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Curtin Family Collection
MS.648  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Related Archival Materials
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Contents
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing History
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Conditions Governing Access

  • Contributing Institution: Library and Archives at the Autry
    Title: Curtin Family Collection
    Creator: Curtin, L. S. M. (Leonora Scott Muse)
    Creator: Paloheimo, Leonora Curtin
    Identifier/Call Number: MS.648
    Physical Description: 0.3 Linear Feet (1 box, 1 oversized folder)
    Date (inclusive): 1922-1981
    Abstract: This collection includes materials by or collected by Leonora Muse Curtin (1879-1972) and Leonora Curtin Paloheimo (1903-1999), the daughter and granddaughter, respectively, of renowned Southwest and California painter Eva Scott Fenyes from 1922-1981. Materials include correspondence, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, sheet music, song lyrics, and publications on topics such as Native American bracelets, Native American weaving, Pima ethnobotany, and poetry.
    Language of Material: English .

    Related Archival Materials

    Correspondence from Leonora Curtin Paloheimo can also be found in MS.1 Charles Fletcher Lummis Manuscript Collection, and correspondence from Leonora Muse Curtain can be found in MS.7 Frederick Webb Hodge Papers.

    Biographical Note

    Leonora S. Muse Curtin (1879-1972) was the daughter of renowned Southwest and California painter Eva Scott Fenyes. Curtin was a linguist and studied language and culture in India, Switzerland, Morocco, and among Native Americans of the Southwest. Curtin's daughter, also named Leonora Curtin (1903-1999) shared her mother's interest in the Southwest, and together the two designed and built an adobe-style home in La Cienega, New Mexico in 1931 and named it El Rancho de las Golondrinas. The younger Curtin married Yrjo Alfred Paloheimo and took his last name in 1946.

    Scope and Contents

    This collection includes materials by or collected by Leonora Muse Curtin and Leonora Curtin Paloheimo from 1922-1981. Materials include correspondence, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, sheet music, song lyrics, and publications. Topics covered in these materials include Native American bracelets, Native American weaving, Pima ethnobotany, and poetry. Manuscripts include original artwork and notes for a manuscript entitled "Santos of New Mexico: a review of the literature and bibliography with a key to identify the painters" by E. Boyd, 1947; a manuscript for a publication entitled "New Mexican Folk Melodies from the Collection of Leonora Curtin" transcribed by J. W. Robb; and a manuscript entitled "The Story and Songs of Los Pastores (Agua Fria Version)," Collected, Condensed, and Translated by the Federal Writers' Project of New Mexico, presented by the Santa Fe Unit of the Federal Music Project of New Mexico, Sponsored by the New Mexico Writers' Guild on Christmas Day, 1938. Some song lyrics in this collection are in Spanish. The tall folder contains a clipping on El Rancho de las Golondrinas from 1973.

    Preferred Citation

    Curtin Family Collection, 1922-1981, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.648; [folder number] [folder title][date].

    Processing History

    Processed by Library staff, after 1981. Finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Processing Archivist, 2012 October 29, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC).

    Conditions Governing Use

    Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives  and fill out the Researcher Application Form.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Manuscripts
    Clippings
    Songs -- Texts
    Sheet music
    Indians of North America -- Bracelets
    Translations
    El Alisal (Lummis Home, Los Angeles, Calif.)
    Navajo Indians
    Santos
    Folk songs
    Cienega Village Living Museum
    Poetry
    Drawings
    Transcripts
    Correspondence
    Rancho de las Golondrinas
    Ethnobotany
    Pima Indians
    Indian textiles
    Pima Indians -- Ethnobotany
    Indian poetry
    Artwork
    Santos of New Mexico: a review of the literature and bibliography with a key to identify the painters New Mexican Folk Melodies from the Collection of Leonora Curtin Story and Songs of Los Pastores (Agua Fria Version)
    Curtin Family