“A picture deserves a thousand words” is an oft-repeated saying, but it can be especially true when it concerns connecting with history.For this factor, the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum and longtime professional photographer James Narramore have been working together, cataloging thousands of images he took control of his almost 70-year career.Narramore, who graduated from East Texas State Educators College
(now Texas A&M University-Commerce) in 1954, worked as a photojournalist at the Greenville Night Banner early in his profession and later on opened his own photography studio, where his work ranged from weddings and graduation images to industrial shoots.”I volunteer at the museum and I work in collections, and we have great deals of pictures, however
for much of them we don’t have any information or context, “John Yznaga stated.” What James provides, in addition to the photos, is a lot of context and background information.” For the previous several months, Yznaga has actually been scanning many images and checking out with Narramore to ask him concerns about each one. He’s also been getting in Narramore’s comments into the museum’s database in addition to the photos.Of his days with the Greenville Night Banner, Narramore frequently reminds individuals that Greenville had two papers at the time, with the other being the Greenville Early Morning Herald. “When I was there, there was some stiff competition in between the 2 local documents, so we were always hurrying out to beat each other to stories
and getting pictures, “Narramore said.”I in fact took the very first color image to appear on the front page. It was of a red apple on an instructor’s desk for a back-to-school edition.”Later on, Narramore’s background in photojournalism and his household’s connections with the local business community (his daddy was a shoe/bootmaker and his
bro owned a regional clothing store)later on resulted in him keeping hectic doing industrial aim for a range of clients.Included in the photos gathered by the museum are ones taken by Narramore for Williams Bit & Tool Co., Billy Cook Saddlery, Haggar Clothes, and a spirited shot of a female design
in a swimwear sitting on a block of ice in a promotional image for Texas Ice Home. In addition to his industrial photography, he has a number of images of wedding events, family celebrations, regional occasions, and many that are simply honest shots of individuals in the middle of an everyday activity, like children delighting in ice cream and popsicles in the summertime heat. “There are most likely about 2,000 photos from weddings, and after that there are Christmases and Easters … and things like live Nativities and Sunday school productions that, along with what James can tell us about them, give us this huge swath of everyday life in Greenville for many years, “Yznaga said.Another thing that’s striking about Narramore’s photography throughout his profession is how main his late wife, Grace, is in them– whether its embellishing grand window display screens in their photography studio or retouching images(by hand, before Photoshop)– which offers a peek of how regional organizations are often household affairs.”She would go to fantastic discomforts each season making certain the front window of the studio looked nice … and when they ‘d have their booth at the Hunt County Fair, she ‘d exist showing to individuals how she touched up photos,”stated Jim Narramore, James’s son.While staff at the museum are still
deciding how to utilize the images, Yznaga’s duration of picture and information cataloging is waning.” It’s been a fascinating walk through history, but my better half, Elaine, will be pleased to have the clutter out of the method,” he said with a laugh.Interestingly enough, the job mostly originated from Elaine already understanding James Narramore’s daughter-in-law, Carla.”I understood that James had lots of pictures of Greenville that he ‘d taken throughout his profession, however I wasn’t sure how to approach him about looking through them, “John said.”That was up until I went to Brookshire’s to make a contribution to FISH and saw his daughter-in-law there, who my other half knew, so I talked with her about it which was how this all got started.”