American Historical Ephemera & Photography

32 x 13 1/4 in. silver gelatin composite presentation photograph featuring a group portrait of Company D, 95th Engineer Batallion at Fort Belvor, VA, ca 1941, credited to Leonard Parke of Orlando, FL (toned, with minor wear to edges and corners). A list of all individuals in Company D is presented beneath the group portrait and between other images featuring the living quarters, mess hall, regimental band, and more. -- 16 x 10 in. mounted silver gelatin photograph featuring an African American naval class captioned in print beneath image. Bainbridge, MD, March 1944 (numerous separations and spots of discoloration, soiling, and abrasion, mounted to large piece of cardstock). -- 7 x 5 in. silver gelatin print featuring a large group of young African American men and women captioned and credited in the negative "N.A.A.C.P. Youth Council" and "Blackburn Studios" (2 in. tear extending from top edge downward, some discoloration, wear to edges and corners). Harriet Blackburn can be seen at the far left of the front row. -- 7 x 5 in. silver gelatin print featuring three young men, two of whom are African American, seated at a table with a sign reading "Photography" (toned, significant loss to upper right corner, creasing to other corners). -- 7 x 5 in. silver gelatin print featuring 9 African American young women posed around what appears to be a basketball, captioned and credited in the negative "1939 HS Jolly + Worker's" and "R.L.B." (light toning, soiling, some creasing to corners). -- 8 x 10 in. silver gelatin print featuring Robert L. Blackburn in uniform, taken at Fort Huachuca, AZ, inscribed and signed on image: "To the 'Sweetest Sweetheart' in the World From 'Her Soldier Boy' Robert '43." Additional inscription on verso. -- And more than 400 additional photographs featuring individuals and groups related to the Blackburn family including Robert Blackburn's Boyscout troop, his coworkers at the Ohio Bureau of Unemployment Compensation, additional military photographs, and many more. Some credited to Blackburn Studio on verso. Condition varies, but generally fair. 

JOHNSON, Lyndon B. (1908-1973). Presidential memorial certificate stamped with Johnson's signature in honor of Robert L. Blackburn. Washington, DC, 1967. 8 x 10 in. (some soiling and creasing to lower right corner). With envelope addressed to Mrs. Harriet Blackburn with return address "The White House." -- Franklin County Council of Democratic Negro Women 5th Biennial Spring Meeting April 19th and 20th, 1952. Columbus, OH, 1952. 7 x 8 1/2 in. program featuring numerous advertisements from local vendors including Hollywood Studios, for which Robert L. Blackburn was the photographer. -- Compensator. Vol. VIII, No. 2, 1944. 7 3/4 x 10 1/2 in. magazine dedicated to employees of the Ohio Bureau of Unemployment Compensation who were serving in the military. Page 13 features a portrait of "Pvt. R. L. Blackburn" in uniform, captioned, "now somewhere in the southwest Pacific area, is a former clerk in the Benefits Department. He entered the U. S. Army Oct. 31, 1942, and now has the rating of Technician, Fifth Class." -- And more than 37 other pamphlets, documents, cards, notes, and newspaper clippings related to the family of Robert L. Blackburn, many of which are sympathy cards to his wife Harriet Blackburn. -- Together, 40 pieces of ephemera.

14 1/4 x 11 3/8 in. album containing 230 silver gelatin photographs, most snapshots approx. 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. First page features a 93rd Infantry Division patch along with a snapshot of Robert Blackburn in uniform including the patch, worn on the arm of his jacket. Most images appear to have been captured during the unit's time at Fort Huachuca in Arizona ca 1942-43. -- 8 7/8 x 7 in. album containing 136 photographs, most snapshots approx. 3 3/8 x 2 3/8 in. Most images appear to be military photographs, capturing scenes and subjects from Robert Blackburn's service in the South Pacific. Some loose photographs have Army Examiner stamps to versos. -- And 4 additional albums. Together, 6 photo albums containing images of members of the Blackburn family and related subjects. 

Archive housed in a vintage suitcase with significant wear consistent with use and age. 

The 93rd Infantry Division was a segregated unit of the United States Army in both world wars, fighting primarily under French command in the first world war, and being reactivated in May of 1942 at Fort Huachuca for service in the Pacific during the second.

Robert L. Blackburn (1911-1967) was raised in Youngstown, OH, where he attended public school and joined the Third Baptist Church. Blackburn had an interest in and aptitude for photography, owning his own studios in Youngstown and Columbus. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1940 at the age of 29, and had service as a sergeant in the 93rd Signal Co. of the 93rd Division of Infantry. In 1946, he married Mrs. Harriet Blackburn, and together they had 4 children. At some point he and his family moved to Cleveland, where he worked for 23 years as a claim examiner at the Bureau of Unemployment. He joined he Temple Baptist Church in Cleveland, and served as Scoutmaster for a Boy Scout troop, receiving the Silver Beaver award in 1966. He passed away at Forest City Hospital on 1 April 1967.