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FEBRUARY 23, 2011

On Display: Photography of Lewis S. Mills

            If we google “Lewis S. Mills,” we’re faced with an endless string of references to Lewis S. Mills Regional High School in Burlington. How many people know anything about the man after whom the school was named? And even those who do know that he was one of Connecticut’s early and important educators may not know that he also made significant contributions to the field of photography. For the months of January and February, Canton Public Library hopes to change all of that in an exhibit titled “Lewis S. Mills, Photographer.”

            Lewis Sprague Mills was born on September 5, 1874 into one of Canton’s oldest families. His lineage can be traced back to the man who gave Canton its name, Ephraim Mills. Lewis was raised on the Mills homestead on Barbourtown Road, the eldest son of Archibald Mills and Mary Loomis Mills.

            Archibald, who served in the Civil War, was a farmer and a harsh taskmaster as a father. To say that he was parsimonious would be an understatement. “Little Lewis,” as his father referred to him in his diary, was lame from the age of three, but his father put him to work in the tobacco field at the age of seven. Lewis began attending school in April 1881, when he was five years old, and was allowed by his father to attend until he was 14, at which time his father took him out of school and made him a full-time farmhand. He was not allowed by his father to enter Collinsville High School until he was 18. His mother, who had always supported Lewis’s desire to attend school, was able, on her deathbed, to extract a promise from Archibald that Lewis be able to finish high school. For his entire high school career, he was required to return home at lunch to his farm chores and to work after school until 7 PM.

            Although a harsh taskmaster, Archibald makes note in his diary of a number of important milestones in Lewis’s life. He had his first “store haircut” in 1893. He was “united” with the (Canton Center) Congregational Church in 1895. He read Greek with Birdsey Case in 1896. He had a poem published in 1897. And Lewis took pictures of haying in 1901, got a $50.00 camera (8”x10”) in 1901, and took pictures of tobacco in 1901. And in 1902, Archibald built Lewis a photography studio in the house.

            Photography became a lifelong interest of Lewis. He photographed local scenes when he lived in Canton, and, when he moved to other Connecticut towns to teach and later to supervise schools and educators, he continued to photograph schools and students. When he went off to New York City to attend Columbia University for his bachelors and masters degrees, he was able to use photography to help support himself. As a photographer in Connecticut, he is known for capturing as many as 500 pictures of the one-room schoolhouses that once dotted the state before advances in transportation made it possible for towns to build “union” and “consolidated” schools.

            After a long and distinguished career as an educator, including the writing of The Story of Connecticut for use as a textbook in schools, he retired to a second career, as editor, writer, and photographer for The Lure of the Litchfield Hills, a magazine which contains invaluable historical resources for anyone interested in local lore and which has become highly sought by collectors.

            “Lewis S. Mills, Photographer,” Canton Public Library’s exhibit, will feature photographs of one-room schoolhouses in Canton and surrounding towns in the Farmington Valley, including Avon, Barkhamsted, Burlington, Farmington, Harwinton, and New Hartford. The photographs of Canton’s one-room schoolhouses will be accompanied by text selections from Larry Carlton’s lecture “Canton’s District Schools.” The exhibit will also feature photographs of local bridges and rural, agricultural scenes such as photographs of the Mills tobacco operation. Many of the photographs are from the “Mills Collection” at the Connecticut State Library and from the Canton Historical Museum.

            As a record of Connecticut education in the early 1900s, the photographs of the one-room schoolhouses, both exterior and interior, and the group shots of students are fascinating and telling. We are very fortunate to have them as a record of the experience of schooling at that time.

With an eye to the future, Canton Public Library will, along with the Mills photographs, feature a corollary photographic exhibit of Canton schools in 2010. The photographs of Canton education in 2010 are the contribution of Canton Girl Scout Troop 61245, a group of 10 girls ages 15-16, who have been together since kindergarten. Their leaders are Elizabeth Nardi and Sandy Yost. This photographic record of Canton schools as they exist in 2010 will, after the exhibit, reside in the library’s local history room. Decades from now, when people look back on history in the early 2000’s, their photographs will help tell the story.

For the months of January and February, the library’s display case will also be devoted to Lewis S. Mills. Patrons will be able to see Mills’s photographic equipment, including his cameras, glass slide negatives, and dark-room equipment, which provide a snapshot of late 19^th and early 20^th century photography. <

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