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The Donald W. Howe Collection of Quabbin Valley Views of nearly 1,000 prints and negatives provides a rare glimpse of several towns and their inhabitants who were displaced by the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts in the mid-1930s. Assembled by Donald Howe, these images document the life of Enfield, Greenwich, Pelham, and other localities that disappeared when the huge water supply system was built. The photographs range from panoramic views to informal portraits of residents dating from the early-1900s to the early-1930s.
Source: Collections card catalogue.
panoramas
portraits
reservoirs (water distribution structures)
black-and-white prints (photographs)
black-and-white negatives
circa 1,000 photographic prints and negatives : black-and-white
PC031
Donald W. Howe photographic collection of Quabbin Valley views, 1900s-1930s
PC031
Quabbin Reservoir (Massachusetts) [reservoir]
Enfield (Hampshire County, Massachusetts) [deserted settlement]
Pelham (Hampshire County, Massachusetts)
Howe, Donald William, 1892-1977 (Collector)
black-and-white prints (photographs)
black-and-white negatives
Quabbin Valley (Mass.)
deserted settlements
Collection
HGO-01-001-F-S-1
Donald William Howe was born on March 18, 1892 and was the son of Edwin Henry Howe and Annie A. Williams. He was the treasurer of the Ware Coupling and Nipple Company and the owner of the Quabbin Book House and radio station, WARE. He was a photography collector and compiled the book, "Quabbin, the Lost Valley", published in 1951. He died in 1977.
Source: Library of Congress authority record.
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