You may associate 3D photography with red-and-blue glasses and giant movie screens, but did you know that our NU Photograph Collection houses some prime examples of 19th century 3D photography? The technology known as stereoscopy dates back almost as far as the history of photography itself. Two offset images, called a stereoscopic pair, are viewed side-by-side to create the effect of a three-dimensional image. The resulting photographic card is called a stereogram or stereoview; the binocular-style piece of equipment used to view them is called a stereoviewer.
The stereoviews in our collection mostly date from the 1870s, in the time shortly after Norwich University moved to Northfield, Vermont. Due to the 1866 South Barracks fire and the university's precarious enrollment and financial state as it established the new campus, this is not a very well-documented period of our history. We can thank the popularity of stereoscopic photography for providing us with these rare snapshots of Norwich's campus and students.
Though seemingly mundane, images like these tell a fascinating story. For example, this side view of Jackman Hall shows the hilly terrain that surrounded the early university buildings before the land was re-graded to form the Upper Parade Ground. If you look closely, you can see a cadet sitting on an upper windowsill. This backs up contemporary accounts that describe cadets sneaking out of Jackman Hall at night by jumping out the windows onto the elevated turf below.
These last two images depict another bygone feature of campus: the "lower" parade ground, now Sabine Field. This was once the flattest part of the university's land and was used for everything from baseball games--one of our earliest athletic teams--to military training, parades, and ceremonies.
The University Archives has a replica stereoviewer in our reading room on the 5th floor of the Kreitzberg Library. Stop by sometime and ask us to show you how these images can come to life!
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