Wadsworth S. Kokernak Photograph Collection

Wadsworth (Walter) S. Kokernak at work with copy camera. Kokernak worked as a lithographer for the Maqua Company for 35 years. Photograph from the Wadsworth S. Kokernak Photograph Collection.  

The Wadsworth S. Kokernak Photograph Collection includes a number of photographs created and compiled by Wadsworth (Walter) Kokernak, a photographer and for many years a lithographer for the Maqua Company. Subjects include GE outdoor lighting, photographs of family and friends, and amateur and school sports. A number of the photographs appear to have been taken when Kokernak was a young man, still in high school. The collection's photographs of local school and amateur sports is especially valuable, offering a rare look at local sports during the 1920s. Below are just a few highlights from the collection:

Men playing basketball in unidentified location, ca. 1925. Photograph from Wadsworth S. Kokernak Photograph Collection.



St. Adalbert's basketball team, 1930. Photograph from Wadsworth S. Kokernak Photograph Collection.

Merrimac (possibly Merrimac Juniors) amateur baseball team in Schenectady, ca. 1930. Photograph from Wadsworth S. Kokernak Photograph Collection.

"Hogie's All Stars" - members of Mont Pleasant Royals hockey team, 1925-1926. Photograph from Wadsworth S. Kokernak Photograph Collection.

Kokernak family home at 780-782 Bailey Street in Schenectady, where Wadsworth Kokernak lived for most of his life. Photograph ca. 1920s. Photograph from Wadsworth S. Kokernak Photograph Collection.

Eighth-grade class of St. Adalbert's School in Schenectady, 1922. Kokernak attended St. Adalbert's School for primary and intermediate school before moving on to Mont Pleasant High School. Photograph from Wadsworth S. Kokernak Photograph Collection.  

Wadsworth Kokernak, ca. 1926.
Photograph from Wadsworth S.
Kokernak Photograph Collection.

Wadsworth (Walter) S. Kokernak was born in Schenectady in 1908, to Stanley J. and Antoinette (Edna) Witkowski Kokernak. He had one sister, Frances. Mr. Kokernak attended St. Adalbert’s grammar schools and Mont Pleasant High School, graduating in 1926. He was an avid athlete, playing hockey, football, baseball, and basketball. He was also an excellent swimmer and lifeguard. At age 16, in 1924, Mr. Kokernak began an apprenticeship with the General Electric Company, eventually becoming a commercial photographer.  In 1934 he joined the Maqua Printing Company (owned by General Electric) as a lithographer, where he operated the dark room copy camera until his death in 1969. Mr. Kokernak also served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 – 1945 as a Photographer’s Mate Third Class.  For most of his life, Kokernak resided on 780-782 Bailey Street, in the Bellevue section of Schenectady; from 1951 until the end of his life, he lived at 1909 Bentley Road in Niskayuna. Kokernak married Naomi Adams and had two children, Stephanie and Michael. He was a member of the General Electric Quarter Century Club and Polish National Alliance (PNA), serving as recording secretary and treasurer. He also served as treasurer for the Lithographers Union and coached Little League baseball. Kokernak died in 1969 at the age of 60. He is buried in St. Adalbert’s Cemetery.

A complete finding aid for the collection can be found here.