Rudolph Michaelis Glass Plate Negatives of Chicago and the Midwest, 1900-1905

Gift, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2017.

The Rudolph Michaelis Glass Plate Negatives of Chicago and the Midwest are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

The Rudolph Michaelis Glass Plate Negatives of Chicago and the Midwest are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

Rudolph Michaelis Glass Plate Negatives of Chicago and the Midwest, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Catherine Grandgeorge, 2018.

American amateur photographer.

Rudolph F. Michaelis was born about 1869 in Marion County, Missouri to August and Johanna Michaelis. He married Rosa Belle Allen in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Aug. 16, 1892. Michaelis and his family lived in Chicago from around 1900 to 1905, and by 1908 were living in Berkeley, California at 2212 Grove Street (which later became Martin Luther King Boulevard). He died in Alameda County, California on Jan. 22, 1935.

Collection of 167 glass plate negatives and a few prints created by Rudolph Michaelis between 1900 and 1905, found in the attic of a house formerly occupied by the Michaelis family in Berkley, California. Images show city street views, buildings, businesses, homes, churches, parks, family, and friends and are primarily of Chicago and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Also includes images taken in other locations in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Iowa. Michaelis often wrote photograph information on the negative sleeves, including the time of day, weather conditions, and the stop used. This information has been transcribed on the enclosures for each negative. Because the negatives are in original order by size, related images are not always grouped together and are not chronological.

Materials are in original order by size of negative with prints at the end.

• Names
  • Field Museum of Natural History.
  • Michaelis, Rudolph F.
• Subject
  • Chicago
  • Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
  • Photographs
• Geographic Coverage
  • Grand Rapids (Mich.)
  • Hyde Park (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Jackson Park (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Joplin (Mo.)
  • Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Palmyra (Mo.)
  • Washington Park (Chicago, Ill.)