Preserving the Legacy of Wallace Nutting
Explore the life, works, and workshop of one of early 20th-century America’s most beloved photographers, brought to light through the Dorothy and Richard Manville Collection.
Explore the Archive
Photographs & Hand-colored Works
Discover Nutting’s most treasured images: hand colored interiors, landscapes, and pastoral scenes that captured a nation’s imagination.
Workshop & Colorists
Letters, postcards, and interviews from the skilled artisans who brought Nutting’s photographs to life with hand coloring, iron working, and other crafts.
Ephemera & Documents
Uncover rare materials such as property deeds, ink pots, obituaries, and personal notes that trace the history of Nutting’s enterprise.
Photographer, Author, Entrepreneur, and Antiquarian
Wallace Nutting
Wallace Nutting (1861–1941) was a minister, antiquarian, entrepreneur, and one of America’s most successful photographers of the early 20th century. His hand-colored photographs of rural landscapes, colonial interiors, and New England life became cherished symbols of nostalgia, with a reach that extended to millions of homes. Beyond photography, Nutting authored books, collected furniture, and operated a large workshop that employed colorists, helping to popularize the Colonial Revival movement in American culture.
Dorothy “Dottie” & Richard “Dick” Manville
This archive would not exist without the vision and dedication of Dorothy “Dottie” and Richard “Dick” Manville of Southbury, Connecticut. Leading collectors of Wallace Nutting’s works and ephemera, the couple spent decades gathering photographs, letters, and personal histories of Nutting’s workshop. Their collection forms the heart of this archive, ensuring that Nutting’s legacy, and the stories of those who worked alongside him, remain accessible for generations to come.