Phillip S. Ambrose Collection

DONOR:

Margaret (Peggy) Ambrose

SIZE:

Four and one quarter cubic feet

SCOPE & CONTENT:

Photograghic collections including prints, slides, negatives in color and b/w; primarily flowers, cacti and scenery of New Mexico and Colorado.

BIOGRAPHY:

Phillip S. Ambrose (Phil) was born in Mackay, Idaho on July 10, 1917. Upon graduation from high school, Phil attended Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. He then went to the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C, graduating in 1941. He was recruited into the Marine Corps, where he spent four and a half years. In his words, "I was a Guadalcanal Marine." He took part in three beach landings and was discharged in 1945.

After leaving the Marine Corps, Phil attended graduate school at the Teachers College, Columbia University in New York, obtaining a PhD. He then became the first Director of the Carlsbad Branch of New Mexico State University and later the Vice-President of Student Affairs, NMSU. He retired from NMSU in 1972.

Phil documented, through his photography, many of the changes that he observed in New Mexico. He worked as a volunteer for the Bureau of Land Management and traveled around southern NM photographing the beauty of flowers, cacti and mountains.

He had his own darkroom and processed and printed both black and white as well as color film. He was also an active member of the Dona Ana Camera Club.

He died in Las Cruces, New Mexico January 26, 2000.

 

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