Bert Morgan Negatives
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Start of Box 6 Morgan, Bert, 1904-1986. Negatives, 1932-1985. Special Collections Department/Long Island Studies Institute Contact Information: Special Collections Department Axinn Library, Room 032 123 Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 11549 Phone: (516) 463-6411, or 463-6404 Fax: (516) 463-6442 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.hofstra.edu/Libraries/SpecialCollections Compiled by: [M. O’Connor] Date [June 10, 2013] Completed: Morgan, Bert, 1904-1986. Negatives, 1932-1985. 1.7 cubic ft. Born in Windemere, England, in 1904, Bernard "Bert" S. Morgan moved to the United States in 1911 with his parents and siblings. In 1919, he became a syndicate newspaper photographer in New York, where he provided photographs to the New York Daily News and other Northeast newspapers. In 1930, he opened his own photography business and spent the next fifty-six years photographing celebrities, royalty, politicians and members of society at social and sporting events in places such as Long Island, Saratoga, Key West, Nassau and Newport. During the 1950s, he moved to Palm Beach, Florida, where he opened Bert and Richard Morgan Studios with his son Richard F. Morgan, Sr. (1936-2012), who learned the photography business from his father. The two worked together until the elder Morgan’s death in1986. During his career, Bert Morgan rose to the top of his profession and became the dean of society photographers. He was friends with the Duke of Windsor and became the only photographer to ever call him “Eddie.” He was also the only photographer to photograph a president (John F. Kennedy) and his first lady (Jacqueline Bouvier) from their childhoods. Pictured among the over two million photographs that he took were members of society’s most famous families: the Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Guggenheims, Phipps, Mellons, DuPonts, Kents, Posts, Sanfords and Wanamakers. For decades, Morgan also worked as chief photographer for the New York Racing Association (NYRA), and it was said around the racetrack that he was more famous than the horses that were running. The collection, which spans the years 1932-1985, includes negatives of photographs taken by Bert Morgan and his son Richard. These negatives, some of which are accompanied by proofs, vary in size and are mostly in black and white. The majority depict members of society at social events or sporting competitions—including polo matches, dog shows or field trials, and horse races or shows—on Long Island. A small number are from other locations, including Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania, and Saratoga Springs and Tuckahoe, both in New York. The collection also includes some negatives from action photos of horse races, polo matches and retriever field trials, as well as negatives that feature individual dogs and horses that participated in various competitions. In addition, the collection contains a small number of racing programs from various runnings of the Belmont Stakes race, held annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, as well as news clippings about the races. Noteworthy among the negatives is an image, photographed in 1961, of Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower at the Belmont Stakes, where they were guests of honor. Also of interest are a small number of negatives depicting polo players in action, including two of American star G.H. “Pete” Bostwick playing in an international match against Anahuac Polo Club (Mexico City), at the Meadow Brook Polo Club in Westbury, New York, in 1958. Additionally noteworthy are a small number of negatives featuring images of Triple Crown winner Secretariat; his owner, Mrs. John Tweedy; New York governor Nelson A. Rockefeller; Virginia governor Linwood Holton; and, jockey Ron Turcotte, at the 1973 Belmont Stakes race. Arrangement: alphabetically by name of event, location or organization. In “Description” field of Box and Folder Listing, individuals are listed alphabetically; on photo envelopes, individuals are listed as they appear in the negative, from left to right. SUBJECTS Names: Morgan, Bernard S. (Bernard Stanley), 1904-1986. Morgan, Bert, 1904-1986. Morgan, Richard F., Sr., 1936-2012. Belmont Park Racetrack (Elmont, N.Y.) Bert and Richard Morgan Studios. Meadow Brook Polo Club. Subjects: Belmont Stakes, N.Y.--History. Dog Shows. Horse racing. Polo. Upper class. Places: Elmont (N.Y.)--History. Long Island (N.Y.)--History. Westbury, (N.Y.)