Photographs from the Collection

With over 40 photographs and albums, ranging from the 1880s through the 1960s, the exhibition includes images of a wide variety of vessels - from 160-foot private yachts of the 1920s to Narragansett Bay ferries, from America's Cup defenders to the smallest boat to cross the Atlantic - as well as views of life on board ship, images of the Newport waterfront, and press and promotional photographs.

A collection of cyanotype photographs taken circa 1900 by Edward W. Smith, whose family came from Philadelphia to spend summers on Washington Street in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, show working sloops in the harbor and details of nearby wharves. Modern prints have been made from four glass plate negatives by Smith, showing Long Wharf, Jamestown, and views of Newport's old waterfront. Another group of cyanotype photographs, by an unknown photographer, records one family's time on board various boats, at the beach, and enjoying their time on the water.

Other photographs from this era include a print of the English yacht Water Witch under very full sail, photographed by Alfred John West circa 1880, and albumen prints of Vigilant and Valkyrie competing in the 1893 America’s Cup, taken by the Brooklyn photographer Charles Bolles.

The Library has a small collection of prints and negatives by Newport photographer Ralph Arnold and his friend and co-photographer Edward Smith Jr, as well as photographs they collected by other photographers, and a print of a young man standing in front of the wreck of the Beavertail ferry on Jamestown, after the hurricane of 1938, comes from this collection. An appealing image of a model of the Mount Hope ferry by an unknown photographer is also from this group.

Among the more recent photographs in the exhibition are a selection from a large group of material in the Library’s collection relating to the construction and racing of Constellation in the 1964 America’s Cup. These range from images of the yacht under construction at the Minneford Yacht Yard, City Island, to trial races at Newport, as well as photographs of her designer Olin Stephens, with his brother Rod, and skippers Eric Ridder and Robert Bavier (IYRS also has film archives of these trials and races that can be viewed in the library).

The exhibit is rounded out with a group of promotional and press photographs, ranging from a holiday card proposal from Morris Rosenfeld to a yacht owner, to a print of Raytheon's latest radio in the early 1960s, and Dorsett Plastics' 15' Cobra Runabout from 1965.

The full checklist of the exhibit can be seen below;
1. August LOEFFLER (1864-1936)
Vigilant
Gelatin silver print, 1893, signed in ink by C. Oliver Iselin

2. Alfred John WEST (1857-1937)
‘Britannia’ Sailing in the Solent
Albumen print, 1894

3. Edward W. SMITH  (1875-1955)
Bowen’s Wharf, Newport
Modern print from the original glass negative, circa 1900

4. Edward W. SMITH  
Long Wharf, Newport
Modern print from the original glass negative, circa 1900

5. Edward W. SMITH  
Steam Yacht ‘Ripple’, Jamestown
Modern print from the original glass negative, circa 1900

6. Ralph ARNOLD  (1920-79)
‘Yankee’ at the Williams and Machster dock, Newport
Modern print from the original glass negative, early 1930s

7. Edwin LEVICK  & Sons
‘Rainbow’, ‘Yankee’, “Endeavour II’  and ‘Ranger’
Four gelatin silver prints, mid 1930s, each photograph signed in ink by the designer and owner

8. Morris ROSENFELD (1885-1968)
‘Sumar’
Six gravure prints from original gelatin silver photographs, 1926

9. ‘Constellation’, America’s Cup Defender, 1964
a) Dun GIFFORD (1938-2010)
Rod Stephens, Robert Bavier, Olin Stephens and Eric Ridder
Gelatin silver print, 1964

b) Morris  ROSENFELD
On board ‘Constellation’ during trials
Gelatin silver print, 1964

c) Morris ROSENFELD
Sovereign’s crew watches as ‘Constellation’ and American Eagle race in the final trials
Gelatin silver print, 1964

d)-h) Don’s Photo (City Island)
‘Constellation’ under construction at Minneford’s Shipyard, City Island
Gelatin silver print, 1964

i) Don’s Photo
Viewing the plans at Minneford’s
Gelatin silver print, 1964

j) Don’s Photo
‘Constellation’ at Minneford’s
Gelatin silver print, 1964

k) Don’s Photo
‘Constellation’s launching'
Gelatin silver print, 1964

10. Edward W. SMITH
a) “Old Wharves  at Newport”
b) Narragansett Bay shipping
Cyanotype prints, circa 1900, from an album

11. Charles BOLLES (1847-1914)
‘Vigilant’ and ‘Valkyrie’
Albumen prints, 1893, from an album

12. Unknown Photographer
Shipboard
Cyanotype prints, circa 1900, from an album

13. Alfred John WEST (1857-1937)
‘Water Witch’
Albumen print, circa 1880

 14. Unknown Photographer
‘Galatea’ 
Albumen print, circa 1880

15. George H. WARREN (active late nineteenth century)
"Stranger', E.Y.C. Cruise, 1888"
Albumen print, 1888, from an album

16. Uunknown Photographer
On Board ‘Coronet’
Albumen print, circa 1893

17. Dun GIFFORD
Relaxing during the America’s Cup races, Newport
Gelatin silver print, 1964

18. Ralph ARNOLD 
Wreck of the ‘Beavertail’
Gelatin silver print, 1938

19. Edwin LEVICK  & Sons
On Board ‘Istalena’
Gelatin silver print, early 1930s

20. UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER
Mount Hope
Gelatin silver photograph, circa 1930

21. Edwin LEVICK  & Sons
‘Istalena’
Gelatin silver print, early 1930s

22. Frank ROHR (active late twentieth century)
‘Ticonderoga’
Gelatin silver print, 1985

23. Edwin LEVICK  & Sons
‘Seven Seas’ (and ‘Joseph Conrad’) print proposal
Gelatin silver print and order form, late 1930s

24. ­­­Morris ROSENFELD
Photographer’s Christmas card proposal
Gelatin silver print and typed letter, 1949

25. BEKEN of Cowes
‘Sceptre’
Gelatin silver prints, 1958, a presentation album

26. E. N. HAMILTON (active early twentieth century)
“Breasted Up for the Night (Cabin Rigs Up in Four Minutes)”
Gelatin silver print, circa 1920s

27. Raytheon
Raytheon Radiotelephones
Gelatin silver print, 1965

28. ­­­Dorsett Plastics
Dorsett 15’ Cobra Runabout
Gelatin silver print, 1965

29. Bertram Yachts
Galley of New Bertram 37’
Gelatin silver print, 1967

30. Chrysler
Chrysler’s 14-foot Sport Valiant
Gelatin silver print, 1968

31. Moore McCormack Lines
Mormacgulf
Gelatin silver prints, circa 1945

32. Bermuda News Bureau 
Sjo Ag (Sea Egg)
Gelatin silver print, 1965

33. ­­­Morris ROSENFELD
Hi Esmaro
Gelatin silver prints, circa 1929