Description
This collection contains 525 loose photographs and 3 photograph albums that depict the people, experiences, and places witnessed
by Moravian missionary William H. Weinland (1861-1930)
and his family during their years of missionary service between the mid 1880s and the 1920s, first in Alaska and, more extensively,
among Native Americans of Southern California. Though the vast majority of the
photographs depict life on the Morongo Reservation, near Banning, California, there are also
images from a number of the reservations that surrounded Morongo.
Background
William Henry Weinland (1861-1930) was born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He
attended Moravian schools and graduated from Moravian College and Theological
Seminary in preparation for a life of professional ministry. In 1884 Weinland volunteered
for an exploratory expedition into Alaska with Henry Hartmann, a Moravian missionary
based in Canada, to determine an appropriate site for a mission. A settlement along the
Kuskokwim River was deemed suitable, and, in 1885, now ordained and newly married to
Caroline Yost, Weinland returned to Bethel, Alaska, with his bride and three other
missionaries, thus signaling the advent of a career devoted to missionary work. The
Weinland's term of duty in Alaska was to be curtailed, however, by the ill health of Mrs.
Weinland and one of her daughters.* The family returned to the United States where Rev.
Weinland assumed the pastorate of the Moravian Church in Grace Hill, Iowa.
Extent
525 photographs and 3 photograph albums in 7 boxes
Restrictions
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.
Availability
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.