DACS

mangumhugh Inventory of the Hugh Mangum Photographs, circa 1890-1922 and undated Processed by: Ken Dasher, Karen Glynn, and Peter Hymas; machine-readable finding aid created by: Aaron Thornburg and Kenneth Dasher David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Duke University Durham, N.C., USA

Aleph Number: 002247848

Machine-readable finding aid derived from XML authoring program. Date of source: May 2006Processed by Ken Dasher, Karen Glynn and Peter Hymas, May 2006; finding aid encoded by Aaron Thornburg and Ken Dasher, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, May 2006 Description is in English Finding aid was prepared using DACS and local Style Guide Inventory of the Hugh Mangum Photographs, circa 1890-1922 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Duke University Durham, North Carolina 27708-0185 USA

Descriptive Summary David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University Mangum, Hugh. Hugh Mangum Photographs, circa 1890-1922 Material in English 1.5 linear feet Approximately 800 items For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Hugh Mangum was an itinerant commercial portrait photographer from Durham, N.C. His family's home and Mangum's studio, converted from a tobacco packhouse, still stand at West Point on the Eno River, now a county park. The Hugh Mangum Photographs collection dates from approximately 1890 through 1922, and contains 689 glass plate negatives of portrait photographs taken by Hugh Mangum as he traveled a rail circuit through North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia and in photography studios he and partners established in Roanoke, Pulaski, and East Radford, Virginia. Communities marked on a few of the plates include Warrenton (probably North Carolina rather than Virginia), and Christiansburg, Virginia. The images are composed chiefly of individual portraits and group portraits of residents in those areas. There are women, children, and men featured in the images, either in a studio setting or outdoors; the majority are white but there are a substantial number of African American portraits. Please note: the original glass plate negatives are closed to research use. Print and digital images are available for viewing. Administrative Information Online Items

Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in the Hugh Mangum Photographs - Duke Digital Collections.

Access Restrictions

Original glass plate negatives are closed to patron use. Print and digital copies are available.

Collection may contain materials to which the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies. Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Hugh Mangum Photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Provenance

The Hugh Mangum Photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a gift in 1986.

Processing Information

Processed by Karen Glynn and Peter Hymas, May 2006

Encoded by Aaron Thornburg, May 2009; and by Kenneth Dasher, July 2009

Updated by Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Oct. 2011

Accessions 1987-0137, 2006-0044, and 2007- were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.

Biographical Note

Hugh Leonard Mangum was born on June 3, 1877 in downtown Durham, N.C., the son of Presley J. Mangum, an early postmaster of Durham and furniture maker, and Sally Mangum. In 1891, the Mangums bought the McCown house at West Point, then a rural community centering on a water mill on the Eno River, and used the home as a summer residence. In 1893, when Hugh Mangum was 16 years old, the Mangum family moved out to the Eno River community permanently. By the time he was 16, Hugh Mangum had taught himself photography. He was also an adept painter in oils and watercolor and could play the mandolin, accordion, and piano. Mangum studied art at Salem College in Winston-Salem, N.C. and studied hypnotism on his own.

From this time on, Mangum led a rambling life throughout the cities and rural areas of the Southeast, photographing blacks and whites, children at play, workers in the field, and scenes around his home by the Eno River. He traveled by train on these picture-taking trips, returning often to his family's Durham, N.C. home on the Eno, perhaps when his money was exhausted. Through the course of his travels Mangum set up many temporary studios as well as three permanent ones located in the Virginia communities of Roanoke, Pulaski, and East Radford. Ordinary people would walk in wherever Mangum set up his studios and have their pictures made. Mangum also maintained a darkroom at his family's home on the Eno in a packhouse building which has been restored and converted into the Hugh Mangum Museum of Photography. Mangum printed many of his negatives in the packhouse darkroom having exposed the negatives elsewhere, usually on location in his permanent of temporary studios. Mangum used Black Meadow Branch, a small tributary of the Eno, as a water source for chemical mixing and for washing his prints.

Mangum’s original darkroom, a tobacco pack house on the Mangum farm at West Point on the Eno, was saved and restored by The Friends of West Point and opened in 1986 as The Hugh Mangum Museum of Photography. In addition to his darkroom, the museum contains Hugh Mangum’s traveling trunk, a selection of vintage prints, prints made from Mangum original negatives in the 1980s by photographer David Page, and period photography equipment.

