Liberty Studio photograph collection

Collection

Identifier: 1000-035

Scope and Contents

This collection includes photographs of 11 soldiers and sailors taken at Liberty Studio in the 1940s. Most of the soldiers posed for two photos, one serious portrait and one smiling portrait. For each individual, there is an envelope stamped with the studio’s information and handwritten details about development of the photo. Some envelopes also include the name of the individual and who the photo should be sent to, presumably loved ones of the serviceman. The negatives for the photos are also included.

Dates

Creation: circs 1940s

Creator

Flatte, David (Person)
Flatte, Joseph (Person)
Liberty Studio (Seattle, Wash.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open and available for use.

Conditions Governing Use

Biographical / Historical

Liberty Studio first appears in the Seattle Polk City Directories in 1941. The studio was run by David and Joseph Flatte. The studio remained in operation at 1011 1st Ave. through 1980, although it was under different ownership by that time.

The studio’s location near the waterfront in downtown Seattle likely made it a convenient spot for servicemen to have their photos taken for loved ones before they departed overseas. During World War II and the Korean War, Seattle’s Piers 36-39 served as a Port of Embarkation, organizing the transportation of troops and supplies across the Pacific.

Full Extent

.21 Linear Feet (1 box) : 21 photographs

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.

Additional Description

Abstract

Photographs of servicemen taken at Liberty Studio in downtown Seattle in the 1940s.

Arrangement

Folders within the collection are organized alphabetically according to the name of the individual photographed which is sometimes included on the accompanying envelope. A few of the subjects are unidentified and have been interfiled with the rest of the names as “unidentified soldier” or “unidentified sailor.”

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collection was purchased.

Processing Information

The envelope in folder 7 was photographed and discarded due to mold issues. The photographs of the envelope are available in the folder.

Acknowledgement of Harmful Content
The Seattle Public Library Special Collections Department is committed to creating an inclusive archive that documents the history of our diverse communities in a respectful manner. Our collections include historic materials that may contain images and outdated language which can be harmful due to issues such as racism, colonialism, sexism and homophobia. This content can provide important insight into the creator and context of the historic materials but can also reveal hurtful biases and prejudices.

We may decide to use or retain harmful language in our description when the terms have been used by the creator(s) of the materials to describe themselves or their community; when we have reused description created by the donor; when we have transcribed information directly from the materials; and when using national standards such as Library of Congress Subject Headings, which allow for standardized searching and retrieval of records. When including language from the original material in our finding aids or descriptions, we will indicate that this material comes directly from the original item by putting the language in quotes or prefacing it with a note that says the description is transcribed from the item or provided by the creator.

We will continually review our finding aids to identify harmful language and encourage you to contact us at specialcollections@spl.org if you find language that causes concern.