About: Fred Gildersleeve

Fred A. "Gildy" Gildersleeve (June 1881 – February 26, 1958) was an American photographer. His work helped pioneer aerial photography, panoramas, and light manipulation techniques. After settling in Waco, Texas, in 1905, Gildersleeve captured thousands of photographs depicting the city as it experienced an unprecedented period of growth. He first received recognition for his images of a biplane circling the Amicable building in 1911 and the Cotton Palace. In May 1916, he was on the scene when Jesse Washington, a black teenage farmhand, was lynched in front of a large crowd of onlookers. Gildersleeve's pictures of the event offer rare imagery of a lynching in progress. He printed and sold images of Jesse Washington’s mutilated body as souvenir postcards.