This is a somewhat gussied-up version of the photo that constitutes the frontispiece of John Clagett Proctor's 1949 book Proctor's Washington, a collection of his Washington DC history articles in the Washington Star newspaper. He identifies himself as "historian, poet, genealogist and writer." He seems likely to have been the most prolific historian of Washington D.C. and it's surrounding suburbs. See Proctor's obituary in the Washington Star for a summary of his life. For a more thorough treatment of Proctor's life see Milton Rubincam's 1963 biography in the Journal of the Columbia Historical Society.
