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    Butler County:: The Boston Studio Collection
    Butler County:: The Boston Studio Collection
    Butler County:: The Boston Studio Collection
    Ebook235 pages57 minutes

    Butler County:: The Boston Studio Collection

    By Susan R. McLain

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    About this ebook

    Harvey L. Boston opened the Boston Studio in downtown David City in 1893. For about the next 35 years, Boston personally recorded the people and places of Butler County using photography. Boston had an eye for detail, and through his photographs, one is able to inspect and appreciate the clothing of the early years of the 20th century: from everyday styles to formal and special occasion costumes. The Boston Studio was opened toward the end of what was known as the Victorian era, a time when how a woman and members of her family dressed was a reflection of the family's prosperity. This attention to detail is very evident in the photographs taken by Boston. The various fashions worn by Butler County residents provide a wealth of information about a person's life, even when information about that person is not otherwise known. While once almost lost to history, the Boston Studio Collection of approximately 60,000 negatives has now been preserved and is available for the public to again appreciate for its historic value. The more than 200 Boston photographs carefully selected for this book demonstrate what life was like in Butler County between 1900 and 1920 and feature a cross-sampling of the people, both well known and anonymous, who were responsible for influencing the early history of Butler County.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439621073
    Butler County:: The Boston Studio Collection
    Author

    Susan R. McLain

    Susan R. McLain, from Beatrice, has been a historian on fashion and a clothing collector since 1985. She is also a humanities speaker who has traveled the Midwest presenting programs on the history of fashions to various groups.

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      Book preview

      Butler County: - Susan R. McLain

      Project.

      INTRODUCTION

      Harvey L. Boston was born on January 27, 1871, in McCallsburg, Iowa, to John and Sarah Boston. He moved to Butler County in Nebraska with his parents in 1891. It was while living in the county seat town of David City that it is believed Boston worked for at least one photographic studio and learned the trade of professional photography before opening his own photo studio in 1893. For about the next 32 years, Harvey L. Boston operated the Boston Studio near the downtown business square in David City.

      Following Harvey L. Boston’s death on March 6, 1927, other Boston family members continued to operate the Boston Studio for many years. However, this book will feature only the photographic images that were created by Boston himself in the years between 1893 and 1927. This was a period of great change in both culture and technology for a midwestern and predominately agricultural region like Butler County. When Boston started his studio, personal cameras had not yet come into use and residents of a community went to a professional studio to have their portraits taken.

      During the time period he was in business, Boston often photographed both the children and grandchildren of many of the pioneers of Butler County. These were the homesteaders, the merchants, the professional businessmen, the common laborers, and others who had helped the county to grow and develop since its initial settlement beginning in the 1860s. Boston otherwise photographed people who lived in Butler County just long enough to have their portrait taken and who then relocated to other parts of the country, their image as captured on either a glass-plate negative or nitrate film at the Boston Studio serving as one of the few reminders of their onetime presence here. In still other instances, Boston photographed people who lived elsewhere and whose sole connection to Butler County was through relatives or friends who lived here. A visit with said family or acquaintances often included a visit to the Boston Studio to have a portrait taken together.

      In practicing his craft, Boston was known for having a skillful eye for detail. It is otherwise through Boston’s photography that we are able to inspect and appreciate the clothing worn by Butler County residents of his day, from everyday styles to formal and special occasion costumes. Most people wore their finest clothing when having a portrait taken. When the Boston Studio opened in 1893, this was toward the end of the reign of Queen Victoria of England, who inspired morals and fashions during what was known as the Victorian era. (The period was also known as the Gay Nineties.) During this time period, the way a woman dressed was a reflection of her family’s wealth and prosperity.

      Hence, a woman usually took great pride in how she (and the rest of her family) looked. Details were very important during this time. This attention to detail was evident in fashion by the use of different laces, trims, and fabrics placed on every conceivable surface of garments. Also, the hourglass silhouette became a fashion craze for women. Ultimately, the various fashions worn by the citizens of Butler County at the start of the 20th century can often provide a wealth of information about a person’s life, even if very little biographical information about that person is otherwise known.

      As mentioned, the time period in which Boston practiced his profession was a period of great cultural change in America that included women receiving the right to vote, the adoption of Prohibition, and World War I. All this would have a major impact on the fashion styles worn by women between the time Boston began his studio and the time he died. What the talented photographer thought of the extreme changes in women’s fashions that he witnessed will never be known. However, the photographs he produced toward the end of his life show that his dedication to providing a quality image to a customer never faltered.

      After Boston’s death, many of the earliest photographs that he had taken suffered a fate that was frequently and similarly shared by other early photography studio collections around the country. With no real thought given by anyone as to its possible historic value, the Boston negative collection was alternately stored away in either a basement or attic. Subsequently, many of the earliest negatives either slowly faded away or shattered into pieces on account of their exposure to temperature extremes or moisture. Many Boston images, both those taken before 1900 and after, were lost in this manner. Fortunately, foresight would intervene to save the rest.

      Boston family members sold the Boston Studio to the John and Fred McVay families of David City in 1973. It was then operated for a few more years by the McVays before closing. In 1979, when the business and studio building were sold at auction, the surviving Boston negatives and business ledgers were finally recognized for their historical merit. The collection was obtained by the David City Area Foundation, a civic endowment organization, and placed in storage. Finally, in 2003, the negatives were moved to the Hruska Memorial Public Library in David City, and a board was created to oversee their preservation. The following year, the Boston collection was given to the Thorpe, Inc., an organization otherwise dedicated to the restoration of the local opera house.

      Currently, after about 10,000 hours of volunteer labor, the surviving Boston Studio negatives have been cleaned and organized. Additionally, information in the Boston business ledgers has been put into a database and placed on the Internet. More than 60,000 negative images are now maintained by what is called the Boston Studio Project.

      Most of the images are portraits, but there

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