Willard D. Chamberlin Papers
Scope and Content
The Willard D. Chamberlin papers are a varied and interesting collection of photographs and clippings concerning the life of Chamberlin in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The material in this collection gives insight into the material culture, concerns, travels, and ideas of a leading Dayton, OH entrepreneur and businessman. The collection is divided into two series. They are: Travel photographs and Newspaper clippings. Series I is further divided into three sub-series: (1) Reprints/ Contact Sheets, (2) Negatives, and (3) Original Photographic Prints.
Series I: Travel Photographs
Reprints, negatives and original photographs taken by Willard D. Chamberlin during a trip to the Eastern Mediterranean ca. 1890. The original order of the reprints, corresponding contact sheets, and negative strips has been maintained from donation. The letters RT - an identification of the owner is found on each item along with the numbers 1-10 indicating 10 series or groups of prints and contact sheets. The letters A-F indicate the row the print appears on the contact sheet and a number 1-6 indicates the print in each row.
Sub-series 1: Reprints and corresponding contact sheets taken from original photographs ca. 1890.
Sub-series 2: Negatives which correspond to the reprints and contact sheets of Sub-series 1.
Sub-series 3: Original photographs (4x4") taken by Willard D. Chamberlin ca. 1890. One photograph is dated 1898.
Series II: Newspaper Clippings
Contains approx. 400 newspaper clipping cards produced by Willard D. Chamberlin ca. 1912-1919. Topics include politics, World War I, health, disease, trials, and animals. The cards remain in original order from donation. There are also included three glass slides' depicting fly types.
Dates
- Creation: 1893-1917
Creator
- Chamberlin, Willard D. (Person)
Restrictions on Access
There are no restrictions on accessing materials in this collection.
Restrictions on Use
Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Biography of Willard D. Chamberlin
Willard D. Chamberlin, entrepreneur and businessman, was born in Ketchumville, New York on August 13, 1858. Chamberlin began his education in district schools near his Ketchumville home and later attended high school in Binghampton, New York. Chamberlin moved west to Dayton, Ohio in 1877, where he secured a clerical position in the office of his cousin, Charles Chamberlin, with the Great Western Dispatch. Chamberlin remained with the Dispatch until 1881 when he took on a traveling salesman job with Thresher & Company. In 1885 Chamberlin became associated with Mr. Beaver of Beaver & Company (formerly Beaver & Marsh-1883-1885) soap manufacturers, of Dayton. Chamberlin would eventually take on a management role with Beaver & Company and take the sale of the company products on the road. By 1893, Beaver & Company became known as the Beaver Soap Company and Chamberlin took on the position of vice president and would eventually become president in 1906. W.D. Chamberlin married Miss Mary Hinkley Sumner, the daughter of Dr. E.J. Sumner of Mansfield Chester Connecticut in 1888, with whom he had two children; Mary Louise (1889) and Edwin Sumner (1894). Chamberlin also served as a trustee with the First Baptist Church of Dayton as well as Corresponding Secretary for the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) of Dayton (estab. 1896-70). The images of this collection reflect an Eastern Mediterranean Tour taken by W.D. Chamberlin in the 1890s.
Extent
1.0 linear feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The strength of the collection lies in documenting the travels of leading Dayton entrepreneur and businessman Willard D. Chamberlin (President of the Beaver Soap Company, 1906) ca. 1893-1898. The collection also gives valuable insight into the material culture, transportation, and people of the United States and Eastern Mediterranean during the 1890s. Finally, the collection offers insight into the attention paid to war, health, disease, and politics by Mr. Chamberlin, through the newspaper clipping collection ca. 1912-1919.
Statement of Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 2 series:
- Series I: Travel Photographs
- Sub-series 1: Reprints/ Contact Sheets
- Sub-series 2: Negatives
- Sub-series 3: Original Photographic Prints
- Series II: Newspaper Clippings
Acquisition Information
The Willard D. Chamberlin Collection containing photographs and newspaper clippings was donated to the Wright State University Special Collections and Archives by relative Edwin S. Chamberlin on May 17, 1979.
Processing Information
The Willard D. Chamberlin Collection is arranged according to the original order present upon donation. A numbering system of the reproduction photographic prints beginning with RT-1 and ending with RT-10 was maintained (see Scope and Content). The material consists of four boxes. Box 1 contains reproduction photographic prints (produced from original glass lantern slides ca. 1893-1898) with corresponding contact sheets, as well as a file of corresponding negative strips. Box 2 contains original photographs circa 1898. Box 3 and 4 contain homemade newspaper clipping cards circa 1912-1917.
- Title
- Guide to the Willard D. Chamberlin Papers (MS-331)
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Charles Brookover, March, 2004.
- Date
- 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
Wright State University Libraries
Special Collections and Archives
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton OH 45435-0001 USA
937-775-2092
library-archives@wright.edu
