The Felix J. Koch Photograph Collection

The Cincinnati History Library and Archives holds the Felix J. Koch Collection (SC 116) of over 5,000 black and white photographic prints and 5,238 negatives. Felix’s younger brother, Herbert, and his wife, Alma, donated the collection to the Cincinnati Historical Society in 1968. Herbert and Alma Koch also donated funds to make prints from the negatives.

Washington Park looking east to Race Street.

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Alms & Doepke Radio Salon Open till 9pm.

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Felix John Koch, son of Gustav and Eugenie Sarran Koch, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1882 and graduated from Walnut Hills High School. Upon graduating from the University Cincinnati in 1904, he began writing for local newspapers, including the Cincinnati Times-Star, Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune. Two years later, Koch struck out on his own and became a well-known freelance writer and photographer, contributing articles illustrated with his own photographs, to newspapers and magazines such as National Geographic, The American Architect and Building News and The United States Tobacco Journal.

The collection of photographs is a rich social and cultural documentation of not only Cincinnati, but also of Ohio and Indiana towns between 1906 and 1933. The subject matter ranges from Cincinnati area amusement parks and businesses to children playing and the many suburbs, such as Avondale and Walnut Hills, that make up the city. During World War I, Koch was the official War Department Photographer for the Cincinnati region. He documented home front activities such as parades, training camps, and propaganda posters promoting Liberty War Bonds and encouraging people to save food. These posters were displayed in local storefront windows. Out of this he produced a book of his images titled Cincinnati Sees it Thru; The Camera’s Story of How the Great World War Came to the Queen of the West, published in 1917.

Central Parkway in Front of Alms & Doepke.

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Bauman Electric Co., 1700 Vine Street.

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Japp’s Hair Store.

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N.W. corner of 12^th and Main.

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Walnut Street near 13th, man reading spite against city.

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Koch used his photographs to create a traveling lecture and lantern slide show called the “Queer Corners Man.” Evidence of this can be seen in stories that he wrote for National Geographic Magazine such as “In Quaint, Curious Croatia” and “In Kentucky’s Famous Lands” for The United States Tobacco Journal.

He covered many of the major stories of his time, including the assassination of President William McKinley, the coronation of King George V of England, the “Scopes Monkey Trial,” and the Mexican Revolution.

Koch was a member of the National Editorial Association, American Nature Association, and the American Folk Lore Society. He died at the age of 52 on December 27, 1933 of intestinal influenza and peritonitis and is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio.

All photographs are from Special Collection SC116, The Felix Koch Photograph Collection, Cincinnati History Library and Archives, Cincinnati Museum Center.