Mary Pickford

The photograph series of the Mary Pickford papers spans the years 1893–1980 and encompasses approximately 47 linear feet. The series consists of some 25,000 items, including prints, frame enlargements, film frames, color slides, transparencies, copy negatives, and original nitrate negatives, from which the library has struck modern archival fiber preservation/reference prints. The photographs are grouped into motion picture production photographs and biography photographs.

The motion picture production photographs span the years 1909–1933 and are subdivided into feature films and short films. The feature films consist of production photographs from all 52 of Pickford's completed features as well as a few uncompleted projects. The material is arranged alphabetically by film title. The photographs consist of scene, off-camera, candid, publicity portrait, set reference, and miscellaneous publicity photographs. Among those pictured are Douglas Fairbanks, Charles Chaplin, Marshall Neilan, Charles Rosher, and Pickford's mother, Charlotte. The short films span the years 1909–1913 and consist of production photographs (mostly frame enlargements made from 35mm fine-grain masters) for 78 of the more than 100 Biograph shorts in which Pickford appeared. Arranged chronologically, the material includes such titles as The Broken Locket (1909), The Awakening (1909), The Thread of Destiny (1910), Ramona (1910), Three Sisters (1911), The Mender of Nets (1912), A Beast at Bay (1912), Friends (1912), and The Informer (1912). There is limited photographic coverage on the approximately 40 short films Pickford made for the Independent Motion Picture Co. (IMP) in 1911. Two U.S. Government films Pickford made during World War I to promote the sale of Liberty Bonds are represented.

The biography photographs span the years 1893–1980 and include portraits, general publicity photographs not related to specific films, photographs of Pickfair, and photographs and snapshots relating to the Pickford family and the Rogers family. The portraits include works by Russell Ball, Nelson Evans, Fred Hartsook, Albert Witzel, George Hurrell, Charlotte Fairchild, and others. There is material on her stage career before she began acting in films, as well as general publicity photographs, mostly from the 1920s and 1930s, that relate not only to her activities in the film industry, particularly with regard to United Artists, but also to her charitable and civic work. A large number of photographs document Pickford's numerous public appearances with other celebrities and dignitaries. Douglas Fairbanks and Charles "Buddy" Rogers are well represented. Materials relating specifically to Pickford's brother, Jack; her sister, Lottie; and her mother, Charlotte, were transferred to the library's Core Collection Biography Files.

Gift of Charles "Buddy" Rogers, 1980, 1983; Edward G. Stotsenberg, 1984; Mr. and Mrs. Buddy Rogers, 1994; the Mary Pickford Foundation, 1995, 1998; Sull Lawrence, 1998; the Mary Pickford Foundation, 2000.