File:Basilica di Santa Croce - DPLA - 51597ecaa395acbcd1cfeab91840fd48.jpg

Exterior front facade of the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence. In the foreground, on the left side, stands a monument to Dante Alighieri. Note on slide reads "St. Croce & Dante." The Arrases traveled through Florence on their tour of Europe in 1913. Edmund F. Arras (7/7/1875-10/19/1951), a prominent Columbus businessman and entrepreneur, founded one of the city’s first property rental agencies in 1892. Trained as a lawyer, he graduated from OSU law school in 1896 and went on to hold positions in numerous civic groups around the city. He was particularly active within Kiwanis International and was involved with several local religious organizations. In 1913, he and his wife Elizabeth traveled to the World Sunday School Association Convention in Zurich, Switzerland. They continued on to travel extensively throughout Europe documenting their journey through photographs. Due to the timing of their trip, these photos comprise a valuable collection of images of European cities later devastated by war. The Arras family’s lantern slides and negatives include images from their 1913 travels through US east coast cities, Atlantic islands of the Azores, Madeira, Gibraltar and the countries of Algeria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, England, and Ireland. Also included are images from their 1920 train journey from Chicago to the western US for the Kiwanis Convention in Portland. These photographs include images of Chicago, Denver and western National Parks. Negative image also in collection HA3_B10_0196.