Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Homer Sailor, the property manager for the Winona School of Professional Photography, got an eye-popping surprise one day in 1941 when he came to open the building in preparation for summer classes.
According to the newsletter of the annual Winona Schools Reunion, “one night an overheated 30-gallon water tank at the Dun-du Vu, south of Bethany Lodge, exploded and went sailing through the air, ending with crashing through the roof of the Daguerre Building, which housed the photography school.”
The report said the explosion “blew out the entire end of the Dun-du Vu, wrecking that house and the one next door, breaking 31 windows in neighboring houses Roseville, Parkhill, and 13 at Miss Elliot’s, the old home of Dr. Scott.”
Imagine Sailor’s surprise at making that discovery!
The Daguerre Building was located at the corner of 13th and College. Local media reported on April 7, 1904, that the Indiana Association of Photographers, which held a convention in Winona Lake each year, had made arrangements for the construction of a building that would house the Daguerre Memorial Institute. Construction of the building was to start “at once,” and was to include an instruction room, a permanent exhibition hall, dining room and chapel. Estimated cost of the building was between $6,000 and $8,000.
It was named for Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851), a French artist and physicist recognized for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photography.
Winona School Founded 1912
The Winona School of Professional Photography originated in 1912 as the Indiana School of Photography and was operated by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) until its move to a Chicago suburb in the mid-1980s. Famous photographers from around the world taught at Winona during summer-only classes.
In 1921, the Daguerre Club of Indiana donated the building to the Professional Photographers of America for the purpose of establishing a photography school. The Winona School of Professional Photography held classes each summer until 1984, when the school relocated to Mount Prospect, Illinois, where it operated until 1994 when it moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1983 the College Avenue facilities were purchased by the adjacent Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church. After using the large Daguerre building for several years for classrooms, auxiliary offices and storage, the building was abandoned in the mid-1990s due to safety issues, and the Daguerre Building was razed in 2011. The site is now lawn/playground for the church.
A second facility used by the photography school was the auditorium, built in 1956. After being purchased by the Brethren church it underwent a $1.2 million renovation and was renamed The Hub. Today it houses the church’s youth programs and community rooms. Darkroom facilities were located in the old Winona Dairy building on Kings Highway, now part of the Grace College physical facilities plant.
A School ‘Not for Beginners’
An early advertisement for the photography school said, “Since 1922 the Photographer’s Association of America has conducted a school better known to the profession as ‘The Winona School.’ It is not a school for beginners but is primarily intended to give studio owners a chance to ‘brush up’ their knowledge of photography and to afford employees with some experience an opportunity to become capable photographers.”
The photographers’ professional association was first organized in 1869. Present at early conventions were many American daguerreotype pioneers, including John H. Fitzgibbon, who began making daguerreotypes as far back as 1841. The daguerreotype was the first practical and profitable photographic process, introduced in 1839-40. It was at the 1888 convention that George Eastman introduced his Kodak camera and film processing service, winning a first-prize medallion and special certificate of honor.
In its early years, the association established a tradition of continuing education for members by providing annual forums for noted photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees and Edward Steichen.
A newspaper report from July 16, 1912, noted that the Daguerre Institute for Photographs wrapped up its annual convention at Winona Lake with about 300 photographers from throughout the nation in attendance. By 1913, the association had grown to 725 members, expanding to 2,272 members in 1916.
Ed Purrington (1918-2012), who was director of education for the Winona school, commented on the 1984 move away from Winona. Among the reasons for moving, Purrington said, were “easier air transportation (the new school would be eight minutes from O’Hare), easier access by interstates for those driving, and increased coordination by being closer to the Chicago headquarters.”
Purrington concluded, “We’ll be incorporating into the new facility changes for today and for the future.”
