Walter and Naomi Rosenblum Collection of Photography and Photographic History
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Abstract
Walter A. Rosenblum (1919–2006) was an American photographer and member of the Photo League, a cooperative of New York based photographers focused on socially conscious photography. Walter served in World War II and photographed the D-Day landings at Normandy in 1944. He was also the first Allied photographer to enter the liberated Dachau concentration camp. Naomi Rosenblum (1925-2021) was a historian of photography and wrote about individual photographers including Lewis Hine and Paul Strand. She also published several monographs including, A World History of Photography andA History of Women Photographers. The Walter and Naomi Rosenblum Collection of Photography and Photographic History (dated 1860-2018) consists of materials created and collected by the Rosenblums documenting their careers as photographers and historians of photography. Materials in this collection include articles, magazines, and newspaper coverage of Walter's photographic career; catalogs and other ephemera from exhibitions; scrapbooks of Walter's career and his student's photographs; Walter's master photographic prints; and panels from the traveling exhibition They Fight With Cameras: Walter Rosenblum in World War II from D-Day to Dachau. The collection also documents Naomi's career as a historian of photography and includes correspondence, research files, examples of historical photographic processing techniques like daguerreotypes and tintypes, as well as original writings on individual photographers (including Lewis Hine and Paul Strand) and the history of photography in general. Additionally, the collection contains materials documenting the activities of The Photo League in the 1930s-1940s and the Rosenblum's personal items like desk calendars and awards.
Biographical Note
Walter A. Rosenblum (1919–2006) was an American photographer born in New York City. He was introduced to documentary photography early in his career as a member of the Photo League, which was a cooperative of New York based photographers focused on socially conscious photography. While part of the League, he became friends with notable photographers Paul Strand and Lewis Hine. Walter served as the Photo League's secretary, became editor of the organization's journal (Photo Notes), and in 1941, he became president of the Photo League. During World War II, Walter was a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corp Combat Unit. He photographed the American D-Day landings at Omaha Beach in Normandy in 1944, filmed General Patton's advance across France and Germany, and finally, he was one of the first Allied photographers to enter the liberated Dachau concentration camp. After the war, Walter began teaching photography at Brooklyn College's Art Department. He also taught for several years at Cooper Union and Yale's Summer School of Music and Art. During this time, Walter produced several photographic series focused upon Haiti, Europe, East Harlem, and the South Bronx. Over the course of his career, Walter Rosenblum was the recipient of the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a National Endowment of the Arts Grants, a Simon Weisenthal Award, and other distinctions. He also received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Maryland in 1986.
Naomi Rosenblum (1925-2021) was a historian of photography born in Los Angeles. She wrote about important individual photographers including Lewis Hine, Paul Strand, and Alfred Stieglitz, as well as published several monographs including, A World History of Photography andA History of Women Photographers. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in fine arts from Brooklyn College in 1948, Naomi completed her Masters in fine arts at CUNY Graduate Center in 1975. She went on to earn her doctorate in art history and the history of photography in 1978 at CUNY Graduate Center. Her doctoral dissertation examined the early work of Paul Strand circa 1920 to 1932. During her career, Naomi curated several museum exhibitions including the traveling exhibit "A History of Women Photographers" in 1997, "Documenting a Myth: The South As Seen By Three Women Photographers" in 1997 at the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery (Reed College), and "America and Lewis Hine, a retrospective of the work of Lewis Hine at the Brooklyn Museum" (1977). The latter exhibit was co-curated with her husband, Walter. She also gave lectures about the history of photography across the United States and abroad.
Walter and Naomi Rosenblum met while he was teaching at Brooklyn College. They were married in 1949 and went on to have two daughters, Nina and Lisa. On May 4, 1998, both Naomi and Walter Rosenblum were awarded the International Center of Photography's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Arrangement
The materials in this collection have been arranged into the following series and sub-series:
Series I: Naomi Rosenblum's Research Materials, Correspondence, Subject Files, and Lectures
Series II: Walter Rosenblum
Sub-series II.A: Master Prints
Sub-series II.B: Exhibition Materials
Sub-series II.C: Lecture and Publication Materials
Series III: The Photo League
Series IV: Walter and Naomi Rosenblum Personal Materials
Within each series and sub-series, some materials have been arranged alphabetically and/or grouped together thematically, when possible.