--History. Form and Genre Terms: Photography Negatives. Occupational terms: Photographers. Index of Events, Locations and Organizations Represented in the Collection: Adelphi College Opera Association September Eve Bal Masque Committee - An Adelphi College Opera Association committee formed in 1961 to organize a bal masque (masquerade ball) to benefit the association as well as a proposed new cultural center at Adelphi. Mrs. Stephen Sanford and Mrs. Henry Lewis were co-chairs of the committee. September Eve Bal Masque - The masquerade ball took place on September 8, 1961, at Winfield Hall, the former Woolworth mansion in Glen Cove. Atlantic Beach Club Opened in Atlantic Beach, N.Y., on August 4, 1929, the club was a popular gathering place for society people and entertainers. It featured modified Spanish architecture and contained a swimming pool, bathhouses, a large dining room, a dancing floor, lounge room and a solarium on its roof. Belmont Park – Victory Race Week A week of horse racing held to benefit the relief effort during World War II. Victory races were held at Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y., and at most of the other racetracks around the country. Belmont Ball A fundraising event held on the eve of the running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y. Over the years, the ball has been held at various locations, including Belmont Park; Aqueduct Racetrack, South Ozone Park, N.Y.; and the Garden City Hotel, Garden City, N.Y. Belmont Park Opened in 1905, Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in Elmont, N.Y. It is open for racing from May through late July, and again from late September through late October. The facility is operated by the New York Racing Association. Belmont Stakes Held annually at Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y., the Belmont Stakes is the third leg of thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown. First run in 1867 at Jerome Park Racetrack in the Bronx, the race is named for financier and racehorse owner and breeder August Belmont, Sr. (1813-1890). Bronxville Riding Club Horse Show The Bronxville Riding Club horse show was an anuual event that took place on the club’s grounds in Tuckahoe, N.Y. The inaugural show took place in May of 1930, with subsequent shows being held through at least 1940. A ball was given at the Siwanoy Country Club in connection with the event. Brookville Horse Show Charity horse show held annually at different locations in the Brookville, N.Y., area. The inaugural show was held during the 1920s. Buckram Beagles The Buckram Beagles hare hunting pack was established in Locust Valley, New York, in 1934. The pack, whose colors were green with a gray collar, was a subscription pack owned by the members; non-members could hunt by invitation. The pack, which was kenneled in Syosset, N.Y., was dissolved during the 1970s. Cecil County Breeders Horse Show A horse show that is part of the Cecil County Breeders Fair, which is held annually in Fair Hill, MD. The first fair was held in 1934. Empire City Meeting Thoroughbred horse race meetings held by the Empire City Racing Association at its track in Yonkers, N.Y. During World War II, the Empire City Racing Association, along with the other major racing associations in the New York area, donated some of their net proceeds to the war relief benefits. Estates Charles E.F. McCann estate - “Sunken Orchard” (Oyster Bay Cove, N.Y.) “Sunken Orchard,” originally the Fay Ingalls estate, was designed by George B. de Gersdorff circa 1914. The house was later sold to Charles E.F. McCann who had considerable additions made to the estate, including French gardens that in 1936 won the Gold Medal of the Architectural League. Adrian Iselin estate (Glen Head, N.Y.) – no information available. (Note: Iselin’s grandson Charles O. Iselin owned a mansion in Glen Head named “Wolver Hollow.”) Mrs. Eleanor Searle Whitney estate - “Serendipty” (Locust Valley, N.Y.). Mrs. Whitney moved to this estate some time after her divorce, in 1957, from Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. (They had lived in Whitney House, at Old Westbury, N.Y.) She remarried in 1975 and moved to Houston, TX. Philip Hulitar estate – a Colonial house in Glen Cove, NY. In 1964, it was leased by dress designer Hulitar to Robert F. Kennedy, who was preparing to run for the U.S. Senate. The Greentree Fair During the 1930s and 40s, an annual festival held at Mrs. Payne Whitney’s estate, Greentree, at Manhasset, N.Y. Proceeds from the sale of livestock, clothes, and refreshments were donated to the Family Welfare Association of Nassau County and the Milk Fund of the New York Hospital Social Service Department. Today, much of the original estate is operated by the Greentree Foundation; it serves as a conference center dedicated to international justice and human rights issues. Meadow Brook Cup Race The Meadow Brook Cup steeplechase race, first held in 1883, was initially run under the auspices of the Meadow Brook Hunt Club, Meadow Brook, L.I. In 1898, the race became an annual event of the spring meeting of the Meadow Brook Steeplechase Association. During the 1930s, the race was run on the Old Westbury, N.Y., estate of F. Ambrose Clark. The Meadow Brook Hunt Club The Meadow Brook Hunt Club, whose meets were often referred to simply as the “Meadow Brook Hunt,” was a foxhunting club founded in 1881. It was headquartered in Westbury, N.Y., but often held its hunts on estates in the surrounding communities, including Old Westbury, Farmingdale, Wheatley, Woodbury, Syosset and Locust Valley.