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Oliver F. Atkins 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

Email: speccoll@gmu.edu

Phone: (703) 993-2220

Fax: (703) 993-2669

Web: scrc.gmu.edu

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:: Oliver F. Atkins photograph collection, C0036, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:: 61.5 Linear Feet 121 boxes
Creator:: Atkins, Oliver F., 1916-1977
Abstract:: The Atkins collection consists of approximately 60,000 images that extensively document American political and cultural history from the 1940s through the 1970s. Most of the images that document American political life date from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s when Atkins worked as a photographer for the Saturday Evening Post and then later as the personal photographer to President Richard M. Nixon. The bulk of the American cultural documentation is from Atkins' work in the 1950s and early 1960s on specific stories for the Saturday Evening Post, and these stories cover other areas of the United States, particularly the Southeast up through the Northeast coast. There are also a number of international sets of images from Korea, Africa, and India. The collection consists largely of 8x10" and l3x10" color and black and white prints and 35mm and 4"x5" black and white negatives. There are also a number of slides, contact sheets, and oversize mat prints. The collection also includes some correspondence and other documentation on Atkins' work and travel abroad.
Language:: English
Preferred citation:: Oliver F. Atkins photograph collection, C0036, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

Content Warning: Some materials contain racist language and slurs.

The Atkins collection consists of approximately 60,000 images that extensively document American political and cultural history from the 1940s through the 1970s. Most of the images that document American political life date from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s when Atkins worked as a photographer for the Saturday Evening Post and then later as the personal photographer to President Richard M. Nixon. The bulk of the American cultural documentation is from Atkins' work in the 1950s and early 1960s on specific stories for the Saturday Evening Post, and these stories cover other areas of the United States, particularly the Southeast up through the Northeast coast. There are also a number of international sets of images from Korea, Africa, and India. The collection consists largely of 8x10" and l3x10" color and black and white prints and 35mm and 4x5" black and white negatives. There are also a number of slides, contact sheets, and oversize matted prints. The collection also includes some correspondence and other documentation on Atkins' work and travel abroad.

Series 1 contains almost all of the prints in the collection. The prints document Atkins' positions as a photographer for the Saturday Evening Post and the personal photographer to President Richard M. Nixon. Many of the negatives of the prints in the first subseries can be found in Series 2 and 3. Subseries 1.1 consists largely of prints from Atkins work as a photographer for the Saturday Evening Post in Washington, D.C. There are also photographs from Saturday Evening Post stories that Atkins contributed to and those folders are labeled with the title of the article. The scope notes provide additional information about the subjects of the photographs and the locations when the folder titles are not descriptive enough. Subseries 1.2 consists of 8x10" prints from Atkins' work as the personal photographer to President Richard M. Nixon. The images document life in the White House, press conferences, visiting foreign leaders, presidential visits abroad, vacations, and Nixon's final days in office following his resignation. There are also numerous photographs of the Nixon's wife, Pat, and his daughters, Julie and Tricia. Most of the photographs are in color. Subseries 1.3 consists of both 8x10" and 11x14" prints arranged chronologically from Atkins' work as the personal photographer to President Richard M. Nixon. The prints cover much of the same subject matter as in subseries 1.2 and in some cases are duplicates. Most of the prints are black and white.

Series 2 contains 4x5" negatives created during Atkins's tenure as a photographer for the Saturday Evening Post, and most of the photographs are grouped together by story title. Some of the prints made from the negatives can be found in Subseries 1.1. Subjects include American political figures, such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Alben W. Barkley, George Marshall, and Tom Connally; Washington, D.C., sites, such as the White House, the Library of Congress, and Howard University; and religious leaders, such as Ezra Taft Benson and Prophet Jones. Other subjects include American businessmen, military figures, and average citizens. Folder numbers refer to numbered "packets" containing multiple negatives of the same subject. Box 58 contains negatives other than 4x5" that could not be housed in the same containers. Some of these negatives are from the same stories and have the same packet numbering. Detailed caption descriptions for these packets can be found in Series 4.

Series 3 contains 35mm negatives, 4x5" negatives, contact sheets, and slides that Atkins created while he worked for the Saturday Evening Post in the 1950s and 1960s as well as some images from work he did during World War II. Prints from these images can be found in Series 1, and there are some copies of negatives that are in Series 4. Subseries 3.1 is arranged in chronological order and appears to be largely from Atkins' Washington File, a collection of images he maintained from various assignments. Subjects photographed during the early 1960s include the President John F. Kennedy and his cabinet, including Robert F. Kennedy; Jacqueline Kennedy; astronauts such as John Glenn and Alan Shepard; Senators and Representatives; protests and demonstrations such as the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom", with Martin Luther King, Jr.; and John F. Kennedy's inauguration and funeral. Subjects photographed during the mid-to-late 1960s include President Lyndon B. Johnson and his cabinet, including Robert S. McNamara and Dean Rusk; Nelson A. Rockefeller; Ladybird Johnson; Senators and Representatives; Malcolm X; the signing of the Civil Rights Bill with Martin Luther King, Jr.; astronauts Gus Grissom, John Young, and John Glenn; and protests and demonstrations, including the "Poor People's Campaign", with Jesse Jackson, Ralph Abernathy, and Coretta Scott King. Subseries 3.2 is arranged in alphabetical order. Subjects include Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, along with their cabinet members and families. Other political figures or events include United States Senators and Congressmen, such as Barry Goldwater, J. William Fulbright, and Margaret Chase Smith, and the Democratic and Republican National Conventions from 1956-1968. Other subjects include the Korean War and other overseas locales such as Africa, Cuba, India, New Zealand, and Yugoslavia; Washington, D.C., landmarks include the U.S. Capitol Building, the U.S. Supreme Court Building, the State Department Building, and the White House. As in Subseries 1.1 and Series 2, multiple folder titles are based on Saturday Evening Post story titles.

