O'Brien collection of Boone photographs

R. (Raphael) Sanchez Boone, Jr. (1909-1974) was a lifetime resident of 1221 N. Calvert St. in Baltimore city. His parents were R. Sanchez (1872-1954) and Ada (O’Donnell) Boone (1872-1969). R. Sanchez, Sr. was in the liquor wholesale and retail business, having inherited the Boone-Elder Company (established 1871) from his father Daniel A. Boone. Ada O’'Donnell Boone was founder (in 1891 at age 19) and former headmistress of Miss O’'Donnell’s School which she conducted in her home, educating local children including the former Bessie Wallis Warfield, a neighbor on E. Biddle Street

R. Sanchez, Jr. was a graduate of City College and Loyola College. He did not marry, but served in the merchant marine, then the United States Army. During World War II, he attained the rank of Major, and served as Fire Marshal for United States forces in Great Britain, apparently witnessing the worst of the London Blitz, which is documented in this collection. After the war he joined the Boone-Elder Company, becoming president after his father’s death in 1954. A Boone-Elder Company retail store was located at 1001 Cathedral Street. Mr. Boone was involved in civic activities and neighborhood improvement associations in the Mt. Vernon area of Baltimore city.

A life long "fire buff", Mr. Boone ran errands for the firemen at the No. 28 engine house at Guilford and Mt. Royal Avenues as a child, and as an adult was known to literally "drop everything" to reach the scene of any multiple alarm fire in the vicinity.

He was a charter member of the Pompier Club, an organization of Baltimore fire enthusiasts formed in 1949 from a split within the Box 414 Association. He also belonged to two fire-related organizations in New York – the Fire Bell Club and the Cycle Club. He was made an honorary Chief of the Baltimore Fire Department in February, 1972.