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Dentzel (Carl S.) Photograph Collection of the American
West
photCL 98
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Carl S. Dentzel Photograph Collection of the American West
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 98
Physical Description:
1.58 Linear Feet
(84 photographs in 2 boxes; photographs 18 x 24 cm. (7 x 9 in.)
and smaller.)
Date (inclusive): 1870s-1890s
Abstract: Photographs of the American West,
dating from the 1870s to the 1890s, collected by Carl S. Dentzel (1913-1980), director of
the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, California, including a disbound album of photographs
of Alaska taken by A. L. Broadbent. These views show Revenue Cutter Service ships and
officers; Alaskan natives; towns; scenery; the fur trade and mission schools. Other notable
photographs in this collection include portraits of John C. Frémont, Harrison Gray Otis, and
John A. Sutter; a series of Lake Tahoe card photographs; and views of early western settlers
around the time of the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889.
Language of Material: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
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], Carl S. Dentzel Photograph Collection of the American West, The
Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased from Paul and Elizabeth Dentzel on March 24, 1992.
Carl Schaefer Dentzel (1913-1980) served as director of the Southwest Museum in Highland
Park, California, from 1956 until his death in 1980, and was integral in the founding of the
Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board in 1962. Privately, Dentzel assembled large collections
of Western American art and photographs, and Asian and Native American artifacts.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection contains 84 photographs of the American West that were collected by Carl S.
Dentzel (1913-1980), director of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, California. The
photographs date from the 1870s to the 1890s and include a disbound album of photographs of
Alaska taken by A. L. Broadbent.
The Alaska album (items 30-84) has a title page inscribed "Mr(?) Baldwin, Dutch Harbor,
Unalaska / Compliments of A. L. Broadbent." These photographs all have manuscript captions
in ink, presumably written by Broadbent. Scenes include: Alaskan natives, homes, graves;
missionaries and schools; walrus hunting; whaling ships; totem poles; portraits of officers
in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service; Greek and Russian Orthodox churches; the first grand
jury in Nome, Alaska; James Gilchrist Swan; and a portrait of photographer A. L. Broadbent.
The other photographs in the collection are a series of Lake Tahoe card photographs; a few
views of the logging industry; Kingston, Nevada; homesteaders and miners in Oklahoma; and
some portraits. Of note is a portrait of "D. S. Mitchell, Photographer" and his camera and
tent in Oklahoma.
Photographers who contributed to this collection include William C. Billington, Alfred Lee
Broadbent, F. Davey, Edward De Groff, Charles D. Kirkland, David Sedgley Mitchell, C. H.
Shaffner, Julius Ulke, and Raper James Waters.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bear (ship) -- Photographs
Church buildings -- Photographs
Grand jury -- Alaska -- Photographs
Hotels -- Photographs
Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Photographs
Logging -- Photographs
Missionaries -- Photographs
Oklahoma -- History -- Land Rush, 1889 -- Photographs
Photographers -- 1880-1890 -- Photographs
Reindeer -- Photographs
Sutro Baths (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Photographs
Totem poles -- Photographs
United States. Revenue-Cutter Service -- Photographs
Walrus hunting -- Photographs
Alaska -- Photographs
Oklahoma -- Photographs
San Diego (Calif.) -- Photographs
Siberia (Russia) -- Photographs
Sitka (Alaska) -- Photographs
Tahoe, Lake (Calif. and Nev.) -- Photographs
Unalaska (Alaska) -- Photographs
Photographs
Portraits