Robert Bagby Stereographs and Lantern Slides
name: label: Photographer
content: Bagby, Robert, d. 1972
label: Donor
content: Engdahl, Scott
place: label: Place
content: Washington (D.C.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Countryside
label: Topic
content: Covered bridges -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These items were acquired by the Rochester Institute of Technology after Robert Bagby's death and were given to the National Museum of American History Archives Center by Scott Engdahl on October 28, 2009. Mr. Engdahl is the son of David Engdahl, the former assistant director of the School of Photography at Rochester Institute of Technology.
creator: label: Photographer
content: Bagby, Robert, d. 1972
setName: label: See more items in
content: Robert Bagby Stereographs and Lantern Slides
abstract: label: Summary
content: Robert Bagby was a professional photographer and professor of photography at Rochester Institute of Technology. These slides depict the photographer himself, models, monuments in the Washington, DC area, and countryside scenes.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Robert C. Bagby (1896-1972) was born in St. Joseph, Missouri on October 16, 1896. After graduating from Springfield High School in 1914, Bagby attended the Illinois College of Photography. He graduated in 1916 and moved to New York City, where he worked for Stadler Photographic Company. In 1933, Bagby left Stadler to open his own commercial photography business, Robert Bagby Inc., and traveled around the world. Robert Bagby was a well-known commercial color photographer whose subjects included landscapes and fashion. He specialized in advertising and was one of the first to become known for his photographs of food for Vanity Fair in 1934. He was a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, New York) from 1953-1968, where he taught courses in color photography, specifically in advertising. He also wrote a book entitled Make Your Own Color Prints, published by McGraw-Hill in 1961.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.12 Cubic feet (1 box )
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1919 - 1970
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1185
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into two series. 

Series 1: 35mm slides 

Series 2: Black-and-White Lantern Slides, 1919
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Jennifer Burger (intern) and David Haberstich, archivist, December 22, 2009; finding aid revised by Kimberly Bassett (intern), August 11, 2010; supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection consists of thirty-three Stereo Realist color slides, with viewer, in a fitted case, arranged according to the container listing; and four 3-1/4" x 4-1/4" black-and-white lantern slides in a Kodak envelope.  Several images depict the photographer himself, possibly self-portraits.  One lantern slide shows him with a motorcycle.  Other subjects include landscapes, houses, covered bridges, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, Mount Vernon, the Supreme Court, and other landmarks from the District of Columbia, cherry blossoms in Washington, fashion models, and a commercial still life.
Although one of the lantern slides is a photograph of the young Robert Bagby astride a motorcycle, the other slides seem quite early (all dated 1919 on the labels) and were probably collected by Bagby from other sources. All lantern slides are cracked to varying degrees and are very fragile.