Mountain views: Historic photos digitized 

The American Alpine Club has been collecting photographs of mountains and noteworthy climbing meccas for decades. We've just digitized these shots of the Arizona desert and California for the first time and are excited to share them with you, our members. This is just the beginning of this digitization process, so keep an eye out for collections from more locations around North America coming soon. 

Arizona, 1900 to 1930

Photos of Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, Canyon del Muerto, Casa Grande, Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Marble Canyon, Painted Desert taken between 1900 and 1930. These photos were collected starting in 1916 by LeRoy Jeffers, the first Librarian at the American Alpine Club Library and include photographs donated and purchased from the U.S.G.S, Western rail road companies, surveyors, members or the American Alpine Club and other exploration and mountaineering organizations.

View the rest of this gallery, captions, and more on Flickr and check out our Desert Pioneers online exhibit.

California, 1900 to 1930

Photos of Mount Whitney, Yosemite Valley, the John Muir Trail, Tuolumne Canyon, Kings Canyon National Park taken between 1900 and 1930. These photos were collected starting in 1916 by LeRoy Jeffers, the first Librarian at the American Alpine Club Library and include photographs donated and purchased from the U.S.G.S, Western rail road companies, surveyors, members or the American Alpine Club and other exploration and mountaineering organizations.

View the rest of this gallery, captions and more on Flickr and learn more about the AAC Library. 

Librarian's Report

We also have the report that the first-ever librarian at the AAC wrote describing this photo collection when he started it in 1916: