Collection M 0137 VC 0098 Armistead Thomson Mason Rust Collection 1887-1967 Table of Contents User Information Historical Sketch Scope and Content Note Container List Processed by Sarah Farver September 2018 Thomas Balch Library 208 W. Market Street Leesburg, VA 20176 USER INFORMATION VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 3.85 cubic feet COLLECTION DATES: 1887-1967, [Bulk 1893-1897] PROVENANCE: Mame Warren, Rockbridge Baths, VA ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection open for research USE RESTRICTIONS: Physical characteristics and conditions affect use of this material. Photocopying not permitted. Visual materials may require special handling. REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from Thomas Balch Library. CITE AS: Armistead Thomson Mason Rust Collection, 1887-1967 (VC 0098), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA. ALTERNATE FORMATS: None OTHER FINDING AIDS: Past Perfect catalogue records TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: None RELATED HOLDINGS: Rust Family Papers (M 087), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA. ACCESSION NUMBERS: 2018.0046 NOTES: Collection previously held at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. The collection was held by Ellen Rust (Craddock) Ivy and bequeathed to Mame Warren with the intention of finding a proper repository to house for the materials For additional information about Alaskan Frontier see also: Balch, Edwin Swift. Letters and Papers Relating to the Alaska Frontier. Philadelphia: Press of Allen, Lane & Scott, 1904. 2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Armistead Thomson Mason Rust was born on 12 July 1862 to parents Armistead T. M. Rust (1820-1887) and Ida Lee Rust (1840-1921). Starting in 1881, Armistead studied at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1885, Armistead completed his studies, then served two years at sea before attending his official graduation ceremony in 1887. In 1887, Armistead married Anna Weems Rideout (1864-1951) at St. Anne’s Church in Annapolis, Maryland. Armistead was stationed in Alaska from 1893 to 1896, serving on the USS Pinta, USS Ranger, and USS Monterey among other vessels. Armistead brought his family with him to the Alaska territory. His son, Armistead Thomson Mason Rust II, was born in 1893 in Sitka, Alaska. The USS Pinta was assigned to protect seal fisheries, one of the region’s primary assets in 1883, and sometimes sat in port at Fort Wrangel. The USS Monterey was commissioned in 1893 and assigned to the Pacific Squadron, making regular trips along the coasts of California and Washington. These vessels and locations are referenced in this collection. Armistead left Alaska after the 1890s, but remained an officer in the US Navy until retiring in 1912, briefly coming out of retirement to serve in the First World War from 1917 to 1919. After retiring from the US Navy, Armistead served as superintendent of the Massachusetts Nautical Academy until 1932, when he moved back to Annapolis, Maryland. Armistead died on 29 December 1941 at the US Naval Academy Hospital, and was buried in the US Naval Academy Cemetery. A surge in Magic Lantern Shows coincided with the “Klondike Fever” of the 1890s, piquing interest in images of Alaska. Companies used “magic lanterns” (also known as stereopticons) to show the bounty of Alaska, promising wealth for those who sought gold. Unlike these marketing schemes, Lantern Lecture, Alaska: What It Is Good For, highlighted the realistic beauty and assets of Alaska. Armistead’s images, taken roughly 10-20 years after those published in Alaska: What It Is Good For, echo the sentiments of the show. SOURCES An Officer of the US Navy. McAllister’s Series of “Lantern Lectures: Alaska and What it is good for, Illustrated by Sixty Photographic Lantern Slides. New York: T. H. McAllister. Balzer, Dick. “The Magic Lantern and The Klondike Gold Rush.” The Magic Lantern Gazette 26, no. 4 (2014): 3-7. Rust, Ellsworth Marshall. Rust of Virginia: Genealogical and Biographical Sketches of the Descendants of William Rust (1654-1940). Washington, 1940. 3 Naval-History.net. “USS Pinta Description.” Last modified January 24, 2018. https://www.naval-history.net/OW-US/Pinta/USS_Pinta.htm Mohl, Michael. “M-6 USS Monterey.” Accessed September 13, 2018. http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/monterey.htm Wikipedia. “Armistead Rust.” Last modified April 2, 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistead_Rust SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE This collection consists of 122 glass plate negatives, 15 photographic prints, and 3 film strips taken by Armistead T. M. Rust in the 1890s of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Most images show the Alaskan landscape, particularly in and near the city of Sitka, AK. Besides landscapes, there are some images