Inventory of the Grace Nicholson Papers, 1822-1951, bulk 1902-1948
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URL: http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=554
© 2000
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Inventory of the Grace Nicholson Papers, 1822-1951, bulk 1902-1948
The Huntington Library
San Marino, California
Contact Information
- Manuscripts Department
- The Huntington Library
- 1151 Oxford Road
- San Marino, California 91108
- Phone: (626) 405-2203
- Fax: (626) 449-5720
- Email: lgarcia@huntington.org
- URL: http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=554
- Processed by:
- The Huntington Library staff
© 2000 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Grace Nicholson Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1822-1951,
Date (bulk): bulk 1902-1948
Creator:
Nicholson, Grace
Extent: Number of pieces: ca. 2560; 11 boxes, and 3 scrapbooks in Addenda
Repository: The Huntington Library
San Marino, California 91108
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Provenance
The Grace Nicholson papers were a gift from Thyra H. Maxwell, October 24, 1968.
Access
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information
please go to following
URL .
Publication Rights
In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the manuscripts or visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission
from the office of the Library Director. In most instances, permission is given by the Huntington as owner of the physical
property rights only, and researchers must also obtain permission from the holder of the literary rights. In some instances,
the Huntington owns the literary rights, as well as the physical property rights. Researchers may contact the appropriate
curator for further information.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Grace Nicholson Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Summary Report
Collection of business and personal papers of Grace Nicholson, Pasadena (Calif.), collector and dealer in North American Indian
articles, especially baskets, and in oriental art. Miss Nicholson designed and had constructed the Chinese building at 46
North Los Robles which houses the Pacificulture Center.
Born in Philadelphia on December 31, 1877, Grace Nicholson came to California late in 1901. By January 1902 she was purchasing
Indian baskets and other Indian artifacts in association with Carrol S. Hartman, an old family friend from the East, who remained
with her as friend and buyer until his death in 1933. Miss Nicholson took her Indian lore seriously, as she would her oriental
studies later in life; from the beginning she kept diaries and took extensive notes as she made excursions into Indian territory
to purchase baskets. Traveling north through California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and south and east through
Arizona and New Mexico, she collected, not only for herself, but also for such institutions as the Smithsonian, the Field
Columbian Museum of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania Department of Archeology. By August of 1902 she was already
busy establishing a shop and studio at 41-143 Raymond Ave., Pasadena, to handle Indian baskets and curios, and had set about
making contacts for securing a regular supply of artifacts from dealers, individual collectors, reservations, and from the
Indians themselves. She regularly paid higher prices than competitive buyers, thereby obtaining the finest pieces, and even
adopted a number of the best basket weavers, paying them to produce unique examples of traditional patterns. Quietly, she
maintained for many years at least two Indian families, and was often influential in interesting other benefactors in the
welfare of the several tribes.
By 1903 Grace Nicholson had become a friend of the Klamath River Indians, not only purchasing their baskets and other tribal
objects, but also photographing them constantly, taking care to mail to each a copy of his own portrait, a source of great
pleasure and pride to the recipient. A number of letters in the collection are from the Indians thanking her for the photographs.
They tell about local events, and we know that Miss Nicholson answered though her answers are not preserved. As for the Indians
of Arizona and New Mexico, no friendships with individual Indians seem to have been formed, but both Miss Nicholson and Mr.
Hartman visited the reservations a number of times, and were particularly interested in the turquoise and silver jewelry made
in the area. Two expeditions, one to the Klamath River area in 1905, the other, in 1908, to the Arizona Indian country to
witness tribal festivals, were described by Miss Nicholson in letters (1905-1908) to her friend Alice Pfromm, as well as in
the notes made enroute. The collection also contains manuscripts, written from 1906 to 1913 by Mary B. Watkins of Mesa Grande (Calif.) of Indian legends, folklore, and some vocabulary. Twenty letters (1915-1925) from Evaline Nelson recount
California Indian legends. In 1909 Grace Nicholson was awarded a silver medal for her ethnological collection exhibited at
the Alaska-Yukon- Pacific Exposition in Seattle. She was 29 years old. In 1913 Miss Nicholson lent a large collection of Indian
baskets and Navajo jewelry to the Los Angeles County Museum at Exposition Park for a special Indian exhibition. The period 1910-1920, more or less, was a time of increased public interest
in the Indians and their culture, and in the portrayal of Indians and Indian customs by white artists in paintings and sketches.
