Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Hughes, William McDermott, Father
- Abstract:
- Father William McDermott Hughes (1880-1939) was a Catholic priest who traveled through California getting Native American storytellers to tell their tales to him. This collection includes Hughes's initial hand-written manuscripts produced mostly between 1910 and 1911 as well as typed versions from 1934. This collection also includes newspaper clippings, notes, and some correspondence. Materials are dated from 1908-1934.
- Extent:
- 0.4 Linear Feet (1 box)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
Father William Hughes Collection, 1908-1934, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.536; [folder number] [folder title][date].
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Father William McDermott Hughes (1880-1939) was a Catholic priest who traveled through California getting Native American storytellers to tell their tales to him. This collection includes Hughes's initial hand-written manuscripts produced mostly between 1910 and 1911 as well as typed versions from 1934. This collection also includes newspaper clippings, notes, and some correspondence. Materials are dated from 1908-1934.
- Biographical / historical:
-
William McDermott Hughes was born on 1880 January 9, in Sacramento, California. William's interest in Native Americans was developed at an early age. As a young boy, he spent a great deal of time playing, hunting and fishing among the Native American tribes of northern California. He attended Sacramento's public schools and then entered St. Mary's College in Oakland, graduating in 1900 with a Bachelor's degree. Hughes then studied philosophy and science at St. Thomas College, a Paulist school at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Later, with his schooling completed, Hughes moved to Los Angeles, where Bishop Thomas Conaty ordained him on 1905 August 5, the first person born and raised in Sacramento, California to join the priesthood.
The newly-ordained priest's first assignment was as an assistant at St. Agnes parish in Los Angeles. He remained there until he was transferred to Pasadena in early 1907. His service in Pasadena lasted little more than a year, until he asked Bishop Conaty to assign him to Indian mission work in 1908. He was assigned to St. Mary's parish in San Jacinto. Thus, Father Hughes began the work that consumed most of his adult life. Using San Jacinto as a base, Hughes ministered to a far-flung territory, including Catholic subjects living in Murietta, Perris and Temecula as well as on the Soboba, Cahuilla and Los Coyotes reservations.
Throughout his missionary travels, he collected stories about Indian folklore and religious practices. He spent many nights sitting around a campfire, trying to pry recollections from Indian elders. He was appointed a lecturer for the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, traveling to parishes across the United States to raise awareness and funds. He later became the director of the Bureau, where he worked until June 1935.
After he left the Bureau, he returned to California, working in Los Angeles with Dr. John P. Harrington of the Bureau of Ethnology on his collection of "Indian myths and customs." He passed away on 1939 May 6.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchase from Doris Harris, 1968 August 29.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Glenna Schroeder, circa 1977-1981. Finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Processing Archivist, 2012 October 1, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC). Updated 2024 by Alejandra Gaeta.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
In accordance with the Autry's institution wide Management of Native Collections policy, access to this collection is restricted due to culturally sensitive content. Requests for researcher access to materials identified as culturally sensitive may require letters of support from the affiliated Native nations and Indigenous communities.
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.
- Terms of access:
-
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.
- Preferred citation:
-
Father William Hughes Collection, 1908-1934, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.536; [folder number] [folder title][date].
- Location of this collection:
-
4700 Western Heritage WayLos Angeles, CA 90027, US
- Contact:
- (747) 201-8448