Series 4 contains correspondence, awards, press travel packets, copies of images for exhibits and reference use, and a photograph assignment on the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Of particular interest in the correspondence are letters between Atkins and the Saturday Evening Post about his work and other matters. Note that there is also correspondence and notes throughout the folders in the Series 3. The press packets document Nixon's travel abroad during his presidency and can be used in conjunction with the Nixon subject prints in Series 1. There are also publications that feature photographs by Atkins.

Series 5 contains mat photographs that span Atkins entire career from World War II to the White House. Subjects include World War II in Europe, the Korean War, and scenes from Africa, India, and the Middle East. Also pictured are American political figures such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon. Other subjects include protests on the National Mall, landmarks in Washington, D.C., and New York City, coal miners, and Fidel Castro.

This subseries consists largely of prints from Atkins work as a photographer for the Saturday Evening Post in Washington, D.C. There are also photographs from Saturday Evening Post stories that Atkins contributed to and those folders are labeled with the title of the article. The scope notes provide additional information about the subjects of the photographs and the locations when the folder titles are not descriptive enough.

Storage and moving trade in Washington, D.C.

Guinea; Nigeria; South Africa

Japan

Portraits with family

U.S. Navy; U.S. Air Force; fighter plane; Africa; agriculture; John F. Kennedy

Winston Churchill, Harry Truman

School improvement programs in Arlington, Virginia

Entomology at Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Oliver Atkins and Norman Rockwell

Oliver Atkins; Sid Caesar; Herbert Humphrey (autographed); Johnny Carson

Oliver Atkins and Gerald Ford

Portraits

Ernest P. Walker in Washington, D.C.

Includes negatives

American Machine & Foundry Company, New York City

Kenneth Wherry

Carl Albert and family; Sam Ragburn; John McCormack; Harold Cooley; taken in Washington, D.C.

Richard M. Nixon in Washington, D.C.

Robert Taft in Canton, OH

Washington, D.C.; Norfolk, Virginia; United States Navy

Harry Truman; John Sparkman; Adlai Stevenson in Washington, D.C.

Dwight D. Eisenhower in Boise, Idaho

Washington, D.C.; includes contact sheets

Joint Senate and House recording facility; Charles B. Brownson; A.S. "Mike" Monroney, in Washington, D.C.

Mrs. Winfield Smart and family in Falls Church, Virginia

Robert F. Kennedy; John McClellan; Harry Dexter White Case; Dave Beck; Gun control; Racketeering

Bathtubs, Washington, D.C.

Library of Congress; Luther Evans

Boy reading, taken in Fairfax, Virginia

Unemployment, Washington, D.C.

Ambassadors in Washington, D.C.

Portrait of Pat McCarran in Washington, D.C.

Ezra Taft Benson; Hume, Virginia; Washington, D.C.

Federal Maritime Administration; Washington, D.C.

Julie and David Eisenhower; Alexander Haig; Ford family; Presidential swearing-in ceremony; Joint address to Congress

Portraits

Battle Creek, Michigan; Delaware; New York City; Trinity Church

Betty Goldwater; William Miller; John McClellan

Marriott Hot Shoppe in Arlington, Virginia

Steven Derounian; Andrews Air Force Base; Washington, D.C.; Mineola, New York

Albert Gore and family in Carthage, Tennessee

"Five percenters" investigation in Washington, D.C.

Statler Hotel; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Boston

Dwight D. Eisenhower; Marie Eisenhower; Chicago; New York City; Denver

portrait

Washington, D.C.; McLean; Arlington, Virginia

Harry Truman; Fred Vinson; in Key West, Florida

Agriculture in Zirconia, North Carolina

Dr. V. Stefan Krajcovic in Washington, D.C.

Gordon W. Rule in Washington, D.C.

Richard M. Nixon and family in Washington, D.C.

Modern movement (architecture); Washington, D.C.

