COLLECTION GUIDES

ca. 1861-1914

Guide to the Photograph Collection


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection contains photographs relating to the Adams and Hooper families, including Henry Adams and various Adams and Hooper family and friends; photographs of the Adams Memorial to Marian Hooper Adams in Rock Creek Cemetery (Washington, D.C.); photographs of Samoa by an unidentified photographer; stereographs of the Civil War; and photographs from Henry Adams's travels to Egypt in 1872-1873 and Fiji, ca. 1891.

Biographical Sketches

Henry Adams

Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918) was the son of Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886) and Abigail (Brooks) Adams (1808-1889), the grandson of John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), and the great-grandson of John Adams (1735-1826). Henry Adams (HA) was a journalist, professor, historian, and political observer. From 1860-1868, HA worked for his father as a secretary and accompanied him to Europe. HA was a professor at Harvard College between 1870-1877 and then moved to Washington, D.C., although he continued to maintain a house in Beverly, Mass. HA married Marian Hooper in 1872 (see below for brief biographical information about her); they had no children. Throughout his life, HA traveled extensively and spent time in Europe, Egypt, Japan, Cuba, and the South Seas. His books include: History of the United States, vols. 1-9, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, and The Education of Henry Adams.

Marian (Hooper) Adams

Marian "Clover" Hooper (1843-1885) was the daughter of Dr. Robert William Hooper (1810-1885) and Ellen (Sturgis) Hooper (1812-1848). She grew up in Boston, was educated with other girls at the school run by Elizabeth and Louis Agassiz in their home in Cambridge, Mass., and married Henry Adams in 1872. Marian (Hooper) Adams (MHA) was a noted photographer and, with her husband, was active in Washington, D.C. social circles. MHA died by suicide on 7 December 1885. Henry Adams commissioned Augustus Saint-Gaudens to make the memorial that marks her grave at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Louisa C. (Hooper) Thoron

Louisa "Looly" or "Loulie" Chapin Hooper (1874-1975) was the second of five daughters of Edward William Hooper (1839-1901) (Marian Hooper's brother) and Fanny (Chapin) Hooper (1844-1881). A niece of Marian and Henry Adams, she was close to them and corresponded frequently with her uncle. On 2 October 1915, she married Ward Thoron (1867-1938), a Washington, D.C. lawyer, and later the treasurer of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company. (It was Ward Thoron's second marriage; he married Ellen Warder in 1893, but they divorced in 1911.) He corresponded regularly with Henry Adams and also undertook assignments and research for him.

Theodore F. Dwight

Theodore F. Dwight (1846-1917) worked in the library of the U.S. State Department. He first met Henry Adams around 1880 when he helped Adams locate documents required for his research projects. In December 1885, Dwight became Henry Adams's secretary and assistant. In 1888, Dwight resigned from his position at the State Department and began cataloging the Adams family's library and papers. In 1892, Dwight became head of the Boston Public Library.

Sources

The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) library holds the following materials containing more detailed information about Henry Adams:

Chalfant, Edward. Both Sides of the Ocean: A Biography of Henry Adams, His First Life, 1838-1862. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1982.

Chalfant, Edward. Better in Darkness: A Biography of Henry Adams: His Second Life, 1862-1891. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1982.

Samuels, Ernest. The Young Henry Adams. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1948.

Samuels, Ernest. Henry Adams: The Middle Years. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1958.

Samuels, Ernest. Henry Adams: The Major Phase. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1964.

Collection Description

This collection consists of 89 loose photographs relating to the Adams and Hooper families. Among the images are portraits of Henry Adams and various Adams and Hooper family and friends, including Elizabeth Cameron; photographs of the Adams Memorial to Marian Hooper Adams in Rock Creek Cemetery (Washington, D.C.); photographs of Samoa by an unidentified photographer; and stereographs of the Civil War, many of which were taken by Brady & Co. of Washington, D.C. and some of which have inscriptions on the verso in the hand of Marian Hooper Adams. There are also a number of photographs from Henry Adams's travels. These include photos taken by Henry Adams and other photographers of his trips to Egypt in 1872-1873 and Fiji, ca. 1891, as well as photos taken by Joseph Paxson Iddings of Henry Adams's trip to Wyoming in 1894. Many of these travel photographs are duplicates of photographs also found in the Henry Adams photographs (Photo. Coll. 40). The collection includes one tintype, one color slide, stereographs, and other black-and-white, paper-based photographs.

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated to the MHS by Faith Thoron (Mrs. Robert) Knapp, the daughter of Ward and Louisa C. (Hooper) Thoron, in 1998. This collection is comprised of materials new to the MHS, as well as materials that had been placed on closed deposit at the MHS in 1977. The literary rights were conveyed by the heirs of Faith T. Knapp in March 2009.

Detailed Description of the Collection

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I. Loose photographs

Close I. Loose photographs

II. Oversize photographs

Close II. Oversize photographs

Photographs Removed from the Collection

Photographs by and of Marian Hooper Adams were removed from this collection and made into a separate collection in May of 2002. See the Guide to the Marian Hooper Adams photographs, Photo. Coll. 50 for further details.

Preferred Citation

Adams-Thoron photographs, Photo. Coll. 42, 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.

Persons:

Adams family--Photographs.
Adams, Henry, 1838-1918, photographer.
Adams, Henry, 1838-1918--Photographs.
Cameron, Elizabeth, 1857-1944--Photographs.
Hooper family--Photographs.
Iddings, Joseph Paxson, 1857-1920, photographer.

Organizations:

Brady & Co. (Washington, D.C.), photographers.
Rock Creek Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)--Photographs.

Subjects:

Egypt--Photographs.
Fiji--Photographs.
Samoa--Photographs.
Slides.
Stereographs.
Tintypes.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Photographs.
Voyages and travels--Photographs.

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