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Charles F. Lummis photographs of El Alisal, family members, and other subjects
photCL 72
photCL 72
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library Photo Archives
Title: Charles F. Lummis photographs of El Alisal, family members, and other
subjects
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 72
Physical Description:
9.1 Linear Feet
(16 boxes)
Date (inclusive): approximately
1888-1923
Abstract: A collection of photographs by American
editor and writer Charles F. Lummis, featuring portraits of himself, family, and friends,
and the building of his Los Angeles house, El Alisal.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
RESTRICTED: Boxes 2-16: Due to fragility, glass plate negatives and autochromes available only with curatorial approval. Reference prints of the glass plate negatives are available (Box 1). There are no reference prints for the five autochromes.
RESTRICTED: Boxes 2-16: Due to fragility, glass plate negatives and autochromes available only with curatorial approval. Reference prints of the glass plate negatives are available (Box 1). There are no reference prints for the five autochromes.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Charles F. Lummis photographs of El Alisal, family members, and
other subjects, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Don C. Meadows, 1974.
Charles Fletcher Lummis (1859-1928) was a journalist, editor, author, ethnologist,
archaeologist, poet, builder, and photographer. He was editor of the magazine The Land of
Sunshine (later titled Out West), founded the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles in 1903, and
served as librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library from 1905 to 1910. Lummis took up
photography around the mid-1880s, selling and publishing many of his own images, while also
taking personal photographs. He continued taking photographs until the end of his life. El
Alisal, the name Lummis gave to the stone house he built, is now a Los Angeles
Historic-Cultural Monument called the Lummis House.
This collection of photographs by Charles F. Lummis consists of 383 glass plate negatives
and 5 autochromes (glass plate color photographs), dating from approximately 1888-1923. A
large portion of the images document the construction of Lummis' stone residence, El Alisal,
in what is now Highland Park, Los Angeles, which he began building in 1898 and finished in
1913. Exterior and interior progress views show details of construction, such as a window
Lummis made of a collage of glass photographic plates. Lummis also photographed the land he
bought for his house, which shows a largely untouched Arroyo Seco dotted with oak trees and
a few other houses. The collection also contains numerous portraits of Lummis' four children
with his second wife, Eve, seen at various ages: Turbesé (born 1892), Amado (born 1894),
Jordan "Quimu" (born 1900), and Keith (born 1904). Other portraits include Eve Lummis and
several notable Western writers and artists: John Muir, Charles M. Russell, Ed Borein, John
T. Doyle, Vicente Blasco Ibañez, Eugene Manlove Rhodes, Julia Bracken Wendt, and Thomas
Moran. The five autochrome portraits of art collector and dealer Grace Nicholson show her in
different poses, wearing a pink fancy dress and hat, and in a Chinese robe. Based on the
different format and professional appearance of the Nicholson images, there is some doubt as
to whether Lummis took them or they just came into his possession. Lummis is seen in several
self-portraits, at various ages, 1877-1909, and in some family groupings. A few images are
photographs of photographs or paintings. Lummis also appears in some scenes at Rancho
Camulos, Ventura County, with members of the Del Valle family. Various other subjects
include: Lummis' earlier home on Forester Avenue, Los Angeles (1890s); California missions;
Eve Lummis and others at Isleta pueblo, New Mexico, where she taught school; Native
Americans from Isleta at El Alisal with Lummis' family; and miscellaneous unidentified
scenes. The bulk of glass plates are 5 x 7 inches, with some 8 x 10 inches, and many have
names or dates written at the bottom in Lummis' hand, with his initials.
Processed by Huntington Library staff, circa late-20th century. In 2020, Suzanne Oatey
created a finding aid derived from a collection file and catalog cards. The Huntington
Library made reference prints of all the glass plate negatives in the 1980s; they are in Box
1. Identifications and dates primarily taken from writing on negatives. The photographs were
arranged and numbered by Library staff in the late-20th century and this arrangement has
been retained.
Historical Society of Southern California Collection: El Alisal Museo Windows Photographs,
1888-1899, photCL 400, vol. 5.
Photograph Album from Charles F. Lummis to Susanita del Valle, 1888, photCL 504.
Photograph Album from Charles F. Lummis to Susanita del Valle, 1888, photCL 504.
Arranged loosely by subject.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Rancho Camulos (Calif.) -- History
Architecture, Domestic -- California -- Los Angeles
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New
Isleta Indians
Missions, Spanish -- California --
History
Missions -- California -- Photographs
Highland Park (Los Angeles,
Calif.)
Glass plate negatives
Portraits
Photographs
Autochromes
Blasco Ibáñez, Vicente, 1867-1928
Borein, Edward,
1872-1945
Doyle, John T. (John Thomas),
1819-1906
Frémont, Lily, 1842-
Hittell, Theodore Henry,
1830-1917
Jordan, Jessie Knight,
1866-1952
Moran, Thomas, 1837-1926
Muir, John,
1838-1914
Nicholson, Grace, -1948
Rhodes, Eugene Manlove,
1869-1934
Russell, Charles M. (Charles Marion),
1864-1926