How do you capture your college memories? Columbians in the late 19th century took advantage of the new art of photography to collect their classmates’ images in keepsake volumes. A new exhibition in the RBML Chang Octagon showcases these photo albums and offers some insights into student life at Columbia before the move to Morningside Heights.
Before there were yearbooks, Columbia students would collect photos of their classmates in albums. At first, it was only the class members, but soon, they expanded their collection of photographs to include the College president, the professors and staff, and even a selection of campus views. Students used their own personal albums to collect the images. Some relied on albums with photo windows; others pasted the cards directly into scrapbooks. Eventually, the albums grew into heavy volumes with elegant, leather-tooled covers and gilt-edged pages.
Class albums were a student production. Inside of William Sabine’s 1859 album, there is a copy of the contract with a Mr. Brady of 643 Broadway to “furnish photographs of the professors and students of the Class of 1859 of Columbia College. 25 cents per copy.” This was Mathew B. Brady, best known for his photographs of the Civil War battlefields. The contract is between the photographer and the members of the class.
The Class of 1861 had a choice between cartes-de-visite (which are small albumen prints mounted on cards 2.5 by 4 inches) or large photographs (salted paper prints) with either a light or a dark background. The photographer, Julius Brill, told the Class that the small photographs “are very pretty for young ladies to make picture books of, but not sufficiently dignified for ‘Seniors.’” The class voted 20-5 in favor of the large photographs and 15-10 in favor of the dark background. In the class minutes, the students discuss not only the format, but also who they wanted to include in the albums. They voted on which professors, tutors, and assistants to ask to sit for a photograph and even on whether they should pose in their academic regalia (!).
The albums for the Classes of 1862 to 1877 feature cartes-de-visite.. For the most part, the Classes of 1878 to 1890 relied on cabinet cards, which are larger albumen prints mounted on cards 4.5 by 6.5 inches. However, these are not exclusive. Some albums include photographs in both sizes, even by the same photography studio. Students hired William Kurtz, Louis Alman (L. Alman & Co.), George Gardner Rockwood and others before the Pach Brothers became the official album photographers in 1878.
Students curated their own albums by choosing which photographs to purchase. They selected “imperials” or portraits of classmates and professors (25 cents each) and campus “views” (70 to 75 cents, depending on the mount). They could then make their own or have Pach Brothers put together an album, charges based on the number of pages (from 15 pages at $11 to 40 pages for $16).
The School of Mines students adopted the class album tradition from their School of Arts (now Columbia College) peers. The earliest School of Mines album is from the Class of 1876. In their production, the Miners initially contracted different photographers, which meant that the President and the professors would have to sit twice for photographs at different studios. By 1881, both Schools relied on Pach Brothers for their albums.
The Class of 1859 was the first to include the College President and professors and they were also the first to include a campus view. The 1859 albums include a photograph of the Park Place building which was demolished soon after Columbia moved out in 1857. This was the original home of King’s College from 1760, where these students would have spent their first two years. Pach Brothers offered a number of views of the 49th Street and Madison Avenue campus. There are photos of the Old College Building, affectionately known as Maison de Punk, and of the “new” campus buildings, including the School of Mines (1880), Hamilton Hall (1881) and the Law School & Library building (1883), all designed by Charles Coolidge Haight, CC 1861. (His class portrait is in the exhibition.) When Columbia moved to Morningside Heights in 1897, the 49th Street campus buildings were also demolished. These campus photos are among the few illustrations we have of these earlier homes of Columbia.
Finally, the class albums are more than just photographs. Often one will find memorabilia in the form of notes, tickets, programs, newspaper clippings, obituaries, menus, and additional photographs tucked into the album pages. Over time, alumni annotated their classmates’ photos: what professions they pursued, were they married, and eventually, when they passed away. These albums offer us a window not only into 19th-century student life but also into the lifetime bond shared by the class members.
Windows into the Past: Columbia College Class Albums, 1856-1890 is now on view in the Chang Octagon at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, open Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, until the end of August.