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Grace Nicholson Photograph Collection: Finding Aid
photCL 56  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • Overview of the Collection
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Related Materials
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

  • Overview of the Collection

    Title: Grace Nicholson Photograph next hit Collection
    Dates (inclusive): approximately 1870s-1968
    Bulk dates: 1903-1920s
    Collection Number: photCL 56
    Creator: Nicholson, Grace, -1948
    Extent: Approximately 10,000 previous hit photographs next hit , negatives and ephemera in 49 boxes.
    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: This collection contains approximately 10,000 previous hit photographs next hit , negatives, and ephemera created or compiled by Grace Nicholson (1877-1948), a collector and dealer of Native American and Asian arts and crafts in Pasadena, California. The bulk of the collection dates from 1903 to the 1920s and includes previous hit photograph next hit albums and individual previous hit photographs next hit with views of Native Americans of the Northwest Coast, California, and the Southwest of North America; pictures documenting Nicholson's basket-collecting trips, primarily between 1902 and 1912; images of Nicholson's stores and residences in Pasadena, including the building of the "Grace Nicholson Treasure House of Oriental Art" in the mid-1920s; and personal previous hit photographs next hit of Nicholson, her family, friends, and associates.
    Language: English.
    Note:
    Finding aid last updated on May 26, 2015.

    Access

    Advance arrangements for viewing negatives must be made with the Curator of previous hit Photographs next hit . The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please visit the Huntington's website: www.huntington.org.  

    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

    Grace Nicholson previous hit Photograph next hit Collection. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    The Huntington Library received the collection in October 1968 from Thyra H. Maxwell, one of Grace Nicholson's assistants and an executor of her estate. Maxwell's donation included manuscripts, previous hit photographs next hit , and printed materials related to Grace Nicholson. All non-photographic materials are included in the Grace Nicholson Papers and Addenda collection (mssNicholson papers and addenda) in the Manuscript Department.

    Related Materials

    Material Cataloged Separately in The Huntington Library

    Related Materials in Other Repositories

    • Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley:
      • Photographic negatives and prints of Calif. Indian baskets and other ethnographic items handled by Grace Nicholson from about 1912-1925 when she was a dealer in Pasadena (Accession 2880).
      • Grace Nicholson's ledger of Indian baskets from about 1912-1925 in Pasadena, California (Accession 2881).
    • Smithsonian Institution. National Museum of the American Indian Archives:
      • American Indian - Heye Foundation Correspondence of Grace Nicholson (NMAI.AC.001)
      • William Benson Letters and Mythology.

