The I. Frank Lees Collection forms the backbone of the collections of the Media Historic Archives Commission, and is its reason for being. MHAC--an official arm of the Media, Pennsylvania government--was created to administer a collection of photographs and other material which I. Frank Lees (1919-1999), a lifelong resident, donated to the borough in 1981. The collection contains roughly 15,000 items, including the more than 1,800 photographs which are presented here. More photographs from this collection, and from other collections donated after Lees' death in 1999, will be added to this site in the future.
THANKS TO
- Chris Welc, for scanning more than 1,000 photographs in the photograph folders that Frank Lees had created. and for creating the first version of the Excel spreadsheet that became the basis of the catalog records on this site.
- Adam Levine scanned hundreds more photographs, fleshed out the photograph descriptions, and created the final metadata now attached to each image.
- Media Borough Council approved the purchase of a new computer and scanners for MHAC, and funded the creation and upkeep of this website.
Spatial Coverage
Media, Pennsylvania and vicinity, as well as other locations (including the Panama Canal Zone) related to Media people.
Red Ink photo, series by same photographer named for red ink used for writing descriptions on reverse side of similarly-mounted images. This photo was entered in The John Wanamaker Exhibition of Photographs by Amateurs, February 1908. See P-11002 for a description of the pond.
This structure was located on the edge of the pond, opposite 1 Old Mill Lane in Rose Valley. The pond, fed by Vernon Run, a Ridley Creek tributary, would be to the right of the pump house, out of the picture. The pond no longer exists. See P-11005 for a photo of it.
"Red Ink" photo, series by same photographer named for red ink used for writing descriptions on reverse side of similarly-mounted images. This is possibly the lane that one ran on the Park Avenue side of the Idlewild Hotel, which is now unused and is accessed off Squirrel Lane.
Exact location not known. Frank Lees caption: Husband of Dr. Alice Easby, he lived at 426 N. Jackson Street after his wife died, until his death on May 31, 1949.
The post office (left) later became the Media Borough Hall, It is now (2020) a restaurant. The original borough Hall, in the background, was torn down in 1969 as part of Media's urban renewal project.
Frank Lees caption: "The Malin family homestead was located on Ridley Creek Road just South of the Red Bridge at Rose Tree Road, very near where the, Brookwood Home is today (12-7-85). The photo shows a date of 1785, however papers and grants show that they owned this land back as far as the 1600s, extending from what is now Baltimore Pike, along both sides of Ridley Creek as far as Rose Tree Road." The property is now part of Louis Scott Park, the address of which gives an approximate location of the house.
