ca. 1858-1978
Guide to the Photograph Collection
Abstract
This collection contains photographs taken and collected by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather, former curator of the Costume Center at the Rhode Island School of Design. The photographs, dating from 1858-1978, depict Fayerweather's social life, schooling, friends, and travels to England, Greece, the Bahamas, and Central Asia, among other places, as well portraits of members of the Fayerweather, Brown, and Hinchcliffe families.
Biographical Sketch
Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather (EAF) was born 11 July 1904 in Westborough, Mass. to Frank Raymond Fayerweather (1870-1932) and Ethel Maud Hinchcliffe Fayerweather (b. 1875). She graduated from Brookline High School in Brookline, Mass. in 1923 and from the Massachusetts School of Art in 1927, where she pursued her interests in art and theater. Following her graduation from college, EAF taught design, drawing, and the history of art at the Choate School in Wallingford, Conn. She later worked with the costume collection at the Brooklyn Museum in New York and became an instructor in clothing and fashion at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1947. A specialist in costume research, EAF was named curator of the Costume Center at the RISD Museum in 1956. She died 30 Aug. 1992.
EAF was the granddaughter of George Thomas Fayerweather (1840-1893) and Ellen Elizabeth (Brown) Fayerweather (1841-1908). During the Civil War, George Thomas served with the 51st Regiment, Co. E, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Aug. 1862-July 1863); the Sixth Unattached Company, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Apr.-Aug. 1864); and as captain with the 4th Regiment, Co. F, Massachusetts Volunteer Heavy Artillery, where he remained in command until his discharge in June 1863. After the war, he was a military instructor at Lyman School in Westborough. In 1857, he became a member of the Fire Department in Westborough, where he served as chief engineer, 1875-1877, and again, 1884-1886. In the interim, he served as First Assistant. He was a member of the State Fireman's Association. Between 1880-1886, he was in charge of the fire department supplies of Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Company.
EAF also was the great-granddaughter of Samuel Harrison Brown (1813-1875) and Elizabeth Anne (Ladd) Brown (1814-1891). A merchant by trade, he owned the Samuel Harrison Brown & Co. Shoe Manufacturers of Boston. His wife Elizabeth Anne Ladd ran the "Westboro Hotel," also called the "Brown's Hotel," in Westborough. He was a member of the Boston Light Infantry between 1853-1873. He had two daughters: Harriet Augusta Brown (1848-1938), who married Addison W. Richardson in 1874, and Ellen Elizabeth Brown, who married George Thomas Fayerweather in 1865.
Collection Description
The Fayerweather family photographs consist of two volumes in cases, one volume (disbound) in one narrow box, and one box of loose photographs and negatives, encompassing the years ca. 1858-1978. Many of the photographs in the collection were taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather and pertain to her life from 1914-1978.
One album contains formal carte de visite, cabinet card, and tintype portraits of various members of the Fayerweather, Brown, Hinchcliffe, and Kimball families. Family members represented in the album include Samuel Harrison Brown, Elizabeth Anne Ladd Brown, Ellen Elizabeth Fayerweather Brown, George Thomas Fayerweather, John Harrison Fayerweather, Frank Raymond Fayerweather, and Harriet Augusta Brown Richardson. One scrapbook album contains informal snapshot photographs of Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather and her friends, social activities, and schooling from 1914-1923, as well as other memorabilia pertaining to those subjects, and one album (disbound) contains photographs of her travels in Nassau (Bahamas), Central Asia, Greece, Hong Kong, and Thailand, among other places, from 1965-1970.
The loose photographs in this collection include paper-based portraits of various members of the Brown, Fayerweather, and Kimball families, as well as several glass photographs, including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and opaque glass photos, of members of the Brown and Fayerweather families. The bulk of the loose photographs are informal snapshot photographs of Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather and various friends and family members from 1914-1978. Most of these photographs were taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather; however, most are undated and unidentified. There are also a number of loose images taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather of various places, including Europe in the 1930s and California, England, Greece, and Nassau (Bahamas) from 1965-1970, among others. Additionally, there are also a small number of photograph Christmas cards received by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather during the 1960s.
The collection also includes film negatives from photographs taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather, mostly during the 1960s. These negatives are stored with the collection.