Miss Nicholson handled the work of a number of the outstanding artists in her galleries, among them, Joseph H. Sharp and Grace
Carpenter Hudson. Letters from the artists are with the collection. Gretchen Krause was Grace Nicholson's housekeeper during
most of both their lives. Already a trusted and valued family member, in 1911 Gretchen wrote a series of charming letters
to her employer while the latter was away on one of her many trips. German born, she returned on at least one occasion to
vacation in her native land; Miss Nicholson described how she put Gretchen on the German freighter Schwaben during the Hitler
regime, and how pronounced was the German atmosphere on board, with a portrait of Hitler on prominent display. After her employer's
death, Gretchen retired to a small house in Pasadena.
Even from those early years, it was evident to Grace Nicholson that the days of the Indians, of their traditions and handicrafts,
were limited, and that it would be necessary for her to look elsewhere for art collections. Thus it was that in 1903 she already
had begun to add oriental art objects to her acquisitions. At the same time her contacts with museums expanded, so that years
later when the Indian artifacts had largely disappeared and oriental art had captured the interest of the western world, those
same museums would find in the Nicholson galleries fine oriental collections from which to select. As early as 1916 she had
buyers in China and Japan, and in 1929 Miss Nicholson, accompanied by Mr. Hartman, made a momentous tour of the Orient, for
pleasure, but especially for purchasing, and as usual, she kept diaries of the trip. This journey marked the turning point
in her career: from 1929 on Grace Nicholson was interested in oriental art above all things, though not to the total exclusion
of her Indians or the hope of someday returning to her Indian notes. She became a Buddhist in faith, a member of several organizations
dedicated to the study of oriental things, and her famous Treasure House was definitely and authentically Chinese, having
been designed and constructed in Chinese temple style. There is in the collection a considerable amount of correspondence
from China, Japan, Korea; collectors from those countries regularly sent shipments. World War II effectively cut off both
correspondence and shipments; by that time her collections were lavish.
In 1941 Miss Nicholson, with forty years of professional activity behind her, began to plan for retirement from business with
disposal of the Los Robles building and of her collections. In 1943 she offered the property to the Pasadena Art Institute
as a gift, with a generosity in keeping with her character. Some legal and financial obstacles existed, so that the property
was deeded to the City of Pasadena, which gave to the Institute the right to acquire title before 1961 on payment of taxes
and costs; in the meantime the building was leased to the Institute. Miss Nicholson retained the use of her own living quarters
during her lifetime. In 1944 she moved her shop to a smaller place at 45 South Euclid Ave., Pasadena, continuing to live at
the old place on Los Robles. Gradually she spent less time at the shop, leaving it in the hands of assistants Thyra Maxwell
and Estelle Bynum. From February 1948, when she suffered from a lengthy illness, Miss Nicholson wrote no more nor did she
dictate correspondence. Death came on August 31, 1948.
Executors of the Nicholson estate, Thyra H. Maxwell and Estelle Bynum informed friends, relatives and clients of the death
of Grace Nicholson, then set about closing out her affairs. Correspondence after August, 1948 gives an idea of the types of
items remaining in the collections: Australian opals, gold Chinese snuff bottles, Indian baskets, oriental porcelains, jades,
Chinese paintings, collections of bronzes, Japanese dolls, Korean collections, semi-precious stones, Javanese and Chinese
textiles, Chinese bead work, Philippine dolls, etc.etc. The entire remaining collections were sold at auction to a single
buyer in December, 1950.
Scope and Content
The arrangement of the collection is as follows:
- Eleven (11) boxes (I-XI) of correspondence, arranged in alphabetical order.
- Six (6) boxes (XII-XVII) of other material, including Indian Notes and Diaries.
- Two (2) Letter books.
