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
- Title
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- Description
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October 31, 1931. View looking south on South Winooski Ave. from Pearl Street. Trolley tracks still visible in the road bed but overhead cable are gone as the trolleys were no longer being used as of 1929. To the left is the First Congregational Church. To the right on the corner is Charles...
Show moreOctober 31, 1931. View looking south on South Winooski Ave. from Pearl Street. Trolley tracks still visible in the road bed but overhead cable are gone as the trolleys were no longer being used as of 1929. To the left is the First Congregational Church. To the right on the corner is Charles Bombard barber shop at No. 1 So. Winooski. Carl D. Densmore Co. sign for monumental work at 7 So. Winooski. Yandow Tire & Battery Co, Inc. at No. 11 - 15.
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- Description
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August 10, 1931. South Winooski Ave at the corner of Bank Street as indicated by the street sign stating Bank St. Piles of dirt are heaped onto the greenbelt (tree belt) as street dept crew do work. To the right can be seen the steeple and front columns of the Congo Church on So. Winooski Ave.
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Class photo of students outside on the steps of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. A priest stands in the back row. Coats and jackets have been discarded on the top step to the right. Undated.
- Title
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- Description
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1947 photo of the Mt. St. Mary's Academy Sodality in a classroom, here displaying some of the signs they've made to promote the benefits of praying the rosary. Sodalities gave lay Catholics the opportunity to increase their personal devotion and serve others; hence, the sign: "Rosaries release...
Show more1947 photo of the Mt. St. Mary's Academy Sodality in a classroom, here displaying some of the signs they've made to promote the benefits of praying the rosary. Sodalities gave lay Catholics the opportunity to increase their personal devotion and serve others; hence, the sign: "Rosaries release souls from Purgatory. Say yours every day." Another one says: "Convert Russia through the Rosary." Photo #10.
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Ca. 23 women in the Sisters of Mercy community at Mount St. Mary's Sacred Heart Chapel : sisters (black veils), novices (white veils), and postulants (black tulle veils) in prayer in the choir of the chapel. Good example of Pre-Vatican II sanctuary, with the railing (where Communion is received);...
Show moreCa. 23 women in the Sisters of Mercy community at Mount St. Mary's Sacred Heart Chapel : sisters (black veils), novices (white veils), and postulants (black tulle veils) in prayer in the choir of the chapel. Good example of Pre-Vatican II sanctuary, with the railing (where Communion is received); the altar built into the back wall of the sanctuary, requiring the priest to turn his back to the people; and the tabernacle placed centrally on the altar. Dated 1955.
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- Title
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- Description
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Six Sisters of Mercy gathered outside the convent. Dated 1959.
- Title
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- Description
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1945 photo of a young boy in a choir robe, holding a book and standing in the sanctuary of the First Congregational Church in Burlington, Vt.