Photographic Archive, 1920s Sumatra, Indonesia

1929. Very good condition. Archive of 31 b&w photographs taken by an American amateur ornithologist and traveler in Indonesia, accompanied by real picture postcards of the region.

5 snapshots by Theodora Cope annotated on the verso by her. Real photos printed on photographic paper; some snapshots, some postcards. They include the Batak peoples in north and central Sumatra. One image includes a group of people (all wearing the traditional flat headdress); a herd of water buffalo; graneries (sic) in a Batak village; village women carrying grain in baskets on their heads; and a view of traditional village houses.

Of the 20 postcards, 12 postcards issued by the Hotel Centrum, Fort de Kock - Padang Highlands. B&w with captions in white at the bottom margin of the image. 8 other assorted postcards from other hotels in Sumatra, and one by W. T. Uhlenhuth of Medan.

The Copes were an eminent Pennsylvania Quaker family. A distant cousin of Edward Drinker Cope, Francis R. Cope Jr., was father of Theodora Cope and an amateur ornithologist. As a Quaker business family deeply involved in its community, the Copes were active in many civic, educational and charitable projects, including the development of Fairmount Park, the City's Waterworks, the Philadelphia Zoo and Haverford College. An early supporter of the conservation of wild lands, Francis donated the tract of land that is now Woodbourne Forest & Wildlife Preserve to the Nature Conservancy, the 4th preserve established by the Nature Conservancy The Copes (father and daughter) traveled throughout New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Java and Sumatra in the late 1920's.