On November 28, 1969 Tom Halsted opened the doors to The Halsted Gallery.  At the time he named the gallery for the location address, 831 Gallery, which was an old house in downtown Birmingham, MI.  The opening was so unusual that it was carried in an article in the NEW YORK TIMES  . It was one of the handful that dedicated itself to the promotion and education of fine art photography.  For 40 years, the gallery has maintained the same mission.  In the early days a small group would gather and argue for hours the merit of photography as an art form.  Many great photographers visited the gallery frequently such as Ansel Adams, Andre' Kertesz, Brett Weston. Yosuf Karsh, Harry Callahan and so many others.   Through the years, Tom established relationships with photograhers such as Bill Brandt, Imogen Cunnigham and Berenice Abbott.   We have numerous letters from many of them asking for advice in pricing and other issues.  Many institutions and collectors bought their first photographs from Tom.  He was around to help form AIPAD and served as one of the early presidents.