Thousands of negatives chronicling Tri-Cities life starting in 1950 may be destroyed

Thousands of negatives that chronicled the important events of Tri-Cities residents in a pre-digital age are at risk of being destroyed.

Three former photography studies donated negatives from more than 60,000 photo sessions when they went out of business or were purchased by new owners.

The negatives originally were held by the CREHST museum in Richland, which sold packets to families until it closed. Around the start of 2014, and The Reach museum in Richland accepted the collection.

But it lacked long-term storage space for the tens of thousands of negatives dating back to 1950. It launched a campaign late in 2014 to unite families with negatives from weddings, graduations, family gatherings and portrait sessions that ranged from high school to military photos.

Interest was strong. But at the end of that campaign, enough negatives remained to fill 370 banker boxes.

Rather than see them destroyed, Susan Davis Faulkner, now the former president of the Tri-City Genealogical Society, took them in and arranged archival storage of hundreds of thousands of photos.

Initially, a nonprofit gave Faulkner and her husband, David, a deal, charging them just $50 a month for climate controlled storage.

But the storage facility has since been sold and they are now being charged $225 a month.

It’s not an expense they will be able to continue to pay as they have moved from Washington to South Carolina and are contemplating retirement, Faulkner said.

The collection “will be thrown away if there is not enough interest to help us continue to maintain it,” Faulkner said. “We have started doing some scanning of the images, but the logistics of that is difficult at this time.”

She’s looking for another organization or group willing to take over storage of the collection and possibly continue the digitization of the negatives that has been done so far.

The photos start in the 1950s when boys dressed up in suits, ties and ducktail haircuts for senior high photos. Babies in fluffy dresses sat for black and white portraits.

In the ‘60s, girls wore pearl necklaces and bouffant hairdos for black and white yearbook photos.

By the 1980s, brides were wearing billowy wedding gowns. And in the mid-’90s, outdoor portraits were the trend with children posed with flowers in Tri-Cities parks.

Mixed in are photos of family reunions, business photos, parades, rodeos, Atomic Frontier Days, animals, school proms and plays, and more.

The photos were taken by Marlin and Kennel-Ellis, Wendland and Northlight studios.

Groups interested in taking over stewardship of the negatives or providing other assistance can contact Faulkner at denmother4@outlook.com.

This story was originally published January 3, 2024 at 5:00 AM.