This collection consists of portrait photographs taken in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most are albumen prints mounted on stiff board. This board is generally either stamped or embossed with the photographer's name and address. In the unusual instance that the individual(s) in the portraits can be identified, their names are handwritten on the board.

The subject matter of these photographs varies greatly. In most cases, the portraits consist of an individual man, woman, or child. There are also several family photographs, each showing a man, a woman, and their children, and one photograph of a newly married couple. Perhaps most interesting are the photographs of current and former American soldiers -- for example, this collection contains an uncommon photograph of a Spanish-American War soldier stationed at Camp Poland, Tennessee, and a photograph of two men wearing GAR Veterans' Medals, marking them as former Civil War soldiers.