Description
Michael H. Lee is a photographer who has published two books of images taken in Liberia.
Background
Michael Lee's life began in 1949 on his folks' homestead in Soldotna, the Territory of Alaska. In the early 1960s when he
lived in California, Lee began taking photographs with his Brownie Hawkeye camera. After graduating from high school he served
in the U.S. Navy, returning home to Billings, Montana, in 1970. With a B.A. in hand from Eastern Montana College (EMC), Lee
volunteered in 1973 to serve with the Peace Corps in Liberia. Lee next worked with the New York Blood Center's virus research
laboratory in the Marshall Territory of Liberia. From 1980 to 2010 Lee worked as a research and regulatory economist. Lee's
interest in documentary photography emerged during his 1969 Vietnam tour. He pursued his interest working as a photographer
in the early 1970s for EMC's newspaper, The Retort. During his years in West Africa he documented the people and the environments
where he lived and journeyed. A Silhouette of Liberia is Lee's second book of documentary photographs about Liberia. In 1977,
he co-authored Rock of the Ancestors with William Siegmann and Cynthia Schmidt. Lee has exhibited his photographs of Liberia
in Helena, at the University of Montana and with Liberia's National Museum. [Lee's biography from https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Silhouette_of_Liberia.html?id=p9QoswEACAAJ]
Extent
1.2 Linear Feet
(2.5 boxes, 1 map folder)
Restrictions
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish.
Availability
Open for research; except for the contents of Box 3, which are closed until the death of Michael H. Lee. The contents of the
SD card are closed until processed. Please note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.