Guide to the Stephen Haboush Photograph Collection
NMAH.AC.1143

Administrative Information

Repository Information

Archives Center, National Museum of American History, 2012

P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C., 20013-7012
Phone: 202-633-3270
archivescenter@si.edu

Conditions Governing Access note

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use note

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

The collection was donated by Roger M. Lepley on January 1, 2009.

Processing Information note

Processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2012.

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Summary Information

Repository
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Creator
Haboush, Stephen A.
Title
Stephen Haboush Photograph Collection
ID
NMAH.AC.1143
Date
circa 1920-1960
Extent
1 Cubic feet, 11 boxes
Language
English
Abstract
This collection documents, through lantern slides, slides, prints and negatives, life in Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo, and other locations in the Middle East. The majority of the photographs were created and assembled by Stephen Haboush, although some were purchased. Haboush routinely traveled to his birthplace of Israel and he photographed his travels. He then used the photographs for lectures about his life as a shepherd and experiences in the Holy Land.

Preferred Citation note

Stephen A. Haboush Photograph Collection, circa 1920-1960, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

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Biographical/Historical note

Stephen Haboush was born on June 28, 1892 in Galilee, Israel. Haboush emigrated to the United States circa 1914 and became an American citizen in 1923. During the 1920s, Haboush joined the Chautauqua Lyceum Lecture circuit. The Chautauqua idea comes from the original Chautauqua Institution, which was founded in 1874 on Lake Chautauqua in western New York. The original idea was to offer one-to-two week summer retreats for adults to continue their education by attending lectures and performances. The lyceum version of Chautauqua was also offered to adults, but the lectures and performances were held during the fall, winter and spring, and took place in schools, church halls, or opera houses not located at Lake Chautauqua, but around the United States. Haboush died in March 1975.

Haboush lectured widely, sometimes with his wife, presenting slide lectures and musical travelogues about the Holy Land, and his experiences as a shepherd. Haboush photographed his travels throughout the Middle East, especially Jerusalem. He wrote two books, Over the Hills of Galilee (1924) and  My Shepherd Life in Galilee: With an Exegesis of the Shepherd Psalm (1949). The latter was Haboush's interpretation of the 23rd Psalm.

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Scope and Contents note

This collection documents, through lantern slides, slides, prints and negatives, life in Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo, and other locations in the Middle East. The majority of the photographs were created and assembled by Stephen Haboush, although some were purchased. Haboush routinely traveled to his birthplace of Israel and he photographed his travels. He then used the photographs for lectures about his life as a shepherd and experiences in the Holy Land.

There is a specific emphasis on the activity of shepherding, but there are photographs depicting generally landscapes, flora, the Wailing Wall, pottery, sunsets, buildings, altars, churches, mosques, rock formations, boats on the river, camels, market scenes, donkeys, villages, tilework, streetscapes, maps of Egypt and Palestine, and individuals--shepherds, British soldiers, and women at a well.

The collections consists primarily of lantern slides which are loosely organized. Lantern slides are positive images on glass and the exterior glass. Lantern slides were intended to be projected for viewing and were a popular entertainment medium in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Small groupings of slides and photographs were identified, but there is little arrangement and identification of the materials. Some of the materials are identified and numbered, and when this was possible, these materials were grouped together. Many of the numbered groups of slides have great gaps. Some of the miscellaneous slides have been grouped and briefly identified, for example, "British Soldiers."

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Arrangement note

The collection is arranged into three series.

Series 1, Lantern Slides, undated

Series 2, Negatives and Transparencies and Prints, undated

Series 3, Slides, undated

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Controlled Access Headings

Genre(s)

  • Lantern slides--1900-1950
  • Slides (photographs)
  • Slides (photographs)--20th century

Geographic Name(s)

  • Israel
  • Middle East
  • Palestine

Subject(s)

  • Lecturers
  • Photographers
  • Travel photography

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Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note

Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs, negatives, and slides.

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Bibliography

Crane, Frederick. "The Music of Chautauqua and Lyceum," Black Music Research Letter, 4, No. 3 (Spring 1981): 4-6.

"Hussein's Feet Point Westward," Miami News, March 8, 1964.

"South-Eastern Bible College Will Hear Galilean Speak," Lakeland Ledger (Florida), November 11, 1959.

Ritzenthaler, Mary Lynn and Diane Vogt-O'Connor. Photographs: Archival Care and Management. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2006.

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Collection Inventory

 Series 1, Lantern Slides, undated
Box

Lantern slides, A-B and #3-#68 (not inclusive), undated

 1

Lantern slides, #69-#135 (not inclusive), undated

 2

Lantern slides, #1A-#1105 (not inclusive)

 3

Lantern slides, #1113-#5015 and unidentified (not inclusive), undated

 4-5

Lantern slides, #3-129 (not inclusive), undated

 5

Lantern slides, #29B-210 (not inclusive), undated

 5

Lantern slides, #183, #205, #213, and #220, undated

 6

Lantern slides, #1-#177 (not inclusive), undated

 6

Lantern slides, A-F, undated

 6

Lantern slides, #1-#36 (not inclusive), undated

 6

Lantern slides, #1-#16 (not inclusive), undated

 6

Lantern slides, miscellaneous, undated

 7-9

 Series 2, Negatives, Transparencies and Prints, undated
Box

Baalbek, Lebanon, undated

 10

Cairo, Egypt, undated

 10

Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Sea of Galilee and [Athens?], undated

 10

Jerusalem, undated

 10

Jerusalem (mixed scenes), undated

 10

Jerusalem (old costumes), undated

 10

[Jerusalem?] (prints), undated

 10

Negatives, [London?], air views, Paris Opera House, undated

 10

Stereopticon slide projector, undated

 10

Miscellaneous and unidentified, undated

 10

 Series 3, Slides, undated
Box

Unidentified, undated

 10-11