Title: Telephone Industry Photograph Collection, 1898-1924, 1961
Creator: Minichiello, Anthony, 1922-2018
Creator Role: Collector
Accession / Call Number: 2021.004
Object ID: 2021.004
Date: 1898-1924, 1961
Physical Description: 2 boxes ; 0.67 linear feet
Scope and Content: Except for a short history of the Telephone System developed by the Shakers in Canterbury, New Hampshire, this collection consists of black and white photographs, most 8x10 inches and with good resolution, related to the telephone industry in New Hampshire. The photographs were taken largely between 1898 and 1924, with one clipping from 1961. The purpose of the images was to document issues or potential issues with specific poles, which are identified by number and town and often also by street. Attention was paid to storm damage, poorly placed poles, and to urban areas that needed more pole and line capacity because of increasing connections. Many of the photographs are labeled not only with location information, but also with a description of the problem the image was intended to demonstrate. The photographs show both rural and urban landscapes surrounding the poles. In addition, there are pages from an album with images of buildings housing company offices in many towns. There are a few photographs showing workers, both women at switchboards and men in offices and in the field (repairing and laying lines, etc.), which date from 1898 to 1912 and undated. Box 1, folder 5 contains a letter describing a November 5, 1919 storm and resulting damage in Hooksett, NH. See also Box 2, folder 14 for more on the same storm in Haverhill and York. There are a handful of black and white negatives, and about 20 small color transparencies of various telephone instrument models from the earliest to around 1970.
Subjects:
Landscapes,
Photography,
Roads,
Storms,
Technology,
Telephone companies,
Telephone companies--Employees,
Telephone lines,
Telephone operators,
Telephone supplies industry
Locations: Alstead, NH
Auburn, NH
Barrington, NH
Bedford, NH
Canaan, NH
Candia, NH
Charlestown, NH
Chichester, NH
Claremont, NH
Concord, NH
Deerfield, NH
Derry, NH
Dover, NH
Dublin, NH
Durham, NH
Enfield, NH
Epping, NH
Exeter, NH
Farmington, NH
Fitzwilliam, NH
Goffstown, NH
Greenfield, NH
Greenville, NH
Hampstead, NH
Hampton, NH
Hancock, NH
Hanover, NH
Harrisville, NH
Haverhill, NH
Hinsdale, NH
Hooksett, NH
Jaffrey, NH
Keene, NH
Kingston, NH
Lebanon, NH
Lisbon, NH
Manchester, NH
Marlborough, NH
Merrimack, NH
Milford, NH
Nashua, NH
New Boston, NH
Newfields, NH
Newmarket, NH
Newport, NH
Newton, NH
Northwood, NH
Penacook, NH
Peterborough, NH
Pittsfield, NH
Portsmouth, NH
Raymond, NH
Rindge, NH
Rochester, NH
Rochester, NH
Rollinsford, NH
Rye, NH
Salem, NH
Somersworth, NH
Spofford, NH
Sullivan, NH
Sunapee, NH
Sunapee, NH
Suncook, NH
Troy, NH
Walpole, NH
Wilton, NH
Winchester, NH
Wolfeboro, NH
York, ME
People:
Minichiello, Anthony, 1922-2018
Organizations:
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
Credit Line: Gift of James Dimick in memory of his uncle, Anthony Minichiello, who collected the pictures.
Restrictions: Available for research.
Level Description: Collection
Finding Aid Link: RS64097_Telephone_Industry_Photograph_Collection_2021.004.pdf