Edward H. and Josephine A. Kemp Panama Canal travelogue album
Creation: 1912 April-1912 MayAbstract
Edward Henry Kemp (1868-1948) and Josephine A. Kemp (1868-1941) were commercial photographers and traveling lecturers. The Kemps were best known for their photographic and motion picture travelogues, as well as their work in Camera Craft magazine. In 1912, the Chamber of Commerce invited its members to join an excursion to the Isthmus of Panama, with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce being the guide in charge of the trip and planning. The San Francisco Chamber chartered the SS Sonoma of the Oceanic Steamship Company from April 25, 1912, to return on May 21, 1912. The album is a travelogue of the SS Sonoma voyage from San Francisco to the construction site of the Panama Canal locks. The images show views of railroad construction, dredges, street views of Balboa, Panama la Vieja, bull fights, and Old Panama City. The album itself does not contain either Kemp's name or other identifying information, however, three of the photographs in the album match photographs that have been positively identified as being taken by the Kemps.
Dates
- Creation: 1912 April-1912 May
Creator
- Kemp, Edward H. (Edward Henry), 1868-1948 (Person)
- Kemp, Josephine A., 1868-1941 (Person)
Extent
1 volume(s)
Physical Description
1 album : black, cardstock ; 7 x 9.25 in. containing 95 photographic prints : b&w ; 3.25 x 5.5 in.
Biographical Note
Edward Henry Kemp (1868-1948) and Josephine A. Kemp (1868-1941) were commercial photographers and traveling lecturers. The Kemps were best known for their photographic and motion picture travelogues, as well as their work in Camera Craft magazine.
Edward Henry Kemp, born in Cowley Oxfordshire, England, to Emma Callaway (1837-1919) and Henry William Kemp (1845-1881), arrived in the United States in 1883 and became a naturalized citizen in 1896. Josephine Agnes (Sparrow) Kemp was born in San Francisco, California, to Agnes Shirley (1837-1911) and Alfred Ravey Sparrow (1833-1910). The couple married in 1893 and initially lived in Almeda, California, before establishing their business in San Francisco.
The Kemps traveled to various places documenting what they saw and experienced. They employed multiple mediums, taking photographs, lantern slides, stereopticon views, and moving images. They subsequently wrote about their trips and published articles alongside their photographs in magazines. The Kemps also gave lectures, for which they charged a modest fee. Their first major success was their work in 1905, traveling to Arizona to document the "Native American Snake Dance." In 1906, their business was destroyed by the San Francisco earthquake, and they relocated to Sausalito. Shortly after, they released their work on the "San Francisco Disaster." By 1911, Kemp lantern slides were being used by the ethnologist and photographer Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952).
In 1910, Colonel George A. Loud (1825-1925) of the Isthmian Canal Commission Committee requested a set of moving images for an exhibition at the House of Representatives and the Senate. They spent two years photographing the construction.
In 1912, the Chamber of Commerce invited its members to join an excursion to the Isthmus of Panama, with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce being the guide in charge of the trip and planning. The San Francisco Chamber chartered the SS Sonoma of the Oceanic Steamship Company from April 25, 1912, to return on May 21, 1912. John D. Spreckles (1853-1926) and Aldoph B. Spreckels (1857-1924) owned and operated the Oceanic Steamship Company. In September 1911, the Spreckles contracted with Union Iron Works to reconstruct the Ventura and the Sonoma, which had been sitting idle since 1906. These commodious liners went from 6,279 tons to 10,000 tons at the expense of $350,000 each.
The Chamber of Commerce trip included stops in Panama, San Jose de Guatemala, Guatemala City, and San Diego. Josephine Kemp was in Panama during March 1912 and returned to California in April 1912. It is unclear if she traveled aboard the SS Sonoma, but she is not on the same ship manifests as her husband traveling to or from New Orleans in 1912, though she did join him and was present when the delegation arrived in Balboa. Edward Kemp left three days before the SS Sonoma to Isthmus by way of New Orleans to take photographs of the party during their study and inspection of the new ocean route. The Chamber delegation viewed the Culebra cut and Gatum dam, which at this point were approximately ninety percent completed. Edward returned three days before the SS Sonoma via New Orleans.
Scope and Contents
The album is a travelogue of the SS Sonoma voyage from San Francisco to the construction site of the Panama Canal locks. The images show views of railroad construction, dredges, street views of Balboa, Panama la Vieja, bull fights, and Old Panama City.
The photographs show the SS Sonoma being greeted and heralded at Pier 21, Filbert Street, in San Francisco. Brass Era automobiles, bicycles, and a horse and buggy can be seen surrounding a photographer capturing the scene of the SS Sonoma embarking. There are a few ocean views, people engaged in shipboard activities, and people disembarking at Balboa, Panama City, followed by several street views.
Twenty-four photographs show the construction of the Miraflores and possibly the Pedro Miguel locks. There are images of the locks themselves, the lock gates, escarpments dug by steam shovels, narrow-gauge railroad lines running through the canal floor, and a few show explosives in use.
One image shows a team of Black workers with mosquito spraying equipment; another shows the US Clapet No. 4 self-propelled dredge scow at work. There are photographs of the ruins of the Panama Cathedral Tower and views of Old Panama City, destroyed by the pirate Henry Morgan (1635-1688) in 1671. Views of the mountains through which the locks were being cut can also be seen.
There is a series of photographs of a bullfight showing the matador and spectators. There are two views of Canal administration and hospital buildings. The final photograph shows a man purchasing a pineapple from a child vendor before embarking on a railcar.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Language of Materials
English
Additional Description
Provenance Note
The album itself does not contain either Kemp's name or other identifying information, however, three of the photographs in the album match photographs that have been positively identified as being taken by the Kemps.
The images are definitely of the SS Sonoma from the port of San Francisco to the Panama Canal while the locks were being built. Records indicate the SS Sonoma only made this one voyage to the Panama Canal; the steamship's usual excursions were primarily to Australia, Hawaii, and the vicinity.
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title:
- Edward H. and Josephine A. Kemp Panama Canal travelogue album
- Author:
- Laurie Sather
- Date:
- 2021
- Description rules:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description:
- English
- Script of description:
- Latin
Repository Details
Repository Details
Part of the Audiovisual Collections Repository