- One (1) roll of plans of building at 46 Los Robles, Pasadena (Calif.).
- One (1) box (1) of correspondence, arranged in alphabetic order.
- Ten (10) boxes (2, 4-11) of clippings, ephemera, and printed items.
- three (3) Indian scrapbooks.
Container List
Imcomplete list of Boxes I-XI.
Box I
Alliot, Hector.
1907-1908
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
American Anthropological Assoc. (by George Grant MacCurdy)
1904
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Ashmore, Lida S. (re Sun Yat Sen & conditions in China)
1923
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Baldwin, Anita M.
1921
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Barker, John.
1908
Physical Description: 2 pieces. (Sorcerer of Tejon, Indian rainmaker tale)
Barrett, Samuel Alfred.
1906
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Bradford, Mary M. (Chetmache Indians & basket designs)
1906
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Brady, John Green.
1902
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Bridgman, Frederick Arthur.
1925
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Brizard, Paul A.
1902-1906
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Brundage, Avery.
1943-1949
Physical Description: 12 pieces.
Box II
Canyon Tom.
1911
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Captain Jack (Ah Chi Ca).
1903
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Cartier, Jacques.
1942-1946
Physical Description: 12 pieces.
Chanler, Robert W.
1924-1925
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Cheney, Russell.
1926
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Clausen, Mabel. (Attorney for Grace Nicholson)
1943-1944
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Coffee, Herbert A. (Indians of Southwest, relics)
1903-1908
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Daggett, John. (Klamath River Indians, baskets)
1905
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Davis, Edward H. (Mesa Grande Indian
1908-1910
Physical Description: 3 pieces. s)
Doolittle, Harold L.
1940-1948
Physical Description: 9 pieces.
Douglas, Frederick Huntington.
1925-1950
Physical Description: 58 pieces.
Dunton, W. Herbert.
1914
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Box III
Ferguson, John Calvin.
1929-1937
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Floyd, Harry C. (Inyo Co. Indians).
1902-1912
Physical Description: 9 pieces.
Frame, S.R. (Klamath River Indians).
1908-1911
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Gibbon-Stocken, H.W. (Blackfoot Ind.).
1911
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Gilchrist, Harriett M. (Coarse Gold, Calif. Indians)
1915-1917
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Goddard, Pliny Earle.
1918-1925
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Gordon, George Byron.
1904-1918
Physical Description: 10 pieces.
Green, George G.
1940-1943
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Guerra, Josefa de la.
1918
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Hague, Marian.
1942
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Han, Yu-Shan (Chinese seals).
1945
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Hard, Charles Frederick.
1945
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Harrison, Carter Henry.
1909
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Harry, Margaret (Klamath River Ind.).
1910
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Hartman, Carrol S.
1904-1911
Physical Description: 8 pieces.
Harvey, W.F. (Indians of Calif.).
1911
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Box IV
Henderson, Sarah J. (Clatsop Indians).
1911
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Heye, George Gustav.
1918-1950
Physical Description: 23 pieces.
Hickox family (Elizabeth, Louise, & Luther, Klamath River Indians).
1908-1947
Physical Description: 12 pieces.
Hinkle, Jesse (Tule River, Calif. Reservation).
1902
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Hodge, Frederick Webb.
1926, 1946
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Holmes, Burton.
1926, 1933
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Holmes, William Henry (Smithsonian).
1902-1915
Physical Description: 7 pieces.
Hoover, Herbert.
1949
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Horton, Elizabeth R. (Cree dolls).
1898
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Hubbell, J.L. (Navajos).
1903
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Hudson, Grace Carpenter.
1926-1936
Physical Description: 58 pieces.
Ihnen, Wiard Boppo (Chinese art).
1943
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
James, George Wharton.
1902-1906
Physical Description: 9 pieces.
Johnson, Hiram Warren.
1935
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Johnson, John M. (Calif. Ind. baskets).
1907
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Keith, Elizabeth.
1927-1928
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Kelley, Caroline Tyler.
1925
Physical Description: 1 piece.
King, William Benjamin Bash.
