Frank Sadorus: Photographing Life on the Illinois Plains
Learn more about life on the plains with the photography of Frank Sadorus.
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Transcript
In the early 20th century, a man named Frank Sadorus took hundreds of pictures. Sadorus lived at a fascinating point in history. The industrial revolution had helped spread photographic technology across the country, even to his farm in rural Illinois. But at the time Sadorus took most of his photographs, industrialization hadn’t yet touched his family farm. His images capture the last years of an older way of life.
Sadorus took many photographs of his large farming family across several generations.
His father, like in so many others at the time, was a Civil War veteran, a captain in the Union army. Here Sadorus photographed an older photograph of his father in uniform.
Before mechanization, farming families relied on horses not only for farm work, but for transportation. Automobiles would change their relationship with these animals forever.
But Sadorus’s favorite subject seems to have been the land itself. Farming families often feel a special kinship with the land, and Sadorus took hundreds of photographs of his farm, the trees, even the wide-open Midwestern sky.
Many of the wooded areas in these photographs were cut down not long after. Sadorus deeply regretted the loss of his woods, but as farming became more mechanized more land could be used to produce cash crops.
Sadorus took photos in any spare time he had, so many of his pictures show the chilly Illinois winter. Farmers often had more spare time in the winter months, when the harvesting was done but nothing new could be planted yet.
While a farm life meant a lot of hard work, Sadorus’s photography also captures the fun and humor these families had. Silly puns, makeshift instruments, and snowballs filled their off time.
Today, cameras are more accessible than they’ve ever been. Don’t let future generations down — go take some photos of your life and your home. The historians of the twenty-second century might thank you.
Sadorus took many photographs of his large farming family across several generations.
His father, like in so many others at the time, was a Civil War veteran, a captain in the Union army. Here Sadorus photographed an older photograph of his father in uniform.
Before mechanization, farming families relied on horses not only for farm work, but for transportation. Automobiles would change their relationship with these animals forever.
But Sadorus’s favorite subject seems to have been the land itself. Farming families often feel a special kinship with the land, and Sadorus took hundreds of photographs of his farm, the trees, even the wide-open Midwestern sky.
Many of the wooded areas in these photographs were cut down not long after. Sadorus deeply regretted the loss of his woods, but as farming became more mechanized more land could be used to produce cash crops.
Sadorus took photos in any spare time he had, so many of his pictures show the chilly Illinois winter. Farmers often had more spare time in the winter months, when the harvesting was done but nothing new could be planted yet.
While a farm life meant a lot of hard work, Sadorus’s photography also captures the fun and humor these families had. Silly puns, makeshift instruments, and snowballs filled their off time.
Today, cameras are more accessible than they’ve ever been. Don’t let future generations down — go take some photos of your life and your home. The historians of the twenty-second century might thank you.