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A preliminary container list was created on or before April 20, 2016.

John Garman Photographic Collection, 1894-1966

Predominant Dates: 1930-1965

This personal collection of photographs taken and assembled by John Garman includes many studies of campus buildings and sights, as well as extensive photographic studies from vacations in the 1960s.

Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.

Creators

Garman, John C. (John Clifton)

ID: P 095

Extent: 2.0 cubic feet

More Extent Information

approximately 925 prints and 320 negatives

Scope and Content Notes

Many of the photographs in Garman's collection were used as instructional tools for the teaching of photography at Oregon State. Kidder Hall and the Lady of the Fountain received special attention among earlier photographs, and the construction of Weniger Hall was extensively covered among later photographs. The vacation sets include many photographs of Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.

This collection includes a variety of forms, but consists predominantly of black and white prints. Some items were produced on motion picture positive film. Negatives are in many forms; glass, nitrate, and on standard negative film; they vary in size from 35mm to 8x10. Prints come in many forms; sulphide tone, contact colortone, lithoprint, but are predominantly black and white. Many prints are oversized, mainly 11x14 and 14x17. The collection also includes lantern slides and two sizes (3 1/4 x4 and 5x7) of autochromes.

Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.

Biographical / Historical Notes

John Garman was born in Urbana, Illinois, in 1896. When he was two, his family moved to Portland. After graduating from Benson Polytechnic High School in 1916, Garman enrolled at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC). After his first year, he entered the Army and served as an instructor. After WWI, he returned to OAC, and completed his B.S. in Physics in 1922. In 1923, he became an instructor in Engineering. In 1924, Garman began teaching photography for the Physics Department, which he continued doing until his retirement in 1966. In 1969, he helped the Art Department set up classes when that department assumed the teaching of photography. In the 1920's, Garman, with Ed Yunker, established Photographic Services at OAC; Photographic Services is now part of OSU's Communication Media Center. In 1925, Garman married Florence Goff; they had three children. Garman passed away in November of 1989.

Arrangement

The majority of images have been assigned individual item numbers (P95:1-812), but most numbers below P95:200 contain sequences or sets of prints and negatives of the same or similar subjects; such sets have been assigned one number per set.

Preferred Citation: John Garman Photographic Collection (P 095), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Languages of Materials

English

Other

Finding Aid Revisions: As part of a project to add additonal description to P99, three mislabeled glass slides were discovered. These three slides were originally labeled P99:32-34, and were reidentified as P95:32 and two copies of P95:33. This move removes duplication of photo numbers in P99, and matches description of existing prints / negatives in P95. The three slides were removed from Box 3 in P99, and relabeled and moved to Box 4 in P95 to allign with exisiting documentation in the central files and finding aids. (Anna Dvorak, August 22, 2023)

Collection Material Type: PCLD List

People, Places, and Topics

Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)
College buildings--Oregon--Corvallis.
Corvallis (Or.)
Garman, John C. (John Clifton)
KOAC (Radio station : Corvallis, Or.)
Local History
Marys Peak (Or.)
Oregon Agricultural College--Buildings.
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Oregon State Agricultural College--Buildings.
Oregon State College--Aerial views.
Oregon State College--Buildings.
Oregon State University--Buildings
Storms--Northwest, Pacific.
University History
Zion National Park (Utah)

Forms of Material

Autochromes (photographs).
Film negatives.
Lantern slides.
Nitrate negatives.
Panoramic photographs.
Photographic prints.

Related Materials

Department of Physics Records (RG 037) have Garman correspondence. An oral history interview with Garman was made as part of the Horner Museum Oral History Collection (OH 010). An exhibit, The Photographs of John Garman, is available online.

Information and Credits