Britt, Peter, 1819-1905

Person

Staff Only

Biography

Born in Obslalden, Switzerland, Peter (1819-1905) was the second son of Jacob Britt. At the age of 27 he went to America and became a citizen in 1850 in Indiana. He studied daguerreotyping in St. Louis under an early-day photographer, J.H. Fitzgibbon. Britt crossed the plains in 1852 with his camera to settle in Jacksonville.

He opened a studio (see photo 24-21) in 1854 to become one of the first studio daguerreographers in Oregon. W.H. Jennings of Oregon City was first in 1851. Although best known as the leading northwest photographer, Britt was a civic minded person. He owned land (almost 2,000 acres at one time), became a leading horticulturist, a mine owner, a money lender, and a good friend of Chinese laborers.

He retired in 1900 to spend more of his time with oil painting and in the greenhouse. In 1861, he married Amalia Grob (1822-1871), a widow with one son, Jacob (1854-1896). They had three children, Emil (1862-1950), Arnold (1864, aged three months), Amalia (1865-1954). None were ever married. Peter Britt attended the 1905 Lewis and Clark Expedition and there contracted a cold that led to pneumonia and his death later that year.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Peter Britt photographs

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS-003

Abstract The collection contains approximately 2,067 prints. Nearly half the portraits are unidentified. Most of the prints are portraits taken by Peter Britt. Emil Britt began making photos professionally in 1883 after training for a year in San Francisco. Peter Britt took photographs outside the studio infrequently. However, Emil carried the camera out on many picnic excursions in the earlier part of the twentieth century. The earliest prints come from the 1860s, with the most recent taken in...

Dates: 1850-1950

Found in: Southern Oregon University, Hannon Library / Peter Britt photographs

Outdoor photographs, bulk: 1874-1939

Series — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS003:02

Scope and Contents From the Collection: Most of the prints are portraits taken by Peter Britt. After 1883, Emil Britt was also in the studio. Nearly half the portraits are unidentified. Peter Britt did take photographs outside the studio infrequently. His most well-known effort occurred in 1874 at Crater Lake. He created what is probably the only wet-process photo of Crater Lake. William Gladstone Steel used the photograph in his successful effort to have Crater Lake designated a National Park. This collection includes the...

Dates: Majority of material found within 1874-1939

Found in: Southern Oregon University, Hannon Library / MSS-003, Peter Britt photographs

Filtered By

Subject: Outdoor photography X