John A. Barrows Photograph Collection

John A. Barrows Photograph Collection

Barrows, John A.

Photography - Virginia

Historic buildings - Virginia - Williamsburg

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
John A. Barrows joined the staff of the Williamsburg office of Boston architects Perry, Shaw & Hepburn as a draftsman in the early days of the restoration. Remaining with them until his untimely death, Barrows assisted in the restoration of the College of William and Mary's Wren Building, and was involved with design work for the reconstructed Raleigh Tavern, Capitol, and Governor's Palace. In addition to his research and restoration work, John A. Barrows co-authored "The Domestic Colonial Architecture of Tidewater Virginia" with colleague Thomas Waterman.

As part of his field research, Barrows--at the wheel of his 1928 Buick roadster "Lucy"--photographed numerous buildings and plantations throughout the Tidewater region, including sites in the now restored historic area of Williamsburg, Bacon's Castle, Cleve, Carter's Grove, King William Courthouse, Mt. Airy, Mt. Vernon, Rosewell, Stratford Hall, Sabine Hall, Shirley, Little England, the U.S. Capitol, and the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. These photographs form the core of the collection. The John A. Barrows Photograph Collection is an important adjunct to existing groups of photographic documentation for buildings in Williamsburg's historic area and of Virginia architecture.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

Black and white photographs, negatives, postcards, and miscellaneous items of Norfolk native John Alden Barrows (b. ca. 1905, d. 1931), architect for the Colonial Williamsburg Restoration. The photographs--some taken by Barrows, Thomas Waterman, Milton Grigg and others--remain in their original order, which follows a somewhat erratic alphabetical arrangement by site/subject.

The John A. Barrows Photograph Collection contains photoprints, taken mainly in Virginia and South Carolina, negatives, portraits, and personal papers and objects. The Photoprints series comprises the bulk of the collection, numbering close to 800 items. The photos, taken by architect and photographer John A. Barrows, display homes, churches, college buildings, and other structures along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Most of the photos were taken in Virginia and South Carolina, but other locations include New Jersey and Maryland. The prints were made in two sizes, 2.5x4 inches and 5x7 inches. The Negatives series has not been inventoried. John A. Barrows is the subject of the portraits found in the Portraits Series. The five images were all taken at different times. The final series, Personal Papers and Objects, includes some of Barrows' writings as well as memorabilia from trips and celebrations.

Barrows, John A.

Circa 1930

John A. Barrows Photograph Collection, MS1996.22

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Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation