Eleanor Fullerton at Blooming Rose Arbors, LIRR Experimental Farm, Medford, c. June 1916, by Hal B. Fullerton [Autochrome glass plate]. (Image from Harry T. Tuthill / Hal B. Fullerton Collection of the Suffolk County Historical Society Library & Archive. Copyright (c) Suffolk County Historical Society. All rights reserved.)
As John Steinbeck once said, “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?” With the first day of summer only nine days away, this week's historic photo brings us back in full "Autochrome" color to summertime in Medford in June 1916. We can pinpoint the month because the rambling roses are in peak bloom in the image.
Digitally restored from the original Autochrome glass plate, this stunning photograph features celebrated photographer Hal Fullerton's daughter Eleanor standing by a series of rose arbors made from tree limbs.
Autochrome Lumière, an early color photography process created by the Lumière brothers in France in the early 1900s, was the primary color photography process in use before the advent of color film in the 1930s. The Autochrome process used a glass plate covered with grains of potato starch dyed to act as primary-color filters and black dust that blocked all unfiltered light. It was then coated with a thin film of panchromatic emulsion, resulting in a positive color transparency.
by Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Head Librarian
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