COLLECTION GUIDES

ca. 1858-1978

Guide to the Photograph Collection


Collection Summary

Title: Fayerweather family photographs
Dates: ca. 1858-1978
Physical Description: 796 photographs in 3 volumes (in 2 cases and 1 narrow box) and 1 box
Call Number: Photo. Coll. 47
Location: In the Massachusetts Historical Society Photo. Archives.
Note:

Removed from the Fayerweather family papers (Ms. N-359).

Repository:
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston StreetBoston, MA 02215library@masshist.org

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.

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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.

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Acquisition Information

The Fayerweather family photographs were removed from the Fayerweather family papers, a gift of the estate of Eleanor Appleton Fayerweather, June 1993.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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I. Photographs in albums

Close I. Photographs in albums

II. Loose photographs

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Preferred Citation

Fayerweather family photographs, Photo. Coll. 47, Massachusetts Historical Society Photo Archives.

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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.

Persons:

Brown, Elizabeth Anne Ladd, 1814-1891--Photographs.
Brown, Samuel Harrison, 1813-1875--Photographs
Brown family--Photograph collections.
Fayerweather, Eleanor Appleton, 1904-1993, photographer.
Fayerweather, Ellen Elizabeth Brown, 1841-1908--Photographs.
Fayerweather, Ethel Maud Hinchcliffe, b. 1875--Photographs.
Fayerweather, Frank Raymond, 1870-1932--Photographs.
Fayerweather, George Thomas, 1840-1893--Photographs.
Fayerweather, John Harrison, 1867-1930--Photographs.
Fayerweather family--Photograph collections.
Gates, Theodore N., photographer.
Hinchcliffe, Frederick Arthur, 1872-1948--Photographs.
Hinchcliffe family--Photograph collections.
Leland, Edwin J., photographer.
Reed, Henry J., photographer.
Rice, George M., photographer.
Richardson, Harriet Augusta Brown, 1848-1938--Photographs.

Organizations:

Brookline High School (Brookline, Mass.)--Students--Photographs.

Subjects:

Asia, Central--Photographs.
Brookline (Mass.)--Photographs.
Cabinet photographs.
Card photograph albums.
Cartes de visite.
Christmas cards.
England--Photographs.
Film negatives.
Greece--Photographs.
High school students--United States--Photographs.
Hong Kong (China)--Photographs.
Nassau (Bahamas)--Photographs.
Thailand--Photographs.
Tintypes.
Voyages and travels--Photographs.
Women travelers--Photographs.

Collection processed by Megan K. Friedel, November, 2002.

Revised 19 May 2005

Encoded by Kathleen J. Barker, November 2003

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