    Biographical Note

    Biographical Note for Grace Nicholson

    Grace Nicholson (1877-1948), a collector and dealer of Native American and Asian arts and crafts, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 31, 1877, the daughter of attorney Franklin Nicholson (1851-1891) and Rose Dennington Nicholson (1855-1878). At the age of thirteen, following the death of her parents, Nicholson went to live with paternal grandparents, William Nicholson (1819-1901) and Mary Nicholson (1824-1901).
    After graduating from the Philadelphia Girls' High School in 1896, Nicholson worked as a stenographer and in other jobs in Philadelphia. In 1898, she met Mr. Carroll S. Hartman (1857-1933). She began working for Hartman in 1900, first as a promoter for "The Battle of Manila" cyclorama, and later in an amusement parlor on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
    In late 1901, with money from a small inheritance, Nicholson moved to Pasadena, California. In early 1902, she began purchasing Native American baskets and artifacts, opening a store at 41-43 South Raymond Avenue in Pasadena. Within a few years, she moved her combined home, store, and gallery to nearby 46 North Los Robles Avenue. Carroll Hartman had also relocated to Southern California, and Nicholson employed him as a buyer for her store.
    Nicholson traveled throughout Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington studying and purchasing Native American arts and crafts and establishing relationships with the artists, whom she often interviewed and photographed. Hartman often accompanied her on these expeditions, taking previous hit photographs next hit as well. Nicholson kept extensive diaries and notes on her buying trips through Native American territory, especially of the Karok, Klamath, and Pomo Indians. Her subjects included Native American legends, folklore, vocabulary, tribal festivals, basket making, the art trade, and living conditions. Native American artists with whom Nicholson established long-term business and personal connections included Pomo basket weaver Mary Benson (1878-1930) and her husband William Benson (1862-1937), as well as Elizabeth Hickox (1875-1947) of the Karuk tribe. Because of her ethnographic work, the American Anthropological Association elected Nicholson to membership in 1904. She facilitated the purchase of artifacts by museums such as the Peabody Museum at Harvard University, the Field Museum in Chicago, the Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, Autry National Center, Los Angeles, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
    In the 1910s, as the market for Native American artifacts declined, Nicholson began expanding her work as an Asian art dealer. In 1912, Nicholson purchased additional land next to her Los Robles Avenue property and, in 1924, hired architects Marston, Van Pelt, and Maybury to renovate the property and construct a Chinese-style palace. Completed in 1929, it became known as the "Grace Nicholson Treasure House of Oriental Art." Following a 1929 trip to China and Japan, Nicholson dealt almost exclusively in Asian arts and craft.
    In 1943, facing financial difficulties, Nicholson entered into an agreement with the City of Pasadena and the Pasadena Art Institute that transformed her Los Robles building into the Pasadena Art Institute. In 1954, the Institute was renamed the Pasadena Art Museum; it occupied the building until 1970, when it moved to a new Pasadena location and became the Norton Simon Museum. The Pacificulture Foundation founded the Pacific Asia Museum in the "Treasure House" in 1971.
    Nicholson continued to live at 46 North Los Robles, but she moved her shop to a smaller building at 45 South Euclid Avenue in Pasadena in 1944, and her assistants Thyra H. Maxwell and Estelle Bynum assumed growing responsibilities for it. Nicholson died on August 31, 1948.
    Following Nicholson's death, her Native American Indian art collection was left to Maxwell and Bynum, the executors of her estate; her 12,000-item Asian art collection was auctioned by the Curtis Gallery in November 1950 and purchased by Los Angeles businessman Edker Pope. In 1968, Maxwell donated Nicholson's papers and previous hit photographs next hit to The Huntington Library and sold Nicholson's collection of baskets made by the Bensons, as well as a large collection of correspondence and myths from William Benson, to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, of New York City (now part of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C.).

    References

    Bernardin, Susan, et. al. Trading Gazes: Euro-American Women Photographers and Native North Americans, 1880-1940. (New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press, 2003).
    Bsumek, Erika Marie. "Exchanging Places: Virtual Tourism, Vicarious Travel, and the Consumption of Southwestern Indian Artifact" in Rothman, Hal. The Culture of Tourism, the Tourism of Culture: Selling the Past to the Present in the American Southwest University of New Mexico Press, 2003), pp. 118-139.
    Gasser, Maria del Carmen, ed. "My Dear Miss Nicholson" : Letters and Myths by William Benson A Pomo Indian. (Carmel, New York: Printed Privately by the editor, 1995).
    Packer, Rhonda. "Grace Nicholson: An Entrepreneur of Culture" in the Southern California Quarterly. Vol. 76, No. 3 (Fall 1994), pp. 309-322.

    Scope and Content

    This collection contains approximately 10,000 previous hit photographs next hit , negatives and ephemera created or compiled by Grace Nicholson (1877-1948), a collector and dealer of Native American and Asian arts and crafts in Pasadena, California. The bulk of the collection dates from 1903 to the 1920s and includes previous hit photograph next hit albums and individual previous hit photographs next hit with views of Native Americans of the Northwest Coast, California, and the Southwest of North America; pictures documenting Nicholson's basket collecting trips primarily between 1902 and 1912; images of Nicholson's stores and residences in Pasadena, including the building of the "Grace Nicholson Treasure House of Oriental Art" in the mid-1920s; and personal previous hit photographs next hit of Nicholson, her family, friends, and associates. Nicholson's personal snapshots and previous hit photograph next hit albums provide a valuable resource for studying Native American communities, particularly in Northern California, in the early 20th century. Many of the previous hit photographs next hit depict daily life and include images of homes, community events, dances and rituals, families and children, and portraits, which are often accompanied by Nicholson's handwritten identifications.
    The collection is organized into five series, with Series 1-3 containing the bulk of the collection and consisting of previous hit photograph next hit albums and loose previous hit photographs next hit . Series 4 holds a small group of related ephemera and other materials, and Series 5 is composed mainly of negatives and copy prints that correspond to images found in Series 1-3.
    • Series 1, Native Americans and Basket Collecting Trips, primarily contains views of Native Americans of the Northwest Coast, California, and Southwest of North America. The series includes several previous hit photograph next hit albums compiled by Nicholson, and individual prints organized geographically by tribe and subject matter, often with people and places identified in Nicholson's handwriting. Most of these previous hit photographs next hit were taken by Grace Nicholson or her assistant, Mr. Carroll S. Hartman. There are 6 negative cases with Nicholson's handwritten ledgers that were used to identify and date some of the previous hit photographs next hit . Finally, there are many postcards and commercial previous hit photographs next hit collected by Nicholson, which include views of native peoples from other parts of North America. Notably, there are two postcards showing women with flattened skulls (Box 1, Items 27-28).
    • Series 2, Grace Nicholson's stores; building of Treasure House; Asian art, contains construction and finished views of her store and residences in Pasadena, California, the galleries and garden courtyard, and artists and artwork exhibited. There are also views of Chinese art objects and architecture in China.
    • Series 3, Personal, contains personal previous hit photograph next hit albums and individual prints of Grace Nicholson and family, friends and associates; Pasadena, California; travels in California and elsewhere; California missions and bells; and miscellaneous scenes.
    • Series 4, Ephemera and other materials, contains one box of ephemera such as brochures, advertisements, publications, and notes, as well as three previous hit photograph next hit album covers.
    • Series 5, Negatives, transparencies, and copy prints, contains original negatives and duplicate prints created by Nicholson, as well as copy prints, negatives, and transparencies created by The Huntington Library. The images in this series are represented in Series 1-3 above.