Scope and Contents
The Walter and Naomi Rosenblum Collection of Photography and Photographic History (dated 1860-2018) consists of materials created and collected by the Rosenblums documenting their careers as photographers and historians of photography. Materials in this collection include articles, magazines, and newspaper coverage of Walter's photographic career; catalogs and other ephemera from exhibitions; scrapbooks of Walter's career and his student's photographs; Walter's master prints; and panels from the traveling exhibition They Fight With Cameras: Walter Rosenblum in World War II from D-Day to Dachau. The collection also documents Naomi's career as a historian of photography and includes correspondence, research files, examples of historical photographic processing techniques like daguerreotypes and tintypes, as well as original writings on individual photographers (including Lewis Hine and Paul Strand) and the history of photography in general (particularly for her works A World History of Photography and A History of Women Photographers). Additionally, the collection contains materials documenting the activities of The Photo League in the 1930s-1940s. The collection also includes some audiovisual materials containing interviews with the Rosenblums, as well as born-digital items containing essay drafts and photographs.
The Walter and Naomi Rosenblum Collection of Photography and Photographic History also provides some insight about the Rosenblums' personal lives through postcards, personal correspondence, awards, desk calendars, personal photographs, address books, and Naomi's sketch pads. Some materials – mainly film posters – relating to their daughter Nina (a documentarian), can also be found within this collection.
Most of the materials in this collection are written in English, however there are also some items written in Russian, French, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese.
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People
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Conditions Governing Access
Box 89 contains legal documents that are restricted. The remaining materials in the collection are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Walter and Naomi Rosenblum Collection; MSS 556; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Naomi Rosenblum in November 2018, January 2019, and December 2021. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 2018.116, 2019.007, and 2021.040. In February 2024, Nina Rosenblum donated an accretion; the accession number associated with this gift is 2024.016.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Fales Library and Special Collections, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures
Born-digital materials have not been transferred and may not be available to researchers. Researchers may request access copies. To request that material be transferred, or if you are unsure if material has been transferred, please contact Fales Library and Special Collections, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Appraisal
One disc, Fundacion Santander Central Hispano y PHE05 presentan la exposición Callie Mayor, was deaccessioned because it could not be imaged.
Separated Materials
Camera equipment was separated from the archival collection. Some pieces were transferred to the Tisch School of the Arts Department of Photography and Imaging for teaching purposes while the remaining were returned to the donor.
During processing, a large selection of commercially published books, a Lewis Hine calendar, and various personal correspondence including holiday cards and birth announcements were removed from the collection and either returned to the donor or transfered to Bobst library.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The Walter and Naomi Rosenblum Collection of Photography and Photographic History is comprised of a gift and several accretions from Naomi and Nina Rosenblum. The collection was processed and described by an archivist in the spring of 2022. Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Original folder titles were retained when available. Unique ID numbers were assigned to all audiovisual materials. During processing, duplicate materials, commercially published materials, and items of potential sentimental value to the family were removed from the collection.
Fragile photographic materials were transfered to the Barbara Goldsmith Preservation and Conservation Department for stabilization and rehousing.
New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content. During processing, 5 DVD-R disk were imaged and analyzed using Isobusters Pro and 3 CD-R disks were imaged and analyzed using FTK Imager. Additionally, a single 3.5 in floppy disk was imaged and analyzed using KryoFlux.
File titles were reviewed by the processing archivist and when identified as restricted, these materials were physically separated and stored in a designated restricted box (Box 89).
In April 2024, an accretion of materials was physically rehoused in archival boxes and intellectually added to the collection as Series V.
In February 2025, new digital objects for processed electronic records were created to conform to current practices. One related file in the inventory were reorganized so that individual formats were listed separately.
