She was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters by Union in 1970. She was also lifelong friends with painter John Butler Yeats, father of poet William Butler Yeats. Foster appears in some of the images.īorn in 1879, Foster had overcome a poor childhood in the Adirondacks to become a poet, journalist and model, appearing in Vanity Fair, the New York Times, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan and other publications. Jeanne Robert Foster, a second cousin of Putnam, had willed the collection to the Riedinger family in 1970. Noel Riedinger-Johnson, a Schenectady native and fierce advocate for the Adirondacks, donated the 132 glass plate negatives to Union in 2019. “The images document rural education, ecological destruction from logging, homesteading, mountain views and the people around Johnsburg, N.Y.,” said Matthew Golebiewski, project archivist for Schaffer Library.
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They will be available online for the public to view in the coming weeks.
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Thanks to a generous gift, the historic images now belong to the College’s Adirondack Research Library. Putnam’s rarely seen images, taken between 18, offer an intimate snapshot into the rural life of an expansive area on the cusp of transformation into a permanently settled part of the state.
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He would then sell the prints to isolated residents intrigued by the novel technology. Armed with a 5x8-inch camera that produced gelatin glass plate negatives, he began taking pictures during his travels. Still, it was not enough to support a family or his theological pursuits.įortunately, Putnam had a critical eye for composition. Putnam photographs (ARL-081).Ĭourtesy of the Adirondack Research Library of Union College.