John Vachon
A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Connie L. Cartledge
Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
2006
Contact information:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division,
2007
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007030
Latest revision: 2008 May
Title: Papers of John Vachon
Span Dates: 1913-1995
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1935-1959)
ID No.: MSS85246
Creator:
Vachon, John,
1914-1975
Extent: 4,000
items;
12 containers;
4.6 linear feet
Language: Collection material in
English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Abstract: Photographer.
Correspondence, family papers, writings, and miscellaneous material relating
primarily to Vachon’s career as a photographer with the Farm Security
Administration, Office of War Information, and
Look magazine.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person
or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed
alphabetically therein.
Names:
Vachon,
John, 1914-1975
Lange,
Dorothea
Monroe,
Marilyn, 1926-1962
Rothstein,
Arthur, 1915-
Stryker,
Roy Emerson, 1893-1975
Vachon,
Ann O'Hara--Correspondence
Vachon,
Millicent--Correspondence
Williams,
Tennessee, 1911-1983.
United
States. Army
United
States. Farm Security Administration
United
States. Office of War Information
Catholic
University of America--Students
Standard
Oil Company of New Jersey
United
Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
Subjects:
Look
American periodicals--New
York (State)--New York
Authors
Depressions--1929--United
States
Entertainers
Jazz
Motion pictures
Photography--Poland
Photography--United
States
Poverty--United
States
World War,
1939-1945
Camp Blanding
(Fla.)
United States--Economic
conditions--20th century
United States--Politics
and government--20th century
United States--Social
conditions--20th century
United States--Social
life and customs--20th century
Washington (D.C.)--Social
life and customs
Occupations:
Photographers
Provenance:The papers of John Vachon, photographer, were transferred from the
Prints and Photographs Division to the Manuscript Division in 2005.
Copyright Status:The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of John Vachon is
governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Restrictions:Restrictions apply governing the use, photoduplication, or publication
of items in this collection. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript
Division concerning these restrictions.
Preferred Citation:Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, John Vachon Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
| Date |
Event |
| 1914, May 19 |
Born, St. Paul, Minn. |
| 1934 |
B.A., St. Thomas College, St. Paul, Minn. |
| 1936-1937 |
Assistant messenger, Farm Security Administration, Washington,
D.C.
|
| 1937-1940 |
Junior file clerk and unofficial photographer, Farm Security
Administration, Washington, D.C.
|
| ca. 1938 |
Married Millicent (“Penny”) Leeper (died 1960) |
| 1940-1942 |
Junior photographer, Farm Security Administration, Washington,
D.C.
|
| 1942-1943 |
Photographer, Office of War Information, Washington,
D.C.
|
| 1943-1944 |
Photographer, Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey |
| 1945 |
Served in United States Army |
| 1945-1947 |
Photographer in New Jersey and Venezuela for
Jersey Standard |
| 1946 |
Photographic assignment, United Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation Administration, Poland
|
| 1947-1949 |
Staff photographer,
Life magazine, New York, N.Y.
|
| 1947-1971 |
Staff photographer,
Look magazine, New York, N.Y.
|
| 1961 |
Married Françoise Fourestier |
| 1971-1975 |
Freelance photographer, New York, N.Y. |
| 1975 |
Visiting lecturer in photography, Minneapolis Institute of
Arts, Minneapolis, Minn.
|
| 1975, Apr. 20 |
Died, New York, N.Y. |
The papers of John Felix Vachon (1914-1975) span the years 1913-1995,
with the bulk from 1935 to 1959, and consist of family papers, general
correspondence, lecture notes, writings, financial papers, notes, clippings,
and printed matter. The focus of the papers is Vachon’s career as a
photographer. The collection is arranged in three groups: family papers,
general correspondence, and subject file.
The family papers consist chiefly of Vachon’s letters to his mother,
Ann O’Hara Vachon, and his first wife, Millicent “Penny” Vachon. These letters
provide descriptions of many of Vachon’s assignments as photographer chiefly
for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), 1937-1942, the Office of War
Information (OWI), 1942-1943, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, 1943-1944,
and
Look magazine, 1947-1959. They document his extensive
travels across America for FSA and OWI, focusing on rural areas and small towns
during the Depression and the country’s mobilization during World War II. The
family correspondence reflects the variety of Vachon’s assignments, including
politics, religion, poverty, and stories about entertainers and writers such as
Marilyn Monroe and Tennessee Williams. Also in the family papers are letters
chronicling his student days at Catholic University of America in Washington,
D.C., 1935-1936; descriptions of living in Washington from 1935 to 1939;
detailed accounts of his training and duties while in the United States Army at
Camp Blanding, Florida, 1945; and his work for the United Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation Administration in Poland, 1946. The correspondence conveys his
passion for jazz music and movies and includes his observations about American
social life and mores. The family papers also contain genealogical material
relating to the Vachon family.
