Nelson E. Edwards

The Edwards family moved to Kansas by covered wagon when Nelson was only six months old. Nelson left the family farm in 1908 to learn photography in Kansas City. From New Orleans, he moved to New York City, where in 1912 he was working as a press photographer for the Hearst newspapers. His first major film assignment was in 1914 when Edwards covered the Mexican war. In December 1915, he sailed with Henry Ford’s Peace Ship to Europe and filmed inside the Ottoman Empire and on the Western Front with the German army. While in Germany, Edwards covered the aftermath of the Battle of Jutland and filmed the German Navy in Wilhemshaven as well as the German Naval High Command. • Illustration — Newsreel Pioneer Nelson E. Edwards - A Life in Pictures (1887-1954) • Illustration — The German Naval High Command filmed by Nelson Edwards, 1916 On his return to America, Edwards joined the Army in December 1917. He was chief cameraman for Fox News in 1919. From 1923, he started his own photographic agency in Baltimore, combining freelance photography with newsreel work. Edwards covered the early transatlantic flights, as well as Charles Lindbergh’s return from Paris in 1935. He was a member of the White House Press Photographers Association and covered every inauguration from President Theodore Roosevelt to Harry Truman. Nelson Edwards died near Reisterstown, Maryland, on October 17, 1954, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

• Name — Nelson E. Edwards • Born — 25 November 1887 • Birthplace — Point Pleasant, West Virginia, US • Died — 17 October 1954 • Place of death — Reisterstown, Maryland, US • Occupation — photographer/newsreel cinematographer • Spouse — Cornelia Fisk, married 1919/1920 • Children — Robert H. Edwards, Patricia T. Edwards