Digital Collections

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The Boone County Historical Society’s Photography Collection

The Boone County Historical Society’s Photography Collection is an accumulation of local photography between 1886 and 1970 and is primarily – but not exclusively – the work of four photographers in one Columbia studio.

They were not the only local photographers in the community, and they are not the only photographers whose work is in the Boone County Historical Society’s photography collection of over 500,000 glass plate and plasticine negatives. However, Joseph L. Douglass, Henry Holborn, Wesley Blackmore, and John Francis Westhoff, all worked out of one location for 54 of those 86 years, and while most of Douglass’ work disappeared for more than 50 years, Holborn’s and Blackmore’s work were passed down – Holborn to Blackmore and Blackmore to Westhoff – creating much of the massive collection that is in the vaults of the Boone County History & Culture Center today. 

View the BCHS Historic Photography Collection

One of the Largest Collections in the Nation

When the last of those four photographers, J. Francis Westhoff, chose to retire and sold his business in 1970 to the Eugene Benedict family of Columbia, he understood the entire accumulated collection of historic photos of Columbia and Boone County would be donated to the Boone County Historical Society.

In 1991, thousands of Joseph Douglass photography negatives were discovered in a crawl space under a 1920s era house. They were eventually donated to the historical society by the Dale Andrews family. David Haberstitch, the photography curator of the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History, said in 2018 the collection is, “undoubtedly one of the largest collections of a cumulative aggregation of community photography in the nation.”

The images found in this digital archive proudly represent the people of the entire county and not just historic photos of Columbia, Missouri.

The Digitizing Process

The work of digitizing the first 6,500 glass plate negatives was executed entirely by volunteers and is done in the Henry “Hank” J. Waters III Digital Imaging Lab, established in April 2017 through the generosity of the Government of Boone County and donations by dozens of individuals. 

The effort continues at the Boone County History & Culture Center, home of the Boone County Historical Society, which welcomes donations to support its continued work. As of 2020, the online archives consist of a portion of Blackmore and Holborn photos. Douglass and Westhoff photos will be added once the lab completes the digitization process. The Center will continue to digitize the massive collection as expeditiously as possible – until all 500,000 images have been preserved for future generations.

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Photography Data

The data that accompanies each image in the collection – the date, the subject, etc. – comes directly from the photographer’s journals and record books.

Names and dates have been cross-referenced when possible to ensure accuracy. However, some records are not available to us and not every item will be 100% accurate. If you see a name or a face that you recognize and wish to further identify, please contact digitalrecords@boonehistory.org.

Click below to discover your history in this archival collection of historic photos of Boone County and Columbia, Missouri.

The collection features a phenomenal photographic history of Boone County that brings to life the sublimely beautiful, proud, and honest personalities as revealed in our forbearer’s stoic, thoughtful, and sometimes grinning and confident faces.

View Boone County Historical Society’s Historic Photography Collection

The Boone County Historical Society’s Boone County Records Collection

This collection is a digital archive of Boone County Missouri’s earliest court records. Beginning with ‘Book A’ in 1821, the collection includes the handwritten documentation of the county’s first clerks as they put to paper the daily work of the county’s earliest “judges”, the administrative executives of the county. Today, their title is “commissioner”.

The Henry “Hank” J. Waters III Digital Imaging Lab team of volunteers has been actively digitizing the counties earliest record books along with several thousand glass plate negatives since autumn 2017. As of June 2020, they have scanned 30 years of history with over 5,900 pages excluding the indexes.

View Boone County Historical Society’s Historic Boone County Records Collection

Historical Note of Interest

Missouri did not become a state until August 10, 1821 so Boone County was a territorial county first. The territorial legislature carved Boone County Missouri out of the Howard territory. Boone County was granted status of privileges and immunities of a distinct county on November 16, 1820, which went into effect on January 1, 1821.