Photographers other than EAF in this collection include George M. Rice and Theodore N. Gates of Westboro, Mass. and Henry J. Reed and Edwin J. Leland of Worcester, Mass., among many others.
Acquisition Information
The Fayerweather family photographs were removed from the Fayerweather family papers, a gift of the estate of Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather, June 1993.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Photographs in albums
A. Vol. 1. Fayerweather-Brown family album, ca. 1858-1891.
Brown, Samuel Harrison, n.d.
Taken by H. J. Reed (Worcester, Mass.).Brown, Elizabeth Anne Ladd, ca. 1860-1870.
Taken by Crosby (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, Ellen Elizabeth Brown, ca. 1860-1870.
Taken by Geo. M. Rice (Westboro, Mass.).Richardson, Harriet Augusta Brown, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Brown, Elizabeth Anne Ladd, ca.1860-1870.
Taken by Crosby (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, Ellen Elizabeth Brown, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Brown, Samuel Harrison, ca. 1864-1866.
Taken by E. J. Leland (Worcester, Mass.).Brown, William G., n.d.
Taken by H. J. Reed (Worcester, Mass.).Richardson, Harriet Augusta, ca. 1864-1866.
Taken by E.J. Leland (Worcester, Mass.).Richardson, Harriet Augusta, ca. 1864-1866.
Taken by E.J. Leland (Worcester, Mass.).Dog on table, ca. 1860-1870.
Taken by Geo. M. Rice (Westboro, Mass.).Dogs and chair, ca. 1865-1867.
Taken by R. A. Miller (Boston, Mass.).Fayerweather, George Thomas, ca. 1862.
Taken by Adams Gallery (Worcester, Mass.).Fayerweather, George Thomas, ca. 1862-1865.
Photographer unknown.Fayerweather, Ellen Elizabeth Brown, ca. 1860-1870.
Taken by Geo. M. Rice (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, George Thomas, 1865.
Taken by Day & Dean (Boston, Mass.).Unidentified man, n.d.
Taken by A. H. Messinger (Providence, R.I.).Fayerweather, Ellen Elizabeth Brown, ca. 1866-1872.
Taken by Gates (Westboro, Mass.).Brown, William G., n.d.
Photographer unknown.Tintype, hand-tinted.Brown, Grace, n.d.
Taken by Claflin's (Worcester, Mass.).Kimball, Noah, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Kimball, Martha Brown, ca. 1860-1870.
Taken by H. J. Reed (Worcester, Mass.).Kimball, Mrs. Fredrick H., n.d.
Photographer unknown.Tintype, hand-tinted.Kimball, Frederick H., n.d.
Taken by L. V. Newell's (location unknown).Henry, James, ca. 1864-1866.
Taken by Critcherson & Leland (Worcester, Mass.).Peck, Catherine Ladd, n.d.
Taken by Bennett Bros. (Brooklyn, N.Y.).Peck, James, ca. 1858-1861.
Taken by John D. Andrews of Davis & Co. (Boston, Mass.).Unidentified man, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Tintype, hand-tinted.Peck, George, ca. 1858-1861.
Taken by John D. Andrews of Davis & Co. (Boston, Mass.).Peck, George, ca. 1868-1872.
Taken by Dunshee's (Boston, Mass.).Peck, George, n.d.
Taken by Black (Boston, Mass.).Peck, George, n.d.
Taken by Brand (Chicago, Ill.).Brown, Elizabeth Ladd, ca. 1887-1888.
Taken by C. S. Nash (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, George Thomas, 1878.
Taken by J. L. Sweet (Clinton, Mass.).Clinton, Mass. Baseball Club, 1878. George Thomas Fayerweather, manager.
Taken by J. L. Sweet (Clinton, Mass.).Fayerweather, George Thomas, 1890.
Taken by North (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, Charles, ca. 1860-1870.
Taken by Geo. M. Rice (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, Harriet, ca. 1860-1870.
Taken by Geo. M. Rice (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, Charles, n.d.
Taken by R. B. Lewis (Hudson, Mass.).Prouty, Elizabeth Fayerweather, ca. 1872-1884.
Taken by H. J. Reed (Worcester, Mass.).Fayerweather, Charles, ca. 1860-1870.
