In this exhibit, the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections has selected items from their extensive collection of family papers and institutional records to pay tribute to students past and present. View Exhibit
The R. Stanton Avery Special Collections Department presents a series of photographs documenting a train trip through the Southwest and West in the 1880’s. These photographs are part of the John Hutchinson Cook Papers (Mss 318).
The photograph album contains 90 pictures beginning with an unidentified group photograph in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The photographs record the trip south to New Orleans where they likely boarded the Southern Pacific Railroad’s “Sunset Limited” which provided service from New Orleans to Los Angeles. The group of travelers then headed north to San Francisco and then onto Ogden, Utah via the Overland Route with stops at Cheyenne, Wyoming, Omaha, Nebraska, and Chicago.
As recreational travel became popular in the 19th century, many railway lines had begun to advertise train trips west often attracting upper class passengers who could afford the high price of tickets. Many, such as the Sunset Limited, offered Pullman sleeping cars and private cars for large groups.