Wish You Were Here: The Church History Library Postcard Collection
In this post, library cataloger LeChele Gishi highlights a special project focused on gathering and digitizing the library’s vast collection of postcards. She also discusses how postcards can be a valuable research tool.
One of the most underutilized and overlooked resources available to researchers is postcards; perhaps it is due to their ephemeral nature. But these simple pictures can assist in the study of history because they capture brief and significant moments.
There are several thousand postcards in the Church History Library’s collection. Until recently, postcards were cataloged individually or kept in larger collections. While this allowed for separate treatment of each item, searching for specific postcards was difficult. Various cards had similar names, and without a visual component, identifying and comparing images was difficult. Researchers had to rely on textual descriptions of what the postcards looked like, which may or may not have captured minute differences.
In order to make these resources more accessible, a small project was approved, and library staff conducted an assessment of the postcards in the library collection. Approximately 1,440 postcards were rehoused and compiled into one collection. A register was created to better organize the collection and assist researchers in finding specific postcards. The final step was to digitize the images to provide access and eliminate the need for continual handling of the collection. This new Postcard Collection (23600379) is now available in the Church History Library Catalog.
Postcards are great resources for documenting history and culture. For the fashion historian, they provide images of historical fashion. For architectural historians, they are a wealth of images of architecture throughout a period. A quick search on YouTube results in numerous videos utilizing postcards to tell many different stories, highlighting their usefulness in visually sharing history. On the New York Public Library’s blog, research librarian Carmen Nigro writes about the importance of postcards in the realm of public history. Nigro provides recommendations on how postcards can be utilized in research:
- “Identification of physical features of buildings or geological formations.”
The Church History Library postcard collection houses multiple pictures of well-known buildings, allowing researchers to see pictures of the Salt Lake Tabernacle under construction or the Harold B. Lee Library on Brigham Young University campus before its recent addition.
- “Confirmation of cultural, historical, and literary associations of sites via inscriptions or captions.”
Did you know there were underground restrooms near Temple Square? Pictorial evidence from postcards and research show that, yes, these unique structures existed at one point.
- “Find ephemeral evidence of a site.”
Pictures of Temple Square show how both it and the streets around it have changed over time based on the images on the postcards.
- “Reveal details that have been altered or destroyed over time.”1
Many of the postcards show how points of interest have changed over time. Explore the collection to identify changes in places you have visited or places that are important to your research.
In addition to Nigro’s points, there are other important factors helpful for research. According to Frank T. Morn in his article on prisons and popular culture, “Postcard images reflected social attitudes and values.”2 Several of the postcards in the collection show an outsider’s view of the Church and its members, showing how parts of society might have viewed the Latter-day Saints.
They can also show what types of recreation were popular during a point of time, such as these images from Saltair, a popular recreation site on the Great Salt Lake. Anthropologists and historians who study leisure and culture can use the images to observe the importance of recreation in Utah at the turn of the century.
Postcards can present a special history of a subject, providing visual evidence of change and popular views. While postcards may seem insignificant or transitory, these images offer historical snapshots of architecture, society, and culture. We are pleased to be able to share this collection with you.