Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Visual Materials
Grace Nicholson Photograph Collection
- Description
This collection contains approximately 10,000 photographs, 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 photograph albums and individual photographs 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 photographs of Nicholson, her family, friends, and associates. Nicholson's personal snapshots and photograph albums provide a valuable resource for studying Native American communities, particularly in Northern California, in the early 20th century. Many of the photographs 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 photograph albums and loose photographs. 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 photograph 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 photographs 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 photographs. Finally, there are many postcards and commercial photographs 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 photograph 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 photograph 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.
