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Architectural Photograph Sources at The McCall Library


The Bienville Hotel, c. 1935. Erik Overbey Collection.

The McCall Library's photographic collections are listed alphabetically in this guide. The name of the collection may be that of a person, business, organization, institution, location, subject, or donor.

For more information about these collections please email us at mccalllib@southalabama.edu.

Important Disclaimer: Warning concerning copyright restrictions. The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. It is up to the user to comply with all copyright laws of the United States.

CROOM, STEPHENS G. (93-07-262)
Includes 73 black and white photographs (5 x 7) of homes and other structures made by the Mader Studio of Mobile for the Historic American Buildings Survey; 25 black and white photos showing the development of Dauphin Island during the 1950s; 11 of Fort Morgan circa 1920; 7 of Battleship Park; 4 of Mardi Gras in Bienville Square in the 1950s; and 211 color slides relating to USS Alabama (BB-60) and Battleship Park.

FROOM, ROY (02-04-395)
This collection is made up of 324 photographs (8 x 10 and 11 x 14), most black and white, of buildings designed by an architectural firm with which Froom was employed. The images date from 1947 to the mid-1960s and show various local schools and businesses. No negatives are available but there is an inventory of the images.

GOULD, ELIZABETH B. (89-09-207)
This collection is made up of over 1,000 slides (35mm) illustrating Mobile's architectural heritage and made by architectural historian Elizabeth Gould. The slides are well identified and organized principally by architectural styles. The collection also includes 35mm black and white negatives made by Gould to illustrate her 1988 book From Fort to Port: An Architectural History of Mobile, Alabama, 1711-1918 (1988)

HAMILTON, LARRY AND VIRGINIA V. (86-12-138)
This collection consists of 739 color slides (35mm) of over 300 historic sites in Alabama taken by Larry Hamilton (a few commercial slides are included). The slides are well identified and an inventory is available. There are restrictions on the commercial use of material in this collection.

HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY (79-02-34)
Dating from the 1930s, the 111 black and white nitrate negatives in this collection were taken of structures in and around Mobile as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey, a plan developed by the National Park Service’s Heritage Documentation Programs. The negatives depict building exteriors and architectural detail. Most of them duplicate those in the HABS collection at the Library of Congress. Most of the negatives have been printed and cataloged.

LOTT, VIRGINIA (04-08-417)
Contains 1 color and 3 black and white photographs (8 x 10), as well as 24 color images (3 1/2 x 4) of the inside and outside of the 1958 Mobile County Courthouse, and 1 black and white photograph (8 x 10) of the 1888 courthouse. There are also 15 black and white miscellaneous photographs (8 x 10) of commission functions, 7 historic postcards of the Mobile area, 8 black and white images (8 x 10) of county commissioner Coy Smith and/or his family, and 1 color photograph (3 1/2 x 5) of the donor, Virginia Lott. There are no negatives, but a guide to the collection is available.

MARX, JULIUS E. (85-03-116)
Contains approximately 10,000 black and white negatives and prints of various sizes made between 1927 and 1985 of Mobile properties which were rented or sold by Marx Realty, one of the city's oldest real estate businesses. It is particularly useful to architectural researchers since buildings can be located by block and lot number. Photographs made of the same location over many years also document the changes that occurred to structures and entire neighborhoods. Most structures photographed are also described as regards size, condition, and price on file cards which accompany the pictures. Six thousand of the best images have been digitized and are available for viewing on site.

MOBILE HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION (90-04-210, 09-03-489)
This larger collection actually consists of four smaller donations. The first, donated in 1990, consists of photographs made in the 1960s for the Mobile Housing Board of buildings before their demolition for the widening of Water and Beauregard streets and the construction of the Texas and Orange Grove housing projects. Images of the buildings, now demolished, are filed alphabetically by street address. There are no negatives and the prints are small (3 x 5). The second donation, given in 1991, is made up of carbon copies of appraisals done in various years. Around 20 of them were done as part of the Big Creek Lake project. Black and white photographs of the appraised structures are usually included. The third donation, given in 1992 consists of 10 architectural drawings on linen of the Chickasaw business district done in 1919-1920 by William H. March. Among other structures, the drawings show a drug store, a bakery, and a barbershop. The last donation, given in 2009, contains approximately 35,000 black and white negatives and slides (primarily 35mm) of structures in Mobile's seven historic districts, as well as buildings on the Eastern Shore and other areas including Axis, Chastang, and Mount Vernon. Most of the negatives have accompanying contact sheets.

MOBILE HOUSING BOARD (80-03-41, 01-03-380, 01-12, 372)
Three separate donations form this larger collection. The first donation, made in 1980, consists of 220 rolls of film (120mm, instamatic, and 35mm) taken by unidentified Mobile Housing Board photographers. Subjects include housing projects, meetings, and other activities of the board during the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the 2,533 negatives are identified, but no prints have been made. The second donation, given in 2000, is made up of 605 slides (mostly color) of community development / urban renewal projects, most from the 1970s and 1980s. The last donation, made in 2001, contains approximately 1,600 black and white negatives (35mm) and a few slides of houses in the West Church Street and DeTonti Square areas of the city. The negatives are not dated but the slides were made in 1977. The negatives are arranged alphabetically and numerically by street address.

ROGERS, GEORGE B. (94-07-289)
This collection consists of 93 black and white photographs (8 x 10) of buildings designed or renovated by Mobile architect George B. Rogers (1869-1945). The photographs were made by the Overbey Studio in Mobile, and Tebbes & Knell of New York, and represent a portion of Rogers's portfolio. An inventory is available.

THOMPSON, PAUL (97-03-332)
Consists of 773 black and white negatives (120mm and 35mm) and 185 photographs (8 x 10) most likely taken in the 1980s and 1990s of buildings in Mobile, Demopolis, Eufaula, New Orleans, Vicksburg, and other cities. There are contact sheets for all of the negatives. Most of them were made by Thompson and used to help illustrate a book by Elizabeth B. Gould, From Builders to Architects: The Hobart-Hutchisson Six(1997).