The Southern Historical Collection is pleased to announce that the Otis N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection has been processed and is now available for use by researchers. The collection contains over 140,000 photographic negatives produced by two studio/commercial photographers, O.N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks, in Columbus (Lowndes County), Mississippi, and the surrounding area from the late 1920s into the 1970s. Images are studio portraits as well as images of events, scenes, and people taken outside the studio. The collection also includes about 800 digital scans and about 200 prints made from these negatives. Pruitt and Shanks were trusted photographers of the community and images in the collection document life in Columbus, Mississippi during the time in which they were active.
There are several series/subseries in the collection that have been processed, but have not yet been added to the finding aid and digital collection (Digital Southern Historical Collection). Look for future posts announcing the additions. Archival processing and preservation of the Otis N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection was made possible through a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources Group (Mellon Foundation).
Finding Aid:
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/p/Pruitt,Otis_N.and_Calvin_Shanks.html
Materials in the Digital Sothern Historical Collection:
http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/ead/searchterm/05463/field/descri/mode/exact/conn/and/cosuppress/