Clapshaw Glass Plate Negatives

Girls at a Party

A group of girls mostly aged around 4-8 years old, at a party in the vicinity of Forest Grove, Oregon circa 1910-1914, likely in the Hillside neighborhood northwest of town near Gales Creek. This was probably the birthday party of the girl who is sitting on a chair in the center. She is wearing a large bow on her head and a pinned flower or ribbon on her chest. The same girl appears in at least one other image by the same photographer (see image PUA_MS154_005); she may have been the photographer's daughter or niece. The small table behind her appears to hold a birthday cake with candles, a vase of flowers and several other desserts. A woman holding a younger child aged around 2 stands on the right. The house they are standing next to has unpainted siding; an outhouse and another house appear on the hill in behind them.

This is one image from a set of glass plate negatives created by William Alonso Clapshaw. Clapshaw was a clerk and shopkeeper who lived near Forest Grove, Oregon for most of his life. He was born in 1880, probably at the family's home in the Hillside neighborhood of Forest Grove, on what is now Clapshaw Hill Road east of Gales Creek. Around 1910-1914, William took an interest in photography and created a set of glass plate negatives documenting scenes near his family's lands as well as images of himself, his friends and family members. He most likely used a silver gelatin dry plate process. The photographs were donated to the Pacific University Archives in 2023.

Clapshaw, William Alonso, 1880-2032

circa 1910-1914

PUA_MS154_053

Children's parties

Parties

Girls

Forest Grove, Oregon

Gales Creek, Oregon

Gelatin silver negatives

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Pacific University Archives