HISTORIC CAMERA FORMERLY OWNED BY ELLISON ORR DONATED TO EFFIGY MOUNDS COLLECTION

Effigy Mounds National Monument has a new addition to its museum collection - the camera used by Ellison Orr during his years of research in Northeast Iowa.
The camera was donated to the monument by Cecil Cook, on behalf of his brother Charles and sister, Ruth Hawhee - all grandchildren of Ellison Orr. Mr. Cook presented the camera to Park Ranger Dennis Lenzendorf at the conclusion of his June 2 presentation on trains and the Milwaukee Road era in Northeast Iowa. Mr. Cook's presentation was part of the Effigy Mounds Chautauqua lecture series.
Known as a postcard size camera, the design is that of a folding, bellows type. The camera uses 122-size film, which produces negatives the same size as old-time black and white postcards and is still in working order.
Cecil Cook, formally of Waukon and now living in Des Moines, obtained the camera from his aunt after the death of Ellison Orr. Mr. Cook continued to use the camera, taking many of the photographs that feature in his well-known books “Grass Between the Rails,” “Marquette” and “The Final Steam Years,” until he could no longer buy film.
Effigy Mounds National Monument Superintendent, Phyllis Ewing, is delighted with the family's donation. “We have lots of what Ellison Orr collected but we have so little of him, therefore this camera is a choice piece because Ellison Orr played such a big role in the founding of the monument. His collection will always be premier in this monument, forever.”
Ellison Orr is well remembered locally as a respected authority in the fields of archaeology, geology and natural history. The work recorded in his meticulously kept manuscripts is still regarded as some of the most significant and important records documenting Northeast Iowa's prehistoric past.
Jacquelin St. Clair, Cultural Resource Manager, has spent a great deal of time working with the Orr Collection. She says “the camera is particularly important because it photographed a large proportion of the collection held at Effigy Mounds.” She continues “it makes us curious as to what other items of historical significance belonging to Ellison Orr are in someone's attic or dresser drawer.”
The camera has been placed in the Orr Collection, which includes the very photographs taken with the camera during Ellison Orr's fieldwork. Parts of the collection can be viewed daily between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. in the Effigy Mounds National Monument Visitor Center. The monument is located on Hwy. 76, four miles north of Marquette.
For more information you can contact the monument on (319) 873-3491.