In looking through “Book A”, here are a couple of things of interest:

The first county court began its work on Monday, the 19th day of February 1821. The first justices of the court were Anderson Woods and Lazarus Wilcox. Warren Woodson was appointed the clerk pro-tem and Michael Woods was appointed assessor of taxable property for the year 1821.

Interesting notes found in the first week of the May 1821 “term” of Boone County Government:

  • The court ordered John Henderson and John Slack Justices of the Peace within Smithton township to be commissioners to lay out the several roads in said township into road districts and make report of distances and the number of them.
  • The court laid out Cedar, Columbia, Rockyfork, Missouri and Perche township during this meeting. Each township had a constable appointed.
  • Five commissioners of school lands were appointed for a two-year term. Peter Wright appointed as presiding justice. Richard Cave was nominated by Governor McNair to be Justice of the Peace for Columbia township, James Cunningham for Cedar, Silas Riggs for Rockyfork, etc.
  • Letters of administration on an estate, retail merchandise licenses were issued, and the sheriff was directed to cause public notice at six of the most public places for a special assessment for hearing of appeals of the tax assessor.

Found in the August term of the same year…

  • Roger N. Todd, clerk of the circuit court, made a claim for $43 for books to furnish his office.  The court refused the claim.
  • Sheriff Overton Harris was granted $10.50 to summon two grand juries

Project Volunteers

The Boone County History & Culture Center is grateful for the time and effort the lab’s volunteers have invested in this digitizing project. This online archival project would not be possible without their generosity.

2020 Core Volunteers in the Henry “Hank” J. Waters III Digital Imaging Lab

Mary Waters, Karen M. Miller, Donald Spiers, Jerry Benedict, Sam Mead, Carol Ellebracht, Faye Nowell, Mark Brewer, Melissa Tague, Pat Schreiner, Paul Andre, Paula Lambrecht, Tim Trogdon and Brian Flanagin.
Lab Coordinator: Brian Flanagin

For those interested in becoming a volunteer in this ongoing project, please email your information to digitalrecords@boonehistory.org.

Rights & Reproductions

Who holds the copyright?
In many cases, the Boone County Historical Society (BCHS) does not hold the copyright to materials in its collections and so cannot grant or deny permission to publish them, nor can BCHS assume responsibility for determining their copyright status. If the work is not in the public domain, it is the responsibility of the researcher to secure permission from the appropriate copyright holder to publish or quote from items in the library’s collection.

For information about researching the copyright status of an item, consult the Copyright Research Guide. Your use of images from the society should be contingent upon your locating and securing permission beforehand from the individual or entity that may claim those rights.

BCHS encourages use of materials from our collections that are in the public domain (generally items that are 95 years and older) and to make fair use of materials within the bounds of copyright law. The provision of reproduction(s) does not absolve users of copyrighted materials whose use does not qualify as “fair use” from securing permission from copyright owners, typically the creator or the heirs to his or her estate.

While BCHS owns the objects in our collections, BCHS only owns copyright if it has been explicitly transferred. BCHS cannot grant or deny permission to publish or distribute materials to which it does not clearly hold copyright.

BCHS appreciates receiving a copy of published materials that make use of materials from our collections. Citations are appreciated in a specific format (click the “Citations” tab for formatting instructions and examples).

For acquiring high resolution images for commercial or non-commercial use, please send your request to digitalrecords@boonehistory.org. Fees will apply for services provided.

Citations

Any item quoted from or used in its entirety should be cited as belonging to The Boone County Historical Society (MO).

Please cite photographs as follows: [Collection Name, Collection Number. Identifier #.., The Boone County Historical Society (MO), Photograph Collection

Please cite records collections as follows: [Collection Name, Collection Number]. The Boone County Historical Society (MO), Records Collection

EXAMPLES

Westhoff Collection, Wesley Blackmore photographer. (bkm.0054.002). The Boone County Historical Society (MO), Photograph Collection

Boone County Missouri Court Records Collection (Book B), 1824-1832 (pages 532-533). The Boone County Historical Society (MO), Records Collection