1919, 1922
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Krause, Gretchen.
1911
Physical Description: 14 pieces.
Kroeber, Alfred L.
1906-1909
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box V
Lan-fang, Mei.
1929-1930
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Lee, S.L. (Indian weapons).
1906-1909
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Lewis, C.B. (Santa Cruz Island).
1904
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Little, Berthe A. (Navajo school).
1907-1909
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Loomis, Jean (China, art, society).
1919
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Lukens, Glen.
1941-1942
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Lummis, Charles Fletcher.
1903, 1919
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
MacCurdy, George Grant. (see Amer. Anthrop. Assoc., Box I)
1904, 1907
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
McLeod, E.L. (Calif. Indians).
1905-1908
Physical Description: 24 pieces.
Mardis, G.W. (Arizona Indians).
1906
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Mason, Otis Tufton.
1902-1906
Physical Description: 10 pieces.
Box VI
Merriam, Clinton Hart.
1902-1915
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Merriam, J.E. (St. Thomas Is., W.I.).
1923
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Mitchell, J.T. (Calif. Indians).
1916-1919
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Moon, Carl.
1931-1943
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Moore, Marion A. (Navajos).
1907
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Muir, John (re Sitka Jack).
1902
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Nelson, Evaline (Calif. Indians).
1915-1925
Physical Description: 20 pieces.
Nicholson, Grace correspondence. 1904-1947
Box VII
Nicholson, Grace correspondence.
1902-1948
Noel, John.
1926-1932
Physical Description: 8 pieces.
Box VIII
Padillo Nervo, Luis.
1944
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Pasadena Art Institute.
1924-1948
Physical Description: 24 pieces.
Peterson, C. (Wash. Ind., Neah Bay).
1905, 1908
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Pieters, Alexander A. (Korean art).
1914-1931
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Poland, Reginald.
1931-1938
Physical Description: 17 pieces.
Preckel, Jennie (Calif. Indians).
1911-1912
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Pride, I.V. (Calif. Indians).
1903
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Pushman, Hovsep.
1932-1948
Physical Description: 40 pieces.
Putnam, Esther Orne.
1915
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Putnam, Frederick Ward.
1907-1914
Physical Description: 8 pieces.
Box IX
Randolph, Minnie C. (Calif. Ind.).
1914
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Riley, Alice.
1926
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Roomer, Katherine.
1938-1948
Physical Description: 12 pieces.
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano.
1918
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Rowland, Earl D.
1949-1950
Physical Description: 13 pieces.
Sauerman, Frank P.
1902-1903
Physical Description: 7 pieces.
Scott, Hugh Doggett.
1948
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Sharp, Joseph Henry.
1918-1941
Physical Description: 27 pieces.
Sheets, Millard.
1946-1950
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Box X
Skiff, Frederick James Volney.
1902
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Smith, William Alden.
1902
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Spiegelberg, A. F. (N.Mex. Indians).
1906
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Taylor, Jessie McLeod (Calif. Indians).
1903-1917
Physical Description: 19 pieces.
Townsend, J. R. (Cheyenne Ind. shield).
1916
Physical Description: 1 piece.
U.S. Dept. of Interior. Indian Field Service (Oregon, Utah, Calif.).
1905-1930
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
U.S. Dept. of Interior. Office of Indian Affairs (Calif.).
1902, 1910
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box XI
Walska, Ganna.
1943-1949
Physical Description: 11 pieces.
Watkins, Mary B. (Calif. Indians).
1906-1913
Physical Description: 23 pieces.
Willoughby, Charles Clark.
1903-1918
Physical Description: 17 pieces.
Wright, Nellie (Calif. Indians).
1911-1913
Physical Description: 13 pieces.
Complete list of Boxes XII-XVII.
Box XII
Grace Nicholson Biographical Material.
Physical Description: 23 pieces
Nicholson Family Papers.
1822-1948
Physical Description: 20 pieces.
Gifts by Grace Nicholson to Organizations.
1904-1946
Physical Description: 18 pieces.
Deed and other documents re: Purchase of property at 46 Los Robles.
