Guide to the Michael H. Lee Liberia collection M2382
Malgorzata Schaefer
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
December 2018
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Michael H. Lee Liberia collection
creator:
Lee, Michael H.
source:
Lee, Michael H.
Identifier/Call Number: M2382
Physical Description:
1.2 Linear Feet
(2.5 boxes, 1 map folder)
Date (inclusive): 1974-2018
Abstract: Michael H. Lee is a photographer who has published two books of images taken in Liberia.
Content Description
This collection consists of 727 slides, 187 black & white negatives and an SD card with scans of these photos. Also included
are two co-authored reports, including a January 1, 1975 report to Assistant Minister Thomas N. Brima for Rural Development
and a February 11, 1977 Progress Report titled VILAB II, Liberian Institute of Biomedical Research. One map, a June 1974 publication
by the Liberian Cartographic Service, of the Ministry of Lands and Mines are also included, along with four newspapers (three
dated April and May of 1980 and one dated January 1981).
Scope and Contents
The restricted material in Box 3 consists of eleven handwritten personal letters from approximately 1974-1978, including nine
addressed to Karen and Jim Davis, one to Maxine Macdonald and one to a friend ("Connecticut Yank"); all letters are “Private
material” pursuant to paragraph 10 of the Deed of Gift and are closed until the death of Michael H. Lee.
Biographical / Historical
Michael Lee's life began in 1949 on his folks' homestead in Soldotna, the Territory of Alaska. In the early 1960s when he
lived in California, Lee began taking photographs with his Brownie Hawkeye camera. After graduating from high school he served
in the U.S. Navy, returning home to Billings, Montana, in 1970. With a B.A. in hand from Eastern Montana College (EMC), Lee
volunteered in 1973 to serve with the Peace Corps in Liberia. Lee next worked with the New York Blood Center's virus research
laboratory in the Marshall Territory of Liberia. From 1980 to 2010 Lee worked as a research and regulatory economist. Lee's
interest in documentary photography emerged during his 1969 Vietnam tour. He pursued his interest working as a photographer
in the early 1970s for EMC's newspaper, The Retort. During his years in West Africa he documented the people and the environments
where he lived and journeyed. A Silhouette of Liberia is Lee's second book of documentary photographs about Liberia. In 1977,
he co-authored Rock of the Ancestors with William Siegmann and Cynthia Schmidt. Lee has exhibited his photographs of Liberia
in Helena, at the University of Montana and with Liberia's National Museum. [Lee's biography from https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Silhouette_of_Liberia.html?id=p9QoswEACAAJ]
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research; except for the contents of Box 3, which are closed until the death of Michael H. Lee. The contents of the
SD card are closed until processed. Please note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Conditions Governing Use
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Michael H. Lee; 2018. Accession MSS 2018-358.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], Michael H. Lee Liberia collection (M2382). Department of Special Collections and University Archives,
Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
LIberia
Documentary photography
Lee, Michael H.
Lee, Michael H.
Box 1, Folder 1-4
Slides and partial negatives
Box 1, Folder 5
Two co-authored reports including a January 1, 1975 report to Assistant Minister Thomas N. Brima for Rural Development and
a February 11, 1977 Progress Report titled VILAB II, Liberian Institute of Biomedical Research.
map-folder 2
Large map, Liberian Cartographic Service of the Ministry of Lands and Mines, June 1974
map-folder 2
Newspapers: Weekend News (Monrovia, Liberia), April 19, 1980; April 26, 1980; January 31, 1981; and Focus (weekly), May 4010,
1980
half-box 3
Personal letters (CLOSED)
Separated Materials
Closed until death of Michael H. Lee.
