Tracy O'Neal photographic collection
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Not requestable
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Photographer Tracy O'Neal's career in Atlanta is documented by photographic prints, slides, and negatives as well as manuscript material. The collection contains a small number of personal slides and negatives that document O'Neal family events and vacations, as well of prints of some of his professional work. A few prints and clippings serve to document O'Neal's career as a journalistic photographer and date from the 1930s and 1940s. Finally, a very small amount of manuscript material provides a glimpse at O'Neal's professional life.
The bulk of the Tracy W. O'Neal Collection, his files of over 31,000 4x5 inch acetate negatives, circa 1950-1975, are described in Georgia State University Library's Digital Collections.
Dates
- Creation: 1923-1975
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1959 - 1974
Creator
- O'Neal, Tracy (Person)
Restrictions on Access
Collection is open for research use.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Georgia State University is the owner of the physical collection and makes reproductions available for research, subject to the copyright law of the United States and item condition. Georgia State University may or may not own the rights to materials in the collection. It is the researcher's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and obtain permission from the copyright holder before publication, reproduction, or display of the materials beyond what is reasonable under copyright law. Researchers may quote selections from the collection under the fair use provision of copyright law.
Biography of Tracy O'Neal
Tracy W. O'Neal (1900-76) had a long career as a newspaper and commercial photographer in Atlanta. He was a longtime staff photographer for the Atlanta Georgian. When it ceased publication in 1939, he went to work for the Atlanta Journal, heading its photographic department from 1942 to 1952. He opened his own "commercial and photo news service" in 1952 and remained active as a commercial photographer until shortly before his death in 1976. He photographed events, people, and facilities for numerous corporations and nonprofits and was a skilled portrait and wedding photographer. His studio was located first at Auburn Avenue and Peachtree then in the Walco Sporting Goods Building on Pryor Street.
A Georgia native, O'Neal married Vera Williams, niece of the Lane brothers, photographers at the Georgian who started their own successful commercial photography company in Atlanta. The O'Neals had one son. Like his father, Tracy W. O'Neal, Jr. (1922-2003) was an active Shriner and Mason. Both O'Neals served as master of the W. D. Luckie Masonic Lodge in Atlanta and Tracy W. O'Neal, Sr. was the official photographer of the Yaarab Shrine Temple for many years.
Extent
4.8 Linear Feet (in 8 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract:
Tracy W. O'Neal (1900-1976) had a long career as a newspaper and commercial photographer in Atlanta. His career is documented by photographic prints, slides, and negatives as well as manuscript material. The collection contains a small number of personal slides and negatives that document O'Neal family events and vacations, as well of prints of some of his professional work.
Other Finding Aids
Tracy O'Neal's annual files of negatives, containing his work as a commercial photographer, are represented in the Georgia State University Library Digital Collections. The online O'Neal collection contains inventories of the negatives and a large sampling of digitized images.
Acquisition Information
The bulk of the collection was purchased from Tracy O'Neal, Jr. on March 23, 1988. He made a further donation of prints and slides on September 17, 2002 (L2002-11).
Processing Information
Processed by Special Collections staff, 2014; processing completed and finding aid created by William W. Hardesty, 2017.
- Title
- Tracy O'Neal:
- Subtitle
- A Guide to His Photographic Collection at Georgia State University Library
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- William Hardesty
- Date
- October 12, 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
100 Decatur St., S.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404-413-2880
404-413-2881 (Fax)
archives@gsu.edu