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
- Portraits, groups, unidentified
- Description
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A group of men stand in front of what was to become UVM's Royall Tyler Theater on campus in Burlington. It wasn't a theater at the time of this photo. It was a gymnasium. Undated but may be 1920s, 1930s.
- Title
- Strong Theatre (Burlington, VT)
- Date Created
- 1946-1947
- Description
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1946 photo of the Strong Building, home of Strong Hardware Co. and the Strong Theatre, as well as a drugstore and ice cream shop. Date on the building is 1902. The marquee reads: Abbott and Costello: "The Naughty Nineties," with Alan Curtis. (The movie came out in 1945.) The building was...
Show more1946 photo of the Strong Building, home of Strong Hardware Co. and the Strong Theatre, as well as a drugstore and ice cream shop. Date on the building is 1902. The marquee reads: Abbott and Costello: "The Naughty Nineties," with Alan Curtis. (The movie came out in 1945.) The building was destroyed by arson in 1970, and rubble at the site was used to help build the Burlington bike path.
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- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
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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
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A dark 1944 photo of 18 girls all dressed alike in long dresses on stage. They pose with stretched pieces of cloth that when viewed seem to form 6 pointed "snowflakes." Winter pageant or performance tableau? Photo #2? See also mcalB18F34i05
- Title
- Theatricals
- Date Created
- 1944
- Description
-
1944 photo of 18 girls all dressed alike in long dresses are on stage. They pose with stretched pieces of cloth that when viewed seem to form 6 pointed "snowflakes." Winter pageant or performance tableau? Photo #3. See also mcalB18F34i05
- 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.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Description
-
Photo of a production cast sitting on stage in costume assembled in front of an elaborate stage setting.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Description
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1945 / 1946. Three women actors of a dramatic production pose in period dress in a living room setting with a fireplace. Two women wear hanging ribbon like badges. One woman sits in a rocking chair.
- Title
- Theatricals
- Description
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View from the theater balcony of a stage production with an elabotate setting. Cast members are assembled on the lush furniture in the living room set.
- Title
- Trinity College - Sports & Activities
- Description
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1957 Two sailor-suited performers on the Trinity College stage. Mann Hall stage. Photo #17?
- Title
- Trinity College - Sports & Activities
- Description
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1957 Trinity College students singing a duet onstage, dressed in sailor outfits. Mann Hall stage. Photo #16?
- Title
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- Description
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8 men in front of the former gymnasium (built 1901), now the Royall Tyler Theatre, which has a restored entrance way but the same arabesque detail on both sides. Athletes seem to be runners. Photo #9.