Charles Baptie photograph collection

Access and use

Location of collection:
George Mason University
2400 Fenwick Library
Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library MS2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Mieko Palazzo
Phone: (703) 993-2220
Fax: (703) 993-2669
Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)

Preferred citation:

Charles Baptie photograph collection, C0032, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
26 Linear Feet 71 boxes total; 24 document boxes, 35 3-ring photo boxes, and 12 oversize boxes
Creator:
Baptie, Charles
Abstract:
Mid-20th century photographs of Washington, D.C., area landmarks, including Gunston Hall, the White House, and embassies; local businesses, including Texaco stations and Hot Shoppes; and more common subjects, like artwork, animals, nature, or people. These images are in several formats: negatives, slides, prints, and publications.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Charles Baptie photograph collection, C0032, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

The Charles Baptie photograph collection contains color prints and negatives of Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason; color transparencies from the Encyclopedia of United States History; color transparencies and prints from the Great Houses of Washington, D.C.; black & white negatives of the Washington metropolitan area; and photographs of George Mason College. There are, in addition, aerial photographs, photographs of malaria prevention overseas, and publicity photographs for various publications. Also included in this collection are photographs pertaining to the childrens' book, Herkie the Pup, written by Charles Baptie. The total volume of the collection is 26 linear feet, consisting of 24 document boxes, 35 3-ring photo boxes, and 12 oversize boxes.

Series 1: Images of buildings, both interior and exterior, including facades of famous houses and embassies around DC as well as images of the interior decorations; also included are images of churches, DC monuments, hotels, restaurants, schools, laboratories, service stations, theaters, hospitals, and personal homes.

Series 2: Images of the Belgian, Brazilian, French, Irish, Mexican, Peruvian, Spanish, and Turkish embassies; most of these items are also found in series 1.

Series 3: Images of artwork, including of paintings, sculptures, dolls, trophies, and architecture; also images of artwork used for publications such as a baseball book, an Encyclopedia of American History, a History of the Civil War, and a Northern Virginia guidebook.

Series 4: Publications for which Baptie either provided photos or printed at his studio including brochures and pamphlets, guide books, logos, small print books, magazines, and poetry collections.

Series 5: Images of Texaco stations in the area, both on the ground and in the air throughout the Washington, D.C., area included are aerial views and on-the-ground images, as well as plans, blueprints, portraits, and vehicles.

Series 6: Hot Shoppes restaurant photos. Hot Shoppes were a chain of restaurant owned by the Marriott Company and the series includes images of food, their Airline service, their kitchens, and the dining rooms of the restaurants.

Series 7: Photographs of D.C. monuments and landmarks including Capitol Hill, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House, and Mount Vernon.

Series 8: Contains aerial images from several other series, as well as general aerial views from around the country; images of nearby locations include Alexandria, Annandale, Texaco service stations, construction sites, DC monuments, Gunston Hall, Sully Plantation, and the Potomac River.

Series 9: Consists of nature scenes, such as trees, mountains, clouds, gardens, fireworks, sunsets, clouds, bodies of water, landscapes, and cemeteries.

Series 10: Contains maps and building plans, such as blueprints or architectural renderings, specific topics include St. Agnes School, Baltimore, Texaco, Hazelton labs, Woodbridge Toll Center, and Fairfax Hills.

Series 11: Images and portraits of people. Many photos have unidentified subjects, while others show notable Washingtonians and politicians, athletes, scientists, wedding guests, presidents, actors, the National Symphony, and military leaders.

Series 12: Consists of pictures of food from restaurants, Hot Shoppes, and holiday events.

Series 13: Museum exhibits and artifacts including the Star Spangled Banner, dolls, and various Smithsonian objects and exhibits.

Series 14: Documents various animals including monkeys, horses, birds, bees, cattle, dogs, hippopotamuses, snakes, butterflies and animals for scientific testing.

Series 15: Images of different types of technology such as science labs, computers, a space shuttle, factories, and a camera.

Series 16: Images of George Mason College athletic teams, staff members, buildings, campus, students, graduations, George Mason Day, and printed materials.

