urn:taro:utexas.cah.01951 A Guide to the C.C. Casteel Photograph Collection, ca. 1920s-1960s Original EAD encoding by Jane Gruning according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. October 2010 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Casteel, C.C. 1898-1973 C.C. Casteel Photograph Collection ca. 1920s-1960s Materials are written in English. 94-361 10 ft. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin The collection, comprising prints, negatives, photo-masks, and receipts from the studio’s operations, documents Texarkana and its citizens. The shots tend to be traditional studio portraits, but candid and commercial outdoor shots exist as well. There are also photographs of local businesses, aerial shots of the city, images describing before-and-after medical procedures, and photographic duplications of documents. The collection represents a valuable research aid for those interested in the history of Texarkana, and the United States in general in the 20th Century. Its imagery is decidedly quotidian for the most part, but because of this, one gets a real sense of the everyday America, and how these everyday Americans sought to represent themselves. There are also glimpses of how society viewed “others” in the early to mid 20th century, exemplified by photographs (and particularly their descriptions) of minorities or the physically impaired. Biographical Note

Cyril C. Casteel (1898-1973) was a photographer working in Texarkana from ca. 1925-1960. He operated a photography studio by the name of C. C. Casteel Photo Studio ca. 1931-1960.

 Scope and Contents

The C.C. Casteel Photograph Collection (ca. 1920s-1960s), comprising prints, negatives, photo-masks, and receipts from the studio’s operations, documents Texarkana and its citizens. The shots tend to be traditional studio portraits, but candid and commercial outdoor shots exist as well. There are also photographs of local businesses, aerial shots of the city, images describing before-and-after medical procedures, and photographic duplications of documents.

Arrangement

The C.C. Casteel Photograph Collection was originally stored in envelopes by the creator, with either the name of the person who ordered the photographs, or the subject, written on the envelopes. The collection is arranged alphabetically by the name (or subject information) that was on the envelope. Photocopies of the envelopes are stored with the prints. If there are only negatives and no prints, a photocopy of the envelope is stored with the negative. In the case that there are both prints and negatives, photocopies are stored with the prints, and an asterisk on the enclosure indicates that there are accompanying prints or negatives.

Patrons looking for specific individuals by last name may want to check under "Mr.," "Mrs.," or "Miss" for that last name, because if the first name was recorded (and it often was not), it may have been preceded by the honorific.

Series

I. Prints II. Negatives III. Oversized Negatives

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Access to negatives is by appointment only. Contact repository for appointment.

 Use Restrictions

The negatives are stored remotely. Advance notice required for retrieval. Contact repository for retrieval.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Casteel, Cyril C.—archives Subjects (Organizations) J.C. Penney Co. Sears, Roebuck and Company Subjects Abnormalities, Human Aerial views—Texarkana African Americans Business City and town life Children and youth Commercial streets Department stores Domestic animals Drugstores Historic buildings Houses Merchants People with disabilities Pets Portrait photographs Schools Traffic accidents Wounds and injuries Places Arkansas Bowie County (Tex.) Louisiana Miller County (Ark.) Texarkana (Ark.) Texarkana (Tex.) Texas Preferred Citation

C.C. Casteel Photograph Collection, ca. 1920s-1960s, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Processing Information

This collection was processed by Elizabeth Seramur, 2008-2010; Jane Gruning, 2009-2011; Benjamin Philbrook, 2010-2011; Stephanie Nestor and Lisa Cruces, 2011-ongoing.

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.

This collection contains unprocessed materials.

 Detailed Description of the Papers Contact repository for inventory.