The Kerrville Times from Kerrville, Texas • Page 17

iailg uttmra SUNDAY JUNE 7, 1987 PAGE IB LIVING ORIGINAL PICTURES INCLUDED TINTYPE OF PIONEER FAMIL 'Kerr County Album 1 To Feature One-Of-A-Kind Photos By BONNIE ARNOLD Times Family Editor The "Kerr County Album," a history of Kerr County people and places, is expected to be delivered late this summer, and much of its impact will be in the hundreds of photographs reproduced in the book. Organized by volunteers of the Kerr County Historical Commission, the effort began two years ago and will culminate in a book of more than 525 pages. Throughout those pages, Kerr County's story will be told in pictures as well as words, and many of those pictures were copied by photographer James Partain from one-of-a-kind photographs. He was a volunteer and not even a member of the commission, said Clarabelle Snodgrass, "editor" of the Album and past chairman of the Historical Commission. "I didn't know how many pictures there would be," Partain said, "and one day she came in here with three big boxes.

And then she said the others weren't quite ready to copy." Partain estimates he copied a total of 1,090 photographs for the album during the past year and a half, with the help of his wife Jacqui, so the originals could be kept here while Taylor Publishing in Dallas would work with the reproductions. The Kerrville photographer said the pictures ranged from 50-year- old Kodak snapshots, some very small, to larger and more modern prints. He said he also copied one tintype of the Joshua Brown family dating from about 1886 or 1887. The photographs included family groups and individuals; the first airplane in Kerrville; the old fairgrounds; river scenes; old buildings such as the Secor Hospital, courthouse, Masonic Building, schools and the first Hunt store; and portraits of some members of pioneer families, the Browns, Schreiners, Reals and others. Mrs.

Snodgrass said families can pick up their original photos in the Album office through the month of June. The office is in One Schreiner Center on the third floor, open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Telephone 257-8188 for more information. Partain also will be keeping the negatives of the pictures he copied for Album reproductions, if the families owning the photos want more copies.

Call his studio 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, located at 605 Marion. ORIGINALS REPHOTOGRAPHED He said he used the same basic procedure to copy all the pictures. With a picture flat on an easel, he used even light sources and the camera positioned square above the picture. Each one was photographed close-up using black and white film, a more permanent medium according to Partain, and filters on the camera to add contrast, depending on the condition of the original picture.

Library's Summer Reading Celebration Begins Monday Partain and his wife then produced from each Ztt-inch-square negative a copy of each picture. And the negatives can be reprinted to make any size picture. He said most or the copies he made for the Ken- County Album were four by five inches, and the publishers reproduced them in the exact sizes needed for the book. Handling photographs, especially old ones, is critical, Partain said, because of the acids and oils that occur naturally on the fingers, and how those oils and acids affect a photograph's emulsion and backing. During the work he did for the Album, he said he often wore white cotton gloves when handling the pictures.

The age of a photograph can sometimes be estimated by the type of picture it is, Partain said, though there is some overlap among the types. "Daguerrotypes," mirror-like images produced on a sheet of highly polished, silver-coated copper, were made up to about 1870. Ambrotypes" were negatives produced on glass and made into positives by placing a dull, black surface behind them: they were made into the 1890s. "Tintypes," images exposed in a thin sheet of black-enameled iron, were common until approximately 1910. All three of these types had one thing common.

They were made with a direct positive process; there is no separate negative from which addition pictures may be made. Therefore, they are one-of-a- kind, irreplaceable photographs that can only be copied by rephotog- raphingthem. Partain said it is possible sometimes to estimate the date of a photograph by the clothing worn by people in the picture, or by the style, or absence, of whiskers and moustaches. So if you're cleaning out a dresser or closet or garage, and find a collection of old pictures, the nearest historical commission or an experienced photographer may be able to sort out the historically important ones out of what you are proposing to throw away. Sometimes a longer view of a picture's worth is important, Partain said.

You may have taken a picture of a relative or friend in front of some landmark or building and don't want to keep the picture for the person in it. But it could be important historically for the building in the photo. Some old pictures could become a display in your home, just as an interesting decorating accessory, for however long the photos last. And finally a bit of trivia: the oldest known photograph in existence is owned by the University of Texas in its archival collection. Joseph Nicephore Niepce took the photo of the rooftops of Paris and showed it for the first time in 1827.

Other major collections of photographs and photography equipment are owned by the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and by the EastmanKodak Company, Rochester, "Animal Antics" is the theme of the 1987 Texas Reading Club for children this summer, and Kerr County youngsters are invited to a series of shows, programs and story hours at the Butt- Holdsworth Memorial Library. The first day of the summer reading celebration is Monday, and the reading program includes reading logs for 20 books, bookmarks, stickers, buttons, t- shirt transfers and certificates. On Wednesday, the pantomime show of Mario irenz will be presented at 10 a.m. in the Children's Amphitheatre, sponsored by the Hill Country Charity Ba' Association. magic show will be per- fo- med by Allan Fox in the meeting room for elementary school- age children, and a puppet show for preschoolers in the children's area, both on Wednesday, June 17, at 3 a.m.

4er puppet show will be presented by the Kerrville Junior Service Guild on Wednesday, June 24, at 10 a.m. On Saturday, June 27, two performances by the Sahawe In'! Dancers are scheduled, at 30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Five programs are planned for Wednesdays at 10 a.m. in July, beginning with "Wild and Wooley and Full of Fleas," a puppet show on July 1 in the children's area of the library.

