Forrest "Bud" Harris photographs, ca. 1950-2007 1960-1999

Arrangement

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Forrest "Bud" Harris Photographs
Creator
Harris, Bud
Collection Number
AIS.2013.05
Extent
20 Linear Feet (80 boxes)
Date
ca. 1950s-2007
Date
1960-1999
Abstract
Forrest "Bud" Harris was a commercial and advertising photographer. Born and based in Pittsburgh, Pa., his professional clients included a variety of local corporate and non-profit institutions. Working mainly between the late 1960s and 1990s, Harris captured a multifaceted view of not only the corporate manufacturing world of Koppers and Alcoa, but also the local communities that allowed these institutions to thrive. Media includes gelatin silver prints, inkjet prints, 35mm, 120mm and 4x5 black and white and color negatives, 35mm black and white and color slides, 16mm film, videotape, digital video disk, audio cassettes, and manuscript materials.
Language
English .
Author
Anna Raugalis.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Biography

Born in 1934 in Pittsburgh, Forrest "Bud" Harris graduated from Allderdice High School and briefly attended Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University). In his early twenties, Bud worked at his father's used car lot as well as at a variety of other jobs. Photography became a passion and Bud began teaching himself the elements. From the beginning he developed a journalistic approach to photography and based his approach on telling a story. In 1959 Bud was hired by the Mt. Lebanon Times. It was the beginning of his life long career as a professional photographer. He moved from the Mt. Lebanon Times to Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) where he became their official photographer for corporate promotions. After several years at PPG, he began his career as a freelance photographer.

Bud provided photographic and communication services for major and diverse clients throughout the US and Europe such as Alcoa, Gulf Oil, American Express, Magee Women's Hospital, Rutgers University, University of Pittsburgh, Social Security Administration and Business Week Magazine. Throughout his freelance career he provided photography, audio-visual and communication services to Koppers Company, and for seven of those years he served as a full-time employee.

Bud Harris won many national awards for his work including: Communications Arts' annual "Years Best Photography in Annual Report Category" for Magee-Women's Hospital Annual Report; three-time winner of "Best of Show Award" at the Three Rivers Arts Festival; a Golden Quill Award for "Best TV Spot" category for St. Peter's Child Development Center; and an ACE Award for "Public Service TV Spot" category for the University of Pittsburgh. He was also selected twice by Photo Maxima for inclusion in their international photo exhibit.

The Forrest "Bud" Harris Photograph Collection contains over 100,000 photographic prints and negatives, audio/visual items, and manuscript materials that document his career from the 1950s to 2007.

Following an exceptional career, Bud Harris passed away in 2009.

Scope and Content Notes

The Forrest "Bud" Harris Photographs is comprised of photographic prints, negatives, audio/visual, and manuscript materials that relate to his photographic projects. Items date from the 1950s to 2007 with the bulk of the collection dating between 1960 and 1999.

Harris worked for the University of Pittsburgh during the years of Chancellors Litchfield and Posvar. In addition to his professional collection of images, Harris was an accomplished documentary photographer. He produced projects documenting the lives of coal miners in West Virginia, garbage men in Pittsburgh, homelessness in Pittsburgh, and the Panther Hollow project. Included in this collection is a series of photographs taken on Sunday, April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the National Day of Mourning. A personal passion of Harris's was cycling; he photographed the sport extensively, especially BMX and road racing and was the co-founder of the Thrift Drug Classic race.

This collection includes work produced for Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), Koppers Company (Koppers), Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (PPG), American Express Bank (American Express), Archadeck, Walt Disney Company (Disney), Jones and Laughlin Steel Company (J&L Steel), Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO), Mellon Bank, Time, Fortune, Business Week, Medical World News, Rutgers University, Boy Scouts of America, The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), New York Times, and the Social Security Administration, among others.

Since the arrangement of this collection is partially dependent on format, there are gaps in the display of folder numbers. These gaps reflect the separation of 35mm and 120mm negatives.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Previous Citation

Forrest "Bud" Harris Photographs, ca. 1950s-2007, AIS.2013.05, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

Preferred Citation

Forrest "Bud" Harris Photographs, ca. 1950s-2007, AIS.2013.05, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Copyright

All rights reserved. University of Pittsburgh.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Ann Harris on July 11, 2013.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into eight series by format and chronologically by year. Arrangement of negatives, prints and slides follow the original numbers (date) assigned by the photographer. Job numbers used by Harris are also the date of image creation. For example, a job number of "62378" translates into June 23, 1978. However, there are "special topics" collections which Harris created after retirement that are arranged by a numbering system unique to that series.

