The Lost Photographs of Osbert Sumner

The Lost Photographs of Osbert Sumner opens at the Central Library on Sunday, November 15, with a session led by Deedee Davis, a board member of the Irvington Historical Society and Reference Archivist for the Indianapolis City-County Archives. It's part of the Culture, History, and Society: Historic Indianapolis program.

The photographs themselves have a bit of a story. In 1898, Osbert Sumner (1873–1932) was given a camera by his coworkers after leaving his job at a downtown wholesale grocery, and he spent the following years capturing Indianapolis at the turn of the twentieth century. For decades, his glass negatives sat under the basement stairs of his Irvington home, hidden until later owners found them and donated them to the Irvington Historical Society. There were no names or dates attached—just more than 300 images waiting to be identified.

For over seven years, researchers at the society have worked to piece together the people, places, and stories the photos depict. The session follows that collaborative research process and the discoveries it's made, so you'll get to see not just the images, but the work that went into figuring out what they actually are. It's a look at the city from someone who was out there walking its streets when the century was just turning.

The session runs from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM in the Indianapolis Special Collections Room (ISCR), on the 6th floor of the Central Library, 40 East Saint Clair Street. Admission is free.