Ralph Taylor photographs and negatives

Collection

Identifier: MSD-1934-001

Scope and Contents

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 Archives. 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

Creation: 1956 - 1983

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Legal title, literary rights, including copyright reside with the creators of the documents or their legal heirs and assigns. All requests to publish or quote must be submitted to the DePauw University Archives and Special Collections. The publisher must also obtain permission from the copyright holder.

Biographical Note

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Ralph Taylor was born in Brook, Indiana. He was a member of the DePauw class of 1934 where he was a Rector Scholar. He married Evelyn Pictor on July 21, 1940 at Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church in Greencastle, Indiana. Their children are as follows: Lawrence Taylor, Greencastle, Indiana and Dorothy Taylor, DeLand, Florida.

Ralph’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 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 DePauw (Walden) Inn. Progressive Printing was sold in 1956 to Bill Oberlin. Shortly after the sale of the printing business in 1956, 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 wedding photography for several more years. Taylor and his wife Evelyn moved to DeLand, Florida in late 1999. Ralph passed away on October 11, 2002 and is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, Greencastle, Indiana.