Portrait

Andrews Air Force Base

Presidential campaign

Inauguration

Oval office

Lyndon B. Johnson with cabinet members and advisors

Portraits

Lyndon B. Johnson with Lady Bird Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson ranch

Hubert Humphrey; Pope Paul VI

Hospital care in New York City

World War II

Playing football and sailing

Kennedy family

Robert F. Kennedy; Ethel Kennedy; John F. Kennedy family

Official White House portrait and other portraits

Campaigning in Colorado

Campaigning in Wisconsin

Democratic Convention in California

Campaigning

Campaigning in California

Campaigning in Michigan

Campaigning in Texas

Campaigning in Washington

Television debate with Richard M. Nixon

Ceremonies and gatherings

Meetings with staff and international leaders

Oval office

Press conferences

Inauguration

State of the Union

Funeral

Assassination and related events

Labor racketeering hearings; John McClellan

Portraits

Robert F. Kennedy family

Democratic convention in California; Kenneth O'Donnell and Pierre Salinger

Presidential campaign announcement

Presidential campaign in California

Funeral service

Mr. and Mrs. Knowland

Syngman Rhee

Two terrible nights with the 23rd

General file

The fighting French

Greeks know how to die

How well do Negroes fight

The world's worst railroad headache

Nurses story; original article manuscript; Far East command press releases

Machine gunners; article manuscript

The flying poison

The Chinese telegraph their punch

Marines

Hokkaido story

Kaesong Conference

Refugees

The big thaw

The pious killer of Korea; United States Air Force

Coal miners in White Haven, Pennsylvania and Affinity, West Virginia

Actor Irving Fisher in New York City

Everett M. Dirksen

Olney, Maryland

Burned and mutilated currency unit of the Currency Redemption Division of the Treasury Department

Detroit, Michigan; Northern Virginia; Avon Lake, Ohio; Fruehauf trailer company

Sewing machine use in Tokyo, Japan

United States Postal Inspection Service in Washington, D.C.

Rockville, Maryland

Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Washington, D.C.; includes contact sheets and negatives

Harry Truman; Portrait of Clarence Cannon; Washington, D.C.

Ozark, Arkansas students travel to New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

Chevy Chase and Aberdeen, Maryland; Washington, D.C.

Henry C. Lodge

Rosenberg execution protest in Washington, D.C.

John I. Williams and Preston C. Williams

Tom Connally in Washington, D.C.

Agnes McCall Parker in Washington, D.C.

Bird dogs in Annapolis, Maryland

Commissioner Bob Christenberry in New York City

Telegraph agents of the USSR in Washington, D.C.

Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Aberdeen, Maryland

Washington, D.C.

Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; Arlington, Virginia

Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C.

Portrait signed by Truman to Ollie Atkins

Senate subway construction

Marine biology in Milford, Connecticut

Librarian with full set of volumes

Carlton Hotel; John L. Lewis; Washington, D.C.

United States Air Force at Patuxent Naval Air Station in Maryland

Roland T. Carr and William A. Heilprin at Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C.

Thomas A. Walden in Washington, D.C.

Submarine in Key West, Florida

Cold weather clothing tests in Lawrence, Massachusetts

Allen Dulles

Camp Gordon, Georgia; U.S. Army Military Police School

Dayton, Ohio; Yellow Springs, Ohio

Arthur M. Whitehill and family; Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Joe McCarthy checking a phone for wire tapping

Washington, D.C.

This subseries consists of prints from Atkins's work as Chief White House Photographer during the Richard M. Nixon Administration. The images document life in the White House, press conferences, visiting foreign leaders, presidential visits abroad, vacations, and Nixon's final days in office following his resignation. There are also numerous photographs of the Nixon's wife, Pat, and his daughters, Julie and Tricia.

Some items available in digital format.

Copy negative

Contact sheets and negatives.

Subseries 1.3 consists of both 8x10" and 11x14" prints arranged chronologically from Atkins' work as the personal photographer to President Richard M. Nixon. The prints cover much of the same subject matter as in Subseries 1.2 and in some cases are duplicates. Unlike Subseries 1.2, most of the prints are black and white.

1 of 4; 1968 campaign

2 of 4; 1968 campaign

3 of 4; 1968 campaign

4 of 4; 1968 campaign

Series 2 contains 4x5" negatives created during Atkins's tenure as a photographer for the Saturday Evening Post. Subjects include American political figures, such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Alben W. Barkley, George Marshall, and Tom Connally; Washington, D.C., sites, such as the White House, the Library of Congress, and Howard University; and religious leaders, such as Ezra Taft Benson and Prophet Jones. Other subjects include American businessmen, military figures, and average citizens. Folder numbers refer to numbered "packets" containing multiple negatives of the same subject. Box 58 contains negatives other than 4x5" that could not be housed in the same containers. Some of these negatives are from the same stories and have the same packet numbering. Detailed caption descriptions for these packets can be found in Series 4. The dates following the titles refer to the story publication dates, and the dates in the scope notes refer to the dates that Atkins' took the photographs.

