Digital Exhibits

Man and Children in a Brick Factory

A man and two children stand next to brick-making machinery inside a brickyard in Wilkesboro, near the town of Banks, Oregon circa 1910-1914. They may be the brickyard owner and his son and daughter. The man is wearing business clothes, a hat, tie and a pocketwatch chain, while the children are wearing sandals and clothes that would be suitable for play. Other photographs of the same brickyard show workers wearing much rougher and dirtier clothing; see photographs PUA_MS154_036a and PUA_MS154_036b. They are standing inside a shed which sheltered the brick-making machines. Stacks of bricks are drying in the background.

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, 1880-2029

circa 1910-1914

PUA_MS154_050

Brickmaking

Brickworks

Photography of families

Forest Grove, Oregon

Banks, Oregon

Gelatin silver negatives

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Pacific University Archives