More than 150 prints selected from the Hillsborough Historical Society’s Manahan-Phelps-McCulloch photographic collection is on exhibit at the State Library in Concord through Oct. 31.
The full Manahan collection contains more than 150,000 negatives from a photo studio that operated in Hillsboro, from the 1860s until 2002. William H. Manahan, Jr., the best known of the 10 photographers who operated it, ran the studio from 1899 until 1953. A large portion of the collection, and of the exhibit, is his work.
The images selected for the exhibit include the people, places, events, work and lifestyles of Hillsboro as well as of New Hampshire, New England and the Northeast across almost 150 years.
In addition to documenting the region and its people, the Manahan collection is unique because it chronicles the entire development of negative photography, ranging from early glass plate copies of daguerreotype photographs to color film. There is no comparable collection in New Hampshire.
Over the 12 years since the collection was given to the society, a group of dedicated volunteers has largely completed the conservation and preservation work necessary to maintain the collection for future generations. This work was made possible by a number of grants and generous donations that provided archival storage material, computer equipment and training. An early grant was from the N.H. State Library’s Conservation License Plate Grant Program.
There will be an opening reception for the exhibit at the State Library on Sept. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.
