GUSN-259073
Sub-series
MS001
Codman family papers
MS001.PC.02
A note regarding the arrangement of loose photographs in this collection:
The cataloguer of this collection, Mrs. Alan Emmett, followed the arrangement submitted by Curtis Chapin, overseer of the Codman House in Lincoln, Mass. in determining which photographs belonged to specific family members. However, in the light of subsequent investigation carried out by Ellie Reichlin, SPNEA Archivist, it seems likely that some of these attributions are incorrect, and should accordingly be viewed with a certain amount of skepticism. For example, it does not seem likely that Ogden Codman, Sr. collected photographs of the rooms which Sarah Codman, Hugh, Dorothy and, on occasion, Thomas Codman, occupied in either Germany or France in the 1890s. (52.1) It also seems more likely that Ogden Codman, Jr. collected the photographs of French chateaux occupied by him (33), though they may have been sent to Thomas Codman. Sarah Codman probably is not responsible for the contents of folders 58 and 59, much of which represents the work of Thomas Codman and should perhaps more properly be viewed as his work, as compiler as well as photographer.
On reflection, it would probably have been wiser to have arranged this collection by date and subject, rather than depend on shaky provenance. However, rather than change the numbers on each photograph, and re-do the index, it is being kept "as is", hoping that this cautionary note will alert users to the weaknesses in the present system of organization.
Sub-series
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