| Description | The Ben Maxwell Collection consists of over 5,000 photographs donated to the Salem Public Library by the photgrapher's estate. Most of the photographs were taken by Mr. Maxwell, a noted Salem photographer and historian who died in 1967. Mr. Maxwell was born in Salem in 1898. He attended college at Oregon State University, where he studied history and journalism. He started working with the Capitol Journal newspaper in 1939.
Because he packed his camera on every quest for historical stories, he was able to illustrate his articles for readers of the Capitol Journal, the Oregon Journal, the Oregonian, and several magazines. He recorded on film at least 13 governors, old-timers now gone, covered bridges now missing, and buildings and homes no longer standing. The collection includes copies of rare early Oregon photographs taken by others that have in turn been copied over and over by later researchers and feature-story writers. Many more photographs remain to be scanned and added to this work in progress. |