Ferry-Morse Seed Company, Detroit, Michigan, January 1955; 18 negatives

March 1956; 9 negatives

Also see Box 58

December 1955; 34 negatives

Includes Winston Churchill and Harry S. Truman; 36 negatives

Maxwell Taylor, August 1955; 14 negatives

Jamestown, Virginia, May 1956; 17 negatives

Donald Quarles; 13 negatives

Also see Box 58

National Institute of Dry Cleaning; 19 negatives

Library of Congress, June 1950; 25 negatives

Georgetown, Washington, D.C.; 23 negatives

14 negatives

T. James Tumulty

Also see Box 58

12 negatives

Ernest P. Walker; 5 negatives

Hines, Illinois, August 1950; 8 negatives

James Bryden; 9 negatives

Robert Woodruff, December 1950; 47 negatives

July 1955; 26 negatives

37 negatives

Sherman Adams, December 1952; 14 negatives

May 1953; 18 negatives

James Forrestal, Hoyt Vandenburg, Omar Bradley, Louis Denfield; 18 negatives

Steven Derounian; 18 negatives

Charles Potter, November 1952; 17 negatives

Kenneth Wherry; 13 negatives

Robert Taft; 32 negatives

Arthur Whitehall; 13 negatives

Statler Hotel; 35 negatives

Also see Box 58

David K. Niles

Abraham Ribicoff; 2 negatives

Spirit of St. Louis, Smithsonian Institution, March 1953; 8 negatives

27 negatives

Also see Box 58

9 negatives

Milford, Connecticut, September 1951; 16 negatives

Includes Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr, John F. Kennedy, Robert Blaikie, Alex Rose; 10 negatives

Ralph Bunche; 10 negatives

June 1955; 7 negatives

Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1955; 22 negatives

Robert Cutler; 13 negatives

Also see Box 58

Stephen Foster, January 1953; 11 negatives

James Pinkston; 8 negatives

5 negatives

Maurice Tobin; 29 negatives

Warren Olney III; 5 negatives

Also see Box 58

17 negatives

Also see Box 58

James Maurice Gavin; 29 negatives

April 1952; 33 negatives

William F. Dean; 13 negatives

John J. Williams; 22 negatives

12 negatives

Also see Box 58

June 1952; 17 negatives

May 1953; 32 negatives

Eugene Millikin, April 1953; 23 negatives

8 negatives

May 1950; 4 negatives

Also see Box 58

Tom Connally, includes Harry S. Truman; 30 negatives

4 negatives

13 negatives

February 1952; 20 negatives

Washington Senators baseball team; 14 negatives

Also see Box 58

Ezra Taft Benson, February 1953; 9 negatives

Also see Box 58

December 1949; 20 negatives

William Leahy; 14 negatives

April 1950; 30 negatives

Also see Box 58

National Archives and Records Administration, June 1948; 30 negatives

George Tetlet, December 1947; 32 negatives

Adlai Stevenson, Springfield and Bloomfield, Illinois, February 1949; 31 negatives

Jack Kroll; 19 negatives

Arthur Burns, includes Dwight D. Eisenhower; 10 negatives

23 negatives

17 negatives

William F. Halsey, USS Missouri; 4 color positives

8 negatives

27 negatives

James Francis Marion Jones; 59 negatives

Louis Arthur Johnson, June 1949; 5 negatives

Also see Box 58

Carlton hotel, Washington, D.C., August 1949; 3 negatives

March 1950; 1 negative

Wilhelm Munthe. de Morgenstierne; 12 negatives

Clifford Garner, July 1950; 9 negatives

Library of Congress, July 1950; 9 negatives

Irving Fisher; 29 negatives

Joseph Lawton Collins, November 1950; 8 negatives

H. K. Riggs; 9 negatives

Paul Douglas; 17 negatives

35 negatives

Also see Box 58

Frank P. Graham, includes Kerr Scott, May 1949; 22 negatives

Also see Box 58

Alben W. Barkley, includes Harry F. Byrd; 18 negatives

June 1952; 5 negatives

February 1954; 5 negatives

Also see Box 58

September 1952; 12 negatives

Jim Perry, Bud Camp; 25 negatives

Also see Box 58

Milo Coplan; October and November 1952; 31 negatives

Matthew B. Ridgway; 13 negatives

League of Women Voters; 18 negatives

Good Humor Corporation, April 1949; 39 negatives

William M. Fechteler, Omar Bradley, Hoyt Vandenberg, J. Lawton Collins; 14 negatives, 1 color positive

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, February 1954; 2 negatives

Robert Murphy; 12 negatives

Albert Roth, includes Richard M. Nixon, June 1954; 19 negatives

Includes Dean Acheson; 9 negatives

Also see Box 58

39 negatives

Mike Monroney, Charles B. Brownson; 13 negatives

November 1952; 21 negatives

Atomic Energy Commission; September 1953; 18 negatives

Frances P. Bolton, Oliver P. Bolton, June 1953; 13 negatives

Mrs. Winfield Smart, November 1952; 5 negatives

34 negatives

Also see Box 58

Dwight D. Eisenhower; 42 negatives

Also see Box 58

21 negatives

Ray "Mike" Dow; 22 negatives

Tom Durrance; 15 negatives

Sidney W. Souers, includes Dean Acheson; 15 negatives

Josephine Crisler, October 1948; 10 negatives

Clifton Bledsoe Cates; December 1948; 10 negatives

Howard University, November 1948; 24 negatives

Robert M. Redmond, August 1949; 5 negatives

Also see Box 58

16 negatives

George J. Schoeneman; 1 negative

Also see Box 58

38 negatives

34 negatives

24 negatives

1 negatives

8 negatives

B-29s, Tucson Arizona; 41 negatives

Werner Knop, October 1948; 12 negatives

Lou Boudreau, August 1948; 14 negatives

Also see Box 58

13 negatives

40 negatives

45 negatives

Witton Lawler; 6 negatives

Jesse M. Donaldson, December 1947; 21 negatives

Paul Brindle, Alden H. Waite, Clyde R. Hoey, Herbert Feldman, Harry Vaughn, John F. Maragon; 77 negatives

