Zelda Mackay Collection of Stereographic Views, ca. 1860-ca. 1900
Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Zelda Mackay
- Extent:
- 733 mounted stereographic prints. 778 digital objects
- Language:
- English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Zelda Mackay Collection of Stereographic Views contains 733 mounted stereographic prints produced from circa 1860 to circa 1900. The general subject matter of the collection is the North American West from Alaska to Mexico (excluding Canada) and Colorado to California. Included among the many California locations are San Francisco, Yosemite Valley, and Los Angeles, as well as various areas along the lines of the Central Pacific Railroad. (For a more complete listing of areas and subjects pictured in the collection, see the location outline below.)
The collection features the work of several notable photographers, including Carleton E. Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Charles R. Savage, Thomas Houseworth, William Henry Jackson, Edward and Henry T. Anthony, Edward and Benjamin West Kilburn, Charles Bierstadt, John J. Reilly, and Isaiah W. Taber.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Zelda Mackay was a lifelong collector of photographic and other historical material. A San Francisco resident and 1916 graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, Mackay amassed an invaluable collection of photographs of California and Western America as part of a much larger general photographic collection. She sold the California-Western America portion of her collection to the Bancroft Library, and sold the remainder of her collection to the George Eastman House, Rochester, New York.
- Acquisition information:
- The Zelda Mackay Collection of Stereographic Views was purchased from Zelda Mackay in 1961.
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481