Mrs. Augusta (Alberta) Pyatt Photograph Collection, 1915-1916
Scope and Contents
The black and white photographs in this collection are primarily of the construction of the city of Anchorage in approximately 1915-1916. Many of the photos bear the name of the photographer – Pyatt. Many businesses of that era are recognizable by their signage, including Brown and Hawkins; Polley Bros. General Store; Mrs. Tillman’s Ladies Furnishings; Baxter’s Magazines; Terminal Transportation Co. Two Girls Cafe; Skookum Johnson’s Restaurant and Lodgings and many others. An early Anchorage municipal building is featured. A July 4th, 1915, parade is documented, along with public speaking in front of veterans groups including veterans of the Spanish-American War and surviving members of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Dates
- 1915-1916
EAD
PCA0076Conditions Governing Access
The collection is unrestricted.
Conditions Governing Use
Requests for permission to publish material from the collection must be discussed with the Librarian. Photocopying does not constitute permission to publish.
Biographical Note
Most of the photographs in this collection were taken by Mrs. Augusta (Alberta) Pyatt. Alberta was a second photographer to Sydney Laurence who owned the Sydney Laurence Company, a photographic studio in Anchorage.
Biographical History from the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center,
Collection Number B2009.057:
The life dates of Alberta Pyatt (née Bouthillier) are not currently known. Alberta worked as an assistant to Sydney Laurence in his photography business, the Sydney Laurence Company, in Anchorage, Alaska. Laurence was working under contract with the Alaska Engineering Commission to photograph the early Anchorage town site and railroad construction, but it is not clear which photos were taken under contract for the AEC and which are for Laurence’s own studio. Pyatt’s extant photos include people, views, and activities from the Anchorage area during the years 1915 and 1916.
Extent
1 boxes : 187 black and white photographs of various sizes, many are duplicates
Language of Materials
English
Acquisition
The provenance for all of the photographs is unclear. A portion of the images were donated by Robert (Bob) DeArmond, September 1, 1982. Acc. # 1982-013. The original negatives for this collection are in private ownership in Seattle. The original finding aid had the notation “Addition” before #73, so it would seem that the photos from there on were from one or more additions, including from Robert (Bob) DeArmond. Some of the added prints were duplicates of the original set, so were labeled as extra copies with those images.
Existence and Location of Copies
Photographs digitized and available for viewing via Alaska's Digital Archives: #3
Processing Information
This collection has been described at the item level. All items have been placed in mylar, into pH-neutral folders, and archival boxes.
Most of the 5 x 7 black and white images (contact prints) in this collection had been stored in 3 Kodak paper boxes and have little or no descriptive text to identify the subjects of the pictures. There are also a small number of larger (8 x 10) photographs and many of these are duplicates. Many of the photographs evidence curling at the top and bottom edges.
- Title
- Finding Aid for the Mrs. Augusta (Alberta) Pyatt Photograph Collection, 1915-1916
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by: Ken Nail, Jr., LAM ; Revised by: Alea Oien, 4/2009 ; ArchivesSpace Finding Aid by: Connie Hamann, June 2019 ; Revised by: Connie Hamann, August 2020 ; Inventory added by: Connie Hamann, September 2020 ; Revised by Freya Anderson
- Date
- 2021 September
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Alaska State Library - Historical Collections Finding Aids Repository
PO Box 110571
Juneau AK 99811-0571 US
907-465-2920
907-465-2925
907-465-2151 (Fax)
asl.historical@alaska.gov