Also see Box 58

Howard University, December 1948; 26 negatives

1 negative

Also see Box 58

22 negatives

15 negatives

Louis B. Meyer, Paul V. McNutt; 5 negatives

National Airport, Capitol Hill, 1947; 49 negatives

19 negatives

Also see Box 58

14 negatives

John McCloy, April 1947; 10 negatives

28 negatives

Kenilworth garbage dump; 31 negatives

19 negatives

33 negatives

F. Edward Herbert; 27 negatives

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Frank Monaghan; 27 negatives

Bureau of Indian Affairs; 21 negatives

11 negatives

Embassy of France, Embassy of Spain, Embassy of Mexico; 14 negatives

Demolitions Disposal Unit; 21 negatives

Stefan Krajcovic; 8 negatives

Trinity Church, Gary Edwards; 16 negatives

5 negatives

2 negatives

17 negatives

includes Hubert Humphrey, Eugenie Anderson

10 negatives

National Gallery of Art; 39 negatives

19 negatives

Clarence Cannon, includes Harry S. Truman; 17 negatives

March 1956; 35mm negatives

Also see Box 49

35mm negatives

Donald Quarles; 35mm negatives

Also see Box 49

35mm negatives.

Wayne Morse; 35mm negatives

T. James Tumulty; 35mm negatives

Also see Box 49

35mm and 2x2" negatives

Statler Hotel; 35mm negatives

Also see Box 50

35mm negatives

Also see Box 50

Robert Cutler; 35mm negatives

Also see Box 50

Warren Olney III; 35mm negatives

Also see Box 51

35mm negatives

Also see Box 51

35mm negatives

Also see Box 51

35mm negatives

2x2" negatives

May 1950; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 51

Washington Senators baseball team; 14 negatives

Also see Box 52

Ezra Taft Benson, February 1953; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 52

April 1950; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 52

35mm negatives

Stuart Symington, June, 1956; 35mm negatives

35mm negatives

Louis Arthur Johnson, June 1949; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 53

2x2" negatives

35mm negatives

35mm and 2x2" negatives

35mm negatives

Also see Box 53

Frank P. Graham, includes Kerr Scott, May 1949; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 53

February 1954; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 53

Jim Perry, Bud Camp; 35mm negatives

Also see Box 53

Earl Warren; 35mm negatives

Alben William Barkley; 2x2" negatives

Includes Dean Acheson; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 53

35mm negatives

2x2" negatives

Also see Box 54

Dwight D. Eisenhower; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 54

Robert M. Redmond, August 1949; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 54

George J. Schoeneman; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 54

2x2" negatives

Lou Boudreau, August 1948; 2x2" negatives

Also see Box 55

2x2" negatives

Paul Brindle, Alden H. Waite, Clyde R. Hoey, Herbert Feldman, Harry Vaughn, John F. Maragon; 2x2" Negatives

Also see Box 55

2x2" negatives

Also see Box 56

2x2" negatives

Also see Box 56

Subseries 3.1 is arranged in chronological order and appears to be largely from Atkins' Washington File, a collection of images he maintained from various assignments. The bulk of the collection documents the administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. There is also significant documentation of events in Washington, D.C., particularly demonstrations and events associated with the Civil Rights Movement.

Subseries 3.2 is arranged in alphabetical order. Subjects include Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, along with their cabinet members and families. Other political figures or events include United States Senators and Congressmen, such as Barry Goldwater, J. William Fulbright, and Margaret Chase Smith, and the Democratic and Republican National Conventions from 1956-1968. As in Subseries 1.1, multiple folders titles are based on Saturday Evening Post story titles.

(1 of 4)

(2 of 4)

(3 of 4)

(4 of 4)

Connecticut Gubernatorial Campaign

Georgetown House portraits

Polling

I Flew Supersonic

How to Speak French

Portraits

Stewart Alsop Family

How to Write a Magazine Article

Polling, Negro poll

Alsop poll "Mood of America"

