The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
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Howes Brothers

Howes Brothers Photograph Collection

ca. 1882-1907
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 313

Alvah, Walter, and George Howes brothers traveled the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts in the last two decades of the 19th century, taking photographs of the residents and documenting the customs, fashions, architecture, industry, technology, and economic conditions of rural New England.

The Howes collection includes 200 study prints selected from 20,000 negatives held by the Ashfield Historical Society. An inventory of the study prints is available online.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Howes brothers, Alvah, Walter, and George, traveled the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts taking photographs of the residents, documenting pictorially the customs, fashions, architecture, industry, technology, and economic conditions of rural New England at the turn of the century. This collection consists of 200 study prints selected from 20,000 negatives on microfilm in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library (name and town index available with the microfilm). The original glass plates are housed in the Ashfield Historical Society, Ashfield, Massachusetts.

Information on Use
Terms of Access and Use
Restrictions on access:

The collection is open for research.

Restrictions on use:

Copies of these study prints in whatever form can be obtained only by permission of the Howes Brothers Project, Ashfield Historical Society, Ashfield, Mass.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Howes Brothers Photographic Collection (MS 313). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Additional Formats

A microfilm set (number 5121, reels 1-29) in the Du Bois Library’s Microforms Area, includes all of the more than 20,000 Howes photographs in the Ashfield Historical Society’s collection.

History of the Collection

Acquired from Ashfield Historical Society, 1980

Location of originals:

The images in this collection were printed from the originals held by the Ashfield Historical Society, Ashfield, Mass.

Processing Information

Processed by SCUA staff.

Additional Information
Sponsor
Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Language
English.
Bibliography

An article describing the collection is filed in Folder I of the box of study prints in the Archives:

Flint, Linda J., “Preserving Photos as a Historical Resource: the Howes Brothers’ Photography,” U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, 11593: Information Related to
Responsibilities of the Secretary of Interior, vol. 5 no. 2 (June 1980), pp. 11-13.

Subjects

Massachusetts--History

Contributors

Howes, AlvahHowes, GeorgeHowes, Walter

Types of material

Photographs