PALM SPRINGS GLASS PLATE NEGATIVES, CIRCA 1914

A group of fourteen glass plate negatives of California desert scenes, which are believed to be the work of National Parks photographer Harry Edmond Roberts (1869-1959), dating to approximately 1914. The 5" x 7" plates are accompanied by modern black and white prints of each of the images.

The plates are housed in acid-free folding paper sleeves and stored in a light blue Hollinger box. There are no labels or dates on the glass negatives or the prints. Laid in the box is a photocopied 8 ½" x 11" inch sheet of paper upon which is printed "Desert Scenes by Harry Edmond Roberts circa 1914 (1st photographer of Grants Park 1915-1935 Palm Canyon (Palm Springs) and other desert locations." Several of the images show Joshua trees and other desert scenes. There is one image of unidentified people in a desert canyon and a photograph of ocean waves crashing into rocks.

The plates have been numbered on the outer protective sleeves. Most are very good or better, while two are in poor condition. There is some minor rubbing along the edges of a few others. Additionally, there is a hint of smoke to the glass.

Roberts was a photo concessioner for General Grant National Park from 1900 to 1930. His collection of glass plate negatives, cellulose negatives, prints, stereographs, slides, and correspondence is now part of the archives at the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. According to the finding aid for the Roberts collection, the photographer operated the Grant Grove Studio from 1914 to 1935, selling images of park scenes to visitors and in large measure determining the public image of General Grant National Park.

Born in Osceola, Iowa on September 10, 1869, Roberts moved west in the 1890s. By the dawn of the 20th century, he was in California, keeping bees in the former Russian colony of Sebastopol in Sonoma County. In the summer of 1904, he and his wife, Edna, set up a temporary photo studio in a tent at Millwood, located in the mountains of Fresno. From here, he documented the devastation taking place with the sequoia logging operations at Converse Basin. A short time later, he opened a permanent studio in Corona, in western Riverside County, producing photographic portraits and selling photographic supplies. Beginning in 1914, Roberts spent 21 summers at General Grant National Park. During the offseason, he would return to the studio in Corona. In later years, after selling the studio, Roberts traveled with his second wife, Nelle, throughout Southern California, setting up temporary portrait studios in places like Needles, Barstow, San Bernardino, and Lancaster.