Ralph Taylor photographs and negatives

Collection

Identifier: MSD-1934-001

Staff Only

Collection Statement

The collection consists of photographs and negatives from Taylor Photography, most ranging in date from 1956 to 1983. Various sizes of negatives made from several formats of cameras are present. The earliest are 4x5 and 3½ x4½ inches. Later negatives were made from roll film, 120 size (2 ½ x3 inches) and then 35 mm. Negatives are boxed by size and arranged numerically. When gaps or overlap in the numerical sequence appear, it is because the negatives were boxed by size.

One representative sample from each job was scanned for inclusion in the DePauw Digital Library. Some of these images are titled with the name or names of parents for a potrait sitting of their child, so the child's name is not given. The following inventory lists the negatives by number, grouped by size under their document case number.

Dates

1956 - 1983

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Usage Restrictions

Biographical Sketch

Ralph Taylor was born in Brook, Indiana. He was a member of the class of 1934 at DePauw University where he was a Rector Scholar. He married Evelyn Pictor July 21, 1940 at Gobin Memorial UMC in Greencastle, Indiana. They have two children, Lawrence Taylor, Greencastle, and Dorothy Taylor, DeLand, Florida.

Taylor’s interest in photography began at the Seymour Daily Tribune newspaper, where he worked for six years. He went on to work at the Bloomington Herald and then to the Shelbyville News as their photographer. In 1944 he began doing photography work for DePauw University and in 1956 was officially hired to be the on-call photographer. He held this position until his retirement in 1978. In 1946 he founded Progressive Printing, buying out Riley Wernecke. The business, located in Greencastle, Indiana, was originally in the Alamo Building, but moved in 1950 to the interurban (later,bus) station which is presently the site of the Walden Inn. Progressive Printing was sold in 1956 to Bill Oberlin. Shortly after the sale of the printing business in 1956 Ralph Taylor started his first studio work in the top floor of the First Citizens Bank Building. In 1960 he bought the building at 103 E. Washington St. which was the launching of Taylor Photography Studio. After 16 years, his studio work came to an end in 1976 when he sold the building to HBG Insurance. Two years later, in 1978 he retired from his job at DePauw University. He continued to do wedding photography for several more years. Ralph Taylor and his wife Evelyn moved to DeLand, Florida in late 1999.