John F. Kennedy

Portraits

Alsop poll

Biplanes

They Make Flying Fun Again

Trevor Armbristen Family

Lyndon B. Johnson

Golf's Banking on Burke

by Sherwood Harris

Mercury 6 launch

Portraits

Generals LeMay and White

color slides

Includes John F. Kennedy

Bernard Goldfine

1 of 4

2 of 4

3 of 4

4 of 4

Includes Jacqueline Kennedy

Lyndon B. Johnson with military

1 of 2

2 of 2

color slides 1

color slides 2

color slides 3

color slides 4

color slides 5

color slides 6

Meetings, public events

Presidential campaign

Election

Church near the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch

Oval Office

Inauguration

Ranch

Omaha, Nebraska, Des Moines, Iowa, Lyndon B. Johnson ranch

Glassboro, New Jersey; Alexei Kosygin

Maxwell Taylor, Robert S. McNamara, George W. Ball, John McCone, Jack Valenti

Saturday Evening Post stories about John F. Kennedy; 4x5 negatives

Funeral, Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery

Presidential campaign

White House and Congressional budget meetings and hearings

Ranger, Saturn, Mercury

1 of 3

2 of 3

3 of 3

4x5 negatives

I Can Say He's a Wonderful Guy

1 of 2

2 of 2

Rose Mary Woode

Hospitals

Adlai Stevenson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Richard M. Nixon, Bernard Montgomery, Harry S. Truman, John Foster Dulles

Alben W. Barkley, Harry S. Truman, Estes Kefauver, Leverett Saltonstall, John F. Kennedy, Albert Gore, Sr.

John Foster Dulles, Charles Erwin Wilson, Robert Taft

Blair House

John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon

Some images may have been created in the 1950s; 1 of 2

2 of 2

Saturday Evening Post writer

Macy's New York City

T. I. Swartz and Sons

Includes images of construction

Includes Lyndon B. Johnson

National Mall, Pentagon, United States Supreme Court Building, Pan American Building

American Red Cross, Tunisia, Italy

Jacqueline Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, John Kennedy, Jr., Pierre Salinger

Includes memorabilia

1 of 3

2 of 3

3 of 3

Series 5 contains oversize mat photographs. Subjects include World War II in Europe, the Korean War, and scenes from Africa, India, and the Middle East. Also pictured are American political figures such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon. Other subjects include protests on the National Mall, landmarks in Washington, D.C. and New York City, coal miners, and Fidel Castro.

10 1/4" x 13"

10 1/4" x 13 1/4"

13" x 10 1/8"

13" x 10"

10 1/4" x 13 1/8"

9 5/8" x 13 1/8"

10 1/4" x 13 1/4"

10 1/8'" x 11 1/4"

13 1/8" x 10 1/4"

10 1/4" x 13 1/8"

10" x 13"

10 1/4" x 13"

10 1/4" x 13 1/4"

10 1/4" x 13 1/8"

10 1/4" x 13"

13 1/8" x 10 1/4"

10 1/4" x 13 1/8"

two copies; 10 1/4" x 13"

10 1/4" x 13"

9 3/4" x 13 1/8" and 9 1/2" x 13 1/4"

13 1/8" x 10 1/4"

8 5/8" x 13 1/4"

13" x 10"

13 1/4" by 10 1/4"

three copies

13 3/8" x 8 5/8"

10 1/4" x 13"

13 1/4" x 10"

13 7/8" x 8 1/2"

10 1/4" x 13"

10" x 13"

10 1/8" x 13"

12 3/4" x 10"

9" x 13"

13" x 10"

10" x 12"

10" x 13"

10" x 12 1/2"

13" x 10"

12 1/2" x 10"

13" x 10"

12 1/2" x 9 3/4"

11 3/4" x 10"

11 1/4" x 13"

8 1/4" x 5 1/4"

13 1/2" x 10"

13" x 10"

7 1/4" x 9 1/2"

13" x 9 1/2"

13 1/4" x 8 1/8"

13 1/4" x 9 3/4"

13" x 9 3/4"

13 1/4 x 9 3/4"

19 1/2" x 9 1/4"; 4 1/4" x 2 3/4"

10" x 6 3/4"; 9 1/2" x 6 1/2"

7" x 4 3/4"

9 1/4" x 13 1/4"

10 1/4" x 13 1/4"

8 3/4" x 13 1/8"

20" x 16"

5" x 8"

10 5/8" x 13 1/2"

13" x 10 1/4"

13" x 10 3/8"

13" x 10 1/4"

10 1/4" x 11 3/4"

10 1/4" 13"

10 3/4" x 13"

10" x 13"

13" x 8 1/2"

9 1/2" x 13"

9 1/4" x 13"

9 1/2" x 13"

13" x 10 1/4"

13 1/8 x 10 1/8"

17" x 11 5/8"

13 1/4" x 10"

13 1/4" x 5 5/8"

13 1/2" x 9"

13" x 8 6/8"

12 1/4" x 8 1/8"

9 1/2" x 13 1/4"

10" x 13 1/4"

9 1/4" x 13 1/4"

9" x 13 1/4"

10 1/2" x 13 1/2"

8 3/8" x 13 1/4"

8 3/4" x 13 1/4"

15" x 19 3/4"

14 1/2" x 15 3/4"

14 3/4" x 19 1/4"

14" x 17 1/2"

18" x 14"

17 5/8" x 11 1/2"

13 1/2" x 10 3/8"

13 1/4" x 9"

13 1/4" x 8 1/2"

9 1/8" x 13 1/4"

10 1/4" x 13"

12 5/8" x 9 7/8"

7 1/8" x 13 1/4"

10 1/4" x 13 1/2"

10 3/8" x 12 1/2"

