Many of these negatives were in envelopes with some sort of (usually incomplete) identification. In some cases the name on the envelope appears to be the name of the photographer, usually a Ganner child or grandchild. John H. Ganner probably took the sets of early twentieth-century trips to the west.

Portraits, formal and informal, identified by name have been added to the index of names. When only a first name or nickname has been given, the name is enclosed in quotation marks unless the person could be identified ("Sister," for example, has been identified as Elizabeth Rose Ganner). In some cases, a box or envelope of negatives was identified by name, but the negatives included a variety of subjects. In these cases, the Image numbers have been added to the index under the name given and a short description of subject matter has been added within square brackets. In these cases, the name given may be the name of the photographer. Most of the negatives were in envelopes with a short description of contents on the envelope; all such notes are included in the name index as they are with the studio portraits. Likewise, an asterisk indicates a nitrate negative that has been printed.

When a group of photographs could not be confidently associated with a name or when a subject seemed more important than the name, a description was given below as part of the box inventory. The majority of the descriptions below were originally written on the envelopes; those added by the processor are enclosed by square brackets.