WHG's William Henry Jackson Camera Makes The Final Cut. We Need Your Vote!

William Henry Jackson's original Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 (Eastman Kodak Co.) camera, circa 1915. From the William Henry Jackson Collection (WH1677)

The Western History and Genealogy Department's William Henry Jackson camera is a finalist in Colorado's Most Significant Artifacts program! Public voting is now open, and we need your vote! (Voting ends November 17, 2017.)

Why should you vote for William Henry Jackson's original Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 camera? Read on!

A Man looks through the back of a large format camera along the Colorado Midland Railway tracks near Buena Vista (Chaffee County), Colorado. The surrounding rock outcropping is probably part of Midland Hill.

Approaching Buena Vista

[between 1898 and 1900?]

Why This Artifact Is Significant

William Henry Jackson’s photographs introduced a vision of the American West to an international audience. In 1868, Jackson opened a studio in Omaha and began photographing Pawnee and Omaha Indians and the landscapes along the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads.

During the 1870s, Jackson achieved notoriety while working for the Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories and photographing Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. Jackson’s photographs were essential in prompting the United States government to establish Yellowstone National Park in 1872.

Jackson returned to commercial photography for several years before joining the Detroit Photographic Company, a publishing firm, in 1897. Thousands of Jackson’s photographs were reproduced and distributed widely by the firm.

Rooftop view of commercial buildings in the Union Station neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. Multi-story brick and stone buildings on 16th (Sixteenth) Street include the Hotel Brunswick (Clarke Building), the corner Tabor Block and the "New York Hotel." The Riche Building and Joslin's Dry Goods building are on the 300 block of Lawrence Street. Union Station is in the distance.

16th Street, Denver

How This Artifact Relates to Colorado History

William Henry Jackson’s cameras were essential tools in documenting early chapters in Colorado’s history. Jackson created a visual record of Colorado’s people, natural landscape and built environment with his photographs. While Jackson took many images of Colorado for the Hayden Survey, his work continued when he opened a commercial photography studio in Denver in 1879.

This artifact, an Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 (Eastman Kodak Co.) camera, is representative of Jackson’s involvement in commercial photography and publishing—work that brought images of Colorado’s people and landscapes to audiences around the world.

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