Case and Draper Photograph Collection, 1898-1920.
Content Description
Case and Draper were best known for their portraits and photographs of the life and customs of the Tlingit Indians, early Skagway, and the Gold Rush of 1898. Their views were reproduced in a variety of Alaskan books, including The Soapy Smith Tragedy, and on postcards and White Pass and Yukon Railway souvenir playing cards. Collection includes views of southeast Alaska, portraits, and Tlingit Indians, 1898-1920.
Dates
- 1898-1920
EAD
PCA0039Biographical / Historical
The W.H. Case and H.H. Draper photography studios opened in 1898, in a small tent in Skagway, Alaska. The partners later moved their business to a two-story building on Broadway near 4th Avenue, where they also sold curios, photographic supplies, Alaska Native handicrafts and game specimens. By 1907, the partnership between Case and Draper had been mutually dissolved; Draper kept the Skagway shop while Case opened a new store in Juneau (Alaska).
Herbert Horace Draper was born on July 5, 1855, in Rockford, Illinois. At the age of 19, his family moved from Michigan to Oregon. Draper worked as a commercial agent in Bellingham, Washington, and Astoria, Oregon, before following the 1898 Gold Rush to Skagway. After establishing a business with Case, Draper married a local school teacher named Harriet and became an active member of the community. Upon his death in 1913, Skagway mourned his passing by closing all businesses for the day. The Draper photo studio was purchased by the Keller Brothers Drug Company of Skagway.
William Howard Case was born April 19, 1868, in Marshalltown, Iowa, and lived most of his life in South Dakota and Oregon. He went to the Klondike during the 1898 Gold Rush and secured Caseveral claims in Atlin, before establishing his business in Skagway. Case moved to Juneau in 1907, where he operated the Case photo studios. He had three children; Howard, Alice and Madge (Madge married Hugh Wade, Secretary of the Territory of Alaska from 1959-1966). Case was active in the Juneau community as a Mason and Shriner. He died there suddenly on July 16, 1920. His studio was reopened after his death by E. C. Adams.
Extent
5 boxes : 1317 photographs
Language of Materials
English
Existence and Location of Originals
INVENTORY OF GLASS PLATE NEGATIVES
Stored in Metal Cabinet in Vault
3 boxes of 5½ x 7 glass plate negatives
1st box: #471 – 494
2nd box: #495 – 512a
3rd box: #707, 745-766, 1008, 1175a
INVENTORY OF GLASS PLATE NEGATIVES (13” x 16”)
Stored in Metal Cabinet in Vault
Similar to #17 Dah-Clet-Jah. A Yakutat Native. Copyright 1906 (Badly damaged emulsion, broken plate)
Similar to #29 Rotary plow at work WP & YR. Neg by C. L. Andrews Photo by Draper & Co. 1003 (missing corner, good condition)
Similar to #39 Mrs. Stene-Tu, a Thlinget belle. [Tlingit] Copyright 1906 (Damaged emulsion)
Steel Arch WP&Y Route (Missing corner, good condition – no matching print)
Similar to image in PCA165 ‘87 Alaska Pioneers Association ’87
INVENTORY OF ORIGINAL NEGATIVES
Negatives stored in freezer in Vault
Box 1 of 6 - Negative numbers correspond to those in finding aid.
68, 71a (see box 5), 513-522, 526, 528, 529, 531-540, 543-550, 554-558, 562-565, 567, 569, 571, 574-577, 579, 581-588, 590, 592-595, 597-599, 602, 604-609
Box 2 of 6 - Negative numbers correspond to those in finding aid.
610-613, 615-624, 626-630, 632-649, 653, 654, 656-658, 660-663, 665, 666, 670-692, 695-699
Box 3 of 6 - Negative numbers correspond to those in finding aid.
702-704, 706, 708, 709, 712-718, 720-726, 728-731, 733, 737, 742, 744, 796 (see box 5), 1031, 1032, 1073, 1103, 1163, 1177
Box 4 of 6 - Negative numbers correspond to those in finding aid.