1896-1914
Physical Description: 52 pieces.
Papers re: Construction of Building at 46 Los Robles.
Physical Description: 106 pieces
Box XIII
Indian Legend: The Beginning of the World (Calif.).
Physical Description: 1 piece
Indian Reservations & Organizations (Calif.).
Physical Description: 4 pieces
Indian Traditions, folklore.
Physical Description: 14 pieces
Karok Indian Customs: Klamath River Tribes.
Physical Description: 10 pieces
Karok Indian Legends: Klamath River Tribes.
Physical Description: 15 pieces
Paiute Indian Notes.
Physical Description: 1 piece
Pomo Indian Notes.
Physical Description: 1 piece
Box XIV
Indian Baskets: Grace Nicholson Collection.
Physical Description: 5 pieces
Indian Bibliographical Notes.
Physical Description: 8 pieces
Indian Notes: Lists of Articles.
Physical Description: 31 piece
Indian Notes: Miscellaneous.
Physical Description: 60 pieces
Notes on North American Indian Baskets.
Physical Description: 31 piece
Notes on Indian Crafts (except baskets).
Physical Description: 23 pieces
Box XV
Indian Notes.
1901-1913
Physical Description: 22 Notebooks.
Box XVI
Indian Notes.
1918-1923 & undated
Physical Description: 11 Notebooks.
Grace Nicholson Diaries.
1906-1935
Physical Description: 11 Notebooks.
Box XVII
Notes on Orient.
Physical Description: 9 Notebooks
Miscellaneous Notes (Grace Nicholson).
Physical Description: 7 Notebooks
Oriental Art: Notes & memos.
Physical Description: 26 pieces
Travel Notes: Orient.
Physical Description: 8 pieces
Misc. manuscripts articles.
Physical Description: 10 pieces
Notes on U.S. coins.
Physical Description: 1 piece
Pasadena Art Institute: mostly mimeographed material.
Physical Description: 35 pieces
Other miscellaneous materials (in Rare Book Department)
Photograph albums.
Physical Description: 12 albums.
Boxes of photographs.
Physical Description: 3 boxes
Boxes of negatives.
Physical Description: 2 boxes
Other unclassified photographs.
Scrapbooks of newspaper clippings.
Physical Description: 3 pieces
Addenda
American Folklore Society
To Grace Nicholson. 1906
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. 1913
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. 1914-15
Physical Description: 8 items.
To Grace Nicholson. 1929, 1937
Physical Description: 4 items.
Documents. 1876
Physical Description: 2 items.
To Grace Nicholson. 1934
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. c.1939
Physical Description: 2 items.
To Grace Nicholson. 1939
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. 1945
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. 1925
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. 1920
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. 1930,1935
Physical Description: 17 items.
Document. 1830-1831.
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. 1901-1936
Physical Description: 23 items.
To Grace Nicholson. 1935
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. 1948
Physical Description: 1 item.
To C.S. Hartme1910 n.
Physical Description: 2 items.
To Grace Nicholson. 1908-1920
Physical Description: 46 items.
Biographical notes. 1902.
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson1917 .
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Mary A.Nicholson. 1845-1847
Physical Description: 3 items.
To James Blackie. 1843
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Mary A.Nicholson. 1850-1856
Physical Description: 8 items.
To Grace Nicholson. 1903
Physical Description: 2 items.
To Grace Nicholson. 1930
Physical Description: 1 item.
To Grace Nicholson. 1929
Physical Description: 1 item.
Box 2.
Indian (American). Articles & clippings
Box 3.
Misc. photographs [moved to Photo Archives 1995]
Box 5.
Chinese art. Articles & clippings
Box 6.
Tibetan art. Articles & clippings
Box 7.
Korea. Siam. Early Pasadena. Closing of Business (G. Nicholson). Early California. Bells. Trip to Orient
Box 8.
Japanese art. Articles & clippings.
Box 9.
News Clippings--Grace Nicholson Gallery. Ephemera
Box 11.
Misc. ephemera items. Pasadena history.
Scope and Content Note
Also: 3 Indian scrap books.
