Beyond Interpretation — What's in the Photo Archives?

If you’ve not yet had the opportunity to contact the Photo Archivist about an interpretive project, you may be missing out on an important resource to interpreters. In keeping with its reputation for well-kept, internal mysteries of State Parks, the Statewide Museum Collections Center at McClellan houses the Photo Archive. At first impression, McClellan does have similarities to the government warehouse depicted at the end of the Indiana Jones movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Unlike that fictional warehouse, McClellan is, in fact, accessible.

Just ask Rebecca Crowther, the department’s Photo Archivist. From a very early age Rebecca developed an interest in photography and later in caring for photographs. She attributes this to her grandfather, who took her on trips to nature reserves to use her own camera, which she received while still in elementary school. Rebecca began her studies at Sierra College and at U.C. Davis in fine arts photography. The emphasis on creating photographs changed to photographic preservation with a master’s degree in the “History of Photography with a Curatorial/Archival Emphasis” from CSU Sacramento. While a graduate student, Rebecca began working in the California State Archives and then for the next twelve years as an Archivist at the Center for Sacramento History. A highlight was assisting with the acquisition of the Tower Records Collection and contributing to the development of related exhibits and public programs for the iconic music store chain. Rebecca joined State Parks in 2019 as a Staff Services Analyst with the title of “Photo Archivist.” 

Very shortly after joining the department, the pandemic’s onset meant that Rebecca was assigned to serve as a contact tracer. Since those first two years, however, she has successfully overseen the work of Photo Archives as a team of one!

How does that work? As Photo Archivist, Rebecca is part of a newly formed Digital Data and Multimedia Collections program. There are two archivists (herself and Lola Aguilar, Department Archivist), data specialists, and supervisors who oversee the digital aspects of cultural resource management. This team includes Phaedra Nations, TMS Administrator, Cultural Resources Division. If you’re wondering what “TMS” refers to, it is “The Museum System” the museum cataloging application used statewide by curatorial and archaeological staff.

Rebecca is charged with making photographic collections available to both parks staff and members of the public. These requests may be for an image’s use in an exhibition, interpretation, and/or historical research - whatever may come up within parks. The images are typically of documentary nature, having been produced to capture nearly every range of parks activity. Photos depict early staff, visitors, programs, projects, and of course, park environments. In addition to fulfilling requests, the Photo Archivist is responsible for making sure that Photo Archives material is vetted in terms of copyright and use. Rebecca also accessions, arranges, describes, digitizes, and catalogs the collections.

We asked Rebecca to give us an example of one of her favorite projects. In answer, she told us about working with Southern Service Center interpretive staff and the California African American Museum to collaborate on the African American History and Engagement project, part of the state’s Reexamining Our Past initiative. For the project a wide range of images were chosen, many from Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park.

Rebecca explained that Photo Archives’ collections typically don’t depict pre-parks history. There is a little bit of true historical material, but the collection primarily begins with the 1940s, with the bulk falling into the period of the 1960s-1970s. These images show what recreation in California’s state parks was like in the post-WWII era and changes in parks over time. 

Which of the collections is among Rebecca’s favorites? That would be the slides once belonging to State Park Ranger Carl S. Chavez. Chavez began his career with state parks in the early 1960s and with his young family moved around the state, following his career where it led him. He created images as slides which were then meticulously labeled as to location and who was in the photograph. Nearly every one of the 1,20 items was labeled! The collection not only traces Carl’s movement around the state, but his career’s upward mobility as well. Ranger Chavez was at Bodie SHP, Cuyamaca Rancho SP, Plumas-Eureka SP, Humboldt Redwoods SP (he’d been an undergraduate in Wildlife Management at what was then CSU Humboldt), Morro Bay SP, Pismo SB, Point Mugu SP, the Northern Regional Headquarters, and Division Headquarters. Rebecca has digitized the entire collection and has nearly finished cataloging them! 

Wondering what might be in the Photo Archives waiting for you? The best way to contact Rebecca is to email Photo Archives at photo.arc@parks.ca.gov. Let her know what your project goals are, and she’ll work with you to provide material that is cleared of copyright concerns. Rebecca has lots of professional experience in interpretive exhibit design and can speak your language. She is comfortable having conversations on the best ways to collaborate and provide support for your project. Rebecca mentioned that a good strategy to conduct research for an interpretive project would be to work with both herself and Lola Aguilar, Department Archivist.

The Photo Archivist welcomes material from State Parks staff and is especially interested in the following types of content:

• Images that document Parks’ mission through work and activities
• Pre-Parks era historically significant materials
• And, Parks-related material donated by members of the public

It is important to note that the Photo Archives is not a scanning or printing service. Materials added to the Archives are preserved and made accessible as part of a long-term stewardship effort, which includes some aspects of use and copyright law. Rebecca will tell you, for instance, that finding an image online does not necessarily mean it is in the public domain.

Expanding the collection and increasing access through digitization, including audio and visual materials, remain key goals of the Photo Archives. Because access to TMS is limited for most staff, the Digital Data team at McClellan is currently working on an online database called “eMuseum”. This database will eventually allow staff to conduct research on their own and reach out to Rebecca for clarification on terms of use. Until eMuseum is available, staff can achieve the same results by working directly with Rebecca.