JEFFERS STUDIO ARCHIVES (1903 to 1973)
Most photographs in this collection are from the archives of Jeffers Art Studio of Olympia, Washington. Initial research has placed the number of images at approximately 260,000. Every type of negative produced in this time period from glass plates to 35mm color, including hundreds of original black & white and hand-colored photographic prints on paper.
Jeffers Art Studio was a commercial, portrait and fine art, photographic studio operated as a family business. Joseph C. Jeffers (1882 - 1924), who learned the trade from professional photographer A.D. Rogers established his own business in 1903. After his premature death on Mt. Olympus in 1924 it continued for period by his wife, Opal Prigmore Jeffers after his premature death and was operated from 1930 to 1973 by their son, Vibert Jeffers (Jeffers (1905 - 1975).
Joe Jeffers launched his photography career as a student, mentored by the pioneering Olympia photographer A. D. Rogers. Following Joe's sudden death during a photographic expedition in the Olympic Mountains in 1924, his wife Opal took over the business. After a few years, their son Vibert returned from his education at the University of Washington, settled down into a new marriage and he and his new wife took over from his mother and operated their wildly successful enterprise until his retirement in 1973. Vibert's distinctive style was influenced by his studies in Los Angeles in the early 1930s. The Jeffers family's legacy comprised a wide range of subjects such as state and local government, portraits, businesses, aerial views, streets, events, residences, and industry. And, notably, the collection includes hundreds of negatives of Washington State Government, its people places and events.
