University of North Carolina at Asheville
D.H. Ramsey Library
Special Collections/University Archives

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R. Henry Scadin Collection
(1885 - 1923)

M80.1.1-5  ; P80.1.1-41 ; Map Case

"R.H. Scadin" (rhs), R. Henry Scadin Photographic Collection (1885-1923),
D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNC Asheville 28804

R. Henry Scadin was a photographer and fruit grower who spent portions of his life in Sapphire, Highlands, Hendersonville, Tryon and Dana, N.C. His photographs and diaries also document his residence in Michigan and Vermont during other periods of time, and his travels in Florida.

This collection contains approximately 1200 glass plates and 43 separate diaries kept by R.H. Scadin, his wife Kate, and their son, Dewey. The diaries cover a period from approximately 1885 through 1920. The photographs begin c.1888. Photocopies have been made of each of the original diaries and transcription of the diaries is complete, and available on the web. Glass plates are stored in boxes labeled with the runs of glass plate numbers. The original diaries and their copies are housed in the manuscript collections area (M80.1).

Glass plate negatives, positive prints, photograph albums. Approximately 2500 items, 1200 glass plate negatives. 41 glass-plate negative boxes. Total collection size, including diaries, is 6 cubic ft.

Any display, publication, or public use must credit the D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Dewey Scadin died in September of 1980 (?) at the age of 82 (?). He had been concerned about the disposition of this father's photographs and plates (?).  With the help of the Perry family with whom he had lived for some years, he decided to give them to the Southern Highlands Research Center at UNC-Asheville. 

Mrs. Jim Perry, III, had cataloged the photographs for Dewey. Mark Walters, a creative writing teacher at Brevard College, was given the exclusive rights to Mr. Scadin's diary and the use of his pictures for a period of three years in which time he planned to write a biography of or at least articles on Mr. Scadin. Mrs. Perry has not heard from him recently but thinks that her son has kept in touch with him. She estimates that he has approximately nine months left of his three years' rights. 

While Mr. Walters was teaching in Brevard, the College paper carried an article, prepared by Mr. Walters and his students, on Mr. Scadin. This was the winter of '80 or '79. 

When the materials were given to the Research Center, Dr. Greenawalt was the contact person. Now Dr. Milton Reddy [sic] has taken his position. [The Southern Highlands Research Center came under the administration of the D.H. Ramsey Library in 1995.] 

Mrs. Perry said that no one who knew how to develop Mr. Scadin's glass plates could be found. She wrote to Rochester but got no help. Dewey - and the Perrys should have known that, a few miles away, Henry H. Meares, my cousin to whom a Mr. Barber in Hendersonville had lent plates, had developed a sizable collection still held by Henry's widow in Mills River. She has offered them to us; so far, we have selected only a few but expect to get more, perhaps all. Mrs. Meares returned the plates to Mr. Barber after Henry died in 1964.

R. Henry Scadin (1861-1923) was a photographer and fruit grower who came to North Carolina after living in Michigan and Vermont. He kept meticulous diaries of his life from 1886 - 1920 (see R. Henry Scadin Diaries). Diaries for all years except 1890, 1891, and 1915 are held by Ramsey Library Special collections. Scadin indicated in the 1892 diary that the previous year (1891) had been lost in transit to Florida. Upon the death of  Henry Scadin, his wife Kate and son Dewey continued to keep diaries until 1928. Photographs of  local scenery and people near the present towns of Brevard, Tryon, Saluda, Sapphire, and Highlands dominate the photographic collection. In addition to western North Carolina scenes, Scadin also photographed in Florida, Tennessee, Michigan, and Vermont. Many of the photographs were converted to hand-colored postcards and photographs for sale to travelers and tourists. As late as 1919 Henry was photographing and producing images for sale. Kate, a painter, completed most of the color tinting of images.