J.C. Allen Photography Expo

Join us on August 28th in the Elm and Maple Rooms for this mounted showcase of historic photos of West Lafayette and Purdue University taken by local photographer J.C. Allen.

John Calvin Allen was the photographer at Purdue for the first half of the 20th century. His family lived on Northwestern Avenue, and his children attended local schools.  The J.C. Allen Collection at West Lafayette Public Library Archives features original photos and negatives by J.C. Allen, diaries kept by his daughter Martha, and dozens of digitized images.  Donated to the Library by Allen’s grandson, John Allen Benham, the J.C. Allen Collection offers patrons the opportunity to learn more about life in West Lafayette for this family in the 1920s and 1930s.

The exposition of photos will open at 5 PM, and a feature program by Fred Whitford will start at 5:45 PM.  Fred, the author of Memories of Life on the Farm: Through the Lens of Pioneer Photographer J. C. Allen,  works for Purdue Extension and will present a program that explores Allen’s history in the community with photos from the J.C. Allen Collection. This presentation will be livestreamed on the Library’s Facebook.

This program is part of the Joint Program Series being put co-directed by WLPL and TCHA.  This program is open to the public.