Collection of glass plate negatives
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of glass plate negatives, mostly gelatin glass negatives, and some photographic prints. While most of the images in this collection were captured by either John C. Brewster or Waldo Henry Dingman Sr, some may be the work of other photographers. The negatives are largely of Ventura County locations, historic sites, persons, and events, such as parades and holiday celebrations. There are also several boxes of unidentified negatives.
Dates
- circa 1872-1920s
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED ON-SITE: Open for research. Advance requests can be made to Research Library staff via email: library@venturamuseum.org. Some materials may be too fragile to handle and may require stabilization or digitization before they can be viewed.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Museum of Ventura County. Literary rights, including copyright, have not been determined. Contact the Research Library for further information: library@venturamuseum.org.
Biographical / Historical
This collection consists of glass plate negatives donated by Bert Seymour and photographer David W. Hill. Seymour's donation was composed of items originally from the collection of Robert Brakey and later Judge Walter Fourt. Both Seymour and Hill's donations are negatives of photographs taken by John C. Brewster and Waldo Henry Dingman, Sr. Both men were local photographers. Brewster moved to Ventura County in the 1870s and was the first to establish a studio on Main St. He eventually built a custom studio and many photographs of early Ventura County and its residents were taken by him. Waldo Henry Dingman Sr. was born May 17, 1872, in Union City, Iowa and died on July 16, 1955, in Ventura, California. He was a professional photographer in Des Moines and Seattle before moving to Ventura in 1911. The Dingman family operated a photo studio for many years. While most of the images in this collection were captured by either Brewster or Dingman, some may be the work of other photographers.
Extent
9.13 Cubic Feet (31 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection consists of glass plate negatives donated by Bert Seymour and photographer David W. Hill. Both donations include images captured by local photographers John C. Brewster and Waldo Henry Dingman, Sr. The collection is composed entirely of glass plate negatives, mostly gelatin glass negatives, and some photographic prints. The images are of various Ventura County locations, historic sites, persons, and events, such as parades and community celebrations.
Arrangement
This collection has no series. Negatives are all individually numbered and are largely in numerical order. However, some negatives may not be in order due to their size. Confirm the box number before requesting to look at a particular negative.
There are two sets of unidentified negatives. Boxes 11-24 were partially processed and arranged, while Boxes 25-30 were not. The order and groupings of unidentified negatives have been maintained in order to aid with potential identification.
Physical Location
Stored at the MVC Research Library. All requests to access special collections can be made in advance by emailing the Research Library reference desk: library@venturamuseum.org.
Other Finding Aids
Description of the identified glass plates and images are available in this Inventory document. There is additional description for the unnummbered and unidentified glass plates available in this Unidentified Inventory document.
Provenance/Source of acquisition
David W. Hill; gift; 1989. Bert Seymour, gift; 1992.
Processing Information
Processed by Library Staff, circa 2010. Additional processing of unprocessed materials by Isabel Cline and Krystell Jimenez, 2022, and Stephanie Zager, 2023.
- Brewster, John Calvin, 1841-1909
- Celebrations -- California -- Ventura County -- Photographs
- Dingman, Waldo Henry, Sr., 1872-1955
- Historic Buildings -- California -- Ventura County -- Photographs
- Parades -- California -- Ventura County -- Photographs
- Special events -- California -- Ventura County -- Photographs
- Ventura County (Calif.) -- Photographs
- Title
- Finding aid for Collection of glass plate negatives, circa 1872-1920s
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Jennifer Maxon, 2010.
- Date
- 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- This finding aid was made possible in part through funding from the County of Ventura and the Heritage Fund at the Ventura County Community Foundation.
Revision Statements
- April 2022, August 2023: This finding aid was updated by Krystell Jimenez.
Repository Details
Part of the Museum of Ventura County Repository