    Alternative Form of Materials Available

    Visit the Huntington Digital Library: previous hit Photographs next hit   to view digitized images from this collection.
    Note: previous hit photograph next hit albums A-J, M, and P were digitized separately, and links to the PDF versions of those albums are included in the contents list below.

    Arrangement

    The collection is arranged in the following 5 series:
    • Series 1. Native Americans and Basket Collecting Trips
      • 1.1 previous hit Photograph next hit Albums
      • 1.2 Loose previous hit Photographs next hit
        • 1.2.1 Northwest Coast
        • 1.2.2 California
        • 1.2.3 Southwest
        • 1.2.4 Other North American Indians
        • 1.2.5 Baskets and other artifacts
        • 1.2.6 Native peoples - other world regions
        • 1.2.7 Negative cases with Nicholson's handwritten ledgers
    • Series 2. Grace Nicholson's stores; building of Treasure House; Asian art
      • 2.1 Grace Nicholson's stores in Pasadena
      • 2.2 Building of Treasure House and later views, 1924-1930s; last store, 1947.
      • 2.3 Asian art objects, galleries and miscellaneous
      • 2.4 Artists and artwork exhibited at Treasure House
    • Series 3. Personal
      • 3.1 Grace Nicholson; relatives; friends and associates
      • 3.2 Personal photo albums
      • 3.3 Pasadena; California; other travels
      • 3.4 Scenery and miscellaneous
      • 3.5 California missions, bells, adobes, and churches
    • Series 4. Ephemera and other materials
    • Series 5. Negatives, transparencies, and copy prints
      • 5.1 Negatives in cold storage
      • 5.2 Duplicate original prints
      • 5.3 Copy prints, copy negatives, and copy transparencies

