Born in 1906, Cunningham moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1923, when he enrolled as a freshman at Oklahoma A & M College, now Oklahoma State University. While living in Stillwater, he worked at Smith's Studio, a local photographic studio detailing the development of A & M College and Stillwater. Leaving college for a five-year period, Cunningham edited the newspapers at Geary and Hinton, and worked as an assistant pressman for Lakeside Press in Chicago, Illinois. Returning to college, he earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees in 1931 and 1932. After serving in European and Pacific theaters of World War II from 1942 to 1946, Cunningham returned to Stillwater, where he operated a photoengraving business, Stillwater Engraving Company. An avid collector, meticulous researcher, and prodigious writer, Cunningham died in 1991. Henry Madison Wantland, frontier photographer, was born in Springfield, Illinois on April 4, 1864 and moved to Stillwater in 1891. In 1897 he bought what later became "Wantland's Art Studio," and for the next 20 years he made hundreds of exposures on glass plate negatives of Stillwater men, women, and children. By 1918 he quit the photography business. Wantland died in 1953 at his home in Stillwater.
From the description of Robert E. Cunningham Oklahoma history collection, 1856-1997. (National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum). WorldCat record id: 58795145
Cunningham (1906-1991) was a 1932 Oklahoma A & M graduate, Stillwater businessman, author of books and articles on the history of Stillwater and Oklahoma Native Americans, and collector of manuscripts, newspapers and glass negatives.
From the description of Collection on Oklahoma, 1893-1908. (Oklahoma State University Library). WorldCat record id: 30948637
