Churches (unid.)

The Emerson Brooks photographs span a wide range of agriculture-related topics. Brooks (1905-1982) was a USDA employee for most of his working life, starting with the Crop Reporting Service in the 1930s and most notably with the Statistical Reporting Service. He wrote two books, Growth of a Nation (1956) and The Story of Agricultural Estimates (1969).

The Emerson Brooks photographs deal with American agriculture and American history in general, and reflect the collector's personal interests as well. The bulk of this subseries dates from the 1930s to the 1970s. It includes many negatives, slides, and filmstrips. Printed matter found with the photos is filed either in consecutive folders (where the printed matter pertains directly to specific photographs, such as captions or letters), or at the end of the subseries (where no direct relationship between specific photographs and the printed material can be established). The printed matter includes brochures, pamphlets, maps, charts, clippings, pages torn from books, and booklets.

The Brooks photographs were originally arranged in broad geographical divisions (South, North, West, etc.) and numerous smaller categories, but the materials had become largely disordered over years of use; many photos were in unlabeled folders, and other folders were found empty. During processing, the original folder headings were preserved as much as possible, but many photos were filed under new headings that have been added based on the content of the images. The pictures are now arranged in one alphabetical list that includes personal names, geographic names, and subjects. Keywords have been added to the container list to alert researchers to the specific subjects of images within folders.

The sources of the photographs include the USDA, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and other cultural institutions such as historical societies. Sources are often indicated by information stamped on the back of the photograph by the respective institution.