Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
The Ida Rust Macpherson Collection
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Manuscripts
The collection contains over three hundred folders of correspondence that are arranged alphabetically by correspondent in fifty-eight boxes. The collection ranges from 1878 to 1972, with the bulk of the correspondence being from the years 1900 to 1979. The correspondence includes letters, telegrams, postcards, photographs and one record disc (box 26). The correspondence is mainly related to the library collection itself or to the library as an institution. The letters include commentary on the collection, the acquisition and transfer of items, inquiries about the holdings of the library, letters of thanks and congratulations from visitors, financial transactions, and letters between members of the staff. Box 52 contains miscellaneous files labeled as crank files which are often unsolicited.
HIA 31.1
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Visual Materials
A collection of photographs compiled by Horatio N. Rust (1828-1906), U.S. Indian agent and archaeological artifact collector. The main focus of the collection is Indians of Southern California and the Southwest in the late 19th century, including a set of photographs of Southwest Pueblos by John K. Hillers. There is also a collection of photographs related to abolitionist John Brown and his descendants living in the West. The collection has been divided into five groups: (photCL 7) Album of Indians of Southern California and the Southwest, approximately 1886-1905. A photograph album compiled by Rust, documenting Indians living in Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico, approximately 1886-1905. Includes group portraits of Indian school students in California; members of the Cahuilla, Luiseno, Morongo, Mojave, Hopi, and Navajo tribes; the Indian Council at Pala, 1886; and scenes in Pechanga, Soboba and other native communities of Southern California. (photCL 8) Trip to Arizona, 1895 Photographs made mostly by A. C. Vroman during Rust's 1895 trip from Southern California to Arizona to see the Hopi Snake Dance at Walpi. Rust was accompanied by Mrs. Thaddeus (Leontine) Lowe, Vroman, and Charles J. Crandall. Views include Hopi and Navajo Indians and scenes of pueblo life; the Snake Dance at Walpi; the Grand Canyon; the Petrified Forest; desert landscapes; a group portrait of Mojave Indians at Needles, California; and several views of Rust and his fellow travelers with guides, wagons and supplies. (photCL 9) John Brown Collection, approximately 1850-1897. Photographs, prints and ephemera pertaining to abolitionist John Brown and his family. Includes portraits of Brown, his family members, supporters and other abolitionists; participants in the raid on Harper's Ferry and officials involved in Brown's trial; views of Harper's Ferry and buildings related to the raid; and views of Brown's grave and home in New York. There are also several views of Jason and Owen Brown's Las Casitas homestead in the mountains near Pasadena, California, and a scene of mourners gathered at Owen Brown's grave. A few additional items in the collection were acquired from other sources and transferred to the collection at various times. (photCL 10) U.S. Bureau of Ethnology Expedition Photographs of Southwest Pueblos by John K. Hillers, approximately 1879-1881. Views of pueblo villages and surrounding landscape; some show people and details such as pottery, ovens, and food and water sources. (photCL 11) Photographs and Lantern Slides of Artifacts and Indians of California, Southwest and Great Plains, approximately 1870s-1890s. Views of artifacts, some of which were excavated by Rust himself, as he describes in captions; Indians from Great Plains and western tribes; Indian schools in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and Perris, California; Southern California Indians. The lantern slides are mostly copies of photographs elsewhere in the Rust Collection, such as: Southwest Pueblo views by John K. Hillers (photCL 10); Rust's trip to Arizona, 1895, with A. C. Vroman (photCL 8). Topics of other slides: Southwest Indians by photographer Frederick H. Maude; San Gabriel Mission; two views of H. N. Rust's home; Aztec artifacts and ruins.
photCL 7-11
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Visual Materials
A collection of photographs, prints and ephemera pertaining to abolitionist John Brown and his family. Images include portraits of Brown, his family members, supporters and other abolitionists; participants in the raid on Harper's Ferry and officials involved in Brown's trial; views of Harper's Ferry and buildings related to the raid; and views of Brown's grave and home in New York. There are also several views of Jason and Owen Brown's Las Casitas homestead in the mountains near Pasadena, California, and a scene of mourners gathered at Owen Brown's grave. The collection was compiled by Horatio Nelson Rust (1828-1906), who was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, and became a friend and supporter of John Brown. He also helped raise funds for Brown's family after John Brown's death, and was a friend to Brown's children Ruth, Jason and Owen, who moved to the Pasadena area in the 1880s. Rust was an early Pasadena resident and booster, as well as a U.S. Indian agent, collector of archeological artifacts and horticulturist. A few additional items in the collection were acquired from other sources and transferred to the collection at various times.
photCL 9
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Visual Materials
A collection of photographs made during Horatio Nelson Rust's 1895 trip from Southern California to Arizona to see the Hopi Snake Dance at Walpi. Rust, a former U.S. Indian agent and artifact collector, was accompanied by Mrs. Thaddeus (Leontine) Lowe, A. C. Vroman, and Charles J. Crandall. Vroman made the majority of the photographs, with the remainder produced by Crandall, who is visible with his camera in some scenes. There is one photograph of scenery (48) credited to F. H. Maude; it is unclear when it was taken. Views include Hopi and Navajo Indians and scenes of pueblo life; the Snake Dance at Walpi; the Grand Canyon; the Petrified Forest; desert landscapes; a group portrait of Mojave Indians at Needles, California; and several views of Rust and his fellow travelers with guides, wagons and supplies. Also included are Rust's notes on "Elevations on the line of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad" and his business card. One of Vroman's photographs (40a) has a signed note from George W. Ingalls, U.S. Indian agent. There is also one view (19b) of a rock memorial in Arizona for Col. C. "Kit" Carson.
photCL 8
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Rare Books
752934