Harper Collection

This collection consists of the surviving glass negatives of noted portrait photographer Alvan S. Harper.

History Alvan S. Harper advertised that he would take "artistic photographs" in his first studio. Search Photos Search 2,000 images of Tallahasseans and the Tallahassee area, 1884-1911 Lesson Plans For Grades 9-12. Several of the photographs of Alvan S. Harper have shaped our nation's view of the past.

Alvan S. Harper, a professional photographer from Philadelphia, moved to Tallahassee in 1884 where he worked until his death in 1911.

Some of Harper's best negatives were lost when his studio was torn down in the 1920s. The negatives had been given to a Tallahassee historian who, because they were dirty, left them on a porch where they were mistaken for trash and taken to the dump.

In 1946 as the Van Brunt family prepared to move out of the house they had rented in Tallahassee, Florida, they discovered boxes in the attic containing over 2,000 glass negatives.