It was 2015 when I was first introduced to the format of glass plate negatives. It started with one listed on eBay and eventually would lead to about five hundred moments of everyday life captured in the Chattanooga area from 1897 to about 1907. It was quite the triumph to stumble upon the images, especially for a fledgling preservation project. The collection led to the first of many successful crowdfunding campaigns.
The Charles Walline Collection was unique, as it’s assumed to be the work of mostly images taken by a D. B. Loveman’s employee and amateur photographer. After acquiring about four hundred glass plates, another seventy were donated that seem to fit with the collection but were purchased many years at a local auction. About two years ago, I found a few more negatives from the collection from the original seller.
It was always believed that there are missing parts of a collection that are still out there. Recently, four glass plates were auctioned, and there might be more. They were sold by the same person who sold me the bulk of the collection back in 2015. I’ve arranged to purchase any more that they find.
As these do come up, funding is needed to acquire them.
Please see our crowdfunding page to contribute.
I have since found and acquired fifty or more glass plates from the Chattanooga area, and the Walline Collection is my favorite. I consider them to share as much historical importance and value as the Stokes and Paul A. Heiner Collections.
