Caroline F. Schimmel collection of photographs and postcards 1860-1999

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Schimmel, Caroline F., collector.

Contributor:

Schimmel, Caroline F., donor, associated name.

Huffman, L. A. (Laton Alton), 1854-1931, photographer.

Kelly, R. L., photographer.

James, George Wharton, 1858-1923, photographer.

Abbott, Berenice, 1898-1991, photographer.

Bynner, Witter, 1881-1968, photographer.

Barry, D. F. (David Francis), 1854-1934, photographer.

Cameron, Evelyn, 1868-1928, photographer.

Bourke-White, Margaret, 1904-1971, photographer.

Freund, Gisèle, photographer.

Lange, Dorothea, photographer.

Wolcott, Marion Post, 1910-1990, photographer.

Caroline F. Schimmel Collection of Women in the American Wilderness (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kahlo, Frida.

O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986.

O'Keeffe, Georgia.

Oakley, Annie, 1860-1926.

Oakley, Annie.

Rogers, Dale Evans.

Ceruti, María Constanza.

Fuller, Margaret, 1810-1850.

Fuller, Margaret.

Bernhardt, Sarah, 1844-1923.

Bernhardt, Sarah.

Austin, Mary, 1868-1934.

Austin, Mary.

Penn Provenance:

Other photographs gift of Caroline F. Schimmel, 2024, 2025.

Swann Galleries sale 2657 (January 2024), lot 102: box 1 folder 16

Swann Galleries sale 2657 (January 2024), lot 102: box 2 folder 3

James Cummins, bookseller (2024): box 1 folder 30

Swann Galleries sale 2657 (January 2024), lot 16: box 1 folder 31

Swann Galleries sale 2657 (January 2024), lot 18: box 1 folder 32

Swann Galleries sale 2704 (15 May 2025), lot 73: box 1 Folder 33

Swann Galleries sale 2704 (15 May 2025), lot 78: box 1 Folder 34

Swann Galleries sale 2704 (15 May 2025), lot 75: box 1 folder 35

Swann Galleries sale 2704 (15 May 2025), lot 75: box 1 folder 36

March in Montana session I (20 March 2026), lot 95: box 1 folder 40

Physical Description:

2 boxes : paper, photographs

Production:

[United States] ; [Mexico], [1860-1999]

Biography/History:

Caroline F. Schimmel is a full-time book collector and bibliographer. Schimmel has collected tens of thousands of fiction and nonfiction narratives and representations of women in the American wilderness, from the North Pole to the South. In 2014, she donated part of her collection, as the Caroline F. Schimmel Collection of Women in the American Wilderness, to the Penn Libraries, and has continued to augment the collection with subsequent gifts. While the bulk of the collection consists of books, Schimmel also collects photographs, manuscripts, archives, art, and artifacts.

Summary:

I. Miscellaneous postcards includes postcards depicting women in the American West and/or featuring a photograph by a woman known for her work in North America. Postcards are typically undated and the date of the photograph's original creation can be decades before the date the postcard was published. Items are arranged in alphabetical order by photographer surname or, where no photographer is named, the sitter or subject's name. This series is subject to additions. II. Photographs of Indigenous people by news photography agencies includes ten photographs, all of which were purchased as Lot 158 from Swann Galleries sale 2670. Some photographs are portraits, while others are of women socializing, weaving or making other fiber arts, and making pottery or ceramics, sometimes with children. Most photographs in this series are stamped with Publisher's Photo Service or Underwood & Underwood credit stamps and have one or more typed captions affixed to the back. Where places are provided in captions, modern spellings are substituted in folder titles. Captions provided by the agencies on the reverse of these photographs may use language that is outdated, inaccurate, disrespectful, and/or considered offensive to readers. Researchers are urged to use discretion when viewing materials. This series is comprised of one auction lot and is not subject to additions. III. Miscellaneous photographs includes the rest of the photographs of or by women collected by Caroline Schimmel and is subject to additions.

Contents:

I. Postcards

II. Photographs of Indigenous people by news photography agencies

III. Miscellaneous photographs.

Notes:

Collection titled devised by cataloger.

See Finding Aid for container list.

Subjects and portrait sitters include author Mary Hunter Austin (1868-1934), artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), artist Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986), sharpshooter and performer Annie Oakley (1860-1926), performer Dale Evans (Dale Evans Rogers) (1912-2001), high-altitude archaeologist María Constanza Ceruti (1973-), Gros Ventre woman Mrs. Bad Gun, Sioux woman Mrs. Black Hawk, author Margaret Fuller (1810-1850), Violet Berry, and performer Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923). Margaret Fuller cartes-de-visite are from John Plumbe's 1846 daguerreotype originals, the only known photographs of Fuller. One carte has Purdy and Frear's publisher information printed on the back; the other is unlabeled. Lot 75 from Swann Galleries' Focus on Women sale, May 15, 2025. Marion Post Wolcott photographs are from her body of work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Other photographs in the series, including photographs by Lange, Abbott, and Wolcott, were produced while the photographers were employed by New Deal Agencies, i.e. the FSA and Works Progress Administration (WPA). Items are arranged alphabetically by photographer surname, subject/sitter name, or subject when no photographer or sitter is named.

Cited as:

Caroline F. Schimmel collection of photographs relating to women in the American wilderness, circa 1860-1999, Realia 3, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania