Sweetwater school children, Grace Laney with knit cap on

http://dp.la/api/items/d3f79ce661ef0fb807e6d443ef244908

Sweetwater school children, Grace Laney with knit cap on

Laney, Gideon Thomas, 1889-1976

circa 1935

Gideon Thomas Laney (1889-1976), also known as Gid, was the prominent photographer for the Brasstown and Sweetwater areas of Clay County, North Carolina in the first part of the 20th century. Trained as a portrait photographer and motivated by the need for flexible work after the death of his wife Martha Creech Ison in 1929 left him a single parent, Gideon borrowed his sister’s bellows camera and began to photograph the people and events of his community. He sent his film off to be developed by Weaver Studio in Copperhill, Tennessee and later by Crisp’s Studio in Murphy, North Carolina. From the negatives, he made 6 cent postcard prints using his in-home darkroom.

1930s

School children

School buildings

Children--Portraits

Portraits, Group

Group portraits

North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

http://wcudigitalcollection.cdmhost.com/u?/p16232coll1,2400