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Charles Lummis Photographs
H.Mss.0487
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Title: Charles Lummis Photographs
Dates: circa 1888-1905
Collection number: H.Mss.0487
Creator:
Lummis, Charles Fletcher, 1859-1928
Extent:
3.8 Linear Feet
(5 flat boxes)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: The Charles Lummis
Photographs include cyanotypes and albumen print photographs from 1888 to 1905. An author,
editor, explorer, and supporter of Native American culture Charles Lummis documented scenes
and people throughout the American Southwest and Central and South America. The bulk of the
collection focuses on Peru, Native Americans in New Mexico, central Mexico, the San Fernando
Mission in California, and portraits of friends and acquaintances of Lummis.
Language of Material: Languages represented in the
collection: English.
Administrative Information
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Special
Collections.
[Identification of item], Charles Lummis Photographs (H.Mss.0487). Special Collections and
Archives, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont,
California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Don Meadows, 1985.
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
The Charles Lummis Photographs originally came to Special Collections as part of the Marion
Parks Papers. For clarity between the Parks and Lummis materials, it was decided to divide
the Parks collection into two distinct collections: the Marion Parks Papers and Charles
Lummis Photographs.
Most of the photographs were identified by captions or inscriptions on verso of the print,
usually in Charles Lummis' writing. Photographs that did not have a caption or any clues
that revealed the location or individual were identified, when possible, through matching
the image in publications of Lummis' photographs.
Sources referenced:
- Autry National Center, Southwest Museum of the American Indian. "Collections Online" http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/collections/ (visited July 19, 2006).
- Fiske, Turbese Lummis and Keith Lummis. Charles F. Lummis: The Man and his West . Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1975.
- Gordon, Dudley. Charles F. Lummis: Crusader in Corduroy. [Los Angeles] Cultural Assets Press [1972].
- Moneta, Daniela P., ed. Chas. F. Lummis: the centennial exhibition commemorating his tramp across the continent . Los Angeles: Southwest Museum, 1985.
Biography / Administrative History
Charles Fletcher Lummis (March 1, 1859 - November 25, 1928) author, editor, and explorer
was a lifetime supporter of Native American culture and worked to preserve national
landmarks such as the California missions. Lummis is known for numerous undertakings,
including City Editor of the
Los Angeles Times, City Librarian of the Los
Angeles Public Library, editor of
The Land of Sunshine (later retitled
Out West), and founder of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian.
Charles Lummis was also an avid and prolific photographer, documenting his travels across
the Southwest and trips south of the American border. He commonly printed cyanotypes, a
process that was relatively portable and easy to do, and many of his photographs regularly
appeared in
The Land of Sunshine and
Out West.
Scope and Contents of Collection
The Charles Lummis Photographs are a mixture of cyanotypes and albumen prints taken between
1888 and 1905. There are 316 unique images in the collection with many of the prints having
multiple copies. The photographs were taken by Charles Lummis, except for a noted few that
appear to have been given to Lummis by friends or acquaintances.
The bulk of the photographs cover Lummis' trip to Peru with the archaeologist, Adolph
Bandelier, Native Americans in New Mexico, central Mexico, the San Fernando Mission in
California, and portraits of friends and acquaintances of Lummis.
The photographs are divided by geographic location or subject mater with the following
series:
- Series 1: Southwest, USA
- Series 2: Mexico
- Series 3: Guatemala
- Series 4: Ecuador
- Series 5: Peru
- Series 6: California
- Series 7: American Indian and Southwest Collections of Objects
- Series 8: Lummis Family and Acquaintances
- Series 9: Eucalyptus Flowers
- Series 10: Unidentified Landscapes
- Series 11: Paintings
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Art
California
Ecuador
Guatemala
Lummis, Charles Fletcher, 1859-1928
Mexico
Native Americans
New Mexico
Painting
Peru
Photography
Photography--Printing processes--Albumen
Southwest Museum of the American Indian
Southwestern States
Travel photography
Cabinet photographs
Cyanotypes
Photographs