Guide to the Photographs of Thomas Mellon Galey, 1900-1966 (bulk 1900-1905)

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Photographs of Thomas Mellon Galey
Creator
Galey, Thomas Mellon
Collection Number
PSS#4
Extent
1 cubic feet (2 boxes)
Date
1900-1966
Date
1900-1905
Abstract
Thomas Mellon Galey played an active role in documenting the early motor car age in Pittsburgh and vicinity. Photograph subjects include motoring, racing, and motor wrecks.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
This guide to the collection was originally prepared by Vincent Brooks on April 9, 1998. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in Summer, 2001.
Sponsor
This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

Biographical Sketch of Thomas Mellon Galey (1884-?)

Thomas Mellon Galey played an active role in documenting the early motor car age in Pittsburgh and vicinity. Born in 1884, his name spawns from his paternal grandfather's boyhood friendship with Thomas Mellon in Ireland, and later Pittsburgh. Thomas Galey attended Shady Side Academy (c1904) and Princeton University (c1908). Following college, Mr. Galey ventured westward to prospect for oil, which was in great demand following the invention of the automobile.

Before leaving Pittsburgh, Mr. Galey took on the task of documenting motor cars in Pittsburgh and Florida. He collected hundreds of glass photographic negatives and prints between 1900 and 1905. Mr. Galey documented early motor car travels, auto wrecks, and auto racing. Mr. Galey owned the fourth gasoline powered motor car in Pittsburgh, and photographically documented the preceding three. Mr. Galey's photographs proved such a valuable resource that Twentieth Century Fox made prints of the collection for their California library and archives.

Scope and Content Notes

The collection contains 3" by 5" and 8" by 10" black and white prints, 4" by 5" negatives and miscellaneous papers, which document Mr. Galey's interest in automobiles. Photograph subjects include motoring, racing, and motor wrecks. It contains excellent photo documentation of early motor cars in Pittsburgh and Florida. The collection contains mostly prints, but one group of Florida pictures includes negatives.

The collection also includes photo documentation of early Ford and Nash Motor Company automobiles. Some photographs pertaining to auto manufacturing in the early 1940s also exist. In addition, there are miscellaneous prints documenting a house fire around 1900. The collection lacks written documentation and many of the photos are not labeled. The Thomas M. Galey Photographic collection contains minimal correspondence that is related to Mr. Galey's donation to the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Information exists on John H. Galey, an early Pittsburgh oil pioneer and Thomas Galey's paternal uncle.

Arrangement

The Thomas M. Galey Photograph collection is housed in two archival boxes and is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These materials came in one accession in 1974.

Acc# 1947x. Gift of Mr. Thomas Mellon Galey (Photographs).

Preferred Citation

Photographs of Thomas Mellon Galey, 1900-1905, PSS# 4, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Vincent Brooks on April 9, 1998.

Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Doug MacGregor on September 20, 2001.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Ford Motor Company
    • Nash-Kelvinator Corporation
    • The Automobile Theatre - Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh
    • Winton Motor Carriage Company

    Personal Names

    • H.C. Frick
    • Galey, Thomas Mellon
    • Thomas R. Hartley

    Other Subjects

    • Automobile driving -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Automobile industry -- United States
    • Automobile racing -- Florida
    • Automobile travel -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Automobiles -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Automobiles -- Florida
    • Automobiles -- Collision damage
    • Automobiles -- Design and construction

Container List

Auto Manufacturing, n.d.
Containers
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence, 1946-1966
Containers
Box 1, Folder 2
Galey, John H. Biography and Photographs, c1959
Containers
Box 1, Folder 5
Glidden Tour, 1946
Containers
Box 1, Folder 6
Proto-type Photographs, n.d.
Containers
Box 2, Folder 8
Winton Motor Carriage Brochure, c1900
Containers
Box 2, Folder 11
Miscellaneous, c1900-1910
Containers
Box 2, Folder 12