The SOHS Sawyer Collection

The images presented here are part of a donation we are calling the Sawyer Collection. The images have come from multiple photography studios, some of them unidentified. Most were taken by the Kiser Studio of Portland, Oregon in the 'Teens and early 'Twenties, especially of rugged scenes in Crater Lake and Glacier National Parks and along the Columbia River. A small collection was taken 1905-07 by photographer H. G. Peabody of Massachusetts and Maine urban and coastal scenes. An anonymous collection portrays architectural and rural views taken in Central Mexico in the same era.

The collection was saved and cared for by William Gruber, who had a long working relationship with the Portland photography studio Sawyer Service Inc. Gruber was the inventor of the popular View-Master, which he produced in collaboration with Sawyer’s. According to the donor, in 1939 Sawyer’s was poised to dispose of these glass plate negatives in order to focus on the View-Master, when Gruber offered to take the plates. Over the past eight decades, the Gruber family has meticulously maintained the collection of approximately 3,000 plates, weighing roughly half a ton. Southern Oregon Historical Society received the plates as a donation in 2019, and has made them publicly available with additional grant funding from Oregon Parks and Recreation and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

 SAWYER COLLECTION INDEX        WILLIAM GRUBER       WHEN THE COLLECTION ARRIVED AT SOHS     

Displaying 601 - 650 of 2802
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Title
SWY620

Mt Hood from Bull Run, Sunrise, Reflections

SWY621

Mt Hood from Bull Run Lake

SWY622

Mt Hood from Bull Run Lake

SWY623

Moonlight--Mt Hood from Lost Lake

SWY624

Mt Hood from Sand Canyon

SWY625

Oneonta Gorge

SWY626

Oneonta Gorge Looking from Columbia Highway

SWY627

Oneonta Gorge

SWY628

Oneonta Falls

SWY629

Spruce Tree burning

SWY630

Crater Lake

SWY631

South from Top of Llao Rock, Crater Lake

SWY632

South from Top of Llao Rock, Crater Lake

SWY633

Columbia Highway Shepherds Bridge & Highway Looking West

SWY634

Unlabeled

SWY635

Shepherds Bridge & Highway Looking West

SWY636

Crown Point, Vista House & the Columbia Looking West

SWY637

Thumb Rock, Columbia Highway

SWY638

Building Crown Point

SWY639

Building Crown Point

SWY640

Unlabeled

SWY641

Vista House, Columbia River Highway from the Henderson Chalet

SWY642

Vista House, Columbia River Highway from the Henderson Chalet

SWY643

Vista House, Columbia River Highway

SWY644

The Phantom Ship, Crater Lake

SWY646

Unlabeled

SWY647

Mt Hamilton as Seen from Top of McCord Creek Falls

SWY648

Unlabeled

SWY649

Upper McCord Creek Falls

SWY650

Thumb Rock, Columbia Highway

SWY651

Mt Hood & the Columbia from Interstate Bridge

SWY652

Elowah Falls, McCord Creek Basin, Columbia Highway

SWY653

Warren Falls, Columbia Highway

SWY654

Castle Rock, near Lindsey, Columbia Highway

SWY655

The Vista House, Columbia Highway

SWY656

Bull Run River

SWY657

Bull Run River

SWY658

Salmon Jumping Falls, Bull Run River

SWY659

The Mill Race

SWY660

The Mill Race

SWY661

Looking Up the Willamette River

SWY662

Looking Up the Willamette River

SWY663

Looking Down the Willamette River

SWY664

Willamette River near Eugene

SWY665

University of Oregon Y.M.C.A. & Oregon Building

SWY666

University of Oregon Tennis Court & Deady Hall

SWY667

University of Oregon Journalism Building

SWY668

University of Oregon Commerce Building

SWY669

University of Oregon McClure & Friendly Halls

SWY670

University of Oregon McClure Hall