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Peter E. Palmquist photographs

 Collection
Call Number: WA Photos 524

Scope and Contents

Photographic material that chiefly documents Peter Palmquist's professional life as a photographer. This includes images from his service in the United States Army, mainly with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Paris, France, 1955-1959; his personal travels through Europe during his military service including Belgium, England, Gibraltar, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, and Switzerland; his career as a staff photographer for Humboldt State University, Arcata, California, 1961-1989 including significant documentation of the Theater Arts Department and its productions; images that document significant events in Humboldt County, California from 1961 to circa 1990 including the Christmas flood of 1964; and thousands of black and white and color negatives that document weddings in Humboldt County from 1960 to roughly 1990. Other photographs and negatives document his freelance and fine art photography. Large groups of copy photographs document his research interests on a range of subjects with a focus on photography, especially its role in the history of the American West, particularly in California.

Dates

  • circa 1950-2003

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Peter E. Palmquist Photographs is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Peter Palmquist and the Estate of Peter Palmquist on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana and Walter McClintock Memorial Fund, 2003-2004.

Arrangement

Organized into eleven series: I. United States Army Photographs, 1952-1959. II. Personal Photographs During Military Service, 1955-1959. III. General Photographs, 1960-2002. IV. Wedding Photographs, 1960-circa 1990. V. Humboldt State University, 1962-1972. VI. Christmas Flood of 1964, 1964. VII. Logging Road in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest, 1967. VIII. Nudes, circa 1973. IX. Copy Photographs, undated. X. Peter Palmquist Retrospective, circa 1950-2002. XI. Oversize Photographs, 1957-1995.

Associated Materials

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, has several collections assembled by Peter Palmquist.

The personal papers of Peter Palmquist are included in the Peter Palmquist Papers (WA MSS S-2965). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

Biographical information and photographic materials related to women photographers are included in the Peter Palmquist Collection of Women in Photography (WA MSS S-2600). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Biographical information and photographic materials related to male photographers active in the western United States are included in the Peter E. Palmquist Collection of Male Photographers in the American West (WA MSS S-2733). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Biographical information and photographic materials related to male photographers active in Humboldt County, California, are included in the Peter Palmquist Collection of Humboldt County, California, Male Photographers (WA MSS S-2670). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Cased photographs are included in the Peter Palmquist Cased Photographs Collection (WA Photos 402). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Unique and rare photographic formats collected by Palmquist are in the Peter E. Palmquist Collection of Photography and Photographic Formats (WA Photos 490). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Stereograph cards that depict California are included in the Peter E. Palmquist Collection of Stereographs of California (WA Photos 494). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Books and periodicals formerly in the personal library of Peter Palmquist are accessible via the library catalog by searching for: "Palmquist, Peter E., Ownership."

Extent

44.3 Linear Feet ((109 boxes) + 7 broadsides.)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.palmquistphotos

Abstract

Photographic material that chiefly documents Peter Palmquist's professional life as a photographer. This includes images from his service in the United States Army, mainly with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Paris, France, 1955-1959, as well as his career as a staff photographer for Humboldt State University, Arcata, California, 1961-1989. The latter photographs include significant documentation of the Theater Arts Department and its productions. Other photographs and negatives document his freelance, fine art, and wedding photography. A large group of copy photographs in the collection document Palmquist's research interests on a range of subjects with a focus on photography, especially its role in the history of the American West, particularly in California.

Peter E. Palmquist (1936-2003)

A photographer, collector, and historian of photography, Peter Eric Palmquist was born in Oakland, California on September 23, 1936. In 1944, he moved with his family to Ferndale, California, and he spent most of his life in Humboldt County. During adolescence, Palmquist trained himself in photography. He served in the United States Army as a photographer from 1955 to 1959, mainly with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Paris, France. Palmquist worked briefly as a photographer for the state government of California from 1959 to 1961. From 1961 until his retirement in 1989, Palmquist worked as a staff photographer for Humboldt State University, Arcata, California, where he also graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art in 1965.

From 1971 until his death, Palmquist collected textual materials and hundreds of thousands of photographic items documenting the practice and occupation of photography from its beginning through the turn of the twenty-first century. He had particular interest in early California photographers, photographers of the American West, and women photographers.

A self-trained researcher and historian of photography, Palmquist organized more than one hundred exhibitions and wrote more than three hundred articles and a hundred monographs. He was a founding editor of The Daguerreian Annual, and a president of the National Stereoscopic Association.

Palmquist died January 13, 2003, in Oakland.

Processing Information

Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.

As a rule, descriptive information found in the Collection Contents section is drawn in large part from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.

This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.

Much of the collection remains in Palmquist's orginal housing and represent his original order for the material.

Former call number: Uncat Mss 509

Title
Guide to the Peter E. Palmquist Photographs
Author
by Matthew Daniel Mason
Date
2014
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.