8 1/8" x 13 1/4"

13 1/4" x 10 1/4"

9" x 13 1/4"

13 1/8" x 9 1/4"

9 1/8" x 13 3/4"

8 1/2" x 13 1/2"

9 3/4 x 13 1/4"

9" x 13 1/8"

9 1/8" x 13 1/4"

8 1/2" x 13"

10 1/4" x 13 1/8"

13 1/2" x 9 1/4"

10 1/8" x 10 1/4"

9 3/8" x 13"

8 1/4" x 13"

10 1/2" x 13 1/2"

13 1/4" x 10 1/2"

13 1/2" x 9 1/4"

12 7/8" x 8 1/8"

12 3/4" x 7 3/4"

9 3/4" x 9 3/4"

10 1/4" x 11 1/2"

10 1/4" x 10 3/8"

9 1/4" x 13 1/4"

10 3/8" x 13"

10 1/8" x 13"

8 3/4" x 12 3/4"

13 1/4" x 8 1/2"

13 1/4" x 10 1/4"

13 1/8 x 10"

13 1/4" x 7 7/8"

10 1/2" x 12 5/8"

10 1/4" x 12 1/4"

13 1/4" x 10 3/8"

13 1/4" x 10 1/4"

13 3/8" x 10 1/2"

10 1/4" x 13 1/8"

13 1/4 x 10 1/4"

10 1/8" x 13"

9" x 13 1/4"

11 7/8" x 18 3/4"

12 3/8" x 9 5/8"

9" x 11"

13 1/4" x 10 1/4"

13 1/8" x 10 1/4"

13 1/2" x 9 1/4"

13 1/2" x 7 3/4"

13 1/4" x 9 1/2"

13" x 9 1/4"

13 1/8" x 10 1/4"

13 1/8" x 8 1/2"

16" x 10 1/4"

13 1/4" x 8 1/2"

13 1/4" x 8 1/4"

13" x 8 3/4"

13" x 9"

10" x 13 1/4"

10 1/2" x 13 1/2"

13" x 8 3/4"

13 1/4" x 10 1/4"

13" x 9 1/2"

10" x 13 1/4"

13 1/2" x 8 1/4"

8 1/2" x 13 1/4"

13" x 10"

10 3/8" x 13 1/8"

12 3/4" x 10 1/2"

12 7/8" x 10"

13 1/4" x 8 1/4"

13 3/8" x 8 1/8"

13" x 10 3/8"

13 1/4" x 10 3/8"

13 1/4" x 8 1/2"

7 3/8" x 13 3/8"

13 1/2" x 8 3/4"

13 1/4" x 8 1/2"

13 1/2" x 10 5/8"

13 1/8" x 10 1/4"

9 1/4" x 13 1/4"

13 1/4" x 9 1/4"

12 7/8" x 9 3/4"

13 1/4" x 9 1/4"

13 3/8" x 8 7/8

13" x 9 1/4"

13 1/4" x 10 1/4"

10 1/4" x 12 3/4"

13 1/4" x 11"

10 1/4" x 13 1/4"

10" x 12 1/2"

10 3/8" x 13"

10 1/4" x 13 1/4"

additional notes by Atkins on back of photograph; 10 1/2" x 13 1/4"

10 3/8" x 13"

10 3/8" x 12 7/8"

10 3/8" x 13 1/8"

13 1/4" x 10 1/4"

10 1/4" x 13 1/4"

10 1/4" x 13 1/8"

10 1/4" x 13 1/4"

10 3/8" x 13 1/8"

10 1/2" x 13 1/4"

9 1/2" x 13 1/4"

13 1/4" x 10 1/4"

13 1/2" x 19 5/8"

10 1/4" x 13 1/4"

13" x 10"

10" x 13 1/4"

13 1/4" x 10 1/8"

10" x 13"

9" x 13 1/4"

9 1/2" x 13 3/8"

9 1/2" x 13 1/4"

12 3/4" x 9 1/4"

9" x 11 7/8"

13 1/4" x 9 1/8"

13" x 10 5/8"

13 3/8" x 10 1/4"

9 1/4" diameter

13 1/4" x 10 1/4"

13 1/8" x 9 3/8"

color

Biographical / historical:

Oliver "Ollie" F. Atkins was born February 18, 1916 in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. He earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Alabama in 1938, and accepted a position with the Birmingham Post as a staff photographer. Within two years he became chief photographer for the Scripps Howard-owned paper. In 1940, he joined the Washington Daily News where he remained until 1942 and the outbreak of World War II. During the war, he served as a correspondent and photographer for the American Red Cross covering the African campaign, the invasions of Sicily, southern Italy, southern France, and Germany. After the war, Atkins joined the staff of the Saturday Evening Post. As the Washington correspondent for the Post, he photographed many important leaders of the United States and the world. Among them were Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Winston Churchill, Gamel Nasser, Nikita Kruschev, Josip B. Tito, and Jawaharlal Nehru. He was the Post's Far East correspondent in 1951, and also enjoyed a personal and working relationship with the magazine's famous illustrator, Norman Rockwell.

