A Hint of Eternity: Portraits from the Howard D. Beach Collection
Client: The Buffalo History Museum
In December 2018, The Buffalo History Museum opened an exhibit based on the Howard D. Beach Collection, A Hint of Eternity: Portraits from the Howard D. Beach Collection. A prolific portrait photographer, Beach’s career as a master photographer spanned seven decades. His ruminations on photography as art are reflected in both his writings and his images. He asks, “Is it strange to hope that even after we are gone our work shall live?”
The exhibit featured stunning portraits from Buffalo’s Pan-American Indian Congress, the hauntingly detailed death mask of President William McKinley, and the exquisite acting portfolios of famed Broadway actress, Katharine Cornell. Each image had to be digitally scanned from the original negative and converted to a print-ready photograph. Interpretive text was painstakingly researched and included a brief biography of 42 Native Americans who participated in the Indian Congress, instructions on how to view a 3-D image of McKinley’s death mask using a stereoscope, and descriptions of archival material related to Cornell’s career.
The mythologies of Beach’s patrons have endured, in his words, “out beyond the trodden path” of their era. As Beach had hoped, their narratives, images and work have outlived them.
UNIVERSITY PRESS RELEASE
Press release from Buffalo State University news archives. “Museum Studies Students Contribute to Buffalo History Museum Exhibit.” (2018)
PROJECT GALLERY
Click each image to enlarge.
Event postcard
Event Flyer
The “Rungs” column in Abel’s Photographic Weekly, authored by Howard D. Beach was the inspiration for the title of the exhibit. The column was found in a scrapbook among the collection’s archives.
Some of the objects in the History Museum’s collection that were incorporated in the exhibit. Included was a pouch made by Geronimo to sell at the Indian Congress.
A quick whiteboard sketch of the McKinley Death Mask panel with measurements and possible layout for the installation. Notations of the wall molding and air grate dimensions that must be considered when sizing the exhibit panel are included.
Students Melissa Fanton and Anna Wachtel painting the hand-crafted exhibit boxes that will hold 3-D objects from the museum’s collection.
Leah Glenn painting the hand-crafted exhibit boxes that will hold 3-D objects from the museum’s collection.
The intro panel for the exhibit.
The final installation of the McKinley Death Mask panel. Visitors were invited to try out the stereoscope’s 3-D viewer to see a three dimensional image of his death mask.
One of two panels dedicated to Buffalo born Broadway star Katharine Cornell.
The amazing group of Buffalo State Museum Studies graduate students who helped bring the exhibit to life! (L-R) Melissa Fanton, Anna Wachtel, Ashley Carney, Ashtin Ashbrook and Leah Glenn.