Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Glen Fishback Papers and Photographs

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0714
Creators:
Fishback, Glen Curtis, 1912-1976
Glen Fishback School of Photography.
White, Judy
Ansco.
Kalart.
Eastman Kodak Company
Dates:
1930-1976
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
27 Cubic feet
101 boxes, 6 map-folders
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Original photographic negatives, prints (black-and-white and color), and color slides and transparencies by Fishback, reflecting his career in advertising, calendar, and editorial photography; drafts of articles and correspondence by Fishback (typescripts), and incoming correspondence; copies of publications, such as magazines and annual reports, with reproductions. Lessons, assignments, outlines, and meeting minutes related to his school of photography.
Subjects of the photographs include children, sports, circuses, stage performers, landscapes, the Far East, the Air Force, industrial, female nudes and glamour, etc. Many photos were used in advertisements for photographic manufacturers such as Ansco, Kodak, Kalart, Rolleiflex, etc. His photos appeared in articles and on covers of popular camera periodicals and in Life, Look, Colliers, Saturday Evening Post, and Holliday. Most of his pictures have cheerful, optimistic themes or subjects, such as his laughing daughter, Judy, posing with circus clowns.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Divided into twenty-two series.
Series 1: Fishback Career and Biography
Subseries 1.1: Writings and Personal Materials
Subseries 1.2: Glen Fishback School of Photography
Series 2: Photographs--Advertisements and Contests
Series 3: Numbered and labeled envelopes in Glen Fishback's numbering system
Series 4-17: Photographs by Subject
Series 4: Air Force
Series 5: Animals
Series 6: Circus
Series 7: Far East
Subseries 7.1: Places Subseries 7.2: People
Series 8: Landscapes and places
Subseries 8.1: Architecture Subseries 8.2: Grand Tetons Subseries 8.3: Nature
Series 9: Industrial
Series 10: Kids
Subseries 10.1: Babies Subseries 10.2: Children
Series 11: Men
Subseries 11.1: Glen Fishback
Subseries 11.2: Other
Series 12: Mixed Groups
Subseries 12.1: Men and Women
Subseries 12.2: Men, Women, and Children
Series 13: Nudes
Series 14: Sports
Series 15: Stage Performers
Series 16: Transportation
Series 17: Women
Series 18: Reproductions
Series 19: Duplicates
Series 20: Magazines
Series 21: Ephemera
Series 22: Slides
Series 23: Audio Visual Materials

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Glen Fishback was born in Orange, California in 1912. He became interested in photography in the early 30s after his friend took a photograph of him diving. He bought his first camera, a 39 cent univex camera, in 1934. He began his professional career as a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee from 1937 until 1939. He owned his own portrait and commercial studio for the next 17 years; he sold the studio in the mid-1950s in order to devote his time to free-lancing. In 1958, flew over the Far East with the U.S. Air Force as a brigadier general on a special assignment sponsored by U.S. Camera magazine, Ansco, Rolleiflex, and the Air Force. Fishback and his wife also established the Glen Fishback School of Photography in the 1950s. It was the only school at the time which taught how to become a freelancer. The school lasted until the 1990s, even after Fishback's death.
Fishback also wrote technical and popular articles for photographic magazines and publications.
Fishback won 10 first places in major national and international photography contests; at the time of his death, he had reportedly won more money in contests than any other photographer.
He developed an accurate and reliable exposure system which Pentax included with each of their spotmeters. Fishback's system worked for both black and white and color photography.
Fishback and his wife were friends with Edward Weston Fishback took photographs of Weston at Point Lobos. The two exchanged photos and correspondence. Fishback supplied his photos for a film on Edward Weston's Daybooks; He also wrote an article "Edward Weston, A Legend in His Own Time" for Petersen's Photographic. Fishback and his wife named their son, Kurt Edward Fishback, in honor of their friend.

Administration

Author
David Haberstich
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by Fishback's daughter, Judy White, who, with her brother Kurt, inherited it on her father's death. Ms. White made the availability of the collection known on an Internet listserv, where the archivist saw the description and contacted Ms. White.
Processing Information
Processed by David Haberstich, 2005.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Some materials are restricted until 2050 and are noted in the container list.
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.
Preferred Citation
Glen Fishback Papers and Photographs, 1930-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Circuses (performances) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Annual reports -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography of children -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography, Industrial -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic industry -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography, Advertising -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography -- Schools -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Trade schools -- 1970-1980 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography of sports -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography of the nude -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Circus Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Circus performers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nudity Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nude in art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Airplanes Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Magazines (periodicals) -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clowns Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glamour photography -- 20th century -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Color prints (photographs) -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Transparencies -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Slides (photographs) -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Color slides -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sports -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Children -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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