Robert S. Harrah collection
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Not requestable
Scope and Contents
The bulk of this collection consists of a manuscript written by Harrah about his relationship with the noted photojournalist W. Eugene Smith (1918 - 1978). This narrative describes Harrah’s first acquaintance with Smith in the hospital on Okinawa, his work as an assistant to Smith in New York City, the life of a photojournalist on the road, their progress with such projects as "Trial by Jury" and "Country Doctor," Harrah's meetings with such notables as Edward Steichen and Lincoln Kirstein, Harrah's apprenticeship in the profession, and events in his personal life.
Dates
- 1945-1981
Creator
- Harrah, Robert S. (Person)
Language of Materials
Material in English
Conditions Governing Access
To access materials from this collection, please contact CCP-RefDesk@email.arizona.edu
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission from the copyright owner (which could be the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates or literary executors) prior to any copyright-protected uses of the collection.
The user agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents, the University of Arizona, Center of Creative Photography, including its officers, employees, and agents, from and against all claims made relating to copyright or other intellectual property infringement
Biographical Note
Robert S. Harrah (1925-1989) was an American photojournalist and engineer. He worked as a photographer in the Medical Corps in the Pacific Theater during World War II. It was there that he met W. Eugene Smith, who at the time was a photographer for Life. After the war, Harrah enrolled in photographic school in California before moving to New York to be W. Eugene Smith’s assistant. Harrah worked with Smith from 1947-1949 before returning to California and working as a freelance photojournalist. In 1981 he wrote an unpublished memoir detailing his working relationship with Smith. Robert Harrah died in 1989 at the age of 64.
Extent
3 Boxes (1 linear foot)
Metadata Rights Declarations
- License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.
Abstract
Papers, 1945 - 1981, of Robert S. Harrah (1925-1989), photojournalist and engineer. Includes a photocopy of his illustrated, unpublished manuscript, Gene and Me ... and Photojournalism (1981: 2 vols. 314pp.), which contains Harrah's recollections of his working relationship between 1945 and 1948 with noted photojournalist W. Eugene Smith (1918 - 1978); nine photocopies of correspondence between them in 1945 and 1948; and some research material used in writing the manuscript.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into the following series:
- Box 1: Folders of like materials
- Box 2-3: Gene and Me ... and Photojournalism, 2 volumes
Custodial History
This collection was a gift from Robert Harrah to the Center for Creative Photography beginning in 1982.
Processing Information
Processed September 1984 by Roger Myers. Revised January 1987. The finding aid was updated by Paloma Phelps in 2017.
- Title
- Robert S. Harrah collection 1945-1981
- Author
- Finding aid updated by Paloma Phelps
- Date
- © 2017
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs (Describing Archives: A Content Standard)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English .
Repository Details
Part of the Center for Creative Photography Archives Repository