Series 17: Images of vehicles, such as cars, baby carriage, planes, trains, ships, helicopters and bicycles.

Series 18: Images from Gunston Hall, the historical home of George Mason. Images in the series include the Mason coat of arms, publications, postcard images, aerial views, and a car show hosted by Gunston Hall.

Series 19: Images of international subjects taken during Baptie's many travels, including various settings in Central America, like Brazil, Honduras, and Ecuador; and other locations, such as Paris or India.

Series 20: Correspondence between Charles Baptie and others about photograph orders and publications.

Series 21: Electronic media, specifically a number of 5 1/4 inch floppy discs used for a program called Wordstar.

Biographical / historical:

Charles Baptie, a photographer, printer, and publisher, was born in Munhall, PA on March 13, 1914. Early in life, Baptie became interested in photography and airplanes, interests that would eventually lead to him becoming a photographer and public relations agent for Capital Airlines. His camera recorded the life of the airline for many years. When Capital Airlines merged with United Airlines, Baptie left the company and formed his own business, Charles Baptie Studios, Inc.

While operating his own studio, Baptie provided photographs for more than fifty books and other publications, including: Capital Airlines: A Nostalgic Flight Into the Past, Great Houses of Washington, Camera on Assignment (with Ollie Atkins), the sixteen volume Encyclopedia of United States History, Guest House of the Presidents, the story of the Blair Lee House, and Mid the Hills of Pennsylvania. As a photojournalist, Baptie covered feature stories for leading magazines and other news publications. Over the course of his journalistic career, Baptie met and photographed many world leaders and public figures. He passed away in 2000.

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated in several stages by Charles Baptie and J. Roger Bentley. Charles Baptie, in November 1993, donated GMU materials and other material relating to Northern Virginia. He donated 2.4 linear feet of negatives in July 1994. He donated more photographic negatives and other material in September 1994. In May 2002, J. Roger Bentley donated 1900 negatives, 1,400 photographs, and some publication materials. The next year, May 2003, he donated approximately 2,000 negatives, slides, and photographs, as well as pamphlets, postcards, news clippings and other documents.
Processing information:

Several different staff members have processed this collection as it came into the archives. Instead of reprocessing the whole collection, each new addition was added on, thus making the organization of the collection rather difficult. Instead of reorganizing the thousands of photographs and negatives, the decision was made to divide the collection into series, but not resort it. Therefore, some boxes contain several different series, as well as each folder containing several series. Some individual photographs overlap series; when this occurs, it can be found in both series.

Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. Additional processing by Sean Tennant and Stacey Kniatt in 2008-2010. EAD markup completed by Stacey Kniatt and Hal Barthold in October 2010.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into 21 series.

Series
  1. Series 1: Buildings: Interior and Exterior, 1947-1975
  2. Series 2: Embassies, 1950s-1970s
  3. Series 3: Art, 1947-1975
  4. Series 4: Publications, 1942-1994
  5. Series 5: Texaco Stations, 1950-1972
  6. Series 6: Hot Shoppes, 1948-1953
  7. Series 7: Washington, D.C., Monuments, 1944-1991
  8. Series 8: Aerial Photographs, 1934-1991
  9. Series 9: Nature, 1917-1988
  10. Series 10: Maps and Building Plans, 1941-1973
  11. Series 11: People, 1944-1976
  12. Series 12: Food, 1950s-1960s
  13. Series 13: Museum Exhibits, 1952-1970s
  14. Series 14: Animals, 1946-1980s
  15. Series 15: Technology, 1948-1974
  16. Series 16: George Mason College, 1959-1976
  17. Series 17: Vehicles, 1946-1995
  18. Series 18: Gunston Hall, 1960s-1993
  19. Series 19: International, 1958-1989
  20. Series 20: Correspondence, 1955-1990s
  21. Series 21: Electronic Media, 1970s-1980s
Physical location:
R17, C1, S1 - C3, S1 OS R1, C5, S3 OS R4, C4, S3 - S4