Andrew D. Lytle's Baton Rouge: Photographs, 1863-1910

Andrew David Lytle produced thousands of photographic images in the sixty years during which he lived in Baton Rouge and operated Lytle Studio. His heirs, alas, reportedly shattered his glass-plate negatives by dropping them down a dry well soon after his death, not realizing their value. Andrew D. Lytle's Baton Rouge preserves some of the only images that remain, a vintage treasure collected for contemporary viewers.
These 129 photographs give entree into life in Louisiana's capital city from the 1860s through the early 1900s. They compose the largest extant collection of photos created in a professional studio in nineteenth-century Baton Rouge. Together they capture the day-to-day existence of the community, fleeting moments of great importance, and long-term changes over time, revealing not only the perceptions of the photographer but also the self-perceptions of his subjects.
Over the years Lytle Studio, which Andrew's son Howard eventually joined, produced commercial images of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, the forestry industry, railways and waterways, LSU sports teams, outdoor landscapes, and individuals. Andrew Lytle was more than a studio photographer, though. A husband, father, and grandfather, he took an active role in the community as an entrepreneur; volunteer firefighter; member of religious, social, and fraternal organizations; and participant in local theatrical productions and other entertainments. His photography provides in many cases the only visual record of the life and times of Baton Rouge and its people in that period.

Mark E. Martin is assistant curator of image resources for the LSU Libraries.