June 2, 2008

"The Picture Man: Lansing through the Lens of R. C. Leavenworth" - featuring the work of a photographer who has captured hundreds of thousands of images that tell the story of industry, business and social life in Michigan's capital city - appears today through Sept. 30 in the Michigan Historical Museum's first-floor special exhibits gallery.

The exhibit showcases one of the Archives of Michigan's major collections, taken by Leavenworth Photography in Lansing. Including an estimated 200,000 negatives, it is the largest and most comprehensive historical photograph collection of Lansing in existence, according to State Archivist Mark Harvey.

"The exhibit provides a glimpse of the collection's true hallmark - its wide scope - with subjects as diverse as street scenes, car parts, workers' strikes, vaudeville troupes and football games," said Harvey. "R.C. Leavenworth lived up to the slogan plastered on the door of his company car: 'Anything photographed, anywhere, anytime.'"

Using a horse-drawn darkroom, R. C. Leavenworth started out photographing lumbering and mining camps in northern Michigan. He relocated to Lansing in 1919 to document Lansing's transformation from the dirt roads of its pre-capital days through its boom into a major industrial city and automotive capital, and throughout the 20th century.

"Picture Man" is sponsored by the Archives of Michigan and the Friends of Michigan History. Admission is free of charge. For more information, please call (517) 373-3559.

The Michigan Historical Museum is located inside the Michigan Library and Historical Center, 702 West Kalamazoo St., two blocks west of the State Capitol in downtown Lansing. The main entrance and visitor parking are located off of Kalamazoo Street, just east of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Museum hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Admission and weekend parking are free. The Michigan Historical Museum, the flagship of the Michigan Historical Museum System, is fully accredited by the American Association of Museums. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/museum or call (517) 373-3559, TDD (517) 373-1592.

The Archives of Michigan serves as the collective memory of our state government, housing much of Michigan's documented heritage. Dating back to 1792, the records preserved by the Archives of Michigan are one-of-a-kind and extremely important. More than 80 million state and local government records and private papers, 300,000 photographs and 500,000 maps, plus films and audiotapes, are available for public research. To learn more, visit www.michigan.gov/archivesofmi.

The Michigan Historical Museum and the Archives of Michigan are divisions of the Michigan Historical Center, an agency of the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL). Dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage and fostering cultural creativity, HAL also includes the Library of Michigan, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/hal.

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).