Photographic Collections

Town citizens with a stage coach in front of the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper office. Tombstone, Arizona, 1881.
CP MCL 103716.C47

 

The Arizona Collection possesses a superb collection of historic images documenting the political, social, economic, and natural history of Arizona and the Southwest. The photographs capture the diverse spectrum of the people and events of the state. Photographs come to the Collection in the papers of individuals and institutions such as Carl T. Hayden, W. Ryder Ridgway, Sammy Jones, Dorothy Robinson, The Episcopal Church of Arizona, Trinity Cathedral, and Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, as well as directly from photographers such as Lisle Updike, Carlos Elmer, R.H. Kelly and Don Zudell.

Herb & Dorothy McLaughlin Collection

Of particular note is the collection of Herb and Dorothy McLaughlin, two of the state's leading commercial photographers. The McLaughlins' photographs, which span five decades, thoroughly document the economic and business development of Arizona. Their collection contains work by other photographers, including commercial photography by the McCulloch Brothers of Phoenix, and scenes from Glendale, Buckeye, and Phoenix by Albert J. Ross and Opal Bowman.

How to Locate Photographs

• Luhrs Reading Room
  The reading room for the department of Archives and Special Collections provides reference assistance for locating photographs utilizing archival finding aids and other resources for locating photographs in our collections.
• Arizona Archives Online
  Access to Arizona Archives Online will provide the user with finding aid descriptions of photographs from collections at the department of Archives and Special Collections as well as other archival repositories across the state of Arizona.
• Special Materials Index
  The Special Materials Index contains databases for searching for photographs in the collections from the department of Archives and Special Collections. When searching for photographs, be sure to add the term "photographs" to your keyword search. To find digital images attached to these descriptions, use the terms "digital photographs" in your search.
• Exhibits and Digital Collections
  Browse collections of photographs and online content at the Exhibits Page presented by the department of Archives and Special Collections.