Louis L. McAllister Photographs
Collection Overview
Louis L. McAllister photographed people and places near Burlington, Vermont for 60 years. He was born in Columbus, Nebraska on October 16, 1876, the son of Julius S. McAllister (born 1841 in Lincoln, VT) and Rosette Gould (born in Vermont in 1851)...
Show moreLouis L. McAllister photographed people and places near Burlington, Vermont for 60 years. He was born in Columbus, Nebraska on October 16, 1876, the son of Julius S. McAllister (born 1841 in Lincoln, VT) and Rosette Gould (born in Vermont in 1851). Julius McAllister worked as a photographer and dentist in Washington D.C., Bristol, Vermont and Columbus, Nebraska. Around 1895, Julius, his third wife Amy, and their children left Nebraska for the Union Soldiers’ Colony in Fitzgerald, Georgia. By 1900, Julius and Amy were divorced, and Amy and her stepson Louis were working as photographers in Thomasville, Georgia.
In 1907 Louis McAllister married Cora Shepard (born about 1872 in Vermont) in Holland, Michigan. By 1910, they were living in Queen City Park in South Burlington, Vermont, where Louis established a photography studio. The McAllisters moved to Burlington, and by 1919 they lived at 47 N. Winooski Avenue. They continued to occupy a summer cottage at Queen City Park, and were active in the Queen City Park Association, which held spiritualist camp meetings annually. McAllister conducted his photography business from home until his death in 1963.
McAllister’s “trademark” was his panorama camera which made him familiar to all sorts of groups ranging from graduating classes to state police to summer camp groups. In addition he did print 8 x 10 photos, many of which document building construction and Burlington Street Department projects, as well as group and individual portraits.
The L.L. McAllister Collection includes portraits, construction projects, buildings, businesses and events in the Burlington area covering the period ca. 1920-1960. The collection also includes photos of street, bridge, airport and sewer construction and repair, as well as group portraits of clubs, schools, etc.
Revised April, 2010
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Related Archival Collection
Pages
- Title
- Sheldon Academy of Beauty and Culture
- Date Created
- 1948-1949
- Description
-
1948/1949. Sheldon Academy of Beauty and Culture located at 73 Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. A group of women, graduates of the local beauty salon or cosmetology school gather for a group photo. Photo #1.
- Title
- Sheldon Academy of Beauty and Culture
- Date Created
- 1960-1961
- Description
-
1960/1961. Sheldon Academy of Beauty and Culture located in Burlington, Vermont. Manicures being given.
- Title
- Sheldon Academy of Beauty and Culture
- Date Created
- 1960-1961
- Description
-
1960/1961. Sheldon Academy of Beauty and Culture located in Burlington, Vermont. Six students of a local beauty salon or cosmetology school gather for a group photo.
- Title
- South Burlington Central School
- Date Created
- 1959
- Description
-
1959. A large group of men and women gather inside a wood paneled room (jukebox and stage behind) for a group photo. Burlington residents, Bob and Bea Earnshaw are seated in the front row far right. Bob worked for the Burlington Rendering Company. Photo #1. See also mcalA15F04i08
- Title
- South Burlington Central School
- Date Created
- 1959
- Description
-
1959. A large group of men and women gather inside a wood paneled room (jukebox and stage behind) for a group photo. Burlington residents, Bea and Bob Earnshaw are seated in the front row far right. Photo #3. See also mcalA15F04i08
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Office interior. Five women working in well-lighted, spacious office (business and location unknown).
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Bookstore or magazine shop (see mcalB18F29i11). Employees and a customer (?) looking at the Saturday Evening Post (edition dated 2 Oct., 1943). Selection seems to have mostly popular and pulp fiction titles.
- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Customers celebrating the New Year in Sulham's Sweet Shop, 60 Main St., Winooski, Vt. Harold Sulham is behind the Coke machine; his wife Evelyn is one of the waitresses behind the bar. The smiling lady in front is Charlene Sullivan, and the three boys in the back are (l.-r.) Johnny Provost, Chuck...
Show moreCustomers celebrating the New Year in Sulham's Sweet Shop, 60 Main St., Winooski, Vt. Harold Sulham is behind the Coke machine; his wife Evelyn is one of the waitresses behind the bar. The smiling lady in front is Charlene Sullivan, and the three boys in the back are (l.-r.) Johnny Provost, Chuck Crowley, and Francis Mongeon (Source: Vincent Feeney's 2002 history of Winooski, p. 147). -- Note the pressed tin ceiling and the display of flags above the bar, very likely those of the Allied Forces in World War II.
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- Title
- Stores - Interiors - Unidentified
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
Eight men and eight women in an office, which looks fairly typical but certainly not model (note oddly stacked furniture, crowded layout). Very few clues to the type of business other than the conservative dress code.
- Title
- Stores - Singer (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1948
- Description
-
1948 photo of gathering of women, very likely customers, and presumably in a Singer sewing machine store, although the location and occasion are unknown.
- Title
- Stores - Singer (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1948
- Description
-
Church Street. Gathering of women, very likely customers, and presumably in a Singer sewing machine store, although the location and occasion are unknown.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Description
-
A cast of characters in costumes from a play production pose for a group photograph on stage. Appears to be all female (who knows who is in the Santa Claus suit). Undated but may be 1920s or 1930s.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
-
1944 or 1945 photo of a large group of people on stage; women in long gowns, men in black bow ties and white jackets, Boy Scouts kneeling in front with a sailor.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
-
1944. Women in long gowns are gathered on stage. Central is a crowned woman seated with attendants and children around her. Is this a May Crowning?
- Title
- Theatricals
- Description
-
1947 / 1948 photo of a group of people dressed outlandish costumes taken in someone's living room. Halloween?!
- Title
- Theatricals
- Description
-
1947 / 1948 photo of a group of people dressed outlandish costumes taken in someone's living room. Halloween?!
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
-
1944. Is this a May Crowning?
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1937
- Description
-
1937 photo of group of young women gathered in a living room(?), dressed in costume with older adults and one small boy sitting in a woman's lap. Photo #2.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
1945 photo of an all female production cast assembled in what may be an radio studio. To the right a young woman stands at a floor microphone. Another stands to the left. They hold what appear to be scripts.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1945
- Description
-
1944 or 1945 photo of a large group of people on stage; women in long gowns, men in black bow ties and white jackets, Boy Scouts kneeling in front with a sailor.