C.E. Johnson photograph collection
Scope and Contents
The first two boxes of the collection consist of two photo albums with Ute Indians (studio portraits), islands of the Great Salt Lake, Saltair and Garfield resorts, LDS Church officials, and Salt Lake City views. The third and fourth boxes contain cabinet portrait photos from the Sainsbury & Johnson Co. Studio including actors and actresses in the Salt Lake Theater and miscellaneous studio portraits. The fifth and sixth boxes consist of glass lantern slides of actors, singers, celebrities, and California landscapes. The seventh box contains glass lantern slides from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Tour in 1902. The eighth box is a 1901 souvenir album with albertypes of Salt Lake City views. boxes 9 and 10 consist of stereoviews including risqué, burlesque and artistic images of women plus a few miscellaneous views of animals, children, and flowers. box 11 consists of a scrapbook Johnson compiled of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir tour of 1896. box 12 contains duplicates of the stereoviews.
Box 13 contains slides that are reproductions of various stereoviews and glass plate negatives of A-boards photos.
Researcher Note: Images 1:01-1:96 and 2:01-2:50 are stored in the vault. Polaroid color reproductions are available for researcher use. Some of the photographs in the collection are copies Johnson made from earlier photographers. Please note that the numbering system is slightly off. Photos 2:52 through 2:71 are in box three and photos 3:001 through 3:120 are in box four. There are more Johnson 1897 Jubilee photographs in the historical board collection, A-2401 through A-2478.
Dates
- 1860-1920
- Majority of material found within 1893-1910
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Restrictions
Open to public research.
Copyright
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Utah State University Libraries, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright. Permission for reproduction must be obtained from USU Special Collections and Archives.
Permission to publish material from the C.E. Johnson photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Photograph Curator and/or the Special Collections Department Head.
Biographical Note
Charles Ellis Johnson was born on March 21, 1857 to Joseph and Eliza Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1860 young Charles and his mother moved to Salt Lake City. In 1861 Joseph and his two other wives joined them, but Joseph did not like city life and soon thereafter the family moved to Utah Valley. In 1866 they moved even further south to St. George. As a boy Charles had a variety of interests including printing, botany, Indians, and the theater. In St. George he met Ruth Young, a daughter of Brigham Young, and the two were married in 1878. The couple had three children, but would eventually live separate lives. In 1882 they moved to Salt Lake City where Charles worked as a druggist for ZCMI. In 1889 he and Parley P. Pratt went into business operating a drug store. Charles began to dabble in photography and in 1893 he took over the photo studio of Hyrum Sainsbury. Johnson quickly became known as the unofficial photographer of the Salt Lake City theater. He took many glamour photographs of actresses and even artistic nudes and risqué stereoviews. In 1897 he met and became friends with the actress Lydia Manreouv Montford who was performing in Salt Lake City. In 1903 Montford returned to Utah and the two left to photograph the Holy Land with the intention of selling the views at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Johnson apparently made little money and he returned to Utah where his business was languishing. Johnson remained a studio photographer and druggist in Salt Lake City for many years. He moved to California in 1917 and died on February 21, 1926.
Extent
13 boxes (5 linear ft.)
Abstract
Photo albums, cabinet portrait photos, glass lantern slides, a 1901 souvenir album made of albertypes, stereoviews, and a scrapbook from 1893 and 1896. The albums include photographs of Ute Indians (studio portraits), islands of the Great Salt Lake, Saltair and Garfield resorts, LDS Church officials, and Salt Lake City views. The cabinet portrait photos are from the Sainsbury & Johnson Co. Studio. Some of these are of actors and actresses in the Salt Lake Theater but the majority are probably Salt Lake City residents. The glass lantern slides include actors, singers, and celebrities, as well as various landscapes in California that Johnson visited, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Tour in 1902. The 1901 Salt Lake City souvenir album is made of albertypes from photographs by Johnson. The stereoviews include risque, burlesque and artistic nude images of women plus a few miscellaneous views of animals, children, and flowers. The scrapbook was compiled by Johnson while he attended the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir tour of 1896, and includes newspaper clippings, brochures, tickets, programs, and correspondence.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged in 10 series:
- 1. Photograph albums;
- 2. Cabinet portrait photographs;
- 3. Glass lantern slides;
- 4. Souvenir album;
- 5. Salt Lake City parade photogrpahs;
- 6. Johnson stereoviews;
- 7. Scrapbook of Chicago World's Fair and Mormon Tabernacle Choir tour;
- 8. Glass plate negatives and slides;
- 9. The Holy Land;
- 10. Addendum.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was picked up from the Sons of the Utah Pioneers museum in Farmington, Utah, at the Lagoon amusement park. The transfer happened sometime in the early 1980s. 10:44 - 10:52 stereoviews were purchased in 2003 & 2009.
Bibliography
"Set in Stone Fixed in Glass: The Great Mormon Temple and Its Photographers" by Nelson Wadsworth, 1992 (289.37 W119).
"'Appreciating a Pretty Shoulder:' The Risqué Photographs of Charles Ellis Johnson" by Daniel Davis, Utah Historical Quarterly, Spring 2006 Vol. 74 No. 2
Processing Information
Finding aid completed by Ryan Lee, July 2002, and revised by Daniel Davis, May 2007.
- Actors--Utah--Salt Lake City--Photographs.
- Actresses--Utah--Salt Lake City--Photographs.
- Antelope Island (Utah)--Photographs.
- Burlesque (Theater)--Utah--Salt Lake City.
- Cabinet photographs.
- Images
- Lantern slides--West (U.S.)
- Nudes--Utah--Salt Lake City.
- Salt Lake City (Utah)--Buildings--Photographs.
- Salt Lake City (Utah)--Photographs.
- Saltair Resort (Utah)--Photographs.
- Statehood (American politics)--Utah--Anniversaries, etc.--19th century--Photographs.
- Stereographs.
- Studio portraits--West (U.S.)--19th century.
- Studio portraits--West (U.S.)--20th century.
- Temple Square (Salt Lake City, Utah)--Photographs.
- Utah statehood celebration, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1897--Parades--Photographs.
- Utah statehood celebration, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1897--Photographs.
- Ute Indians--Photographs.
- Zoo animals--Utah--Salt Lake City--Photographs.
- Title
- Guide to the C.E. Johnson photograph collection, 1860-1920
- Author
- Finding aid completed by Ryan Lee, July 2002, and revised by Daniel Davis, May 2007.
- Date
- ©2008
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs (Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding guide is in English in Latin script.
- Sponsor
- Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008
Revision Statements
- April 25, 2008 - 2013 January 21: 10:44 - 10:52 and Box 13 were added to the collection
- 2009: Template information was updated to reflect Archives West best practice guidelines.
- 2024: 2 negatives were added to box 13
Repository Details
Part of the Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives Repository
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)
scweb@usu.edu