Series I: Personal Photographs

Series I is divided into two subseries: People and Places. Thereunder, photographs are arranged alphabetically by name of individual or place. The photographs date from 1860-1927; many materials are undated. Photographs are arranged in two subseries: People, filed alphabetically by name; and Places, filed alphabetically by name. Glass negatives of the Rogers' residence in New Canaan, Connecticut, are filed at the end of the series.

The People subseries consists of portraits of John Rogers, members of his family, and a few other notable figures. Family photographs include those of Rogers's parents, John Rogers (1800-1884) and Sarah Ellen Derby Rogers; some of his siblings, Ellen Derby Rogers, Laura Derby Rogers (1834-1907), Henry Bromfield Rogers (1837-1872), Martha Rogers Perry, Elizabeth Bromfield Rogers, and Frances Stetson Rogers; his wife, Harriet Francis Rogers; his children, Katherine R. Rogers, John Rogers (1866-1937), Laura Derby Rogers(1879-1897), Derby Rogers, Charles F. Rogers, and Alexander Parker Rogers. Photographs of paintings document earlier ancestors of Rogers, three of whom shared the name John Rogers (living from 1500-1555, 1572-1636, and 1666-1745) and one with the variant name John Rodgers who lived in the 18th century. Portraits of other members of the Derby, Jewitt, and Rogers families are also included. Portraits of prominent figures include abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, General William Tecumseh Sherman, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier.

The Places subseries includes photographs of the family home that Rogers built in 1877 in rural New Canaan, Connecticut, as well as of the detached studio that he later built on the same property. A lithograph of an unidentified New Canaan building is also included. At the end of this subseries are eight glass negatives of the residence, some of which include Rogers family members. Prints made from these negatives are available in the residence folder with the exception of those which are referred to as Rogers Family at Residence, for which there are no prints.