These photographs were taken by the German Photographer, Robert Mann Gerstmann, in the early and middle part of the Twentieth Century. Gerstmann was a friend of the Belgian priest R.F. Le Paige, who began the museum in San Pedro that bears his name. Before his death, Gerstmann left a collection of photographs, negatives and equipment in San Pedro in the care of Le Paige. Gerstmann later died, never returning to claim them and they sat in the halls of the museum until 1989, at which time Hugo Fernandez moved them to safer storage and chose 50 negatives to print for a collection that is now the property of the museum and Florida International University (FIU). These images come from Professor Fernandez’ own copy of work prints, and were made with the collaboration of Peggy Nolan, Professor of Photography, FIU.

__________________________________________________________________________________________