The Kerrville Junior Service Guild also will be presenting this show. On July 8, Charlie Diegs will present "Guadalupe Singin' Survey" outdoors in the amphitheater. Ron Blanton will perform a tomime show titled "Small Children's Theatre" in the amphitheater on July 15. The puppet show "Jack and the Beanstalk" will be given in the children's area by the KJSG on July 22. Storytellers Roxanne Franzen and Joanie Turner will give programs July 29 for elementary school children in the meeting room and for preschoolers in the children's area.

COOPERATIVE PROJECT The Tiyy Elementary School library will be open during the summer school period June 8 through July 16 as a coperative project of the Butt-Holdsworth Library and the Kerrville Independent School District. The school library will function as a "branch library" during that period, open to all residents holding current Butt- Holdsworth Library cards. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.

For more information on the summer reading celebration or library programs in general, visit the Butt-Holdsworth Library, 505 Water Kerrville, or call 257-8422. PARTAIN DEMONSTRATES PROCEDURE Copying Photographs In Studio Top Photo Tips Say Identify Pictures, Handle Carefully MARIO LORENZ Perform At Library Wednesday At 10 a.m. 'Christian Assistance Ministry' Begins In City Kerryille's Christian Assist- In addition, CAM wants to KerrvUle's Salvation Armv tD Jlu ance Ministry is under way with new officers and a mission to bring the community together to help the city's poor. Modeled after CAM in San Antonio, the local group already has representatives from eight Kerrville churches working to provide food, clothing and shelter for an estimated 2,000 local families who need assistance, said CAM member Sam Riccobene. CAM plans a referral system to coordinate local resources and emergency assistance with all local agencies to avoid duplicating services as well as to track people and families served by the organization, Riccobene added.

change low-income residents' lifestyles by coordinating job training and teaching financial record Keeping, said Wettia Burkhart, another CAM member. CAM members hope to broaden the organization with more representatives from churches and the community, Riccobene said. CAM has divided its members into four main groups personnel-volunteers, organization, building and operations. As CAM determines specific needs like the new building then members also will begin seeking financial help from several groups. CAM will work in tandem with Kerrville's Salvation Army.

While Salvation Army's new lodge will serve transients, CAM wilT direct its work toward helping Kerrville's low-income population. Riccobene is in charge of First Presbyterian Church's assistance ministry, which has interviewed more than 2,000 clients in the past two months. Those interviews have given him a good perspective on the needs of Kerrville's poor and he believes CAM is the organization to help. New CAM officers are Joan McCollom, president; Faye Harris, vice president; Bruce Young, treasurer; and Inez Montague, secretary. CAM's next board meeting is 10 a.m.

June 24 at First Presbyterian Church. For preserving photographs as well as many other things, the first rule of conservation is "Don't Do Anything That Can't Be And the second rule, especially for photographs, should be "Identify Every Many people can attest to the frustration of sorting old and important family pictures only to find notes like "Mom" or "my cousin or worse, no notes at all. For black and white photos on fiber-base paper, James Partain, a Kerrville photographer, recommends writing on the back of each picture with a soft pencil. "Put the complete name of the person in the picture, not just or a first name; and put the date the picture'was made and any other pertinent information," he said. For more modern pictures on resin-coated or plastic paper, Partain recommends using a Sharpie pen, similar to a hard dry thoroughly.

Most inks will smear and using a ballpoint pen creates inden- tions in the paper that will show in the picture, noted Susan Sander, a photographer with the Kerrville Daily Tunes. After each picture is labeled, Partain recommends filing them by name and date. Partain said the ideal conditions for storing negatives and pictures includes controlling temperature, humidity and light. All color pictures fade, he said, but color negatives can be put into special bags available from Kodak, labeled, closed and frozen for storage. The negatives can be thawed out, reprinted and refrozen.

For color slides, Kodachrome is the most permanent type of film, Ms. Sander said. Then slides should be kept dry and in the dark for storage. For storing and displaying pictures, albums are good only if they do not contain acids, glues, plastics or other chemicals that would react with the photos. And putting a photo under glass in a frame, then allowing high humidity to affect it can make the photo adhere to the glass.

Partain recommended using acid-free paper and matte-board (archival-quality), and picture frames that can be airtight and sealed. Ultraviolet light is another damaging factor for photographs and is the reason behind the especially fluorescent lights. So you've resolved to identify all your pictures by name and date ana check the filing and storage system that will work at your house. And you still have a box of old pictures of relatives and family events, some damaged over the years. For old damaged pictures, restoration is possible sometimes, Ms.

Sander said. But the first step is to have the original photograph copied so a negative will be available, then to try restoration of the original oic- ture. Invitations Crowns Books See us for all your party needs Carnival Of Music WHO: Children 2-8 grouped by age WHAT: All new songs, games, activities. Movement; playing Xylophones. Drums.

Rhythm Instruments, Musical Concepts, Puppets, FUN I WHEN: June 22-July 17 (once a week) TEACHER Mrs Music, Music Nationally known Piano clan NOW ENROLLING FOR INFORMATION: ete t6 -flnnlvetiaty ot out weep Register (or your chance at the mystery Prize off iOOOs OK ITEMS UNULk At The pas ions critic (7 Woman 22 t.jin it Si I 1 1923 Where Everyday It Senior Day With Honest Sale Values Support Your Local Merchants River Oaks Shop S12 89S-3722.