Philip D. Nathanson Endows Curator of Photography

Over the ensuing decades, his involvement steadily grew: He joined the Society of Fellows, the Arabella and Henry Huntington Heritage Society, the Library Collectors’ Council, the Art Collectors’ Council, and The Huntington’s Board of Governors.

Throughout his journey, The Huntington’s Library has remained close to his heart. Early in 2024, Nathanson endowed The Huntington’s curator of photography position. “I donated because The Huntington has enriched my life,” Nathanson says. “It was time to give back.” He speaks highly of Linde Lehtinen, the inaugural Philip D. Nathanson Curator of Photography, saying, “Linde is the perfect person to carry on the collecting and exhibition of important historical photography at The Huntington.”

In her role as the Philip D. Nathanson Curator of Photography, Lehtinen oversees the Huntington Library’s extensive collections of more than 800,000 photographs. The collections, which span from the 1850s to the present, include outstanding examples of a wide variety of print and negative processes and photographic formats. The principal regional focus is California and the American West. The photographic collections are unparalleled in their documentation of greater Los Angeles’ transition from pastoral landscape to thriving metropolis.