Historic Photograph Collections: The Pendleton Group

Electric Studio/O.G. Allen photographs, ca. 1911-1913.

Collection number: PH033

Extent: .25 linear ft. (1 container)

Access restrictions: None.

Publication rights: Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish images must be submitted to the Photographs Curator of Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.

Provenance: Unknown. Possibly a donation from Lee D. Drake of Pendleton

Preferred citation: [Identification of item], Electric Studio/O.G. Allen photographs, PH033-[item number], Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1299.

Processed by: Normandy S. Helmer

Date Completed: February 2004

Abstract

Orla G. Allen (c. 1879-?), commonly known as O.G. Allen, was a professional photographer operating in Pendleton, Oregon, circa 1910-1920. "Electric Studio\" is a franchise name that appeared in locations throughout the West. The collection documents rodeo people and activities, and a Pendleton event.

Biographical Sketch

Little is known about Orla G. Allen. He was a member of the Pendleton Camera Club. Robinson notes that Allen's name appears in the Pendleton city directories only in 1911-1913. A front page article in the East Oregonian from Aug. 22, 1913 documents Allen's brief escape from a mental institution:

Crazed Man Drives His Auto Into Drug Store; Interior of Place Wrecked; None Hurt. O. G. Allen, a local photographer, escapes from attendants at St. Anthony's hospital, jumps into machine, and speeds down street at fifty miles an hour-tears through fence and heads for business center of city. Stands in car yelling 'Let 'er Buck'.

The same article gives Allen's age as 34, states that he is one of the proprietors of the Electric Studio on Court Street, in partnership with E.E. Gustin, and for the past two years had been one of the official Round-Up photographers.

Many of the early Round-Up photographs in the Lee Moorhouse collection, which are 5x7 glass plate negatives, are probably the work of Allen, and came into Moorhouse's hands following Allen's final institutionalization. Some have clearly had the Allen signature removed and the Moorhouse name added.

Scope and Contents

The Electric Studio/O.G. Allen collection consists of five glass plate negatives and one vintage print.

1. [untitled] O.G. Allen/Appaloosa Horse. Glass plate negative and print [Related images in Moorhouse, PH036_6857-PH036_6861.
2. "John Thomas bulldogging, Round-Up, Pendleton, OR, No. 25, Electric Studio\"
3. "33x. Homer Wilson Bulldogging, Round-Up, Pendleton, OR, Electric Studio\"
4. ‘"Roy Hunter bulldogger at the Round-Up\" By O.G. Allen Pendleton No. 638.'
5. [untitled], crowd gathered at train for whistle-stop campaigning.

There is no documentation for this collection. However, the location is clearly Pendleton, Oregon c.1910. As one image is signed by O.G. Allen, and Robinson documents a postcard with the imprint "Allen's Electric Studio, Eagle Woodman Bldg., Pendleton, Or.", the entire collection is attributed to this photographer.

Related collections

This collection forms part of the Pendleton Group, a series of photograph collections from the Pendleton area, 1880s-1940s. Images from certain photographers, such as Bowman, may be found in many of these collections. The Pendleton Group includes the Lee Drake photographs (PH021), the Lee Moorhouse photographs (PH036), the Charles W. Furlong photographs (PH244), the Walter S. Bowman photographs (PH004), and the Electric Studio/O.G. Allen photographs (PH033). Related images are also held in the Print Collection (PH035) and the Park Weed Willis photographs (PH288).

Images of Allen's traveling studio appear in the Lee Moorhouse collection, PH036-2941, PH036-2989 and PH036-2990.