Taken by Geo. M. Rice (Westboro, Mass.).Unidentified child, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Tintype, hand-tinted.Kimball, Mrs. Frederick H., n.d.
Taken by T. N. Gates (Westboro, Mass.).Hubbard, Sarah Ladd, ca. 1864-1871.
Taken by Claflin's (Worcester, Mass.).Kimball, Noah, ca. 1865.
Taken by Whipple (Boston, Mass.).Kimball, Sarah, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Ladd, Daniel, n.d.
Taken by A. W. Anderson (Haverhill, Mass.).Hubbard, Sarah Ladd, ca. 1870-1877.
Taken by A. N. Hardy (Boston, Mass.).Unidentified man, ca. 1887.
Taken by C. H. Freeman (Westboro, Mass.).Bentley, Amelia Fletcher and Millie Bentley, ca. 1888.
Taken by W. W. Winter (Derby, England).Bentley, Samuel S., n.d.
Taken by Albert Sachs (Bradford, England).Hinchcliffe, Benjamin, n.d.
Taken by the Dover Street Studios (London, England).Hinchcliffe, Samuel Bentley, n.d.
Taken by H. Burrows (Liverpool, England).Merchants, New Berne, N.C., n.d.
Taken by O. J. Smith (Newbern, N.C.).Colored Methodist church, New Berne, N.C, n.d.
Taken by J. D. Heywood's Photographic Rooms (New Berne, N.C.)."Arlington," Residence of Rebel Gen. Lee, n.d.
Taken by Cross (Ft. Richardson, Va.).Captain G. L. Fayerweather's Quarters, Ft. Ward, Va., n.d.
Photographer unknown.Ambulance corps, New Berne, N.C., ca. 1861-1865.
Photographer unknown.North Carolina Times building, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Post office, New Berne, N.C., n.d.
Photographer unknown.Men and horses, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Unidentified child, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Tintype, hand-tinted.Fayerweather, John Harrison, ca. 1871-1872.
Photographer unknown.Tintype, hand-tinted.Fayerweather, John Harrison, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Tintype, hand-tinted.Fayerweather, Frank Raymond, ca. 1874-1875.
Photographer unknown.Tintype, hand-tinted.Fayerweather, Frank Raymond, and John Harrison Fayerweather, ca. 1878-1880.
Taken by T. N. Gates (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, John Harrison, ca. 1887-1888.
Taken by C. S. Nash (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, Frank Raymond, 1889.
Taken by North (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, Frank Raymond, 1890.
Taken by Davis (Westboro, Mass.).Fayerweather, Frank Raymond, and Harvard Biscoe, 1891.
Taken by Davis (Westboro, Mass.).Unidentified boy, n.d.
Taken by F. E. North (Westboro, Mass.).B. Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather scrapbook, 1914-1923.
Scrapbook containing photographs taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather and friends from 1914-1923. Most of the photos are snapshots of EAF and various friends, especially Helen C. Anderson. Family members represented in the images include Ethel Maud Hinchcliffe Fayerweather, Ellen Elizabeth Brown, and Frederick Arthur Hinchcliffe. Many of the photographs depict swimming, camping, and auto trips that EAF took with friends and family to the Berkshires, Briarcliffe, N.Y., and Annisquam, Plymouth, and Rexhame (now Marshfield), Mass. There are also a number of photos of EAF's graduation from Brookline High School in 1923. Also contains clippings, dance cards, playbills, and other memorabilia relating to EAF's social events and schooling at Brookline High School.
C. Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather travels, 1965-1970.
Album containing photographs from Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather's travels to Nassau (Bahamas), Central Asia, Greece, Hong Kong, and Thailand, among other places, from 1965-1970. All are color snapshots, and all were taken by EAF except where noted. This album was disbound in October 2002; the photos are numbered in respect to their original order in the album.
II. Loose photographs
A. Fayerweather-Brown family portraits, ca. 1850-1938.
Organized into two groups (Glass-based photographs and Paper-based photographs) and arranged alphabetically.
Glass-based photographs
Brown, Ellen Elizabeth (later Fayerweather), [ca. 1847-1850].
