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THE PHOTOGRAPHER: HENRY KNOWLES CUMMINGS
by Bill Pinkerton Strolling residents of turn-of-the-century Orleans might often see a figure, the head draped by black cloth, bending over a black box on a tripod stand. When the man had his view sighted as he wished, he pushed a plunger in his hand, and then pulled a glass plate from the box. Recorded on the glass by an emulsion sensitive to light was a view of the isolated small town of the day, a town connected to the outside world by three threads: the railroad, the boats to Boston, and the marine cable. The plates, one after another, bore images of the town as it then was, streets and buildings, horses and rigs, and people and dogs. Other plates held images made by the ever present sea. "He pointed his camera everywhere, at the treeless moors of the Outer Cape, at the wooden sailing ships storm-smashed against the shore, at the
crews of life-saving stations. He photographed dogs and cats, people at play and at work, masquerades, sailboat races, horse-drawn carriages, asparagus digs and turkey shoots." That was H. K. Cummings pursuing his avocation, as two or three of his Orleans contemporaries did. On the counter of his dry good store on Main Street, he kept a pile of prints from his negatives, which he sold for 25 cents each. By the time of his death in the 1950s, at 87, Cummings the photographer had amassed about 1,000 views of Orleans scenes and people. His plates and some of his prints are preserved now at the Snow Library, a valuable record in the history of the town. Henry Knowles Cummings, born in the last year of the Civil War, discovered the fascination of photography the years from 1885 to 1905. The dry goods store that he ran on Main Street grew out of his father's interest in the pants factory. Joseph H. Cummings had joined with William H. Howes in 1872 for the manufacture of shirts,
overalls, and pants. Originally, the plant housed rows of women at sewing machines run by foot treadles, their basement shop lit by kerosene lamps. When steam power came in 1899, as many as 200 people worked there, turning out 700 pants and overalls a day. Henry's camera recorded the scene. A great fire destroyed a large part of the pants factory in 1908, but H. K. Cummings continued his trade in "Dry and Fancy Goods...Gent's Furnishings, Boots, Shoes, Rubbers, General Merchandise." H. K. Cummings, "tin, ramrod straight", married "pretty doe-eyed" Theresa, the sea-going daughter of Captain Alfred Paine and his wife, Mary, who had gone to sea with her own father, Captain Seth Doane. Many of Cummings' plates recorded family scenes. Together, Henry and Theresa spent much of their time at sea, making many trips, by sail or motor, to Nantucket. This sea-going interest can be seen reflected in Cummings' photographs of ships and seamen, life-saving crews,
fishermen, and quahoggers. He believed in Orleans and its future. In 1897, Orleans held a grand celebration for the centennial of its being "set off" from Eastham. A huge tent stood ready for the festive Centennial banquet. That day a gale wind blew down the tent. Said Cummings: "The folks can have a finer celebration in 1997." Sources:
- Ruth L. Barnard: A History of Early Orleans (1975) "Cummings Prints preserve early Orleans for posterity" by Charles H. Koehler, Cape Cod Standard Times, 11/23/73.
- "And the People" by Paul W. Kemprecos
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