Jerusalem

65528 — Jerusalem 1930. Original black & white photographic print 23 x 29 cm blind-stamp of the American Colony Jerusalem to lower right corner above which is the caption '4 Jerusalem & Olivet'. Old purple stamp to verso. Generally in very good condition. The American religious foundation and philanthropy that informally became known as the American Colony of Jerusalem was established in the Ottoman Empire in 1881 as a "Christian utopian society" led by American religious leader Horatio Gates Spafford and his Norwegian wife Anne Tobine Larsen Øglende. Largely concerned with providing social services education meeting spaces and medical care it became known for producing and publishing an important documentation photographic series of the area of Jerusalem starting in the early 1900s. The community lasted until the 1950s. Around 1900 Elijah Meyers a member of the American Colony began taking photographs of places and events in and around the city of Jerusalem. Meyers's work eventually expanded into a full-fledged photographic division within the colony including Hol Lars Lewis Larsson and G. Eric Matson who later renamed the effort as The Matson Photo Service. Their interest in archaeological artifacts such as the Lion Tower in Tripoli pictured here and the detail of their photographs led to widespread interest in their work by archaeologists. The collection was later donated to the Library of Congress [Jerusalem, 1930]. unknown