Sigurd Russell Photograph Collection of Southwest Indians and Schools: Finding
Aid
Finding aid prepared by Michelle Sanchez.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2014
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Title: Sigurd Russell Photograph Collection of Southwest Indians and Schools
Dates (inclusive): 1890s-1927
Bulk dates: 1920s
Collection Number: photCL 399
Creator:
Russell, Sigurd, 1885-1946
Extent:
144 photographs and 22 postcards in 1 box; prints and postcards 12 x 16.5 cm. (4.75 x 6.5 in.) and smaller.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: A collection of photographs and postcards focusing on Navajo and Hopi Indians and various Indian schools and schoolchildren
throughout Arizona,
mostly dating from the 1920s, and compiled by Los Angeles teacher and journalist Sigurd Russell (1885-1946).
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on October 21, 2014.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Sigurd Russell Photograph Collection of Southwest Indians and Schools, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Provenance
Gift of Beatrice Russell Beck, October 1996.
Biographical Note
Teacher and journalist Sigurd Russell (1885-1946) became a well-seasoned traveler in his formative years after being moved
around Europe for his
education. In order to support himself as an adult, he became a journalist, and founded the
Lamanda Park Herald
(later the
East Pasadena Herald) in 1915. Russell later became a teacher at Los Angeles High School, and used school
vacations to travel to the Southwest. During these trips, he may have written about the Indians who lived there for the Southwest
Museum, as Charles F. Lummis frequently attended parties at the Russell house. In his later years, Russell’s health grew worse
and he
died due to heart complications in 1946. [For additional information, see the transcript of oral interview with Beatrice Russell
Beck in Huntington library files.]
Scope and Content
A collection of photographs and postcards focusing on Navajo and Hopi Indians and various Indian schools and schoolchildren
throughout Arizona,
mostly dating from the 1920s, and compiled by Los Angeles teacher and journalist Sigurd Russell. There are views of Peach
Springs Trading Post,
the Cameron Suspension Bridge trading post, missions at Chinle and Lukachukai (Arizona), Navajo family groups, Navajo schools
at Tuba City and
Oraibi (Arizona), and Navajo school crafts fairs and exhibits. Acoma, Apache, Tohono O'odham (Papago), and Hualapai Indians
are also represented.
The photographs were taken from 1890 to 1927, but the bulk of the collection was created during the 1920s. Includes some photographs
by George
Wharton James, E.E. Hall, and Burton Frasher (Frasher Fotos) . These images of Indians were taken as both posed and candid
field photographs,
in particular of young Navajo schoolchildren during class time and outside of school. Other subjects pictured are L.H. McSparron,
owner of Thunderbird
Ranch and acting custodian of Canyon de Chelly; Father Leopold Ostermann, the founder of the mission at Chinle; possibly John
Lorenzo Hubbell Jr.,
of the Hubbell trading family; an Indian all-boys track-and-field team at an unidentified school; Indian schoolchildren; and
nature views throughout Arizona.
Russell also collected postcards with images of Southwest Indians, with some cards having correspondence from Russell, addressed
to
Beatrice Madelleine, Mrs. George R. Simmons, and Madeleine Touchaux (Russell’s wife), describing how travel conditions were
as well as opinions on the Indians that were encountered.
Arrangement
The photographs have been arranged by Indian tribe, starting with the tribe with the most photographs and/or postcards. Navajo
Indians appear first in the arrangement,
followed by Hopi, Apache, and other Southwestern tribes with fewer photographs. Within each tribe, photographs and postcards
have been further organized by individual
tribe members, activities, crafts, associated communities, and schools. Images of Caucasian people involved in Indian trade,
trading posts, and unidentified Indian schools
and students are placed at the end of this collection.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Ostermann, Leopold -- Photographs.
Acoma Indians -- Photographs.
Apache Indians -- Photographs.
Basket making—Arizona -- Photographs.
Dakota Indians -- Photographs.
First communion -- Photographs.
Havasupai Indians -- Photographs.
Hogans -- Photographs.
Hopi Indians -- Photographs.
Hualapai Indians -- Photographs.
Hubbell family -- Photographs.
Indians of North America—Education -- Photographs.
Indians of North America—Missions -- Photographs.
Indians of North America—Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Indian school children -- Photographs.
Indian traders -- Photographs.
Navajo blankets -- Photographs.
Navajo Indians -- Photographs.
Navajo shepherds -- Photographs.
Priests -- Photographs.
Tohono O’odham Indians -- Photographs.
Trading posts—Arizona -- Photographs.
Yuma Indians -- Photographs.
Albuquerque (N.M.) -- Photographs.
Chelly, Canyon de (Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Chinle (Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Fort Mojave (Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Oraibi (Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Peach Springs (Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Tuba City (Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Forms/Genres
Photographs.
Postcards.
Additional Creators
James, G. Wharton (George Wharton), 1858-1923, photographer.
Detroit Publishing Co.
Frashers Inc., photographer.
Fred Harvey (Firm)
Lollesgard Specialty Company
Southwest Arts & Crafts (Santa Fe, N.M.)
Folder 1, Items 1-21
Navajo Indians, including: blanket weavers; multi-generational families; individual male tribe members; men at a sweathouse.
Folder 2, Items 22-32
Navajo Indians, including: the wedding party of a Navajo couple; young boys and girls; mothers and their children.
Folder 3, Items 33-38
Navajo Indians, including: an unidentified young married couple; individual female tribe members (some making bread, others
wearing Navajo jewelry)
Folder 4, Items 39-43
Navajo Indians, including: individual female tribe members (many wearing Navajo jewelry and are with other female tribe members);
tribe members gathering together at a meeting place; “Squaw Dance.”
Folder 5, Items 44-60
Tuba City (AZ): Navajo children in everyday clothing before school enrollment and in school uniform after enrollment; school
buildings, including hospital.
Folder 6, Items 61-69
Tuba City and Oraibi (AZ): Navajo Indian school exhibits; agricultural fairs; arts and crafts fairs.
Folder 7, Items 70-77
Navajo sheep herding and dipping; hogan exteriors.
Folder 8, Items 78-92
Chinle (AZ): mission building; Navajo Indian adults and schoolchildren; homes and hospital; Father Leopold Osterman (founder
of Chinle mission); First Communion and Baptism classes. Lukachukai (AZ): St. Isabel Church; Indian interpreter’s residence.
Folder 9, Items 93-100
Hopi Indians, including: young women of marriageable age; basket-weaver; Snake Dance; blanket-weaving; man in Western clothing.
Folder 10, Items 101-111
Hopi Indians: schoolgirls Acoma Indians: blanket-weaver at loom; Acoma Pueblo.
Folder 11, Items 112-124
Apache Indians and baskets; Tohono O’Odham (Papago) school girls; Hualapai (Walapai) Indians; basket-weavers .
Folder 12, Items 125-127
North Dakota Indian; Yuma Indian; Havasupai basket-weaver.
Folder 13, Items 128-136
Caucasian traders: L.H. Sparron; possibly John Lorenzo Hubbell Jr. from the Hubbell family with an unidentified man and unidentified
woman; Peach Springs Trading Post (AZ); Trading post by Cameron Suspension Bridge (AZ).
Folder 14, Items 137-157
Unidentified Indian schoolchildren at unidentified schools, including: Goat Club for Boys; boys’ class at Fort Mojave; young
men’s track team.
Folder 15, Items 158-166
Southwest views of nature and buildings, including the Elephant’s Feet (rock spires). Miscellaneous images: Pueblo Indian
dancers; Mission Indian basket maker at Soboba, Cal.
