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Herbert N. Rosenberg Photograph Collection

 Collection
Identifier: PICT-2016-002

Scope and Content

The Rosenberg Collection largely documents Rosenberg’s family or business trips on luxury cruises during the 1930s to Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Curacao. In addition, the albums record visits to Mexico, Costa Rica, the Panama Canal, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela. Several of the photographs document Rosenberg’s family and friends at leisure on the cruise ships, but the majority depict harbors, historic monuments, bridges, ships, and the many cities and villages he visited in these travels. The collection includes photographs of local people he met or saw, stores, street scenes, government buildings, churches, fortresses, canals, sternwheelers, sailing ships, steam ships, dugouts, docks, native men dipping and loading bananas, a United Fruit Company railroad car and overseers, etc. In addition, Rosenberg saved brochures, itineraries, menus and other ephemera from his travels, which give more meaning to his images. There are also some photos of snow crystal prints of W. A. Bentley, Jerico, Vermont. Finally, the collection also includes some images of the family business, offices, employees, family life and vacations in the United States and Canada, including New York, Burlington, Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, Niagara Falls, New Brunswick, Chicago, and Boston.

Dates

  • 1923-1938
  • Majority of material found within 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Copy Restrictions

Duplication of print and photographic material is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for copyright compliance. For more information see the Photographs and Images Research Guide and contact the Pictorial Archivist.

History

The Rosenberg photographs were given to Elmer Martinez, Director of the Spanish History Museum, Albuquerque, by Allen Rowen, from New York City, in July 1988. The museum is no longer open and Martinez donated them to the Center for Southwest Research. The first album has the address of Mr. Rosenberg, who lived on Convent Avenue, New York City. Mr. Rosenberg’s photographs document luxury cruises during the 1930s, when such pleasure voyages on ocean liners were just beginning to become available for vacations in the Caribbean. Some of the commercial scenes are likely related to his businesses. In addition, Rosenberg’s travels to Latin America occurred during a heightened period for cultural exchange programs between the United States and Latin America, during the incorporation of “Pan-Americanism” in U.S. foreign policy to combat the threat of fascism spreading to the Americas during World War II.

Extent

712 items (5 boxes) : 712 photographic prints

Abstract

The collection contains photographs taken by Mr. Herbert N. Rosenberg, of New York City, on trips to the West Indies, Central America, South America and Mexico in the 1930s. There are depictions of native peoples, markets, buildings, monuments, geographic features, and ships. Included are some images of the Rosenberg family and friends, and the Northeast.

Arrangement

Arrangement: The Rosenberg collection contains three albums and seven enlarged photos from the albums. Some images are missing from the album pages. Many have come loose and are now in photo sleeves rather than in their original locations on the album pages. Most are identified but a few have no matching information. The photographs and album pages were arranged into series based on their original groupings in albums by Rosenberg, and their original order has been preserved whenever possible:
  1. Series 1: Album 1, 1923-1934
  2. Series 2: Album 2, 1935-1936
  3. Series 3: Album 3, 1937-1938
  4. Series 4: Unidentified photos and enlargements

Physical Location

B2. Shelved by Pictorial Number. Oversize box shelved in Big Box location by Pictorial Number.

Related Material

George Bunzl Photograph Collection, 1951-1967

Roy Rosen Photograph Collection, 1923-1985

Erna Fergusson Photograph Collection, 1880-1963

Peter H. Goldsmith Album Pages, 1915-1916

Separated Material

Book belonging to Rosenberg, from 1937 trip: From Mexico City to the Port of Veracruz, Over the Picturesque Standard Gauge Electrified Line of Mexico, Historical Descriptive Hand Book, by F. Castillo, with Illustrations, Seventh Edition, Revised, 1937, Graficos, S.A. Schedules. Catalogued for CSWR.

Processing Information

The Rosenberg photographs were given to Elmer Martinez, Director of the Spanish History Museum, Albuquerque, who donated them to the Center for Southwest Research. The collection was processed in fall of 2015 and spring of 2016, and is organized with a numbering system to help preserve the order of the album pages.
Title
Finding Aid of the Herbert N. Rosenberg Photograph Collection, 1923-1938
Status
Edited Full Draft
Date
© 2016
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is in English

Revision Statements

  • Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.

Repository Details

Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451