Title: Titles were taken from the image itself, the envelope, a copy negative where it included the studio's original title, or were supplied by the project archivist. Titles not directly attributable to the photographer's studio are bracketed [ ]. If the source of the title is unknown it is indicated by [ /unknown]. Titles created by the project archivist during processing are simply bracketed [ ].Photographer: Photographer is listed as Ericson. A.W. Ericson's name often appears on an image and it is widely believed that he took the majority of the images. Newspaper and other accounts indicate that both Edgar and Richard Ericson took photos but there is no certainty as to exactly which ones were taken by these other family members.
Photographer's Number: These numbers usually appear on the negative, but in a few instances they were taken from prints.
Date: Most of the images are undated.
Physical Description and Dimensions: This refers to the original negative. Black and white is abbreviated as "b&w". Dimensions are given in inches. In addition to condition, damage is noted by "cr" for cracked, "cc" for chipped corner, "bc" for broken corner and "br" for broken.
Subject/Genre: Subject terms and geographical place names were drawn primarily from lists already in use in the Library's Humboldt County Collection. When necessary new subject and genre terms were added using Place Names of Humboldt County, California by Dennis Turner, Library of Congress Subject Headings and Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (1995) by the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. (The term "Essex" has been used to include Vance's lands up Lindsey Creek watershed.)
Names: Most individuals are unidentified. More information is available for the portraits of Native Americans and for members of the Ericson family than for any other group of images. When a name is known it is recorded in this field and/or there may be a note in the Comments field. These names are not included in the List of Photographs, rather they are listed separately in the Related Works section of the finding aid.
Region: To assist users in locating images from broad geographic areas a region designation has been assigned. Numerical values are given to nine areas of Humboldt County, defined primarily by watershed, and eight values are given to describe other geographical locations. This region categorization is also used in other photographic collections both at the HSU Library and at the Humboldt County Historical Society. A map portraying these regions is accessible at http://library.humboldt.edu/infoservices/humboldt.jpg. Note that the images are grouped in this finding aid by the assigned region designation.
Previous Numbers: During this processing project the glass plate negatives were given a 1999.02.---- number. Previously assigned numbers are noted in this field.
Comments: Additional information about image content is noted in this field. The source of this information is noted in this field in parentheses at the end of the other comments.
One group of images has comments too lengthy to include in the "comments" field. These are images of Arcata taken from the hill now occupied by Humboldt State University. These images were annotated by G.W. Ripley and give a description of the view from his home which was near where the images were taken. They are 1999.02.0075, 1999.02.0143, 1999.02.0152, and 1999.02.0390. 1999.02.0169 was also taken from the same location. Ripley's annotations are quoted here just as they were written on the prints.
"No. 1
from left to Right white streak is sidewalk that runs up to State Nor[mal] big stump laying below walk is about 16ft through & about 30 ft long roots & all, white spot in trees is one of our neighbors house roof C Lesters then the 2 old snags on the hill about 250 or 275 high about 16 or 18 ft through & then GW Ripleys Henhouse Horse & Barn just the upper part of the house cant see the lower storie or the kitchen, & then Ripleys hill & wood pile where he is clearing it off, & then our neighbor Molander down below comes Ensigns & Kjer. Kjers is the house with the white roof another Ensign in the little white house on the north of her, Mathews up on the hill south, & the Rooff of Arnsons up by the State Normal north by the Electric lite post, lay these all down as they are No. & keep the trees to match & you will have the view just about as you get it from G.W. Ripleys, Arcata Calif " [The negative for this image is not held by HSU.]"No. 2
no. 2 & no. 3 takes in the most of the town that we can see from here, & also the north end of Humboldt Bay, it is six miles across the bay south to Eureka you can see some white specks over the east wharf they are houses in Eureka there are 2 wharfs the west one is over one mile long you cant see only just the tops of the business buildings down town so you can see that we live in the hub sub" [1999.02.0152]"No. 3
the High school almost in center & first over the right hand of the H.S. you can see the flag pole of the Grammar School down on the lower part of town (west end of town) & the Arcata bottom on this & no 4. about 4 miles across it to the beach & it is about 8 miles long you can see the ranch houses & the peninsula that runs down between the Bay & the Ocean. at the right hand upper corner is the place where they plant People if you will look abo [?] in from the right hand end through between the groves of trees you can see the Ocean." [1999.02.0390]"No. 4
This is the north end of town and also the north end of the arcata Bottom. we can see the ocean from our house here about 12 or 14 miles along the beach was the clearest this morning that I ever saw. could see every house in Eureka as plane as you can see arcata on these Pictures this the 7 day of May 1916 the black is the shadow of the state normal so you see you have the full circle it will go on either end but don't match either way look these over & show them to the Bro.s & sister of ours & then send them to Rosses & tell them to send them back to G.W. Ripley Arcata Humboldt Co Calif" [1999.02.0075][unnumbered]
"We have a better view of this building from our house than this is. This picture will go on either end of the other 4 Pict but it doesn't match like the others do put this one on to no-1- with the sidewalk to match the one no-1- or better put the tops of the trees to match. & you will see that we live 2 blocks South and 2 blocks East. All of the entrance from the court no outside doors" [diagram of a building] [Last portion of text and diagram pertains to the temporary building at Humboldt State Normal] [1999.02.00143]
