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Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1898-1946 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
22,000 glass and film photographic negatives and transparencies. Over 1,000 photographic prints. 11 albums.
11 photographs selected and described for the Archival City project.
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The American Colony was an independent, utopian, Christian sect formed by religious pilgrims who emigrated to Jerusalem from the United States and Sweden. The history of the Colony is intimately linked to the photography collection it spawned. The initial wave of immigrants came to Jerusalem in 1881 from Chicago, Illinois. The "Overcomers," as this group called itself, were followers of the charismatic Horatio Gates Spafford, formerly a lawyer and businessman, and his Norwegian-born, but American raised wife, Anna. A second wave of American immigrants joined the Overcomers in 1896. Olof Henrik Larson, an evangelical Swede who had relocated to America and settled in Chicago, was their leader. He also inspired a sister group from NÃ¥s parish in Dalarna, Sweden, which arrived later the same year.
The year 1898 is widely accepted as the starting point for the American Colony Photo Department, although one of the American Colony members produced photographs prior to that date. In October 1898, Colony photographers documented the triumphal visit of Wilhelm II, the German Kaiser and King of Prussia, and his wife to dedicate the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem. These photographs captured the interest of the public and were greatly in demand. The income from selling photographs of the royal visit allowed the Colonists to improve their conditions.
Despite the economic prosperity, the growing conflicts between the Americans and the Swedes in the American colony took its toll. In 1934, the original colony dissolved. From a practical standpoint, G. Eric Matson took control of the photo department and its considerable photographic assets.
The Matsons continued their photographic work under the American Colony Photo Department name until 1940, when they re-named the business "The Matson Photo Service."
The Photo Service's clientele expanded to include more newspaper, book, and magazine publishers in Jerusalem and around the world. The Matsons added a wider range of offerings, including color slides. They also obtained photographs from other photographers for resale.
In 1946, in the face of increasing violence in Palestine, the Matsons left Jerusalem for Southern California. The staff shipped the bulk of the negatives to the United States, while the Jerusalem business also continued to operate. By the early 1950s, with tourism on the decline, the Photo Service's staff dispersed, forcing the closing of the Jerusalem operation. The Matsons continued to sell photographs from California.
Repository
Archival history
Realizing the Collection's historic value, Eric Matson approached the Library of Congress around 1964 with the intention of donating it. Some 13,000 negatives and eleven albums of contact prints came to the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division in 1966.
In 1970, the Library arranged to ship to Washington, D.C., a final group of negatives, which had been stored in the YMCA basement in Jerusalem and had sustained water damage. In 1971, Matson helped Library of Congress staff to organize and identify the photographs. The Home for the Aged of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Los Angeles, where the Matsons had been living, gave the Collection to the Library in 1978. In 1981, the Home donated an additional 122 aerial views of Palestine.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The Matson Photograph (G. Eric and Edith) Collection is a rich source of historical images of the Middle East. The majority of the images depict Palestine (present day Israel and the West Bank) from 1898 to 1946. Most of the collection consists of over 22,000 glass and film photographic negatives and transparencies created by the American Colony Photo Department and its successor firm, the Matson Photo Service. Over 1,000 photographic prints and eleven albums are also part of this collection.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
In cataloging the collection, Prints & Photographs Division staff used titles found on the original negatives and their storage sleeves, a photo register compiled by photo service staff, printed photo service catalogues, as well as other contemporary sources cited in the Bibliography section for the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photo Collection. Subject headings have been added for the geographic places represented, but access by other topics relies primarily on information in the title.
The archival description produced by the Archival City project follows the classification and rating of Prints & Photographs Division staff.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
During 2004 and 2005, JJT, Inc., of Austin, Texas, scanned the Matson Negatives. They used an overhead Sinar 54 digital camera to scan more than 13,700 glass negatives (measuring in sizes ranging between 4 x 5 inches or smaller and 10 x 12 inches). The images were captured in grayscale at a spatial resolution of approximately 5,000 pixels on the long side and a tonal resolution of 8 bits per pixel. In 2010, CSC, Inc., scanned an additional 7,300 nitrate-based film negatives from the collection. The film negatives range in size from approx. 3 x 4 inches up to 5 x 7 inches. The images were captured using a Stokes Imaging System camera using the same capture resolution specifications that were used for the glass plate negatives.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
ISAD(G), second edition, Ottawa 2000.
Available online : https://www.ica.org/en/isadg-general-international-standard-archival-description-second-edition
For dates : ISO 8601, 2nd edition, 2000.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Entry prepared in December 2021 and revised in January 2022
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
The content and structure area section includes complete passages from the Library of Congress website : Library of Congress, "Matson (G. Eric and Edith) Photograph Collection", [Online], accessed in December 2021. URL : https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/matpc/
To see the whole collection : https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?st=grid&co=matpc
Archivist's note
Entry prepared by Archival City