Thomas F. Root (b. 1923) of Plymouth, Ohio, was a ceramics engineer, salesman, pilot and aerial photographer. He learned to fly an airplane at the Mansfield Airport in 1939, and subsequently owned a series of small aircraft. From 1966 until his retirement in 1994, Root ran his own business, Tom Root Air Photos, Inc. His principal clients included the American Shipbuilding Company, Denison and Oberlin colleges, General Electric, Timken, Ford, General Motors, and many field tilling contractors. Root's company specialized in single photograph verticals for field tilling operations, zoning, and single views of entire towns. Many of his aerial photographs documented newsworthy events; some were distributed to the national media.
The Thomas Root Aerial Photographs of Cleveland, Ohio, 1956-1985 and undated, consist of 74 black and white photographs, size 8 ½" x 11", plus 70 black and white copies, size 3 ¾" x 5", and 71 black and white negatives, size 4" x 5", of aerial views of different parts of the Cleveland, Ohio area.
This collection is of value to researchers studying the history of Cleveland, Ohio, in particular its geographic changes over time in the second half of the twentieth century. The photographs show a number of prominent locations at different time periods, including downtown, the Flats, University Circle, a series of interstate highways, and different suburbs.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically. It also includes a partial index containing image number and description of image.
The researcher should also consult PG 19 Aerial Photographs of Cuyahoga County, Ohio and PG 75 Aerial Surveys Inc. Cleveland, Ohio, Photographs.
Processed by Scott Ondercin in 2011
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___] PG 570 Thomas Root Aerial Photographs of Cleveland, Ohio, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Thomas Root, 2010
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.