Wallace Nutting (1861-1941)
Photographer, Author, Entrepreneur, and Antiquarian
Early Life and Education
Wallace Nutting was born on November 17, 1861, in Rockbottom, Massachusetts. His early years were marked by hardship. His father, a Union soldier, died during the Civil War, leaving his mother to raise him. Despite these challenges, Nutting excelled academically, graduating from Harvard College in 1883 and later earning degrees from Hartford Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary.
Though he initially pursued a career as a Congregational minister, poor health forced him to reconsider his path. This turn in fortune opened the door to his lifelong passion: photography.
Artist, Author, Collector
Nutting began photographing New England scenes as a form of recreation and therapy. What started as a hobby quickly grew into a booming enterprise. His photographs of pastoral landscapes, colonial interiors, and images of “Old America” struck a chord with the public at the height of the Colonial Revival movement.
To keep up with demand, Nutting established a workshop in Southbury, Connecticut where skilled artisans, known as “colorists,” hand-tinted his black and white photographs with watercolor. These prints were sold nationwide, often framed and displayed in American homes as symbols of tradition and nostalgia.
At its peak, his workshop employed more than 200 people, producing thousands of hand-colored prints annually according to his own records, in addition to furniture, rugs, and ironwork for staging his photos and for sale to those looking to recreate the “colonial aesthetic”.
Beyond photography, Nutting was a prolific author and antiquarian. He published several influential books on colonial architecture, furniture, and Americana, including Furniture of the Pilgrim Century (1921), which became a definitive reference for collectors. His writings fueled public interest in early American history and craftsmanship.
Nutting also built an extensive collection of antique furniture and decorative arts. In addition, he created Nuttinghame, a colonial revival homestead open to the public in Framingham, Massachusetts, where visitors could step into scenes reminiscent of his photographs.
Legacy in American Culture
By the early 20th century, Nutting had become one of the most widely known photographers in the United States. His prints adorned countless homes, schools, and institutions, embodying an idealized vision of early American life.
While photography trends shifted after his death in 1941, scholars and collectors have since rediscovered Nutting’s influence. His work is now recognized as an essential part of the Colonial Revival movement and a window into early 20th-century American identity.
Wallace Nutting Today
Today, Nutting’s photographs and books remain collectible. His impact continues to be studied by historians, art collectors, and cultural institutions, although research is set back due to his destruction of records. There is an active Wallace Nutting Collectors club which hosts annual conventions surrounding his work and influence.
This archive’s preservation of his images, writings, and ephemera—particularly through the Dorothy Manville Collection—ensures that his legacy lives on for new generations to explore.