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    Subjects

    Benson, William R. (William Rhalganal), 1862-1937 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Captain John (Hupa Indian), -1912 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Couse, E. Irving (Eanger Irving), 1866-1936 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Dat-so-la-lee, approximately 1829-1925.
    Hartman, Carroll S., 1857-1933 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Holmes, Burton, 1870-1958 -- Homes & haunts -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Hover, Elsie, 1902-1972 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Miller, Lilian -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Nampeyo, approximately 1856-1942 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Phillips, Bert Geer, 1868-1956 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Pritchard, Zarh, 1866-1956 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    McLeod, Edwin Lincoln, 1861-1908 -- Ethnological collections.
    Sauerwein, Frank Paul, 1871-1910 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Acoma Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Apache Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Architectural elements -- China -- Peking -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Art, Asian--Collectors and collecting--United States -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Art, Chinese -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Artists--New Mexico--Taos -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Basket making -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Burial -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Cahuilla Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    California Missions -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Campo Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Cayuse Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Cemeteries -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Chilcotin Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Chilkat Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Chinese -- California -- Los Angeles -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Chinese -- California -- Monterey -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Chinese -- California — San Francisco -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Church bells -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Colville Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Deer Dance -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Diegueño Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Duwamish Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Eagle Dance -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Gabrielino Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Havasupai Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Hopi Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Hotel Maryland (Pasadena, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Human remains (Archaeology) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Hupa Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indian reservations -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indian baskets--Collectors and collecting -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indian dance -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of Mexico--Mexico--Baja California (Peninsula) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of North America -- Alaska -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of North America -- Baskets -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of North America -- British Columbia -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of North America -- California -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of North America -- Education -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of North America -- Klamath River Valley (Or. and Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of North America -- Oregon -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of North America -- Southwest, New -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Indians of North America -- Washington (State) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Inuit -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Isleta Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Jicarilla Apache Tribe of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Kalispel Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Kamia Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Karok Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Kaskimo Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Klamath Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Klikitat Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Luiseño Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Maidu Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Makah Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation, California -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Miwok Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Modoc Indians--Wars, 1873 -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Mohave Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Monuments -- Pennsylvania -- Valley Forge -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Mono Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Navajo Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Nez Percé Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Nootka Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Off-reservation boarding schools -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Paiute Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Pechanga Band of Mission Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Pima Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Pueblo Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Pueblo pottery -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Puyallup Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Quinault Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Santo Domingo Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    School children -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Shasta Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Siwash Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Skokomish Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Snake dance--Arizona -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Spokane Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Stores & shops -- California -- Pasadena -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Taos school of art -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Tapush Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Tolowa Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Totem poles -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Umatilla Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Warm Spring Apache Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Wasco Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Washoe Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Wintu Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Wintun Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Yakama Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Yokuts Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Yuma Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Yurok Indians -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Acoma Pueblo (N.M.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Alaska -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Arizona -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Baja California (Mexico : Peninsula) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    British Columbia -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    California -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    First Mesa (Ariz. : Mesa) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Humboldt County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Inyo County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Isleta Pueblo (N.M.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Klamath River (Or. and Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Lake County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Nevada -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    New Mexico -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Oraibi (Ariz.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Oregon -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Orleans (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Pasadena (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Quinault (Wash.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Riverside County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Diego County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    San Francisco (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Santo Domingo Pueblo (N.M.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Second Mesa (Ariz. : Mesa) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Siskiyou County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Sonoma County (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Taos Pueblo (N.M.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Tesuque Pueblo (N.M.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Trinity River (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Ukiah (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Valley Forge National Historical Park (Pa.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Walpi (Ariz.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Washington (State) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Yosemite National Park (Calif.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Zuni (N.M.) -- previous hit Photographs next hit .

    Form/Genre

    Autochromes.
    Cartes de visite.
    Daguerreotypes.
    Film negatives.
    Glass negatives.
    Postcards.
    previous hit Photograph next hit albums.
    previous hit Photographs next hit .
    Photographic postcards.
    Stereographs.
    Tintypes.

    Alternate Authors

    Crandall, C. J., 1855-1935, photographer.
    Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941, photographer.
    Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952, photographer.
    Davis, Edward H., 1862-, photographer.
    Ericson, A. W. (Augustus William), 1848-1927, photographer.
    Forbes, A. A., photographer.
    Gifford, Benjamin A., photographer.
    Greene, J. Edward, photographer
    Haight, George, photographer.
    Hartman, Carroll S., 1857-1933, photographer.
    Hawkins, J. Allen, 1915-, photographer.
    Heller, Louis, 1839-1928, photographer.
    Hiestand, J. G., photographer.
    Ironmonger, Charles, photographer
    Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942, photographer.
    La Roche, Frank, 1853-1934, photographer.
    Markham, B. C. (Benjamin Clayton), photographer.
    Martin, W. H. (William H.), 1865-1940, photographer.
    Meiser, J. A. (Jesse A.), photographer.
    Moorhouse, Lee, 1850-1926, photographer.
    Morse, Samuel G. (Samuel Gay), 1859-1921, photographer.
    Nowell, Frank H., 1864-1950, photographer.
    Palmer, Frank, 1864-1920, photographer.
    Price, Robert C., photographer.
    Rieder, M., photographer.
    Rinehart, F. A. (Frank A.), photographer.
    Sargent, H. E. (Homer Earle), 1875-1957, correspondent and photographer
    Waite, C. B. (Charles Betts), 1861-1927, photographer.
    Dickson & Thurber (firm)
    Detroit Photographic Co., photographer.
    Fred Harvey (Firm), publisher.
    Hillers Studio (firm)
    Lowman & Hanford Stationery & Printing Co.
    Marston, Van Pelt and Maybury (Firm), architect.
    Parker & Knight (firm)
    Pillsbury Picture Co., publisher.
    T.N. Hibben & Co., publisher.
    Valentine & Sons, publisher.