The The Photographic Archive of Fairfax County, Virginia - The Slide Collection, 1961-1998

Access and use

Location of collection:
Fairfax County Public Library
Fairfax County Public Library
City of Fairfax Regional Library
Virginia Room
10360 North Street
Fairfax, VA 22030-2514
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Chris Barbuschak
Phone: (703) 293-2142
Phone: (703) 293-6227 ext. 6 (Virginia Room)
Fax: (703) 293-2155

Summary

Extent:
2.5 linear feet
Creator:
Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library
Abstract:
The Photographic Archive of Fairfax County, Virginia - The Slide Collection consists of 2.5 linear feet of 2,660 color and black and white photographic slides spanning the years 1961-1998.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The Photographic Archive of Fairfax County, Virginia - The Slide Collection consists of 2.5 linear feet of 2,660 color and black and white photographic slides spanning the years 1961-1998. Subjects consist of homes, churches, people, events, building exteriors and interiors, documents, portraits, and landscapes significant to Fairfax County’s history. The collection is the result of donations by various photographers, both private individuals and county departments, although very few have been identified.

Biographical / historical:

In the mid-1950s, Mary K. McCulloch, Director of Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL), established the Virginiana Collection. Ever since then, individuals, authors, private organizations, and public agencies have donated photographs, negatives, slides, postcards, and copies of prints to what is now known as the Virginia Room located in the City of Fairfax Regional Library. The photographic archive grew after 1965 with the establishment of the Fairfax County Historical Landmarks Preservation Commission (later renamed the Fairfax County History Commission) when they continuously donated hundreds of images. The now defunct History Program of the Fairfax County Office of Comprehensive Planning also contributed photographs from their inventory of historic sites and preservation programs.

By the late 1970s, the number of images in the photographic archive reached into the thousands, making retrieval extremely difficult. In response to this problem, the Fairfax County History Commission funded a project of organizing, inventorying, and classifying the collection. Upon completion in 1981, the History Commission published the book Catalog of the Photographic Archive of Fairfax County, Virginia.

At the time, the archive’s slide collection consisted of approximately 1,500 35- millimeter color and black and white slides. Virginia Room librarian Karen Ann Moore compiled an index of the slide collection for the History Commission’s published catalog, however it remained incomplete until the creation of this finding aid in 2021. There are 2,660 slides in this collection which depict historic buildings, documents, events, and many other visual aspects of the county’s history.

Acquisition information:
Collection assembled over a 50-year period from donations by various photographers including private individuals and county agencies.