The Photo Scrapbooks of Architect Jack Pickens Coble

While CCAHA often works with large institutions like art museums, historical societies, archives, and academic institutions, our organization equally enjoys working with private clients to help them restore and preserve cherished artifacts. A recent project that came through the lab focused on two photo scrapbooks of a well-known architect named Jack Pickens Coble (1904-1994). 

The Coble scrapbooks came to the lab after photo collector, Robert Newlen, acquired one of them at auction and decided he wanted to ensure the images and the story of Coble’s life endured. 

“I have a real interest in photography, and in collecting photography, and I'm very interested in vernacular photography,” said Newlen. “So I've collected for a long time, and I have thousands of photographs. But [the Coble scrapbook] really appealed to me when I saw it at auction. I was really fascinated with it, because it was an intersection of three big things in my life — architecture, photography, and gay interest.”

Vernacular photography is photography from amateurs or non-artists. Coble’s photos tell the story of a gay man’s life during a time when being openly out was much less accepted in society. 

The albums date back to the 1940s. Coble was a soldier during World War II and later went on to study architecture at the Cornell University College of Architecture. Among his accomplishments, he designed the House of Good Taste for the 1964 World’s Fair and composer Cole Porter’s home in Massachusetts, according to his New York Times obituary.

After doing some research about Coble, Newlen realized he wanted to preserve the images and keep Coble’s story alive, but the albums were not in great shape. Many of the photos had fallen off the pages, due to failing adhesive, and ephemeral items, like newspaper clippings, were incredibly fragile. Newlen was working as a librarian at the Library of Congress and asked a co-worker for a recommendation for treatment and digitization options.

“Oh, you have to go to Philadelphia. They're the best,” Newlen recalled his co-worker saying. “The utter cheer that [CCAHA conservators] took in preserving this album. ... It's just really a wonderful artifact now, and I'm happy that it's not going to continue to deteriorate.”

Soon after the first album’s treatment, Newlen continued his research on Coble and was able to connect with Coble’s great niece who had another photo album she insisted on giving to him. 

“She said, ‘I've got another scrapbook. And I want you to have it’” Newlen said. 

The second scrapbook contained more photographs, in addition to letters from Cole Porter and more insight into Coble’s personal life, including a letter from a soldier love interest who was captured and taken to a German prison camp. 

“The photos reveal so much about his life, and how challenging it must have been,” said Newlen. “I have this empathy for Jack about living in the closet and trying to carve out a gay life in a world where it was not accepted or tolerated. And he must have had to work hard at it. I think judging from the photos, they look like they're having fun and enjoying life.”

Newlen felt so strongly about preserving Coble’s story that he brought the second album to CCAHA for conservation treatment. The album underwent treatment that will ensure longevity of the items. Conservators disbanded the album, cleaned the photos, mended tears, and re-adhered photos. Each loose item was then placed in a polyester “L” sleeve and the entire album was placed in a custom-fitted clamshell box. The entire contents and cover will also be digitized at CCAHA, and the files used to create a bound facsimile reference volume.

“It's just such an important story,” Newlen said. “I felt like it was worth the time and money to preserve it, because I think it's an important document. You know, this is where we all wind up eventually, in photos. There was a really cool New York Times article I read and it talked about the topic about who will be the last person to see your image.”

Now, Newlen hopes to take the photo albums in their entirety and have them published as a facsimile so that Coble’s story may live on. Newlen plans to write an introduction and include information about Coble’s life and career. 

CCAHA has been increasing efforts to reach out to more individuals and communities to help them learn about how to become stewards of their own personal collections. The newly launched program, “Our Stuff, Our Stories,” will offer preservation consultations, scanning services, and rehousing options through a series of pop-up programs. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media to learn more about these community events.

Photos, from top: Weights apply gentle pressure to re-adhere loose photographs to a scrapbook once belonging to architect Jack Pickens Coble; CCAHA Senior Photograph Conservator Barbara Lemmen applies adhesive to a photograph before re-attaching it in its original place in one of the scrapbooks; Detail of applying adhesive and placing photographs; Detail of lightly weighting photographs; Final after-treatment reference photo of one of the Jack Pickens Coble scrapbooks in its new housing from CCAHA.