3.5 cubic feet (52 folders, 4443 negatives, 50 glass plate negatives)
The James Memorial Public Library Photograph Collection contains negative copies of photographs brought to the library in St. James by residence who lived in town and the surrounding area. The original images date from the 1870s to the 1990s and include family portraits, city scenes, local businesses, area schools, events, parades, weddings, and church activities among many others. The majority of the photographs are from Phelps County with representation from Crawford and Dent counties.
This collection can be requested to view at State Historical Society of Missouri research centers. Appointments are strongly encouraged to ensure that requested materials are available at the time of your visit. Make an appointment using the research request form.
The State Historical Society of Missouri collects materials documenting all aspects of Missouri history. Some of our paper and digital collections as well as older finding aids may include harmful or outdated language and could be considered offensive. SHSMO does not censor its collections, but we endeavor to be accurate and inclusive in how we describe them.
We are committed to revising and updating our descriptive language; however, with thousands of finding aids, this is ongoing and will take time. When processing new collections, we will occasionally re-use language provided by creators and former owners of the collection because it provides important context about the materials or appears in the formal names of organizations or titles of materials in the collection. In all finding aids, archivists work to contextualize the contents of manuscript collections.