Photo collection gives view of past

The discovery of several thousand photographs is giving Iowa historians a unique look into Iowa’s past. The black and white photos were taken by A.M. Wettach of Mt. Pleasant over four decades, beginning in the 1930s. Mary Bennett of the State Historical Society’s Iowa City Center says Wettach’s son had kept the pictures and negatives stored in his basement for the last 24 years.Wettach was an agricultural photographer, so Bennett says the pictures document a rich history and they’ll have at least 10-thousand of them in their collection.Bennett says Wettach was a professional photographer, so the quality of the collection is outstanding. She says he used large negatives which yield high quality pictures.Bennett says the Wettach collection will be available for public viewing and for academic research.The Wettach collection was discovered after a handful of his pictures were found at the University of Iowa’s Institute for Rural and Environmental Health. Staff members from the Institute tracked the pictures to Wettach’s son, Robert, who is a doctor in Mt. Pleasant.