Photographer unknown.Daguerreotype.Framed, copper.This photograph is stored separately in the MHS Daguerreotype Collection (Photo. Coll. 1).To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
Brown, Harriet Augusta (later Richardson), [ca. 1850].
Photographer unknown.Daguerreotype.Half-cased, leather.This photograph is stored separately in the MHS Daguerreotype Collection (Photo. Coll. 1).To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
Brown, Elizabeth Anne Ladd, Ellen Elizabeth Brown (later Fayerweather), and unidentified male, [ca. 1854].
Photographer unknown.Ambrotype.Cased, leather.This photograph is stored separately in the MHS Ambrotype Collection (Photo. Coll. 2).To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
Fayerweather, George Thomas, [1862-1865].
Photographer unknown.Opaque glass photograph.Framed and matted.This photograph is stored separately in the MHS Glass Photograph Collection (Photo. Coll. 5).To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
Paper-based photographs
Brown, Ellen Elizabeth, n.d.
Taken by Claflin's Photographic Gallery (Worcester, Mass.).Brown, Samuel Harrison, [ca. 1864-1866].
Taken by E. J. Leland (Worcester, Mass.).Fayerweather, George Thomas (Co. F, 4th Massachusetts Heavy Artillery) and Lieutenant Heywood, [1861-1865].
Photographer unknown.Tintype, hand-tinted.Kimball, Mrs. Frederic, n.d.
Taken by Willard.Found in Vol. 1, between pages 8-9.Sprague, W. H., 12 July 1864.
Taken by J. J. Hawes (Boston, Mass.).Unidentified boy, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Found in Vol. 1., between pages 24-25.Unidentified woman, n.d.
Photographer unknown.Unidentified girl, n.d.
Taken by the "Babington" Photographic Studio (Derby, England).Unidentified man, [ca. 1860-1870].
Taken by Geo. M. Rice (Westboro, Mass.).2 copies.
Unidentified man, [ca. 1865-1874].
Taken by Whipple (Boston, Mass.).Found in Vol. 1, between pages 24-25.Unidentified boy, 1938.
Taken by Horn.B. Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather photographs, 1918-1978.
Organized into two groups (People and Places) and arranged alphabetically.
People
Photos of Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather, alone and with unidentified friends, [1920s-1970s], most undated.
Photographers unknown.Gourley, Janet, China (Me.), 1967.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.Headley-Dent, Ronnie and Giles, Boonton (N.J.), 1967.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.Hinchcliffe, Frederick Arthur and Marie C. Hinchcliffe, [1940s].
Possibly taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.Hinchcliffe, Frederick Arthur and unidentified man with Microcoupe airplane, [1930s], n.d.
Taken by Kales, Inc. (Detroit, Mich.).Maitland, 2nd Lieutenant C. J., n.d.
Photographer unknown.Massachusetts College of Art students, [1923-1927].
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.Merrill, Fay, n.d.
Photographer unknown.[ ], Ruth Seabury and Janet, n.d.
Photographer unknown.[ ], Jayden, Kiran, and Anandi, Nov. 1962.
Photographer unknown.Unidentified people, 1918-1978 and undated.
Photographer unknown.Places
Asia, 1965.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.California, May 1968.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.Charleston, S.C. National Trust Meeting, Nov. 1970.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.England, n.d.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.England, 1965.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.England, 1966.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.England, 1968.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.Europe, [1930s].
Photographer unknown.Greece, Nov. 1968.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.Haymarket, Boston (Mass.), 1967.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.Nassau (Bahamas), May 1970.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.North Falmouth, Fall 1968.
Taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.New York (N.Y.): views of construction of Montague, Furman, and Clark Streets, May 1948.
Photographer unknown.Rhode Island School of Design Costume Center, 1961.
Possibly taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather.Unidentified places, 1965-1972 and undated.
Photographers unknown.C. Photograph Christmas cards, [1960s].
Four Christmas greeting cards with attached photographs addressed to Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather, from various people.
D. Negatives, [1960s].
Safety film negatives taken by Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather. Some correspond to prints in the collection depicting her trips to England in 1966 and Greece and California in 1968. The rest are unidentified and undated and do not correspond to prints in the collection.
Preferred Citation
Fayerweather family photographs, Photo. Coll. 47, Massachusetts Historical Society Photo Archives.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.