In 1969, Atkins became the personal photographer of President Richard M. Nixon and chief White House photographer. Of his many images of Nixon, the series documenting the meeting of December 18, 1970 with Elvis Presley is the most famous and the most requested. After Nixon's resignation in 1974, Atkins became vice president of Curtis Publishing Company of Indianapolis and remained there until his death in 1977. Atkins' awards include the White House News Photographers' Association Grand Award, the Graflex All American Photo Contest Portrait Award, and the National Press Photographers' Association Personalities Award. Books by Atkins include Camera on Assignment (co-written with Charles Baptie, 1957), and The White House Years: Triumph and Tragedy (1977). He also contributed to William Safire's Eye on Nixon (1972).

Acquisition information:

Donated by Marjorie Atkins in 1978 and 1987.

Processing information:

Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. Additional processing by Jordan Patty, Gary Smith, and Shira Loev in 2010-2011. EAD markup completed by Jordan Patty and Shira Loev in 2011. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in August 2024.

While reprocessing the collection, staff attempted to retain much of the same organization and arrangement as possible since the Atkins collection has been heavily used by researchers over the past several decades. However, it was necessary to update some of the folder titles for clarity and also merge some of the folders that contained similar subject matter. Many of the folders in Series 3 still contain acid-free paper with numbering that matches the old arrangement.

This collection was reprocessed in 2010-2011 using funds from a National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) Detailed Processing Grant.

Arrangement:

Arranged into five series:

Series

Series 1: Prints, 1943-1974 (Boxes 1-48)
Series 2: 4x5" Negatives, 1947-1956 (Boxes 49-57)
Series 3: Negatives, Contact Sheets, Slides, 1945-1975 (Boxes 58-101)
Series 4: Personal Papers, Exhibit Images, and Nature Photography, 1940s-1974 (Boxes 102-109, Oversize 13)
Series 5: Oversize, 1943-1971 (Oversize 1-12)

Physical location:

R17, C2, S4 - C4, S3 OS R1, C1, S1-S5 OS R7, C1, S2-S3, S5-S6 OS R7, C3, S6

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Aerial photographs
Portraits
Korean War, 1950-1953
Fighter planes -- United States
Entomology
Cold weather clothing
Coal miners
Agriculture
Oyster industry
Presidents -- Election
Sewing machines
Slides (Photography)
Storage and moving trade
Submarines (Ships)
Unemployment
Portraits, Group
Legislative hearings
Photography -- Negatives
Photographic prints
Photographs
Names:: Ku Klux Klan (1915- )
Marriott Hot Shoppes
North Carolina (Battleship : BB-55)
Statler Hotel (Washington, D.C.)
Telegrafnoe agentstvo SSSR
Trinity Church (New York, N.Y.)
United States. Air Force
United States. Government Printing Office
United States. Navy
United States. Postal Inspection Service
US Army Military Police School
Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971
Alsop, Joseph, 1910-1989
Alsop, Stewart
Baker, Bobby, 1928-2017
Cannon, Clarence, 1879-1964
Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965
Connally, Tom, 1877-1963
Cox, Patricia Nixon, 1946-
Derounian, Steven B. (Steven Boghos), 1918-2007
Douglas, Paul H. (Paul Howard), 1892-1976
Duke, Angier Biddle, 1915-1995
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Eisenhower, Julie Nixon
Eisenhower, Mamie Doud, 1896-1979
Ford, Gerald R., 1913-2006
Goldwater, Barry M. (Barry Morris), 1909-1998
Gore, Al, 1948-
Hoffa, James R. (James Riddle), 1913-
Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
Kennedy, Edward M. (Edward Moore), 1932-2009
Kennedy, Ethel, 1928-
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968
Lewis, John L. (John Llewellyn), 1880-1969
Mansfield, Mike, 1903-2001
McCarran, Pat, 1876-1954
McCormack, John W., 1891-1980
McNamara, Robert S., 1916-2009
Meany, George, 1894-1980
Mesta, Perle, 1889-1975
Mink, Patsy T., 1927-2002
Minoso, Minnie, 1922-2015
Moyers, Bill D.
Muskie, Edmund S., 1914-1996
Nixon, Pat, 1912-1993
Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
Olney, Warren, 1904-1978
Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994
Percy, Charles H., 1919-2011
Reedy, George E., 1917-1999
Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979
Romney, George W., 1907-1995
Rooney, John J., 1903-1975
Rusk, Dean, 1909-1994
Russell, Richard B. (Richard Brevard), 1897-1971
Sayre, Francis Bowes, 1915-2008
Scranton, William W. (William Warren), 1947-
Symington, Stuart, 1901-1988
Taft, Robert, Jr., 1917-1993
Tree, Marietta, 1917-1991
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
Walker, Ernest P. (Ernest Pillsbury), 1891-1969
Whitehill, Arthur M. (Arthur Murray)
Woodruff, Robert Winship
Woods, Rose Mary
Places:: United States Capitol Complex (Washington, D.C.)
White House (Washington, D.C.) -- Photographs
Washington (D.C.)
Reston (Va.)
Korea
India
Africa
United States -- Politics and government -- 20th century

Collection