotes: Chandler J. Blackington, only child of Alton H. Blackington, emails to Todd Ellison on April 23 and 28, 2003)

Mr. Blackington wrote two books, both published by Dodd, Mead: Yankee Yarns (1954) and More Yankee Yarns (1956).  Following are digital views of the title page and the two-page foreword from the 1954 volume, and the back cover of his 1956 book.

Administrative information

About the organization of this collection:  The photos are in the order in which they were received by the Center.  The arrangement is basically by subject .

Acquisition of this collection:  This collection was a gift from Kai Kauppi and Kathy Kauppi to the Center of Southwest Studies (Accession 2002:10005).  Mr. Kauppi inherited this box of photos from his father; it was then a small part of a collection of tens of thousands of photonegatives, many of which pertained to the U.S. East Coast and World Wars I and II.  According to Chandler J. Blackington (emails on 4/28/2003), "A substantial portion of Mr. Blackington's photographic/editorial holdings were sold to Yankee Magazine in Dublin, New Hampshire, and others given to the Farnsworth Museum, in Rockland, Maine., at the time of his death, or just before."  Blackington "knew Yankee publisher, Rob Sagendorph, [and] assistant editor Judson Hale well; and others there, as he provided/sold Yankee magazine with many photos and stories over the years.  Yankee later published several coffee table style books that included photos from/by AHB, the Blackington Collection and The Blackington Service ... Later, we know that Yankee released some of this material to the New England Society for the Preservation of Antiquities."  Other sources also indicate that the bulk of the original collection was given (in the 1960s) to Yankee Magazine, with an authorization for the Magazine to send any photos it did not need to more appropriate homes.  In 1994 Yankee Publishing, Inc., donated its collection of New England images to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (source: "The Yankee Photograph Collection," by Lorna Condon, in Old-Time New England, Vol. 73, No. 260, Fall 1995, p. 36).  

Just prior to the donation of these particular Southwest images to the Center of Southwest Studies in the fall of 2002, the Kauppis offered the 40-50 Mesa Verde photos (now included in this accession) to the Mesa Verde National Park Research Center, which declined the offer and agreed that they would best be kept with the remainder of the collection at the Center of Southwest Studies.  The Center returned 26 envelopes of non-Southwest 4x5” photonegatives (mainly of California and Peggy’s Cove)  to the donor to offer to more appropriate repositories for those items, especially considering that the collection already had been split up geographically.

Processing information:  The Center of Southwest Studies archival staff inventoried and archivally re-housed this collection in October of 2002.  Initial data entry was by Elizabeth "Liz" Miller, student archival assistant, in October 2002.   Todd Ellison, Certified Archivist, Center of Southwest Studies, rehoused and numbered the photographs and produced the metadata prior to their digitization, and produced this guide (last revised December 2005).

Digital access: Consultant Nik Kendziorski scanned most of the images in the Center's Blackington Collection, in late July and early August of 2003, as part of the Center of Southwest Studies' Western Trails grant through the Colorado Digitization Program.  Through its partnership with the Colorado Digitization Program (CDP -- now the Collaborative Digitization Program), the Center has digitized more than five thousand images selected from a number of collections, for viewing on the Web for educational purposes and research.  To search for digital images at the Center of Southwest Studies and elsewhere, go to Heritage West.

The Colorado Digitization Program is supported through a National Leadership Grant to the University of Denver Penrose Library from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (a federal grant-making agency in Washington, D.C., which fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning, by supporting museums and libraries) with additional assistance from the Colorado State Library, and the Colorado Regional Library Systems.

Locations of other Blackington photos/ related collection: the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities  in Worcester, Massachusetts holds the bulk of the A. H. Blackington photographs (photoprints/ negatives/ slide transparencies).  Additional Blackington photos are housed at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine.

List of Blackington Southwest photographs titles with URL links

The following is a listing of the envelope titles describing 431 photographs in the Blackington Collection that are available for researchers' use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies,  Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.  Those with a URL have been scanned for online digital access for research purposes.

ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY BY TITLE

Search suggestion: you can search this web page by name using the Edit-> Find in Page (Ctrl+F) feature on your Web browser.
Click on the web page address in the right-hand column to see the digital image.