Solomon D. Butcher: Photographing the American Dream

by John E. Carter

Overview

For millions of Americans, Solomon D. Butcher’s photographs epitomize the sod-house frontier. His late-nineteenth-century images from western Nebraska constitute the most extensive photographic record in existence of the generation that settled the Great Plains. The faces are unforgettable: jaunty bachelors and earnest husbands, Civil War veterans of both armies, spinster sodbusters and determined mothers, cowhands, farmhands, and former slaves—all in search of land of their own. Originally published in 1985, this first book devoted to Butcher and his photographs presents a unique visual chronicle of Great Plains settlement and established Butcher’s place in frontier photography. Everyone interested in the plains pioneers or historical American photography will prize this splendid book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803214040
Publisher:	Nebraska
Publication date:	10/01/1985
Pages:	142
Product dimensions:	10.38(w) x 9.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

John E. Carter (1950–2015) was a senior research historian at the Nebraska State Historical Society and is the coauthor, with Richard E. Jensen and R. Eli Paul, of Eyewitness at Wounded Knee (Nebraska, 1991).

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Photographs
Afterword

Editorial Reviews

"Matchless historical documents of the most delightful kind."—Booklist

Booklist

"There’s an often evocative, poignant sense of life in these photographs of Nebraskans staring out of the late 19th century into a future they were helping shape with their courage and determination."—People

People

"Matchless historical documents of the most delightful kind."—Booklist

Booklist

"Butcher’s work reveals the stark and self-contained life of these people, and his sense of order and clarity transforms these pictures from mere records into icons of the American spirit. A splendid book."—Choice

Choice

“There’s an often evocative, poignant sense of life in these photographs of Nebraskans. . . . The quality of the pictures and the earnestness of the people in them creates an almost hypnotic state.”—People magazine

People magazine

“A wonderfully revealing history.”—New Yorker

New Yorker

“The prairie was Butcher’s stage, and his results ranged from the moving to the hilarious.”—Village Voice

Village Voice

"Readers and viewers seeking a rich and detailed visual record of the individual and collective process of settlement in central Nebraska will want to study, remember, and return to Butcher's photographs, so effectively displayed in this book."—Audrey Goodman, Western American Literature

Western American Literature - Audrey Goodman

“A compelling and singular view of American pioneers and pioneering spirit.”—American Photographer 

American Photographer

"This latest edition of Photographing the American Dream honors the late author's beliefs by bringing back Butcher's photographs to life for a new generation."—Erika Schwartz, Nebraska Life Magazine

Nebraska Life Magazine - Erika Schwartz

“A wonderfully revealing history.”—New Yorker

New Yorker

"Everyone interested in the plains pioneers or historical American photography will prize this splendid book."—Bob Edmonds, McCormick Messenger

McCormick Messenger - Bob Edmonds

“Social history at its best: brief, almost sacred glimpses into the lives of ordinary people who happened to live in a different time and place than we do.”—Charlotte M. Wright, Western American Literature

Western American Literature