Philander Barclay Photograph Collection- Oak Park Public Library

Philander Barclay, noted as the first village historian of Oak Park, was born in 1878 in Alma, Illinois. He moved with his family to Oak Park at the age of 12 in 1890, when his father opened a drug store called the Sign of the Golden Lion on Marion Street. The drug store soon served as a social center for the village of Oak Park. Meeting with all of the different citizens in the village at his father’s drug store inspired Philander Barclay to start his hobby of collecting and recording the history of Oak Park through photography. Barclay may have also gained an interest in history from his father, who collected old letters.

In 1898 Barclay learned how to repair bicycles, and later opened his own bicycle repair shop at 1112 North Boulevard at the Elsom Garage. He would use his earnings to fund his photography hobby. After his father’s death in 1902, Philander Barclay began taking photographs himself, and his first period of activity was from 1902-1906. He travled around Oak Park by bicycle, his 1899 Columbia, Model No. 49, logging over 4,000 miles in his lifetime, helping to earn him the nickname of "Bicycle Barclay."

Barclay's other contributions to Oak Park include the founding of the Borrowed Time Club (a club for septuagenarians), providing photographs and articles for the Oak Leaves, and organizing societies to help protect children. Barclay died in July 1940, at the age of 62.

Philander Barclay donated photographic prints and negatives to the Oak Park Public Library in June 1940, one month before his death. Barclay was aware of his role as an early documentarian and made his wishes for this photograph collection publically known.