Harriet Martin Dey Photograph Collection

Collection Facts

Extent:

Dates of Original:

1899-1900

Historical Context

Harriet Martin (1868-1949) was a niece of Edward Martin (1811-1893), a wealthy Red Hook farmer and railroad pioneer. Edward purchased land in Illinois from the railroad companies and made his fortune in real estate. Harriet, born in Illinois, traveled between there and Red Hook and, using dry plate photography, documented her visits to various sites in Chicago and in Red Hook. She married Marvin Hull Dey, of Iowa City, in 1907 and is buried there. The original donation of her glass plate negatives to the Red Hook-Tivoli Bicentennial Committee was arranged by Sylvester Pulver and Louise Pulver Breazzano, descendants of the Pulvers who worked for the Martins. Clara Losee later donated the slides to the Egbert Benson Historical Society, predecessor to Historic Red Hook.

Scope of Collection

Selected images of Red Hook and the Hudson Valley by Harriet Martin Dey, most photographed between 1899 and 1900. They depict local structures (houses, mills, hotels, churches), Hudson River scenes, and family activities. The collection consists of 167 glass plate negatives and prints made from the negatives.