Delaware County Historical Association Features Local Images From Famed Photographer Bob Wyer!

If you have an old postcard showing almost any part of our region from the 1930s to the 1970s, chances are you will see these words on the back:  "Photograph by Bob Wyer."

(The image above shows a fireman's tournament parade in Sidney, N.Y. from September, 1941.)

The Elijah Thomas Gallery at the DCHA in Delhi is hosting a variety of exhibits throughout the year.
Currently on display is Bob Wyer's Delaware County: Photographs From the Mid-20th Century; an exhibition of rarely- or never-before-seen images taken by local photojournalist Bob Wyer (1908-1982).

In the late 1970s, Bob and his wife Billie Wyer generously donated their collection of over 150,000 negatives to DCHA. During his career, which ran from the late 1930s into the 1970s, Wyer photographed both the relatively mundane and the sensational. His photographs covered a wide range of life's activities, including school groups, graduating seniors, weddings, family groups and even funerals. He photographed drivers for their chauffeur licenses and travelers for their passport photos. For insurance purposes, he photographed stores, hotels, farms and businesses, providing us with a remarkably broad documentation of life here in the Catskills from the 1930s into the 1970s.

As a staff photographer for the Oneonta Star, Wyer was often also on hand to document accidents, fires and even, in a few instances, murders. Images from his years as both a free-lancer and as a paid photojournalist make up the exhibit of close to 100 photographs.

Parents' Warning: Due to their sensitive subject matter, one or two of the images on display may not be suitable for children under 13 years of age.

The photographs will remain on display until January 2013. Free admission.