History: Wallace S. White

Wallace S. White: Photographer and Bandleader

by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library

Much of what we know about Kalamazoo’s outward appearance during the mid to late nineteenth century—its buildings, events, and citizens—can be attributed to Kalamazoo Public Library’s impressive collection of historic photographs. Hundreds of images that date from the 1860s provide valuable insight into local life during Kalamazoo’s formative years. The man behind the camera for many of these photographs was one of Kalamazoo’s most noteworthy early photographers, Wallace S. White.

During the 1850s and 1860s, Kalamazoo became home to several prominent photographers and daguerreotypists. Among these early photographic pioneers were Schuyler C. Baldwin, Cullen C. Packard, William Glover, and others. By the late 1860s, a second wave of local image-makers had begun to document the region and its citizenry. A leader among this group was Wallace S. White.

Born in 1842 and raised in Otsego, Wallace White came to Kalamazoo in 1868 and began his career as a partner in the photographic supply fi rm of White & Lindsey. In 1873, White purchased Schuyler Baldwin’s old gallery on Main Street and opened his own photo studio, where he quickly gained a solid reputation for superior architectural images and portraiture. Much like Baldwin, it was White’s ability to capture images of the Kalamazoo community itself that continues to provide us with compelling views of what the village looked like in its infancy. From the busy dirt streets and plank

sidewalks to attractive storefronts, local scenery, and social activity, White’s images provide a visual record of the community’s early architecture and a rare glimpse of everyday life. Cigar dealers, clothiers, grocers, and other merchants greet their customers with product-fi lled storefronts. Marching bands perform during festive parades; horses, wagons, carriages, parks, and buildings all provide valuable clues about life as it was a century-and-a-half ago. In addition to his career as a photographer, Wallace White had an active interest in music. Military bands were exceedingly popular throughout America during the late nineteenth century, and White played an active part in the movement, not only as a performer and bandleader, but also as a musical instrument dealer.

During the late 1880s, it seems that

Kalamazoo found itself without a proper local community band. That’s when White formed his own 15-piece military band and began participating in parades and other social events around town and in other nearby communities. Initially directed by White himself, the aggregation had a rough time at fi rst, and was often ridiculed as White’s “four tune” band. But time and practice paid off, and White’s Military Band eventually developed an enthusiastic local following.

White’s Band performed often for local events and parades until about 1909. By then, White was working as an assembler at the Kalamazoo Loose Leaf Binder Company, where he remained until shortly before his death in 1921 at the age of 79. The library’s extensive collection of Wallace White’s photographs, including a collection of White’s original glass negatives, remains an essential part of KPL’s Local History collection. More at kpl.gov