Collection P 010:
B. J. Ochsner photograph collection inventory

P 010
B. J. Ochsner photograph collection
Years created: 1920 - 1953

This collection consists of approximately 400 large photoprints, nearly all in black and white, of local Southwest Colorado scenes, many of them in winter.  Most were framed under glass at the time they were accessioned, in acidic conditions; all are now stored unframed.  Individual prints are numbered 103-533.

Biographical note

Benjamin James Ochsner was a Durango (Colo.) medical doctor whose photos were exhibited in England, France, Canada and the United States.  He pioneered using color in photos.  Born in Prairie-du-Sac, Wisconsin, Jan. 10, 1869, he died in Aug. 1953 at home at the age of 84.

Dr. Ochsner moved to Durango from Telluride in 1903.  He spent much of his spare time in nature, taking photographs. As the Durango Herald noted in his obituary: “Considered one of the world's most consistent contributors to national and international photography salons, the doctor became one of the few Americans honored with a fellowship in the Royal Photography Society of London.  He has pictures hanging in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution.  He was one of the few photographers who today still developed his by the old carbon process.  He sensitized his own printing paper and used sunlight to develop his prints.  Up to Thursday, Dr. Ochsner spent some time in his darkroom, some time in the pistol range in the cellar of his home, and some time with his music collection each day.”

OBITUARY OF DR. BENJAMIN OCHSNER - Durango Herald, August 25, 1953

"Dr. Benjamin James Ochsner, 84, died unexpectedly Thursday at his home, 720 Fourth Avenue here.

One of the best-known medical men in the Four Corners area, Dr. Ochsner was an internationally famous photographer and pistol shot.

Dr. Ochsner had been ill for two weeks, but apparently recovered last weekend.

Dr. Ochsner was born in Prairie-du-Sac, Wisconsin, January 10, 1869.  There were medical men and surgeons in his family back to the time of the Crusades.  His great-grandfather was a doctor in the service of Napoleon.

Dr. Ochsner was graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science degree.  At college he studied music.  He played in the university orchestra and band and was a cadet captain in the University National Guard unit.

After college the doctor attended Rush Medical College where his work was so outstanding that he taught pathology while still a student.

He was one of four Rush graduates who passed a grueling four-day competitive examination for internship at Cook County hospital in Chicago.  There he interned under his cousin, the internationally known Dr. A. J. Ochsner.

He studied in Europe for a year and in 1902 came to Telluride to practice.  His interest in music led him to play nightly with a string ensemble in the mining town's Sheridan hotel.

In 1903 he came to Durango.  Shortly thereafter he started the first of three hospitals he administered here.  The first hospital building was a two-story brick structure at 2449 West Second Avenue now occupied by the W. C. Elliotts.  Later the hospital moved into the Jake Fritz house.

In 1913 Dr. Ochsner moved the hospital into the 805 Fifth Avenue building now occupied by the Community Hospital.

Dr. Ochsner's hospitals contained the most modern equipment of the period.  He brought the first X-ray equipment into Durango.

Best-known as a surgeon, Dr. Ochsner performed the first goiter operations here.

Dr. Ochsner took another year abroad after he had been here several years.  He studied at the massive Vienna hospital where 1,000 patients were handled in one day.

While in Austria he won that nation's national pistol championship.  He put on an exhibition of pistol shooting for the King and Queen of Belgium.  Later he numbered the American National Pistol trophy among his many national and international awards for both rifle and handgun shooting.

Each year Dr. Ochsner, often accompanied by J. F. McNabb of 524 Fifth Avenue, spent hours hunting both small and big game.

McNabb and other hunting and fishing companions speak of the doctor's almost encyclopedic knowledge of the birds and animals of this area.

When he was not hunting or fishing, the doctor spent much of his time in the woods taking photographs.

Considered one of the world's most consistent contributors to national and international photography salons, the doctor became one of the few Americans honored with a fellowship in the Royal Photography Society of London.  He has pictures hanging in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

He was one of the few photographers who today still developed his by the old carbon process.  He sensitized his own printing paper and used sunlight to develop his prints.

Up to Thursday, Dr. Ochsner spent some time in his darkroom, some time in the pistol range in the cellar of his home, and some time with his music collection each day.

His interest in music remained constant through his life.  He collected one of the finest libraries of symphonic and operatic music in the area.  Occasionally the Ochsners held soirees at which local music devotees heard selections from the Ochsner library along with a running explanation of the music by the doctor.

Dr. Ochsner sold his hospital to Dr. Leo Lloyd and Dr. Christopher Martin in 1936.  He retired then, but continued until last year to care for the families of his older patients.

Two years ago, Dr. Ochsner, with Dr. R. L. Downing and Dr. Wordsworth M. Elliott, was honored by the San Juan Basin Medical Society for half a century of service in the Basin.

Dr. Ochsner’s first wife, Marie Malec Oschsner, died in December, 1933.  The couple met at the University of Wisconsin.  At Fort Lewis A & M there is a memorial scholarship for Mrs. Marie Ochsner. "

Administrative information

Arrangement note: To the extent that it was possible, the Center retained Dr. Ochsner's original order of these photoprints.  The Center's database is the best means for accessing individual images.

Acquisition information:  Mrs. Earl J. Baughetee donated the bulk of the first items in this collection (approximately 350 photoprints), in 1971 (accession numbers 1971:02042, 1971:02103, 1971:02490; the appraiser's report was dated Feb. 12, 1970).  Mr. J. C. Fosshage donated 390 Ochsnser photprints in September of 1968 (accession 1968:09003).  Addition acquisitions for this collection included a black and white Ochsner photo of a Navajo mother and children donated by Ella C. Bay (accession 1968:06001), a photo donated by Julie Koss in December of 1988 (accession 1988:12010), 8 photographs transferred to the Center from the Durango Public Library in August of 1990 (accession 1990:08004A), a photo entitled "Nydia, the blind girl" donated by Alyce Salmine McCoy in July of 2002 (accession 2002:07004), and a posed view of three women models at a waterfall donated by Ed Zink in April of 2006 (2006:055.5).  The late Frank Nelson donated three Animas River Valley winter Ochsner photographs in1985 (accession 1985:06001).  Historical note: after Dr. Ochsner delivered Mr. Nelson's son James Nelson, at the Ochsner Hospital (now the Gable Bed and Breakfast, in Durango), James weighed 4.25 pounds and Dr. Ochsner told Mrs. Nelson, "I wouldn't give you a dime for him" -- which, needless to say, upset the mother!  James Nelson recalls that Dr. Ochsner had an office upstairs in the old Burns National Bank Building on Main Ave., and it always smelled of ether.

Processing information:  The Center removed all of the photos from frames (due to the acidic materials used in early photographic framing) and numbered the individual photoprints from 103 to 533.  Initial arrangement of the photoprints and data entry was by Jaymie Asmussen and other student archival assistants in October of 2000. Center of Southwest Studies student archival assistant Paul Beckler inventoried and item-listed the photos in the Center's Images database in October of 2000.  This guide was produced by Todd Ellison, Certified Archivist, Center of Southwest Studies, on September 2, 2003. 

List of Ochsner photographs titles

The following is a listing of the titles of 392 of the photographs in the Ochsner Collection that are available for researchers' use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies,  Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.

ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY BY TITLE

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