The Hugh Mangum Photographs collection dates from approximately 1890 through 1922, and contains 688 glass plate negatives, as well as a selection of prints and contact prints, of portrait photographs taken by Hugh Mangum as he traveled a rail circuit through North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. He also likely took some of these images in the photography studios he and partners established in Roanoke, Pulaski, and East Radford, Virginia. Communities marked on a few of the plates include Warrenton (probably North Carolina rather than Virginia), and Christiansburg, Virginia. Localities known to have been visited by Mangum in N.C. include Winston-Salem, High Point, Raleigh, Reidsville, Lexington, Durham, and Greensboro; in Virginia, Martinsville, Radford, and Pulaski. He also visited Texas but it is unknown if any of the images in the collection were taken there.

The images are composed chiefly of individual portraits and group portraits of local residents. There are women, children, and men, either in a studio setting or outdoors; the majority are white but there are a substantial number of African Americans. There are buildings such as barns and houses often present in the group portraits, and in many cases there are dogs, chickens, cats, and horses. Sometimes the individual poses with a possession such as a bicycle or musical instrument. One image is of a train accident with a large group of bystanders. Often numbers are stamped or written on the plate. The library staff has assigned unique numbers to each image and plate. Negative N314 (a print is available) may be a Mangum family portrait and the male may be Hugh Mangum. There appears to be at least one other portrait of Mangum as a youth, only in print form. Please note: the original glass plate negatives are closed to research use. Digital images of the entire collection of negatives are available for viewing on the Duke Digital Collections site.

Mangum photographs are distinctive for the level of comfort exhibited by his subjects in front of the camera. This ease in front of the camera is readily noted due to the large quantity of "penny picture camera" negatives in the collection that contain multiple images of numerous subjects. Often the first picture of a subject appears rather stiff and formal as in traditional nineteenth century photographs. In the second and subsequent pictures, the subject often visibly relaxes, assumes different poses, uses props, removes or adds a hat, and may smile broadly at the camera. This progressive transition in poses from formal to very informal is a hallmark of the Mangum collection. The collection may be of particular interest to researchers studying late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century fashion trends.

The glass plate negatives are closed to use, but researchers may use online digitized images which represent the entirety of the collection of negatives. In addition, the collection contains contact sheets, original contact prints, one panoramic print, and prints reproductions created in the 2000s.

Collection Arrangement

Glass plate negatives are arranged in size order. Number ranges for each size are not inclusive. The negatives series is followed by a series of prints, most of which are modern. Included in the last box are a few prints for which there are no known negatives. Last, there is an artifacts series composed only of two dry plate negative boxes.

Subject Headings

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.

African Americans -- North Carolina -- Photographs. Mangum, Hugh, 1877-1922. Mangum, Hugh, 1877-1922 -- Pictorial works. African Americans -- Portraits. Commercial portraiture -- History -- 19th century. Commercial portraiture -- History -- 20th century. Photographers -- North Carolina. Photographers -- Virginia. Photography -- North Carolina. Portrait photographers -- North Carolina. Portrait photographers -- Virginia. Durham (N.C.) -- History -- Pictorial works. North Carolina -- History -- Pictorial works. Virginia -- History -- Pictorial works. Durham (N.C.) -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works. North Carolina -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works. Virginia -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works. Black and white photographs. Glass plate negatives. Negatives. Related Material Presley Jackson Mangum Family Papers (has photograph by Mangum - see card catalog for details!) Rubenstein Library Michael Francis Blake Photographs, 1912-1934 (African American photographer from Charleston, S.C.) David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Detailed Description of Collection Glass Plate Negatives Series, Circa 1890-1922 and undated (15 boxes)

Albumen glass plate negatives contain images of individuals, small groups, and large groups. Often plates contain multiple images in rows, up to 12 per plate. Most of the individuals' names are unknown but some names have been determined through an ongoing collaboration with researchers and other individuals. All the negatives have been digitized and are available on the website created for the Hugh Mangum images; please see the online images for more information about the actual content of each negative. Also, an Excel database is available that offers limited information for each negative: size, composition (individual, small group, or large group), genders, presence of animals, and identification number.

Glass plate negatives are arranged in size order. Number ranges for each size are not inclusive.

[CLOSED: Because of their vulnerability, glass plate negatives are closed to research access. For viewing purposes patrons may use online digitized images or prints.]

