Members of the Firelands Postcard Club Research at the Hayes Presidential Library

Lou Schultz joined Firelands Postcard Club members (left to right) Jeff Brown, Roger Dickman, and Jim Semon on a recent visit to the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums. Their interest in the photographs of the late Ernst Niebergall prompted their research visit. 

Niebergall, a professional photographer, settled in Sandusky sometime before WWI.  He photographed the communities along the shoreline of Lake Erie. From ice harvesting and railroads to early aviation and island leisure activities, the Niebergall photographs depict the everyday lives and activities of residents of Lake Erie's southern shoreline communities. The black and white photographs, the majority taken between 1909 and 1918, provide a record of communities in transition as old methods gave way to advances in industry and technology. 

Preserved at the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums are more than 4,000 Niebergall photographs.  Many appear online at Lake Erie's Yesterdays. The club members are researching the possibility of creating a publication featuring some of Niebergall's photographs. Members have already collected numerous postcards that Niebergall produced. Most recently, Mr. Semon has worked with Tiffany Middleton in publishing Clydesdale Motor Truck Company: An Illustrated History 1917 - 1939.