The subject file reflects Vachon’s lifelong desire to be a writer and
consists chiefly of his articles, essays, short stories, and poetry. Also
located in this file is a transcript of a conversation in 1952 between Roy
Emerson Stryker, the director of the FSA project, and FSA photographers,
including Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein, and Vachon, discussing their
work.
The Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress has
custody of John Vachon’s photographic collection of prints and negatives. His
work is also represented in that division’s Farm Security Administration
Collection and
Look Magazine Photograph Collection.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.
| Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| BOX 1
|
Family papers |
|
| BOX 1
|
Correspondence |
|
| BOX 1
|
Originals |
|
| BOX 1
|
Miscellaneous relatives,
1938, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 1
|
Vachon, Ann O’Hara
(mother)
|
|
| BOX 1
|
1935-1938
|
|
(13
folders)
|
|
| BOX 2
|
1939-1944
|
|
(14
folders)
|
|
| BOX 3
|
1945-1962
|
|
(14
folders)
|
|
| BOX 3
|
Undated
|
|
(4 folders)
|
| BOX 4
|
(5
folders)
|
|
| BOX 4
|
Vachon, Henry (father),
1935-1943
|
|
| BOX 4
|
Vachon, Millicent
(“Penny”) (wife)
See also Containers 9-10, Transcripts |
|
| BOX 4
|
1936-1940
|
|
(12
folders)
|
|
| BOX 4
|
1941
|
|
| BOX 4
|
Jan.-June
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 5
|
July-Aug.
|
|
(3
folders)
|
|
| BOX 5
|
1942
|
|
| BOX 5
|
Jan.-Oct.
|
|
(14
folders)
|
|
| BOX 6
|
Nov.
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 6
|
1943-1945
|
|
(18
folders)
|
|
| BOX 6
|
1946
|
|
| BOX 6
|
Jan.-Feb.
|
|
(3
folders)
|
|
| BOX 7
|
Mar.-Aug.
|
|
(6
folders)
|
|
| BOX 7
|
1947-1950
|
|
(19
folders)
|
|
| BOX 8
|
1951-1957
|
|
(19
folders)
|
|
| BOX 8
|
1958
|
|
| BOX 8
|
Jan.-Mar.
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 9
|
Apr.-Dec.
|
|
(8
folders)
|
|
| BOX 9
|
1959
|
|
(7
folders)
|
|
| BOX 9
|
Vachon, Robert (brother),
1935-1945, 1955, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 9
|
Transcripts,
Millicent (“Penny”) Vachon
See also Containers 4-6, Vachon, Millicent
(“Penny”) |
|
| BOX 9
|
1940-1941
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 9
|
1942
|
|
| BOX 9
|
Jan.-Mar.
|
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Apr.-Nov.
|
|
(4
folders)
|
|
| BOX 10
|
1943
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Other papers |
|
| BOX 10
|
Miscellaneous,
1913-1918, 1944, 1952, 1962, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Vachon, Ann O’Hara,
1939-1948, 1954-1959, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Vachon, Brian (son),
1979, 1991, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 10
|
General correspondence,
1936-1937, 1944-1946, 1957, 1965
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Subject file |
|
| BOX 10
|
Exhibitions of Vachon’s
photographs,
1993-1995
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Farm Security Administration,
transcript of conversation with Roy Emerson Stryker and photographers,
[1952]
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Financial papers,
1937-1938, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Lecture notebook,
1974
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Look magazine,
1969
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Miscellany,
1985, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Travel notebook,
ca. 1974
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Travel notes,
1942
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Writings by others |
|
| BOX 10
|
About Vachon,
1943, 1960-1965, 1971, 1979, 1989
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Miscellaneous,
1954-1957
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Writings by Vachon |
|
| BOX 11
|
Articles, essays, short
stories, and other writings,
1933-1934, 1973, n.d.
|
|
(7
folders)
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Correspondence with publishers
and readers,
1956-1966, 1972, n.d.
|
|
(3
folders)
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Notes and jottings, n.d.
Undated
|
|
(3 folders)
|
| BOX 12
|
(2
folders)
|
|
| BOX 12
|
Poetry,
n.d.
|
|
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