1Negatives N1-N688(3.25"x4.25" 2Negatives N3-N52(4.25"x6.5") 3Negatives N54-103(4.25"x6.5") 4Negatives N105-156(4.25"x6.5") 5Negatives N157-208(4.25"x6.5") 6Negatives N210-259(4.25"x6.5") 7Negatives N260-311(4.25"x6.5") 8Negatives N312-366(4.25"x6.5") 9Negatives N369-430(4.25"x6.5") 10Negatives N432-498(4.25"x6.5") 11Negatives N499-555(4.25"x6.5") 12Negatives 556-605(4.25"x6.5") 13Negatives 606-653(4.25"x6.5") 13Negatives 654-665(5x7") 14Negatives 360-545(6.5x8.5") 15Broken glass plate negatives, N635-646, inclusive, and one unnumbered plate (various sizes) Prints Series, circa 1890-1922 and undated (1 box)

Fifty-three black and white prints were made of selected negatives and are housed in this series. Some are original contact prints; others are modern and most of these may have been made in support of the West Point on the Eno Mangum museum. Most prints are 8x10" but there are also smaller prints; there are also a few oversize prints which are housed separately, including am original panoramic photograph.

17P180Unidentified white woman. 17P278Unidentified white woman with two children, a toddler daughter and an infant. 17P283Two unidentified white couples. 17P368Three unidentified white women and two dogs. 17P372Unidentified seated young white woman. 17P373Unidentified white little girl, outside. 17P406Five unidentified young white women. 17P407Unidentified white woman wearing a hat. 17P424Unidentified white man. 17P436Unidentified seated white woman wearing a hat. 17P22Print of negative containing twelve penny portraits, most of unidentified black people. 17P24Print of negative containing 22 penny camera portraits of unidentified white people. 17P28Print of a negative containing eight portraits of unidentified white people. 17P42Unidentified white young woman. 17P44Print of a negative containing nine penny camera portraits, all of unidentified teenaged boys and girls and one unidentified white woman. 17P400Landscape print of mountainside with wooden rail fence at base. In the distance, along the ridges, stand small groups of unidentified white people. 17P418Unidentified white man outside on a horse. 17P419Mill with horse-drawn wagon and unidentified people. 17P469Unidentified white family outside, some seated, some standing. 17P473Print of deteriorated negative showing a crowd surrounding a train wreck. 17P476Portrait of an unidentified white family standing outside on a porch. 17P478Outside portrait of an unidentified white family. 17P479Portrait of an unidentified white family outside a building. 17P480Unidentified white father and son sitting on a rail fence. 17P481Group portrait of unidentified white family taken outside with family dog. 17P482Portrait of a large group of unidentified white children, possibly a school, taken outside in front of a building. 17P483Portrait of an unidentified white family taken outside. 17P125Unidentified young white man. 17P126Unidentified young white woman. 17P132Print of a negative containing 24 penny portraits of unidentified white people. 17P149Print of nine portraits, mostly of white people, but also including a young black man. 17P156Unidentified white woman. 17P168Unidentified white girl and boy. 17P190Unidentified white woman wearing glasses. 17P193Unidentified white woman. 17P203Unidentified white man and woman. 17P213Unidentified white man. [Print missing] 17P242Unidentified white woman. 17P266Portrait of four unidentified white men. 17P267Unidentified white man holding a hat. 17P271Print of a negative containing two images. In each, an unidentified white woman is sitting with an unidentified white man, but the men in the two images are different. 17P311Print of a negative containing twelve penny camera portraits and one group portrait. The penny camera images are mostly of two unidentified white women, and the group portrait is of three old men and two infants. 17P314Unidentified white family. 17P324Unidentified white woman. 17P326Unidentified white woman seated on a log outside. 17P352Unidentified young white woman. 17P369Two unidentified white women. 17P370Unidentified young white girl outside in a yard with chickens. 17P404 and 404ATwo prints, one modern, of an unidentified white woman. 17P439Print of a negative containing two images of an unidentified white female toddler. 17Two modern black and white prints, 8x10", no negatives, unidentified white men. One is of a young man with a pistol; the other is a slightly older young man with a mustache in a top hat. One of the men may be Hugh Mangum (his name appears in brackets on back of print). 116x20 reproduction of N545, a mill (West Point on the Eno?) 2Panoramic photo of school class, 1921 Artifacts Series (1 box)

Consists of two boxes for dry plate negatives, both made by companies based in Missouri. One box, 3.5x4.5", is empty; the other still holds five unused 5x7" glass plate negatives wrapped in black paper.

18Glass plate negatives boxes