EAD
TABLE OF CONTENTSInventory |
Guide to the Frederick J. Weber Photographs
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Descriptive Summary | ||
| Creator | Weber, Frederick J., 1881-1967 | |
| Title | Guide to the Frederick J. Weber Photographs, | |
| Dates: | 1899-1961 | |
| Abstract: | The Frederick J. Weber Photograph Collection contains photographs and other work records from Mr. Weber’s studio. It documents buildings, transportation, schools, businesses and civic organizations in Brooklyn, Queens and greater Long Island throughout the first half of the Twentieth Century. | |
| Extent: | approx. 7,689 photographs, 54 cubic feet | |
| Identification: | W-14 | |
| Location: | The material is located in the Archives at Queens Library. | |
Historical/Biographical Note
Frederick Johan Weber was born in the town of Garberback, Austria on March 4, 1881. He came to New York in 1899, settling first in the Rockaways, and then in Manhattan, where he worked as a freelance newspaper photographer. In 1903 Mr. Weber moved to Jamaica, Queens, and there established himself in the photography business, in partnership with Peter Nybo. A few years later Mr. Weber opened his own studio, which would ultimately change locations three times while remaining in business for over fifty years.
Among Mr. Weber’s clients were the Long Island Railroad (whose legal department employed him as its official photographer), Jamaica High School, several trolley and bus companies, and numerous schools, churches and other institutions throughout Queens, Brooklyn and suburban Long Island. Taken together, the Weber Collection documents a broad range of life on Long Island in the first half of the 20th century.
Mr. Weber retired from the photography business in 1959. In 1966 he sold off the bulk of his railroad photographs to historian Ron Ziel, and a large selection of his other work to the Queens Borough Public Library. Mr. Weber died the following year.
In his lifetime, Mr. Weber’s photographs appeared in numerous publications, including the Long Island Press and Queensborough Magazine, (the official record of the Queens Chamber of Commerce). In the three decades since the collection was acquired by the Archives at Queens Library, images from the collection have appeared in such books as Lighting the Way: The Centennial History of the Queens Borough Public Library, 1896-1996 by Jeffrey Kroessler, Old Queens, New York, in Early Photographs by Vincent Seyfried and William Asadorian, Caribbean-Americans in New York City by F. Donnie Forde, and Richmond Hill by Carl Ballenas and Nancy Cataldi, and in magazines such as City Journal. Weber’s work was the subject of an exhibit by the Jamaica Arts Center in 1980. His photographs also figured prominently in From Burgh to Borough: Queens Enters the 20th Century, an exhibit shown at the Queens Library Gallery in 2002.
Return to the Table of Contents
Scope and Content Note
The Frederick J. Weber Collection contains photographs and other work records from Mr. Weber’s studio. It is divided into four series: Address Book (1 folder, 1932-1941), Correspondence (1 folder, 1933-1947), Ephemera (1 folder, 1931-1955) and Photographs (7,689 images, 1899-1961). It documents buildings, transportation, schools, businesses and civic organizations in Brooklyn, Queens and greater Long Island throughout the first half of the Twentieth Century.
The series Address Book consists of unbound pages from an address book, which includes various clients and business associates of Weber. The series Correspondence contains miscellaneous postcards and letters received by Weber during the years listed, but is not a comprehensive collection. The third series, Ephemera, contains envelopes, letterheads and other ephemera from Weber’s business.
The fourth and largest series, Photographs, contains prints and negatives, the latter group including glass plate, nitrate and safety negatives in a variety of sizes ranging from 4x5 to 10x20 panoramic views. These have been organized according to a classification system which divides the images into nineteen sub series. Most classifications are self-explanatory (i.e. Automobiles, Fire Companies, and so on) but some require further elaboration.
The sub series Buildings (1,406 images, 1900-1958) has been subdivided into fourteen sub series, including Industrial Buildings (169 images, 1910-1945) (i.e. factories, warehouses, auto repair garages and so on), Government Buildings (26 images, 1905-1940) (post offices, courts, town halls, and others), Churches (139 images, 1905-1954), and Dwellings (147 images, 1904-1947) (apartment buildings and private houses).
The sub series Portraits (2,282 images, 1900-1957) has also been subdivided. The sub series School Groups (1,259 images, 1908-1957) includes public and parochial schools as well as trade schools. The sub series Church Groups (424 images, 1908-1948) includes confirmation classes, choirs, and group portraits of clergymen as well as plays, fashion shows and other events sponsored by various church groups. The subseries Miscellaneous Groups (426 images, 1905-1951) includes civic organizations such as the Masons and the Elks, as well as all unidentified groups. Athletic groups, including school teams, have been given a separate classification, Sports (389 images, 1905-1951). Notable works in the Portraits sub series include an extensive collection of photographs which were taken for Jamaica High School yearbooks, as well as graduation pictures for various elementary schools throughout southeastern Queens.
The next largest sub series, after Portraits, is the sub series Railroads (1,634 images, 1899-1956). Most of these images were created by Weber in the course of his duties as official photographer for the legal department of the Long Island Railroad. Included are photographs of railroad crossings and stations throughout Brooklyn, Queens and suburban Long Island, equipment such as engines and passenger cars, repair shops and storage facilities. There are also photographs of accident scenes, including several views of a fatal wreck that occurred in Rockville Center in February of 1950.
For a complete list of classification numbers, consult the inventory. To search for a particular image or group of images, use the division’s image database.
Return to the Table of Contents
Arrangement
The series are arranged in alphabetical order. The photographs series is arranged using a classification system designed by the division's staff.
Return to the Table of Contents
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Creator of item, date of item (if known), identification of item, if a photograph its control number. The Fredrick J. Weber Photographic Collection, Archives at Queens Library, Queens Borough Public Library
Provenance
The photographs were either purchased from Frederick J. Weber or Ronald Ziel.
Access Restrictions
Open for research without restrictions. Manuscripts are only available in the Archives at Queens Library, please call (718) 990-0770 for hours. Manuscript users will be required to complete the division's Manuscript Usage Form and show their photograph identification or Queens Borough Public Library card. The identification will be returned to the user after she/he has returned the material. Manuscript users will deposit all their personal items behind the reference desk. Manuscript users must use the division's loose sheets of paper for note taking. To reiterate, no pen of any type is permitted. Paper and a pencil are available upon request. Manuscript users may be required to use special handling procedures depending on the conditions of the material.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
- Archives at Queens Library
- Queens Borough Public Library
- 89-11 Merrick Boulevard
- Jamaica, NY 11432
- Phone: (718) 990-0770.
Return to the Table of Contents
Access Points
Subject Names:
- Weber, Frederick J., 1881-1967
Subject Organizations:
- Long Island Rail Road
- Pennsylvania Railroad
Subject Topics:
- Cable cars (Streetcars)
- Photographers
- Railroads
- Schools
Subject Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Jamaica (New York, N.Y.)
- Long Island (N.Y.)
- Nassau County (N.Y.)
- Queens (New York, N.Y.)
- Suffolk County (N.Y.)
Document Types:
- Photographs
Return to the Table of Contents
Inventory
[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]
