Verkin Photo Company Collection, 1900-1945

Creator Sketch:

The Verkin Photo Company was located in the city of Galveston, Texas, but also conducted business in the surrounding area including Texas City, and parts of East Texas. Photographers included Paul Verkin (1862-ca.1928) and his three sons: Paul Roland Verkin (1891-1958), Mulvin V. Verkin (1887-ca. 1946), and Louis M. Verkin (1893-ca. 1950). Paul Verkin senior was originally from Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1876 at the age of fourteen. It is unclear what precise date Paul Verkin senior began his photography company. Paul Roland Verkin, the middle son, had a few clerical jobs before joining his father in the photography business in 1913. He served as an office boy for Dr. A. A. Dyer from 1906-1907, was a clerk in the second vice-president’s office of the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway from 1908-1909 and also served as a clerk in the railroad’s passenger depot from 1909-1910. By 1913, he had joined the family business. It is unclear when the two other sons, Louis and Mulvin, became photographers, but they had both left the business and pursued other occupations by 1923.

Scope and Contents:

The Verkin Photo Company Collection includes a number of black and white prints as well as several glass plate and safety film negatives spanning the years 1900-1945. The majority of photographs in this collection represent daily life in Galveston throughout the first half of the 20th century as well as its more famous events such as the 1900 and 1915 hurricanes. The first of these hurricanes caused massive destruction and prompted the city of Galveston to construct a seawall and raise the level of the island for protection against future storms. Despite this vulnerability, Galveston continued to be a well-populated city with growing businesses and industry including shipping and fishing, the cotton industry, railroads, and tourism. By 1915, it was considered an important immigration port of entry and played a role in the housing and training of troops during WWI.

Significant images in the collection document these and other events in Galveston’s history and the surrounding area, namely, Texas City. They include the aftermath of the 1900 and 1915 hurricanes; the raising of the level of Galveston Island; local businesses and industry; the laying of telephone cable in Galveston Bay; aerial views of Galveston Island; views of schools, residences, and churches; unidentified oil field scenes (possibly from Goose Creek); photos of the aviation maverick, Douglas Corrigan; the 1947 Texas City disaster; views of the U.S. Immigration Station on Pelican Island; and soldiers camped at Texas City and Fort Crockett, Texas.

A 3,000-image collection of maritime photographs taken by the Verkins is housed at the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. The Rosenberg Library in Galveston also has a small Verkin collection.

Restrictions

Use Restrictions:

Prints are Unrestricted. Negatives are Restricted.

Administrative Information

Donated by Eric Steinfeldt.

Preferred Citation:

Verkin Photo Company Collection, 1900-1940, the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

 Archivist's Note: 

Descriptions of prints and negatives are those of the previous archivist done during initial processing of the collection. The current archivist has made a few additions to those descriptions. Five glass negatives remain formally unidentified, but most likely depict the aftermath of the 1900 or 1915 hurricanes. An asterisk [*] identifies prints and negatives that are associated with each other with location information bracketed. Any other extra information including prints that have copy negative numbers [CN], color transparency numbers [CT], duplicates, and additions to descriptions, are also located within brackets. This collection was donated to the Center for American History in 1957; there is no record of an accession number. Using the online finding aid, patrons may click the highlighted links next to the entries in the archive to view images scanned from that entry. To make an appointment to view other images from the archive, please contact the Photographs Archivist at peterson@austin.utexas.edu or (512) 495-4468.

Detailed Description of the Records