1226-1271
Box 5 of 6
Eastman Negative Album 3 ¼ x 5 1/2 – Album I Winter Views 1-100
Eastman Negative Album 3 ¼ x 5 1/2 – Winter Views 100–136, Patriotic Parade 137-200
Eastman Negative Album 2 ½ x 4 ¼ - Album II uncatalogued - Family pictures
6 negatives with no # on negative sleeve
Renahan & plane 1/13/1931
Renahan & plane 1/13/1931
Tlingit Baskets
Juneau, Union Wharf Fire
Fisher Studio, Picture framing [Man with camera on tripod outside of Fisher Studio]
[Man and woman sitting on edge of concrete form, totem behind]
Negative PCA 39 – 71a in sleeve (7 ¾ x 9 ¾)
Negative PCA 39 – 796 in sleeve (5 x 7 ¾)
Box 6 of 6*
Eastman Negative Album 5 x 7 – B, Thwaites
Black Album 5 x 7 – Post Card Negatives. 201 to 300 Inclusive. W.H. Case
Eastman Negative Album 5 x 7 – Post Card Negatives. 301 – 400. W.H. Case
Black Album 5 x 7 - Badger Negative Album
Empty sleeves w/information on them
*The information written on the sleeves in the albums and descriptions of each negative at the end of the albums rarely correspond to the negative in the sleeve *
Existence and Location of Copies
Photographs digitized and available for viewing via Alaska's Digital Archives:
0005-0006, 0012, 0015, 0018, 0022, 0041, 0048a, 0053, 0056, 0061-0062, 0065, 0075-0076, 0081, 0085, 0088-0089, 0106, 0118-0119, 0122-0123, 0128, 0133, 0156, 0163, 0169, 0174, 0176-0177, 0186, 0189, 0191-0192, 0194, 0206-0207, 0222, 0235, 0248-0249, 0272-0273, 0275, 0279, 0281, 0289, 0290, 0312, 0358, 0363-0364, 0373, 0380, 0390, 0393, 0398, 0401, 0404-0409, 0411, 0413-0414, 0421, 0425, 0427-0428, 0431-0433, 0443, 0446-0449, 0455, 0462, 0466, 0477, 0482-0483, 0497, 0505, 0512-0513, 0521-0522, 0524, 0545, 0562, 0569, 0574, 0599-0607, 0609, 0619, 0626-0627, 0634a-b, 0637, 0641, 0656-0657, 0663, 0670, 0673-0675, 0677, 0682, 0684, 0686-0689, 0712, 0729, 0762, 0774, 0781, 0782, 0784, 0786-0788, 0791-0792, 0801-0802, 0815, 0817-0841, 0843-0853, 0855, 0857, 0859a-0864, 0866, 0872-0873, 0885, 0887-0889, 0895-0896, 0900, 0902, 0906-0907, 0912-0913, 0923-0924, 0943, 0945, 0948, 0953-0954, 0956-0957, 0965, 0967, 0970-0972, 0975-0976, 0979, 0983, 0991, 0994, 0996, 1000, 1002, 1018-1022, 1025, 1027, 1062, 1073, 1080, 1086, 1093-1094, 1098-1100, 1102-1104, 1107, 1112, 1114, 1142, 1147, 1168, 1172, 1174, 1207,
Digitized photographs not available via Alaska's Digital Archives:
0030, 0068, 0130, 0132, 0412, 0478, 0530, 0540-0541, 0568, 0576, 0595, 0649-0655, 0717, 0790, 0793, 0858, 0868, 0874-0875, 0891-0893, 0897, 0903, 0905, 0915, 1921, 0936, 0942, 0963, 1017, 1061, 1223-1225
Processing Information
Views 1223, 1224, 1225 were printed from negatives which were added from backlog in Sept 2007 with no provenance.
Five glass plate copy negatives, 13” x 16” were added from backlog with no provenance. The negatives were foldered and stored in OS vault.
In the mid-1980s, the Alaska State Library received a grant from the Alaska Historical Commission to microfiche nearly 8,000 photographs from various collections. A book of the microfiche, which includes PCA 39, is in the Historical Collections Research Center for use by researchers.
- Title
- Finding aid for the Case and Draper Photograph Collection, 1898-1920.
- Subtitle
- Case and Draper, Photographers.
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Revised 11/28/2001. ArchivesSpace Finding aid by Sandy Johnston.2019 May ; Inventory added by: Sandy Johnston
- Date
- 2020 May
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
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