Motion Pictures, DVDs, Audio Cassettes and Manuscript have been arranged by date, when available, and then by topic.

It is important to note that some items in the collection appear in both "special topics" collections as well as in their respective job-numbered folders.

Series I. Negatives, ca. 1950s-2000

Series II. Prints and Negatives, ca. 1950s-2004

Series III. Prints, ca. 1950s-2004

Series IV. Slides, ca. 1960s-2003

Series V. Motion Picture, ca. 1960s-2000

Series VI. DVDs, ca. 2000s-2008

Series VII. Audio Cassettes, 1976-1980

Series VIII. Manuscripts, ca. 1960s-2007

Existence and Location of Copies

The Harris family maintains a website with reproductions and information of Bud Harris's photographs.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Anna Raugalis and Caitlin O'Malley during August 2013-October 2014.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Boy Scouts of America
    • Boston Marathon
    • Blue Cross Association
    • Beazer Environmental Services, Inc
    • Archadeck
    • American Express Bank
    • Aluminum Company of America
    • Civic Arena (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Chatham University
    • Chatham College
    • Cathedral of Learning (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Carnegie-Mellon University
    • Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Art
    • Carnegie International
    • Pittsburgh Zoo (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra
    • Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company
    • Fallingwater (Pa.)
    • Eye and Ear Hospital (University of Pittsburgh)
    • Clifford Development Corporation
    • Balter House (Acme, Pa.)
    • Gateway Rehabilitation Center
    • John Golden Theatre (Organization : New York, N.Y. : 1937-)
    • Harbison-Walker Refractories Company
    • Heinz Memorial Chapel (University of Pittsburgh)
    • Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Hickson Corporation
    • International Association of Business Communicators
    • Jones & Laughlin Steel Company
    • Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business
    • KDKA-TV (Television station : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Kaufmann's Department Store
    • Koppers Company
    • Magee Women's Hospital (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Mellon Bank
    • Nationality Rooms (Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Oakland Planning and Development Corporation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Oxford Development Group
    • Pennsylvania Association for the Blind
    • Pitt Panthers (Football team)
    • Pittsburgh Marathon
    • University of Pittsburgh -- Students
    • WRS Motion Picture Laboratory
    • WQED (Television station : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Westinghouse Air Brake Company
    • Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Walt Disney Company
    • University of Pittsburgh
    • Thrift Drug Classic
    • Three Rivers Arts Festival (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Saint Peter's Child Development Centers (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • United States. Social Security Administration
    • Smaller Manufacturers Council (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Rutgers University

    Personal Names

    • Sammartino, Bruno
    • Greenspan, Alan
    • Swiden, Art
    • Palmer, Arnold
    • Brown, Byrd
    • Moorhead, William S. (William Singer)
    • Byrom, Fletcher L.
    • Heinz Kerry, Teresa
    • Levine, Mike
    • Flaherty, Peter F.

    Geographic Names

    • Butler County (Pa.)
    • Polish Hill (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Point State Park (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Panther Hollow (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • New York (N.Y.)
    • Greenfield (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Oakland (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Hill District (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Homewood (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Monroeville (Pa.)
    • Mount Washington (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • West Mifflin (Pa.)
    • Turtle Creek (Pa.)
    • Schenley Park (Pittsburgh, Pa.) -- Aerial photographs
    • South Side (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Squirrel Hill (Pittsburgh, Pa.) -- Aerial photographs
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.)

    Genres

    • Sound recordings
    • Video recordings (physical artifacts)
    • Motion pictures
    • Photo CDs
    • Slides (Photographs)
    • Photographs
    • Negatives (Photographic)

    Other Subjects

    • Cycling
    • Bicycle motocross
    • BMX bikes
    • Business Week
    • Universities and colleges -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Poor People's Campaign
    • New York times
    • Mister Rogers' neighborhood (Television program)
    • Fortune
    • Photography, Industrial -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Photographers -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Education
    • Transportation
    • Time

Container List