Adam Clark Vroman was born April 15, 1856, in La Salle, Illinois. Died July 24, 1916, in Altadena, California. Vroman started working for the Railroad in 1874. In 1892, to improve his wife’s health, they moved to Pasadena, California. He began taking photographs in 1892.
In 1895 he started work on a complete series of the California missions. That summer he accompanied an expedition to Arizona, and for the next ten years photographed the Southwest. In 1894 after the death of his wife, he entered into a partnership with J.S. Glasscock and opened a book and photographic supply store. The store prospered and Vroman’s Bookstore still operates in Pasadena today.