Stephen Waterman Jr. photograph albums

Item — Box: 1

Identifier: 163-03

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection includes 5 photograph albums with over 250 photographs, mostly cyanotypes, believed to have been taken by Stephen Waterman Jr. circa 1899-1900. The albums includes images of excursions and day trips around Rhode Island and New England; exterior images of various buildings including Waterman's residence at 70 Stimson Avenue where he lived with his first wife; interiors of unidentified residences; various events with the 1st R.I. Volunteers and a small cocktail party with people in costume - including in black face.

Given the dates of the images, it appears that most of them were taken during the period following Stephen Waterman's separation from his first wife, Eva, and in the early years of his marriage to his second wife, Gertrude.

Dates

1899 - 1900

Creator

Waterman, Stephen, Jr. , 1863-1944 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

PPL believes this collection is in the public domain. Users of this item are responsible for determining copyright restrictions.

Biographical / Historical

Captain Stephen Waterman Jr. (1863-1944) was born in Providence, Rhode Island to Stephen and Harriet (Bullock) Waterman. He attended Mowry and Goff's School and then Brown University where he received his bachelor's degree in 1885 and his masters degree in 1889. Waterman was president of the Nicholson and Waterman Manufacturing Company from 1887-1893 and later worked as an engineer at the Franklyn Machine Company and as an independent architect. Waterman was a captain in the First Regiment of the Rhode Island Militia and a veteran of the Spanish-American War. He remained with the regiment until it was mustered out.

He married Eva Nicholson (later Henshaw) (1869-1919) on 21 September 1887 in Providence, Rhode Island. The newlyweds resided in the newly constructed home at 70 Stimson Avenue in the Wayland Square neighborhood of Providence. The couple divorced in December 1896 after a scandal regarding Waterman's involvement with a social set that involved "theater parties and nocturnal carousing" including his invitation to several young women to pose at their home for nude photographs. He married his second wife, Gertrude Pope Waterman (1869-1958) of Boston in 1900 with whom he had three children. He died on 2 October 1944 at his summer home in North Danville, Vermont, United States, at the age of 80, and was buried in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island.

His obituary, published in the Providence Journal, noted that he became interested in photography as a young man and pursued that hobby throughout his life. These albums reflect this ongoing interest in photography.