Baker's Art Gallery was a photography studio in Columbus, Ohio from 1862 to 1955. Among those to have their portraits taken were Kyrle Bellew, William McKinley, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Annie Oakley. They also won first place at various exhibitions, including the World's Columbian Exhibition.

Background edit

Lorenzo Marvin Baker was born April 25, 1834, and came to Columbus, Ohio in 1854.[1] He worked at the Neil House Hotel, and was an officer in the state penitentiary under Governor Chase, and served for a short time in the Union Army during the American Civil War.[1][2] In 1862 he started a photography business and established a gallery.[1][2]

Baker took on his employee, John Samuel Schneider, (1860 - 1926),[3] and his son, Duane Henry Baker, (1859 - 1934),[4] as equal 1/3 partners in the business after the younger Baker graduated from Ohio State University and Schneider from Baldwin-Wallace College.[1] They ran a highly successful business that included Presidents Hayes, McKinley, Taft, and Harding as clients.[5] After the founder died in 1924, Duane Baker continued the business.[2] Two more generations of the Baker family continued the business until 1955, when they donated their photos and negatives to the Ohio Historical Society.[6]

Locations edit

The gallery was located in the 1880s at 163 & 167 South High St., and later moved to 106 S. High Street,[2] and 232 S. High Street.[5] They moved to another location after 1939.[5]

Awards edit

John S. Schneider was president of the Photographers Association of America in 1895.[5] The gallery won the Photographers Association of America Gold Medal in 1889, Chicago Worlds Fair, Highest Award, 1893, Photographer's Association of Germany, grand prize, 1897[5] and awards at the Ohio State Fair, beginning in 1874, for photographs plain and finished with watercolor and ink.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Van Tassel, Charles Sumner (1896). Familiar Faces of Ohio : a souvenir collection of portraits and sketches of well-known men of the Buckeye State and Men of Wood County, and other familiar faces. p. 83. OCLC 2503778.
  2. ^ a b c d e Howard, Arnett (February 1, 2012). "The Baker Art Gallery". Columbus Bicentennial blog. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
  3. ^ "Burial Records - S". Greenlawn Cemetery. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
  4. ^ "Burial Records - B". Greenlawn Cemetery. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Baker Art Gallery, 232 S. High St., Columbus, Ohio" (PDF). Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey. Retrieved 2012-06-18.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "OhioPix - Baker Art Gallery Exterior Photograph". Ohio Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
  7. ^ 1880's Cabinet Card Baker's Art Gallery Columbus With Portrait on Reverse of Dr. Catherine Graw Arndt of Amherst, Ohio, the first female doctor of Lorain County, Ohio