of individuals (including infants and toddlers), images of animals (including dogs and donkeys), and Orthodox Church art and architecture. A few records included in the collection give context to the photographic materials, including Mr. Rust’s notebooks and lists, as well as a program for a “Lantern Lecture” show containing similar images of Alaska. The collection was digitized in 2018, with the original plates, prints, and film stored at Thomas Balch Library. Most of the glass plates are size 5 X 4 inches, with a few larger plates size 8.5 X 6.5 inches. Although in overall good condition, a few plates have corners or other pieces missing, one plate is broken in half. Images are organized as follows: Box 1 contains glass plate negatives size 8.5 X 6.5in, Boxes 2-7 contain glass plate negatives size 5 X 4in, and Box 8 contains photographic prints and film strips. Manuscript materials are housed in M 0137. 4 CONTAINER LIST M 0137 Box 1 Folder 1 McAllister's Series of "Lantern Lectures." Alaska and What It Is Good For; By An Officer of the US Navy, Illustrated by Sixty Photographic Lantern Slides, n.d. Folder 2 Notebook recording subjects of Alaska photographs, monetary accounts, coordinates and surveyor drawings, n.d. Folder 3 Notebook recording of meals served to officers in a designated mess hall, n.d. Folder 4 Sticker commemorating US victories at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic games Folder 5 13 October 1893 receipt of purchases from W. P. Mills, dealer in general merchandise in Sitka, Alaska Folder 6 August 1967 Letter to Mrs. Lowell Thomas Jr. regarding glass negatives of photos taken by Armistead Rust, lists the names/descriptions of glass plate negatives 1-86 and larger plates numbered 1-20 Folder 7 Typed list of individual names entitled "STEAM LAUNCH NO 54" with handwritten notations of provisions, n.d. Folder 8 Typed list of individual names entitled "STEAM LAUNCH NO 171, " n.d. Folder 9 Notes regarding the collection of glass negatives by Armistead Rust VC 0098 Box 1 vc_0098_0016 Glass plate negative “Eight men on a porch, presumably in Alaska” vc_0098_0017 Glass plate negative “Scene of Sitka, Alaska with Russian Orthodox church” 5 vc_0098_0018 Glass plate negative “Portrait of man in houndstooth check jacket” vc_0098_0019 Glass plate negative “Sitka, Navy Store House” vc_0098_0020 Glass plate negative “People in a rowboat in Sitka, Alaska” vc_0098_0021 Glass plate negative “Russian Orthodox church vc_0098_0022 Glass plate negative “Navy Store House, Sitka” vc_0098_0023 Glass plate negative “USS Monterey, dry dock” vc_0098_0024 Glass plate negative “Shoreline with town, presumably in Alaska” vc_0098_0025 Glass plate negative “Eight men on a porch” vc_0098_0026 Glass plate negative “Donkey” vc_0098_0027 Glass plate negative “Shoreline with piers” vc_0098_0028 Glass plate negative “Ship (Topeka) at wharf” vc_0098_0029 Glass plate negative “Mountain with river valley” vc_0098_0030 Glass plate negative “Marsh with river and mountains in background” vc_0098_0031 Glass plate negative “Madonna and child” vc_0098_0032 Glass plate negative “Lake with rock outcroppings and clouds over mountains” vc_0098_0033 Glass plate negative “Creek with forest” Box 2 vc_0098_0034 Glass plate negative “Toddler in dress in front of door” vc_0098_0035 Glass plate negative “Baby in a dress” vc_0098_0036 Glass plate negative “Interior: rocking chair, lamp, tea table, banjo in corner” vc_0098_0037 Glass plate negative “Interior: woodstove, chair, and table next to window” vc_0098_0038 Glass plate negative “Interior: daybed in front of window, chair and desk” vc_0098_0039 Glass plate negative “Man in uniform (Navy?)” vc_0098_0040 Glass plate negative “Women in parlor” vc_0098_0041 Glass plate negative “Children in front of a house in the snow” vc_0098_0042 Glass plate negative “Baby in dress in a chair” vc_0098_0043 Glass plate negative “Baby in woman’s lap” vc_0098_0044 Glass plate negative “Baby in chair next to woman” vc_0098_0045 Glass plate negative “Baby in dress” vc_0098_0046 Glass plate negative “Baby in dress (further from camera” vc_0098_0047 Glass plate negative “Men at desk in a library” vc_0098_0048 Glass plate negative “Man in a robe with staff in front of a photographer’s drape” 6 Box 2, continued vc_0098_0049 Glass plate negative “Women in front of two lamps with picture of puppies on wall” vc_0098_0050 Glass plate negative “Dog on floor” Box 3 vc_0098_0051 Glass plate negative “Canal with buildings, small craft, rigged sailing vessels” vc_0098_0052 Glass plate negative “Baby girl in elaborate dress” vc_0098_0053 Glass plate negative “Baby in front of staircase” vc_0098_0054 Glass plate negative “Woman with child on lap” vc_0098_0055 Glass plate negative “Baby on woman’s lap” vc_0098_0056 Glass plate negative “Baby in woman’s lap” vc_0098_0057 Glass plate negative “City street in Tacoma, WA with wagons, signs,