Born and educated in Chicago, Robert John Longini (1915-1962) became interested in photography at the age of eleven and worked as a documentary film maker and photographer all his life. Among his influences were Robert Capa, the *Life* magazine photographer and father of modern war photography; Wallace Kirkland, a personal friend who also photographed for *Life*; and Lázló Moholy-Nagy, the Bauhaus painter and photographer who was head of the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where Longini also taught. A lieutenant in the U.S. Army 163rd Signal Photographic Company, Longini served in North Africa and Italy; he was the official Army photographer at the Casablanca Conference and also the cameraman for the Army documentary The Battle of San Pietro.
Published
RC0325
The fonds consists mostly of photographs from World War II, with subjects including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill at the Casablanca Conference; the Allied bombing of the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino; troop trucks, mule trains, soldiers and civilians. There are also photographs of the U.S. capitol in 1954 and personal photographs of family and friends. The textual records include correspondence, commendations, discharge papers, and certificates relating to Longini’s military career, as well as news clippings.
The fonds (29-2003) was acquired from Kathryn Peterson in July 2003.
Further accruals are not expected.
There are no access restrictions.
[Finding Aid](https://library.mcmaster.ca/finding-aid/longini)