The collection consists mainly of prints and negatives taken by St. Louis photographer, Philip J. Hasser. Subjects of his photographs include his tenure in the Army National Guard, photography school assignments, weddings, and a host of other miscellaneous subjects. Included at the end of the collection is a small series of manuscripts.
Philip Joseph Hasser was born in St. Louis in 1931. While attending Cleveland High School, he gained part-time employment as a photographer for PROM Magazine, a publication catered toward St. Louis-area high school students with most reporters and photographers being high school students themselves. After graduation, he enlisted in the Missouri Army National Guard and established his own photography business. During the Korean War, Mr. Hasser provided photoreconnaissance of the Soviet Union as a sergeant with the Army Signal Corps 22nd Reproduction Attachment. After the war ended in 1953, he transferred to the Army Reserves and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in photography at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design. Post-college, Mr. Hasser provided photography for the Army Corps of Engineers and the Army Aviation Systems Command in St. Louis. He died suddenly in 1988 of an aortic aneurysm.