Arthur E. "Scotty" Scott (March 14, 1917 - December 2, 1976) was the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
's first photo-historian. He was a professional
photographerA photographer is a person who takes photographs using a camera. A professional photographer uses photography to make a living whilst an amateur photographer does not earn a living and typically takes photographs for pleasure and to record an event, place or person for future enjoyment.A...
in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
from 1934 to 1976.
Born in
Montpelier, VermontMontpelier is a city in the U.S. state of Vermont that serves as the state capital and the shire town of Washington County. As the capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, seat of the legislative branch of Vermont government. The population was 8,035 at the 2000...
, Scott spent most of his life in Washington, D.C. In 1925 his family moved to the capital, where they owned and operated a rooming house. Scott began his press career in 1930, at the age of thirteen, as a copyboy for a
HearstHearst may refer to:people* Amanda Hearst* Garrison Hearst, NFL running back* George Hearst* George Randolph Hearst Jr.* Hunter Hearst Helmsley, WWE Professional wrestler* John Randolph Hearst* Lydia Hearst-Shaw* Michael Hearst* Millicent Hearst...
newspaper, the
Washington Times-Herald.
Arthur E. "Scotty" Scott (March 14, 1917 - December 2, 1976) was the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
's first photo-historian. He was a professional
photographerA photographer is a person who takes photographs using a camera. A professional photographer uses photography to make a living whilst an amateur photographer does not earn a living and typically takes photographs for pleasure and to record an event, place or person for future enjoyment.A...
in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
from 1934 to 1976.
Early life and career
Born in
Montpelier, VermontMontpelier is a city in the U.S. state of Vermont that serves as the state capital and the shire town of Washington County. As the capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, seat of the legislative branch of Vermont government. The population was 8,035 at the 2000...
, Scott spent most of his life in Washington, D.C. In 1925 his family moved to the capital, where they owned and operated a rooming house. Scott began his press career in 1930, at the age of thirteen, as a copyboy for a
HearstHearst may refer to:people* Amanda Hearst* Garrison Hearst, NFL running back* George Hearst* George Randolph Hearst Jr.* Hunter Hearst Helmsley, WWE Professional wrestler* John Randolph Hearst* Lydia Hearst-Shaw* Michael Hearst* Millicent Hearst...
newspaper, the
Washington Times-Herald. By 1934, he had signed on as a full-time photographer for Hearst's International News Photos (INP), covering Capitol Hill and the
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every...
. He remained a press photographer for the next twenty-one years, working for both INP and Wide World Photos. Scott served as the president of the White House News Photographers Association in 1945. He was also a charter member and regional director of the
National Press Photographers AssociationNPPA is the acronym for the National Press Photographers Association, founded in 1947. The organization is based in Durham, North Carolina and its mostly made up of still photographers, television videographers, editors, and students in the journalism field...
, as well as a founding member of the "One More Club" during the Truman administration.
Senate work
Although the
CapitolThe United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the Federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though not in the geographic center of the District of...
has been a subject of photography since 1846, the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
's first forays into institutional photography did not take place for another century, when the political parties began hiring and paying their own photographers. In 1955,
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
Republican Senator
Barry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. He was also a Major General in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He was known as "Mr...
, himself an amateur photographer, hired Arthur Scott to work for the Republican Senatorial Committee. Thereafter, he worked in a variety of Republican offices, including the Republican Senatorial Committee (June 1955 to October 1962) and the Republican Policy Committee (October 1962 to November 1974). He snapped formal and informal poses of senators in committee, with constituents, with celebrities, and performing other senatorial duties. He also took many shots of the Capitol in every season and under various stages of reconstruction.
In 1975, the Senate created the Historical Office and commissioned it to collect, maintain, and make available items relating to the Senate's history. A key part of the office was to be a photo historian, who would build a collection of graphic representations of the Senate. In August 1975, Scott assumed the post of photo historian.
Archive
Prior to his death in 1976, Scott had arranged for his personal photographic collection—some 30,000 negatives and prints—to be transferred to the Historical Office. His images hold both historic importance and artistic significance.