Description
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
J.C. Strauss Studio Photographs
Date(s)
- circa 1920 (Creation)
Extent
2.1 cubic feet (3 volumes)
Name of creator
Administrative history
Strauss Peyton is one of the oldest photographic portrait studios in the country. The studio originated as a St. Louis studio known as Strauss Studio. The major portrait photographer in St. Louis from 1880 until 1920 was J.C. Strauss. His custom designed studio-gallery was on Franklin Street in downtown St. Louis. J.C. Strauss' younger brother Benjamin Strauss, worked for him at an early age learning the photography business. In 1900 Benjamin Strauss moved to Kansas City, Missouri to start his own studio and hired an employee named Homer Peyton. Homer Peyton was so well liked an important to the Kansas City studio that Benjamin made him a partner and changed the name to Strauss Peyton.
Over the next several years Strauss and Peyton famously photographed and hobnobbed with the likes of Al Jolson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas MacAurthur, and Bette Davis to name a few. In 1911, J.C. Strauss' son Louis Strauss began working in the St. Louis Studio and took over for his father in 1924.
As the Great Depression took its toll on several businesses in the St. Louis area, the Strauss Studio was also affected. By 1940 the Strauss Studio in St. Louis had closed and in Kansas City, Benjamin Strauss and Homer Peyton had also parted ways and sold their Strauss Peyton studio.
The Strauss Peyton studio in Kansas City is still open today and has continued to be a major contributor in the Portrait Photography world. This is where the current owner of Strauss Peyton St. Louis, Colin Miller, began his photography career. After working at the Kansas City studio and learning the history and tradition of this great company, Colin had no choice but to bring it back to its origin. He reopened the St. Louis studio in 1990 in Clayton, Missouri.
Scope and content
This collection consists of 221 portrait photographs in three large, leather-bound volumes. The first two volumes feature prominent St. Louis Physicians, while the third volume features bankers and brokers.
System of arrangement
Conditions governing access
The collection is open and accessible for research.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Users of the collection should read and abide by the Rights and Permissions guidelines at the Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives.
Users of the collection who wish to cite items from this collection, in whole or in part, in any form of publication must request, sign, and return a Statement of Use form to the Archives.
For detailed information regarding use of this collection, contact the Archives and Rare Book Department of the Becker Library (arb@wusm.wustl.edu).
Preferred Citation:
Item description, Reference Code, Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives, Washington University in St. Louis.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Rules or conventions
"Describing Archives: A Content Standard, Second Edition (DACS), 2013."
Sources used
Archivist's note
© Copyright 2019 Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives. All rights reserved.