Foreward

This register marks the culmination of a complex, extensive project. To catalog the life's work of a single photographer can be a formidable task, especially one with such idiosyncratic methods and goals as Donald Sultner-Welles. Our intrepid project archivist, Laurie A. Baty, approached this challenge with perseverance, alacrity, and a sense of humor which was as strong as her sense of purpose. She was aided in arranging, cataloguing, and preserving the collection by Anne Peterson, who assisted with manuscript materials, and Allan Janus, who worked on the photographs.

Although many hands were involved in the preparation of this register, or catalog, and the videodisc which accompanies it, it is substantially the work of Laurie Baty. She is in every sense the author of this book. Details of its preparation were completed after special funding for her position ended and it became impossible for her to perform this work personally. A number of interns, volunteers, and contractors performed much of the post-preparation of the manuscript under my direction. Because the "Detailed Container List" was intended to perform the additional function of identification for the videodisc images, it was necessary to await the manufacture of the disc before the frame numbers could be added to the register. This work was begun by Eunice Spry and Milton Dolinka, but the major portion was done by Joanne Wilson, Lynne Wilson, Janis Weiher, and Debra Hashim, all of whom also did much proofreading. I performed most of the final editing and manuscript preparation and assume responsibility for any remaining errors (as well as new ones which might have been inadvertently introduced since Laurie Baty completed her final draft). However, Anne E. Peterson was an invaluable editorial assistant in the final stage of the project, tying up many loose ends, offering valuable suggestions, insights, and research and final factchecking, and spurring me to apply my own finishing touches. She coordinated other facets of the project, including the database, and she prepared the handsome color brochure for the collection. We welcome the advice of readers who detect errors, problems, or inconsistencies in the text, as we shall continue making corrections and additions to the computer database, as well as any future editions of the register.

Brad Tesh from this Museum's Computer Services Center provided untiring and goodhumored technical support and advice and loaded word processing documents into our microcomputer and converted them into database records which could actually drive the videodisc. This is an added feature which we did not even envision when the Sultner-Welles videodisc project began. I believe that Allan Janus, our trusty ally and admirer of the "red shirt school of photography," was the first to suggest doing this, and achieved a working model at his current base of operations, the National Air and Space Museum, and collaborated with Brad Tesh to make this database a reality. Several of Mr. Janus's colleagues at NASM offered additional advice.

The "Detailed Container List" gives researchers and archivists the actual locations, by box and storage sheet numbers, for material described. Since the color transparencies of Series 5 were filmed for the videodisc in the same order in which they are stored and the frame numbers therefore run in parallel order, it is easy to compare original transparencies--when necessary--with the disc images and to locate pictures not included on the disc. Therefore this finding aid helps the user locate both originals and surrogates with equal ease. A user of the videodisc can obtain image identification by locating the frame number in this register; the box and sheet numbers for the original transparencies can be found in the columns adjacent to the frame number column. Most of the captions are accompanied by a hyphenated range of frame numbers, although sometimes a single frame number represents an image edited from several related photographs, or indeed the caption may represent only a single photograph in the collection. Unfortunately, in most cases it was impossible to indicate how many additional images related to each description, but not shown on the disc, might be found in the collection. These captions were derived from the photographer's identifying captions on envelopes, other containers, and file dividers, as Ms. Baty states elsewhere. We continued her quest for corrections and provided additional clarifications. Some cryptic captions and illegible handwriting still resist interpretation. Misspellings have been corrected, redundancies eliminated, and punctuation added for clarity, but occasional small mysteries, alas, perished with the photographer.

The videodisc, which can be purchased separately, constitutes an edited copy of the corpus of original transparencies. More than 87,000 color slides are represented by fewer than 54,000 frames on the disc. Images of poor technical quality or otherwise limited value are not found on the disc, but many acceptable images also had to be eliminated. Thus many images shown on the disc have unillustrated, related pictures available in the collection, including close compositional variants. Therefore one should remember that the videodisc coverage of a subject may be incomplete and that quantities suggested by frame number ranges do not always indicate all the available material. Researchers wishing to inspect the original transparencies to search for additional images should request them by the box and sheet numbers shown in this register. If the originals are in cold storage, at least one or two days' advance notice are required for this service. Occasionally the words "NOT ON DISC" indicate that none of the images for a caption are included; there is no precise indication of quantity, although the number of storage sheets (each holding a maximum of twelve slides) will give some idea. These original images can be shown to researchers upon sufficient notice.

Selecting transparencies for the disc was done primarily by myself, although Laurie Baty, Allan Janus, and John Fleckner also contributed their efforts to this work. The challenge, after the discovery that eliminating "poor" or redundant images would not make the collection "fit" on a single disc side (limit 54,000 images) as budgeted, was to fulfill multiple objectives without introducing confusion about the nature of the collection. sought to provide an accurate representation of the range of Sultner-Welles's color photography and to suggest his working methodology, while ensuring that individual images of high quality and special interest would be shown. Criteria for eliminating images included poor quality and redundancy, as stated, but I also sought popular subjects--such as well-known tourist landmarks--for which we felt adequate coverage exists elsewhere and to which Sultner-Welles had not made unique contributions. For example, most of his views of Washington, D.C. monuments were eliminated, yet a few remain as guideposts just to represent his pictures of the city. In other instances, I took pains to preserve almost his entire coverage of a subject to suggest his way of working. There are no indications of precisely where or how these varying editing styles occurred, but I believe that perusal of sections of original transparencies in comparison with the disc images will suggest that care was taken to strike a reasonable balance within the parameters of the project. By contrast, the third of the collection drawn from the photographer's portable lecture boxes appeared to represent his personal selections of his best work (in addition to indicating the content of typical lectures), so they were left essentially intact: only a few image variants and copies of maps were eliminated. The "lecture" subseries in the register corresponds to these images. Unfortunately, none of the slides in boxes 143 to 157 could be filmed for the videodisc due to inadequate time to complete the balanced editing which I sought to achieve.

Finally, we are happy to announce the "derivation" of a computer database from the detailed container list so that a microcomputer connected to a videodisc player can be used to perform keyword and numerical searches to locate both captions and images simultaneously. This gradually expanding database can now be used with the videodisc in the Archives Center. Although the completion date of the database and its availability to other users is uncertain at this time, those interested in acquiring the database for the videodisc may wish to inquire about this possiblity as the work progresses.

Acknowledgements

The Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection came to the National Museum of American History in the summer of 1982, following Donald Sultner's death in 1981. The collection, under the care of the Archives Center since that time, was officially transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Photographic History in 1986. I would like to thank the staff of that Division, particularly Lynn Novick and Peter Liebhold, for their assistance in the intricacies of the transfer.

Several members of the Archives Center gave invaluable assistance to this project: Robert Harding, Head, Manuscript Collections, Jane Odom, Archivist, and David Haberstich, Head, Photographic Collections. I could not have completed the arrangement and description of this voluminous collection without the able assistance of two contractors, Allan Janus and Anne E. Peterson. Ms. Peterson wrote the manuscript section of the finding aid and prepared a preliminary biography of Sultner, while Mr. Janus assisted with the photographic sections.

I am especially grateful to John Fleckner, Chief Archivist, for his support, encouragement, and assistance throughout the laborious task of preparing the collection for use.

Author

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

A small number of letters and photographs are restricted until the year 2031. Identification list in box.

Conditions Governing Use

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives