Painter (Milton McFarland, Sr.) Collection PI/1988.0006

The Painter (Milton McFarland, Sr.) Collection consists of images of 1,073 black-and-white photographic prints in two albums. A self-taught photographer, Milton McFarland Painter Sr. produced images of Friars Point, Mississippi, regions surrounding Coahoma County, and vacation stops across the western United States, Mexico, and Canada from about 1912 to the 1920s. Painter was especially interested in the Mississippi River, its levees and lakes, and the steamboats that made frequent stops in Friars Point. He used a Kodak camera that generated three-inch by five-inch (3"x5") negatives, which he meticulously cataloged and filed.

Milton Painter kept detailed notes about the people and places he photographed. He identified Chisms, Hebdons, and other neighbors in Friars Point; actors Charlie Chaplin and Sarah Bernhardt; and many sea- and river-faring vessels.