The VSW Lantern Slide Archive houses a collection of over 60,000 nineteenth and early twentieth century glass lantern slides and related equipment. The slides cover a wide range of subjects and were primarily used for educational purposes. The VSW holdings include slides from the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences Department of Visual Education, The Pratt Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, the Museum of Modern Art, the New York State Education Department Visual Instruction Division and the Keystone View Company.The VSW Lantern Slide Archive houses a collection of over 60,000 nineteenth and early twentieth century glass lantern slides and related equipment.

For more information

To request material or begin a search of the collections, please fill out the Collections Inquiry Form

For further collection-related inquiries, contact Mary Lewandowski, Collections Associate or Tara Merenda Nelson, Curator

 

  • Photograph inside an archive with shelves and tables full of boxes
    Photograph from the Still Image Archive. Several lantern slides on display.
  • The slides cover a wide range of subjects and were primarily used for educational purposes. The VSW holdings include slides from the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences Department of Visual Education, The Pratt Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, the Museum of Modern Art, the New York State Education Department Visual Instruction Division and the Keystone View Company.

  • LanternSlide_178
    Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences
  • T.H. McAllister Manufacturing Optician
  • VSW Lantern slides161
    Williams, Brown & Earle
  • VSW Lanternslides 204
    New York State Education Department
  • LanternSlide_170
    Pavel Tchelitchew, "Cave of Sleep"
  • Lantern Slides 035
    The University of the State of New York
  • Lantern Slide 001
    Originates from the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences
  • LS-Hearing_Test_02
    New York State Education Department
  • LAN_BOX1462_156168
    T. Ikeda
  • LanternSlide_176
    Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences