By Leslie Perrin Wilson, Curator of Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library.

From October 4 through December 31, the Concord Free Public Library will feature more than fifty-five of Gleason's Concord images. In October, the Concord Art Association will focus on Gleason's artistry through an overview of his work. In October and November, the Minute Man National Historical Park will highlight national park images in its display "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People", and, in September and October, Fruitlands Museums will present in "Lens and Landscape" a selection from Gleason's Massachusetts landscape photographs. Note cards and postcards will be available for purchase at the time of the exhibition.

Dale Schwie, Gleason biographer, will open the lecture series on Sunday, October 6, at 3:00 p.m. in the Concord Free Public Library. Photographer Frank Gohlke will speak on Sunday, October 20, at 4:00 p.m. at the Concord Art Association, environmental historian Brian Donahue on Sunday, October 27, at 3:00 at the Minute Man Visitor Center (Route 2A/The Battle Road, Exit 30B off 128).

The Concord Free Public Library holds a rich and extensive archive relating to Herbert Wendell Gleason, an early 20th century American landscape photographer and environmentalist. The library's Special Collections include some 7,000 Gleason negatives on glass and film, the only known surviving original slide lecture by the photographer, albums of Concord- and Thoreau-related images compiled by Gleason himself, Gleason correspondence and lecture notes, and printed and archival items containing photographs by or information about him. (See an archived article about the library's Gleason collection.)

Purchased by the library in two accessions (in 1954 and 1997), Gleason's negatives -- meticulously captioned and dated by the photographer -- present tremendous and hitherto largely unrealized research and publication possibilities. In 1997 and 2000, the Special Collections received grants from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to arrange, describe, and create access to these images. The upcoming collaborative exhibitions and lecture series have been planned to mark the completion of this work

Gleason was born in Malden in 1855. A Congregational minister, editor of and contributor to the Northwest Congregationalist (later known as The Kingdom), he lived in Minnesota from 1883 until 1899. In 1899, he returned to New England and devoted his full attention to photography. An admirer of Thoreau, he made photographic pilgrimages to Concord between 1899 and his death in 1937, shooting the landscape features that Thoreau had described in his journal. Gleason's images illustrated the 1906 Walden and Manuscript Editions of Thoreau's writings, as did his carefully researched map of Concord places frequented by Thoreau.

Although Concord was especially important to him, Gleason's work was wide-ranging. He photographed many places in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, Washington State, Alaska, and Canada. Appointed Interior Department Inspector by his friend Stephen Mather (first director of the National Park Service), he documented established national parks and potential parklands with his camera. He took photographs of the horticultural experiments of his friend Luther Burbank in California and of places associated with John Muir, whose writings were illustrated with Gleason images. A photographer for the Arnold Arboretum, he documented gardens and flower show exhibits as well. He enjoyed a considerable reputation as a slide lecturer.

While Gleason is best known for his shots of the natural world, he also photographed the built and human landscape. The upcoming Gleason celebration will suggest the many subjects and the broad scope of the photographer's work, from transcendent panoramic view to busy village scene.

On October 4, the opening date for the display at the Concord Free Public Library, a permanent on-line version of "Gleason's Concord" will become available for viewing on the CFPL web site. To access it, go to Special Collections, then click to the Gleason Exhibit. (Thanks to Debbie Bier of the Concord Magazine for helpful advice in the design of this site!)

I urge you all to take the time to visit "Yours, for the Conservation of Natural Beauty" at each of its four venues. Gleason's environmental vision and his place in the history of photography can be fully appreciated only through exploration of the many facets of his work.

Photos (click on images for a larger view):
Top: The Walden image is also from a hand-colored slide, captioned "Walden in winter (arching limb)."
Middle: The spectacular photo with Gleason in it is titled "Mount Temple from the Saddle (Herbert W. Gleason in foreground), British Columbia, July 6, 1905."
Bottom: The coastal scene is titled "Fish wharf, with flakes, Provincetown, Cape Cod, October 22, 1903."
All courtesy of the Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library.

Background: The tree border image is from a Gleason hand-colored glass lantern slide captioned "Trees reflected in river."