P49: William Jasper Stimson and Benjamin Alston Stimson Collection

Creator: William Jasper Stimson and Benjamin Alston Stimson

Extent: 339 items in the original gift

Format(s): Black-and-white photographs and negatives.

Access: Not restricted.

Usage Restrictions:The current policies of the North Carolina Collection define the conditions of use.

Provenance: Gift, Mrs. Betty Stimson Boyd, Statesville, N.C., 1995; accession no. 30668.

Collection Description: The William Jasper Stimson and Benjamin Alston Stimson Collection comprises negatives and photographs made by William Jasper Stimson (Nov. 27, 1860-Oct. 26, 1929), and his son, Benjamin Alston Stimson (Sept. 20, 1893-March 19, 1969), professional photographers of Statesville, N.C. The photographs span the period ca. 1900 through ca. 1955. Included are portraits and scenes in and around Statesville, including Mitchell College.

Also in the collection are photographs made by Benjamin Alston Stimson when he worked in the x-ray department of United States Army Base Hospital 45 at Autun, France in 1918. These photographs include views of soldiers, the hospital, town, and military facilities. Some of the images appear in a book about the hospital titled History of United States Army Base Hospital No. 45 in the Great War, published in 1924 by the William Byrd Press in Richmond, Virginia.

Series List

Series 1—World War I Photographic Prints

Series 2—Photographic Prints

Series 3—Original Negatives

Series 1: World War I Photographic Prints

Box 1

95 photographic prints: 87 images—20 vintage prints embossed "Stimson Studio Statesville, N.C."—and 75 modern prints made from original negatives. (8 images have both a vintage print and a modern print.)

Series 2: Photographic Prints

Subseries 1: Portraits

Box 1

Folder-level records:

Unidentified—includes a photograph of a toddler and an African American family.

Anderson, Thomas

Aunt Adeline [African American]

Boyd, Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Stimson

Wall, Nancy Anderson Stimson

McElwee, Ann, Mary, and Estelle

Phifer, W. S.

Raynall, Charles E.

Rhine, J. B.

Schuaf, Bob

Scott, J. A.

Stimson, Benjamin Alston Sr.

Stimson, Benjamin Alston Jr.

Stimson, William Jasper

Swalin, Benjamin

Thompson, D. Matt

Weede, Robert

Wootten, Bayard

Subseries 2: Statesville, N. C.

Folder-level records:

Statesville—Banks

Statesville—Boy Scouts

Statesville—Bunch Furniture Company

Statesville—Churches

Statesville—Cotton Gins

Statesville—Fire Department

Statesville—Flour Mill

Statesville—Hinkle-Craig Livery Stable

Statesville—Houses

Statesville—Kiwanis Club

Statesville—Library

Box 2 (folder-level records):

Statesville—Mitchell College

Statesville—Schools

Statesville—Streets

Statesville—Theaters

Statesville—Wallace Brothers Botanical Company

Statesville—World War I

Box 3 (item-level records):

Dr. Scott in his office at Mitchell College in Statesville, January 1903.

Exterior of the First National Bank in Statesville, ca. 1928.

Watts and White Feed and Machinery Company in Statesville, 1941.

Exterior of a department store in Statesville with signs advertising a sale, with people milling around the front of the building.

Exterior of the Hotel Iredell in Statesville. A horse-drawn coach is parked in front of the hotel.

Group of ten teenage boys dressed in suits and holding a banner reading “Statesville.”

Stimson house at the corner of Brad and Elm Streets in Statesville.

Front exterior of the main building at Mitchell College in Statesville (2 prints).

Subseries 3: Other Prints

Box 1 (folder-level records):

Alexander County—Taylorsville—Bank Robbery

Wheat Thrashing

Kestler Railroad Bridge, 1916

Iredell County - Flood, 1916

Landscapes

Series 3: Original Negatives

Subseries 1: Glass Negatives

Box 1: World War I

(89 negatives)

Box 2: World War I, and Statesville, N.C.

Negatives (4) made in France, ca. 1918.

Dr. Scott in his office at Mitchell College in Statesville, January 1903. (1 negative)

Exterior of the Hotel Iredell in Statesville. (1 negative)

Unidentified soldier in uniform. (1 negative)

Subseries 2: Acetate Film

Box 1: Statesville and Mitchell College

Mitchell College—Athletics (7 negatives)

Mitchell College—Exterior of the Main Building (1 negative)

Mitchell College—Interior of the Main Building [?] (1 negative)

Mitchell College—May Day 1946 (17 negatives)

Mitchell College—Music (3 negatives)

Mitchell College—Students (21 negatives)

Mitchell College—Students (1 negative)

Mitchell College—Wedding (3 negatives)

Statesville—Mitchell College function [?] at the First Presbyterian Church (1 negative)

Statesville—Opening of a Texaco Service Station, May 1955 (4 negatives)

Subseries 3: Nitrate Film

Box 1: World War I (64 negatives)

Box 2: Statesville and Mitchell College

Statesville—Exterior of the First National Bank, ca. 1928 (1 negative)

Statesville—Watts and White Feed and Machinery Company, 1941 (1 negative)

Statesville—Exterior of a department store with signs advertising a sale. (1 negative)

Mitchell College—Employees (2 negatives)

Mitchell College—Exterior views (3 negatives)

Mitchell College—Interior views (10 negatives)

Mitchell College—Likeness of Elisha Mitchell [?] (1 negative)

Mitchell College—Shearer Music Hall (stage) [Main Building] (1 negative)

Mitchell College—Shearer Music Hall (stage with pipe organ) [Main Building] (1 negative)

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