Details
Creator Rismiller, Mary Lorah, 1883-1959.
Title [Family photograph album of views of Eastern and Central Pennsylvania] [graphic].
Publisher PA. 1907-1916
Date [1907-1916]
Physical Description ca. 345 photographs in 1 album : gelatin silver; album 26 x 32 cm (10.25 x 12.5 in.)
Description Family snapshot photograph album photographed and compiled by a Lorah family member, possibly Mary (Lorah) Rismiller and containing portraits of family members and friends and views of Eastern and Central Pennsylvania during family visits and excursions between 1907 and 1916. Album pages are annotated with the name of town visited and often the date of the visit. The photographs are captioned with descriptive or identifying titles and/or annotated with the names of the sitters photographed. Towns and cities visited include Houtzdale, Pa. in 1910; Emaus, Pa. in 1911; Duncannon, Pa. in 1911; Millerstown, Pa. ; Philadelphia, Pa.; Ocean Grove, N.J.; Atlantic City, N.J.; Camden, N.J.; Mexico, Pa. in 1915; and Wernersville, Pa. in 1916. Imagery includes views of businesses and industries, several churches, schools, residences, and recreational areas, as well bridges, streetscapes, cityscapes, and landscapes. Sites depicted show the Houtzdale Coal Mining Region, including views of workers, the entrance, the breaker “after the fire,” and the air shaft; Camden, N.J. Alms House Hospital and Stables; Edwin Glass near the brick oven of a bake shop and “Novelty works” (Duncannon, Pa.); a duck farm (Emaus, Pa.); the Office of Dr. M.J. Stine, Old & New Shirt Factory of B.W. Paget & Son, a wooden tripod structure “Devils Catcher,” and Slaughterback Hill (Millerstown, Pa.); the Juniata River; a bridge and shirt factory (Mexico, Pa.) and South Mountain Park (Wernersville, Pa.)
Several photographs document the facilities and staff, including Mary’s brother W. C. Lorah, at the State Hospital at Wernersville. The views show the “Filtering Bed,” “Turburcular” [sic] ward, “Stables,” the “Reservoir,” “Refectory,” “Day Room,” “Isolation Building,” “Laundry/Cold Storage,” “Industrial Building,” “Green Houses,” “Infirmary Force,” (i.e. hospital attendants); and the “Dormitory.” Also contains views from the Lorah family hometown of Blandon, Pa., including the “Lorah House”; views of the railroad, including tracks, stations, and bridges; camping along the Delaware River; and the Camden Carnival.
Portrait photographs show men, women, and children posed in front of residences, in yards and public spaces, and on outings. Several of the portraits depict Mary Ritzmiller’s mother Ellen Becker Lorah, as well as niece Selena Lorah, and nephew Merit O. Lorah (as a baby), and brother W.C. (William Chester) Lorah. Other portraits depict a group portrait of “J. Benson employees” posed in front of a shoe store in Holzdale; “Mrs. Lukens” posed from her wheelchair; and an out of focus view of W.C. Lorah “Among the Fens.” Portraiture also includes a portrait taken in Blandon and captioned “Black Annie” and shows an older Black woman standing on the steps of probably a general store and attired in a kerchief, heavy jacket, and skirt. She wears a tambourine at her waist and walks with a cane. A few portraits depict women in chicken coops and Ellen Lorah holding a goose. Several portraits are also annotated with humorful and wry-toned captions, including a series of images of individuals posed to represent “Sports," “Obeying,” “Cherubs,” “Temptation,” and “Just for Fun.” Many of the photographs include objects of the everyday, including horse-drawn vehicles, water pumps, wash tubs and a hand-powered washer, baby carriages and rockers and other children’s furnishings, dolls and stuffed animals, and an automobile. Album also contains portraits of friends from and views of Toledo and Gibsonburg, Ohio in June 1907.
Notes Title supplied by cataloger.
Date from content.
Stamped on front cover: Photographs.
Photographs arranged in diagonal patterns on p. [24-30].
Many of the pages contain titles.
Majority of images annotated with a caption.
Biographical / historical note Mary Lorah Rissmiller (1883-1959), daughter of Allen Lorah (1849-1922) and Ellen Becker Lorah 1856-1917), was born in Blandon, Pa. and married railroad freight laborer William Rismiller (1879-1959) in 1903. Her siblings included Daniel Clement Lorah (b. 1874), Josiah Curtis Lorah (1876-1957), Allen Harvery Lorah (1886-1967), and William Chester Lorah (1888-1918).
Subject Lorah, Ellen Becker 1856-1917 -- Portraits.
Lorah, Lorena 1905-1941 -- Portraits.
Lorah, Merrit O. 1913-1997 -- Portraits.
Lorah, William Chester 1888-1918 -- Portraits.
Camden County Almshouse (Camden County, N.J.)
Wernersville State Hospital (Pa.)
African American women -- Pennsylvania -- Blandon.
Coal mining -- Pennsylvania -- Houtzdale.
Manufactories -- Pennsylvania.
Parks -- Pennsylvania.
Psychiatric hospitals -- Pennsylvania -- Wernersville.
Railroads -- Pennsylvania.
Recreation -- New Jersey -- Atlantic City.
Recreation -- Pennsylvania.
EAMSS
Geographic subject Atlantic City (N.J.) -- Pictorial works.
Berks County (Pa.) -- Pictorial works.
Camden (N.J.) -- Pictorial works.
Duncannon (Pa.) -- Pictorial works.
Emaus (Pa.) -- Pictorial works.
Gibsonburg (Oh.) -- Pictorial works.
Houtzdale (Pa.) -- Pictorial works.
Juniata River (Pa.)
Mexico (Pa.) -- Pictorial works.
Millerstown (Pa.) -- Pictorial works.
Ocean Grove (N.J.) -- Pictorial works.
Toledo (Oh.) -- Pictorial works.
Wernersville (Pa.) -- Pictorial works.
Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Pictorial works.
South Mountain Park (Wernersville, Pa.)
Genre Photograph albums -- 1910-1920.
Gelatin silver prints -- 1910-1920.
Group portraits -- 1910-1920.
Portrait photographs -- 1910-1920.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| albums [P.2022.14]
Accession number P.2022.14