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C. R. Savage scrapbook

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS SC 824

Scope and Contents

This collection is the scrapbook of Savage. It includes newspaper clippings, copied poems and songs, a brief autobiography, correspondence, memorabilia, and other miscellaneous items including the newspaper notices of his death. It also has some press releases relating to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Dates

  • 1883-1909

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from C.R. Savage scrapbook must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical history

C.R. Savage (1832-1909) was a photographer of the American West in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

C.R. Savage, born August 16, 1832, in England, became one of the foremost 19th century landscape photographers of the western United States, as well as a renowned studio portrait photographer, with his studio in Salt Lake City, Utah. The idea to emigrate from England to Utah undoubtedly began shortly after his 1848 baptism and membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).

Savage's immigration in 1856 to New York marked the beginning of his known interest in establishing a photography business. On assignment from the LDS Church he traveled to Florence, Nebraska. His family subsequently joined him in 1860 and Savage established a primitive studio in Council Bluffs, Nebraska. Finally, the family made their way across the country arriving in Salt Lake City on August 29, 1860. The next day he made business arrangements with Marsena Cannon, a daguerreotype photographer and owner of a studio on East Temple. In 1862, with Cannon's departure to St. George, Utah, Savage formed a partnership with George Martin Ottinger. Savage & Ottinger legally dissolved their firm in 1870, and that same year Savage formed the Pioneer Art Gallery, and in 1875, needing more space, he replaced it with the Art Bazaar.

On June 26, 1883, his Art Bazaar burned to the ground, with all of his negatives. After his death on February 3, 1909, another fire in 1911 destroyed all of the negatives from the last twenty-five years of his career. Although his sons continued to operate the business, the Art Bazaar closed its doors permanently on December 31, 1926.

Extent

2 folders (0.16 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Custodial History

Donated by Nathanael Cook in 1987.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; Nathanael Cook; 1987.

Appraisal

19th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts.

Existence and Location of Originals

Marianne Sharp holds the originals.

Existence and Location of Copies

Reproduced by BYU Archives in 1975.

Separated Materials

Savage's diaries are found in MSS 1424 and his photographs are located in P24 of the BYU Archives.

Title
Register of C. R. Savage scrapbook
Status
Completed
Author
Benjamin Sipes
Date
2010 July 20
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States