It is believed that the photographs were taken during the 1930's by Byron James Lambert (1874-1953), a long-time professor and head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the State University of Iowa. The donor of this collection, Brian Glenister, professor emeritus of geology, speculated so in an undated memorandum accompanying this collection. According to Glenister, J. Leavitt Lambert, a son of Prof. Lambert's, inherited and cared for the photographs following the elder Lambert's death. The younger Lambert was employed by the Department of Geology, where he stored the collection until his death in 1972. The photographs eventually came into Prof. Glenister's possession and were transferred to the University Archives in 1985.