Madison Ave., Chicago, IL, ca. 1915.
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William Henry Jackson (1843-1942): Career Chronology
The best known photographer represented in the Detroit Publishing Company is William Henry Jackson. He was an early leader of the company but personally produced only a moderate number of the company's negatives. The Detroit collection includes many of Jackson's views of the west (especially the "mammoth plates" from the 1890s), family photographs, and a few images of Jackson himself. Jackson was also well-known for his round-the-world expedition photographing railroads and other types of transportation in twenty-four countries for the World's Transportation Commission (see World's Transportation Commission collection information).
The following chronology highlights Jackson's career and some key events in the history of photography.
- 1839
- Invention of photography.
- 1843
- William Henry Jackson born in Keeseville, New York.
- 1851
- Collodion wet-plate glass negatives introduced.
- 1867
- Jackson opens a photography studio in Omaha, Nebraska.
- 1870-1878
- Jackson begins photographing the landscape of the Rockies, especially the Yellowstone area and Colorado, for Francis V. Hayden's Geological and Geographic Survey of the Territories.
- 1879
- Gelatin dry plates become commercially available in the United States.
- Jackson opens a photography studio in Denver.
- 1889
- Eastman begins production of nitro-cellulose film.
- 1890-1892
- Jackson photographs for various railroad lines, including the Mexican Central, Baltimore & Ohio, and New York Central, using 18x22-inch glass plate negatives.
- 1893
- Jackson's photographs commissioned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad are exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition.
- 1894-1896
- Jackson photographs for the World's Transportation Commission.
- 1897-1924
- Jackson joins the Detroit Photographic Company. His negatives become the basis for the Company's postcard and photographic view business.
- 1942
- Jackson dies in New York City.
