The bulk of the photographs come from several photograph albums that were dismantled and from which the photographs were removed during processing for preservation reasons. The photographs have been retained in as close to original order as possible, and several photographs have remained on original pages from the albums.

One photograph album was apparently a conglomeration of Hungate family photographs from several different generations, including a range of images from a mid-19th century tintype through photographs taken (by Carroll P. Hungate?) in 1958 on a trip to visit old family haunts. The bulk of the photos in this album appear to date from the 1920s-1940s and are in the folders described with "[from black scrapbook]."

Another album contained photographs and artistic prints of South America, mostly Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but also images from trips to British Guiana (now Guyana); a Paraguay River cruise or expedition; Puerto Suarez, Bolivia; and other locations in South America. These folders are described with the "[from white scrapbook]" notation.

Other photograph albums included family candid shots, many from travels to or while living in Europe and the eastern United States. These albums frequently included identification on the pages or on the backs of prints, but not always, and are also described indicating from which album they originally came. Two albums remain intact, one from [Carroll or Mary's senior year of high school?] in 1921 and another from European travels.

Most of the rest of the photographs in the series are unidentified--many might have come from one or several of the Hungate family photograph albums, but were already loose and separated when they came to Spencer. Some identified photographs are 19th century cabinet cards from Hungate family members, and there are a very few Patterson family photographs and images of Ida Patterson with the students she chaperoned at the Kansas City Arts Institute.