Utah State Today press release: Thursday, February 9, 2012

Forgotten Photographs of Union Pacific Railroad Topic of ‘Friends’ Lecture

Friends of the Merrill-Cazier Library, a support group for University Libraries at Utah State University, invites everyone to its spring lecture, Wednesday, Feb. 15.

Guest speaker for the evening is Daniel Davis, photograph curator for USU’s Special Collections and Archives, who presents “Forgotten Photographs of the Union Pacific Railroad.” The lecture begins at 7 p.m. in Merrill-Cazier Library’s Auditorium, Room 101.

The lecture is free and open to all.

The lecture highlights the exhibit that shares its name with the title of Davis’s lecture. The exhibit has been on display in the atrium of Merrill-Cazier Library and explores the history of the Union Pacific Railroad through photographs and the work of A. J. Russell.

Davis is preparing a biography of Russell and has completed extensive research.

“In early 1868, the Union Pacific railroad hired Andrew Joseph Russell to photographically document the construction and sites along the Union Pacific railroad,” Davis said. “Russell used two cameras — a large-format that produced 10”x13” wet-plate collodion negatives and stereographic that created dual images that, when used with a stereo-viewer, produced a three-dimensional image.”

Today, Russell’s large-format views are well known and have been used in countless Western history tomes, documentaries and coffee-table books, Davis said.

During the time Russell worked, those who lived in the Eastern United States, couldn’t see enough images from the West and mostly saw the multiple series of stereoviews that were mass produced by the thousands, Davis said.

“The 900 or so stereoviews Russell produced give a more complete picture of the railroad and the West,” Davis said. “And while his large-format views tend to mythologize the building of the railroad and the men who did it, his stereoviews fill in the details for what was a very messy, ugly business.”

The images pose multiple questions that Davis will discuss in his lecture, including who were the spikers and engineers who lived and died to complete the railroad? Where did they come from and where did they go after the railroad was built?

“Today, much has been produced about the political corruption, corporate shenanigans and the violent ‘Hell on Wheels’ towns associated with the railroad’s completion,” Davis said. “On the other side, there are enthusiasts who know every minute detail for how a railroad mechanically functions. The in-between history of the Union Pacific is still mostly unknown.”

Davis attended the University of Wyoming where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history. In 2000, he joined the Special Collections and Archives Department at Utah State University. In that position, he is responsible for the historic photograph collections, including cataloging, acquisition, preservation and reference. His research interest is with 19th century photographers of the American West.

In the summer of 2010 Davis was on sabbatical leave and traveled from Omaha, Nebraska, to Promontory, Utah, re-photographing the images and locations that were recorded by Russell. He is currently writing a book about Russell.

Davis is an adjunct instructor with the USU History Department and has published articles in the Annals of Wyoming and the Utah Historical Quarterly.

In addition to Davis’s lecture, the evening will also feature the announcement of the winners of the Leonard J. Arrington Lecture Student Writing Awards. Students submitted essays following the 2011 Arrington lecture presented by Richard V. Francaviglia. The winners of the contest will be announced and the cash awards will be presented.

Writer: Kristin Heal, Patrick Williams