Samuel H. Sterner negative collection

The Samuel H. Sterner Negative collection consists of nineteen 4 x 5 inch and one hundred sixty-two 5 x 7 inch glass plate negatives. As the work of an amateur photographer active in the early twentieth century, the collection provides a view of life around the Findlay, Ohio area. While most of the pictures are family-related shots showing houses, family activities, and individual portraits, there are a number of good views of farm life, houses, activities at the Ohio State University (where Sterner attended school), and a few glimpses of activities around Findlay, Ohio.

Some of the more interesting items in the collection include a shot of a group of traveling entertainers, LaBelle Rosa and her Oriental Troupe of Dancers (complete with camels); some room interiors, including a parlor and a bedroom; humorous pictures of family members wearing costume noses and ears; and a photograph of workmen painting the cornice on a house, taken from the same level as the scaffold.

Due to poor storage of the negatives in the past, there is some emulsion damage on some of the plates in the collection. Also, the quality of the sharpness and clarity of the photographs is sometimes quite uneven. However, many of the plates are good, with details that can be enlarged without too much loss of resolution. Most of the photographs have identification, although without definite dates.