The Pittsburgh Photographic Library (PPL) was conceptualized in the late 1940s by three men: Wallace Richards, the executive director of the Pittsburgh Regional Planning Association and the director of the Carnegie Museum of Art; Philip S. Broughton, the executive secretary of the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust and a member of the executive committee of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development; and, Roy E. Stryker, the former director of the Resettlement Administration/Farm Security Administration.
During Strykers' years with the federal agency, he directed a program of photo-documentation that produced 164,000 processed negatives depicting the life of the rural poor in the United States. After leaving the Farm Security Administration, Stryker worked for Standard Oil Company in its public relations department overseeing another photo-documentation project. While working for Standard Oil, Stryker assisted Wallace Richards and Philip Broughton with planning a photo-documentation program in Pittsburgh based on civic improvements in an effort to make the citizens of Pittsburgh "conscious of itself", to become aware of the city's relationships to the agricultural and industrial surroundings, and to promote "Modern Pittsburgh" to the rest of the country. In 1950, Stryker was brought to Pittsburgh to head up the civic photograph project that would become known as the Pittsburgh Photographic Library.
The PPL began in 1950 as a three year project under the management and oversight of the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School. The program was underwritten with funding primarily from the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the Andrew W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, and the Edgar J. Kaufmann Charitable Trust. The staff included a director, assistant director/chief photographer, secretary, laboratory assistants, and file clerks. Stryker held the position of director for about one year, followed by Marshall Stalley, who would remain the director through the programs remaining years. Harold Corsini was closely associated with the PPL as its assistant director and chief photographer.
The photographs taken by PPL photographers were used extensively by companies, educational institutions, and civic groups to promote the region. The PPL provided images for several exhibitions in the Pittsburgh region and produced photo essays that would appear in national magazines, such as Life. By 1954 funding would become a central issue in the continuation of the PPL and in 1955 it ceased operations. However, there was an expectation that the photographs would remain available as a community resource. This function would become a major issue facing the University of Pittsburgh as the city was planning its bicentennial celebration in 1958. Ultimately, Stryker and Broughton would work alongside Stanton Belfour of the Pittsburgh Foundation and William Block of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to find an appropriate home for the photograph collection. In October 1959, Ralph Munn, director of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh agreed to provide a suitable home for the photographs and arrange them for greater public access. Finally, in January 1961, the Pennsylvania Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh announced the availability 25,000 photographic images.
The Pittsburgh Photographic Library records consist of 26 file folders that document the administrative functions of the organization. Folders include documents related to funding sources, financial statements, reports, activities, correspondence and memorandums, and minutes of various committees and administrative bodies.
Folder 19 "Payroll" contains salary information on employees of the Pittsburgh Photographic Library. Researchers are limited to use/quote from the documents located in Folder 19 in a manner that does not identify the name of individual employees. Researchers will be required to complete a "Confidentiality Agreement" form available at the reference desk in the Archives Service Center.
Pittsburgh Photographic Library Records, 1949-1959, UA.90.3.2, University Archives, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Photographic Library Records, 1949-1959, UA.90.3.2, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
This collection was processed by David R. Grinnell in May 2012.
All rights reserved. University of Pittsburgh.
Allegheny Conference on Community Development Collection, 1944-1993, AIS.1973.04, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Allegheny Conference On Community Development (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Records, 1920-1993, MSS 285, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, Rufus Henry Fitzgerald, Administrative Files, 1945-1955, UA.2.10.1945-1955, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust Records, 1930-1980, AIS.1980.29, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Records of the Edgar J. Kaufmann Charitable Foundation, 1936-1987, MSS#154, Rauh Jewish Archives, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center.
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