Current Exhibitions	U.S. Presidents	Updike Farm
Upcoming Exhibitions	From Towpath to Bikepath	Moved Buildings
The Rose Family Studio	Rolf W. Bauhan	African-American Life
Albert Einstein	Landscapes by Brett Weaver	Princeton During the Civil War
Princeton in the 1930s	Princeton Recollects	100 Waiting Children

Contents

Introduction Acknowledgements The Rose Family The Rose Photography Business The Photographic Studio From the Rose Studio Glass Plate Negatives The People of Princeton A Diverse Community

Children & Families School Life Street Scenes Community Organizations "Practical" Work Local Commerce Sports Architecture Community Events Changing Princeton

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Introduction

In 1994, the Historical Society of Princeton acquired its single largest photographic resource: the Rose Collection of glass plate and film negatives. This collection includes nearly 10,000 glass plate negatives from the Rose photographic studio which operated in Princeton from the early 1870s to 1951. While an intact group of this many glass plates is unusual, what makes the Rose Collection particularly significant is that it consists of images of the Princeton community created by three generations of one family. These photographs are especially important because they are the work of professional rather than amateur photographers. The exhibition demonstrates the wide range of work required for the studio to remain a viable business.

This exhibition is truly a community “work in progress.” Because of the loss of studio records and the age of the images, many are unidentified. We hope that visitors may recognize some unknown subjects and have information to contribute. All photographic images in the exhibition are numbered; visitors are invited to place any information they may have into the “ID Box” in the Main Hall. (Please use the forms provided.)

As a tool to reach a variety of audiences, exhibition captions are coded to address specific visitors.

A school house icon indicates that the label is directed at school-age visitors.

A camera icon indicates that a label provides information relating to the history of photography or photographic technique.

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Acknowledgements

The exhibition was made possible by major grants from
the New Jersey Historical Commission,
the Horizon Foundation, and
RCN of New Jersey and the History Channel.

Additional funding was provided by
the Rotary Club of Princeton, Cy and Jackie Meisel,
Annette Merle-Smith, Betty Reed, and
Anastasia Schulze in memory of her grandmother, Lucy H. Schulze.

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Exhibition curators: Maureen M. Smyth and Sally K. Davidson;
exhibition designer: Steve Tucker;
exhibition interns: Marisa Morigi and David Rodan;
curatorial assistants: Dante Arcamone, and Maryline Cotentin-Agrawala;
exhibiton committee: Henry Drewry, Elric Endersby, Wanda Gunning,
Jackie Meisel, Gail Stern, and Elizabeth Bates Zenowich;
costume consultant: Marie Miller; additional assistance: Janet Arrington,
Harriet Callaway, Bernie Danish, Christine Finklestein, Herb Halprin, George Helmke,
Albert Hinds, David Koch, Jake Lutz, Henry Pannell, Benjamin Primer, Jane Rudes,
Shirley Satterfield, and Evelyn Turner.

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Exhibition preparation: Steven Rowland with Andy Schmitt, and Joe Waldron;
photographic processing: Taylor Photo, Sally K. Davidson, and David C. Wurtzel;
photographic mounting: Framesmith Gallery;
business contributors: Smyth Electric and Urkins Hardware

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Rose collection volunteers: John Apostolos, Dante Arcamone, James Goodman,
Henry Isaac, Winnie Okamitsu, Libby Shanefield, and Jessica Stearn;
Rose collection committee: Jackie Meisel, Larry Parsons, Helen Schwartz,
and Betty Reed.

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The Rose Family

Royal Hill Rose was born in Hudson, NY in 1840. After serving in the Civil War, he worked in photographic studios in Newark, NJ and Poughkeepsie, NY. He started his Princeton photography studio in 1873, where it remained until 1951. Rose was a respected member of the business and town community. He served on the Princeton Borough Council as Commissioner of Streets and was active in local politics, the Hook and Ladder fire company, and the Princeton Continentals, a militia company which frequently re- staged the Battle of Princeton.

An experienced photographer, Royal Hill Rose demonstrated the methods of the older daguerreotype process at the San Francisco World Expositon in 1894. Great-grand daughter Virginia Rose Hinson relates that Royal Hill Rose also attended the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis "...to demonstrate both the older daguerreotype and the newer plate method of photography. [He] was said to be one of the very few men in the country who knew both methods." The July 20, 1904 Princeton Press reports that his photographs of Princeton’s Model School were displayed as part of that Fair’s exhibits.

Son Royal Cutting Rose joined the business around 1889. He, too, was an active community member. He played flute and piccolo in the town band and, like his father, served as a fireman. Carlton Wallace Rose joined the family studio started by his grandfather and continued by his father. Before becoming a photographer, he worked as a paymaster in a New York shipyard and for the Woolworth Building construction project. Like both his father and grandfather, Carlton’s passion was fishing. In 1951, Carlton W. Rose, Sr. closed the studio after three generations and 78 years of operations.

Self Portrait, Royal Hill Rose
c. 1910

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The Rose Photography Business

When Royal Hill Rose came to Princeton in the early 1870s, he started his photography business at 60 Nassau Street. In 1881, he opened a new studio at 34 Nassau Street, the old Post Office building. He and his family lived in the apartment above the shop. The Rose studio remained there until the 1950s. Photographs were taken in his studio as well as throughout the community.

In his January 15, 1876 Princeton Press ad Royal Hill Rose declared himself a “Practical Photographer.” The Rose studio accepted diverse work ranging from formal portraits to landscapes to copies of photographs. His ad in the 1887 Princeton Directory proclaims, "Students [sic] Rooms a Specialty." All through their tenure in Princeton, the Rose family faced competition from photographers in Princeton and the surrounding communities including New York. By 1914, four other studios operated in Princeton Borough.

By 1889, the studio's official name had become Rose & Son, acknowledging son Royal Cutting Rose's place in the business. After the death of Royal Hill Rose in 1918, the business continued as R.C. Rose & Son with grandson Carlton Wallace Rose, Sr. joining the family business. The studio remained a family business until the 1951 when Carlton Wallace Rose, Sr. closed up shop.

Nassau Street Showing
“R. C. Rose & Son, Photographers” c. 1920
Courtesy of Princeton Pictorial Archives