Historic Sandusky photos topic of presentation

Authors Jim Semon Sr., Roger Dickman and Jeff Brown will present their book “Sandusky’s Photographer: The Real Photo Postcards of Ernst Niebergall” Oct. 16 as part of Bowling Green State University’s Center for Archival Collections’ Local History Publication Award Lecture Series.

The book is a 2018 winner of the center’s Local History Publication Award, which was established to encourage and recognize authors of outstanding publications about northwest Ohio history.

German immigrant Niebergall was a skilled and prolific photographer who set up a commercial photography business in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1908. Over the next four decades, he captured remarkable images of everyday life and significant events in northwest Ohio, which were later transferred to photo postcards. He died in poverty in 1954 and has since largely been forgotten.

Semon, Dickman and Brown, all of whom are collectors of Niebergall’s postcards, will share their stories of discovering his work and artistry, and will describe the process of compiling select postcards from their collections into a book in order to raise awareness about this little-known northwest Ohio artist. Samples of Niebergall’s original postcards will be shown, as will one of the cases he used to transport glass plate negatives to photo locations.

The presentation will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the Pallister Conference Room in the Jerome Library.

Every year, the Local History Publication Award committee recognizes authors for outstanding publications in two divisions. The Academic Scholar Division includes works prepared and submitted by authors who are professional writers or academicians. The Independent Scholar Division, in which “Sandusky’s Photographer: The Real Photo Postcards of Ernst Niebergall” was recognized, includes works prepared and submitted by independent or local researchers, amateurs and other creative writers who do not claim history as a profession. Each division winner receives a $300 cash award and a plaque.