Pencil Sketch of Smith-Trahern Mansion, 1954

The “Photographs” series, which dates approximately from 1880s to the 1940s, includes a number of photographs that depict the Fort Family in both their casual life and official portraits of both close and distant members of the family. In addition to photographs of the Forts, this series also contains photographs of the Fleming’s home life, a scrapbook of candid and staged photographs, portraits of cousins of the Forts, and seemingly staged photographs produced by a photo studio in Clarksville, Tennessee. Some of the subjects and locations depicted are identifiable and have been annotated as such, but many subjects and locations in these photographs have not yet been identified. Some pictures that are of particular interest in this series are the photographs of the Smith-Trahern Mansion before its total restoration, and the photographs portray the disrepair the building was in when it was purchased by the Trahern family.