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Native American and Indigenous Peoples: Photography Collections

A guide to collections that depict Native American and Indigenous peoples from the late 19th-century to mid-20th century.

Images from the Collections

California

Views of Southern California
Includes views of Indian schools and dwellings in the San Diego area.
Call number: photCL 5

William H. Weinland Photograph Collection
Depicts the people, experiences, and places witnessed by Moravian missionary William H. Weinland and his family during their years in Alaska and, more extensively, among Native Americans of Southern California, particularly the Morongo Reservation, near Banning, California, and some surrounding reservations.
Call number: photCL 39

Grace Nicholson Photograph Collection
Photographs, negatives, and ephemera created or compiled by Grace Nicholson, a collector and dealer of Native American arts and crafts in Pasadena, California. Includes photograph albums and individual photographs with views of Native Americans of the Northwest Coast, California, and the Southwest of North America.
Call number: photCL 56

Stereographs of Indians of the Southwest, California, and other views by George Wharton James and G. L. Rose, approximately 1900
Stereographs of the American Southwest featuring images of Native Americans, including Cahuilla Indians, and scenes in California, New Mexico, and Arizona. Call number: photCL 294

Historical Society of Southern California Collection -- Ana Bégué de Packman Collection of Photographs and Papers
Consists of portraits of rancho families and their descendants, as well as photographs of the town of San Juan Capistrano and its environs, including Mission San Juan Capistrano and the adobe houses surrounding the mission.
Call number: photCL 400 volume 33

Henry G. Peabody Collection of Photographs and Negatives
Peabody and his family; landscape views in New England, Canada, the western United States, California, and Mexico; Native Americans.
Call number: photCL 478

Charles Victor Hall Lantern Slide Collection of California Views
This collection is significant in its images of Native Americans in California, mainly in the Yosemite area.
Call number: photCL 521

Photographs of Adobes of Northern and Southern California  
Amateur snapshots of 19th century California adobes taken during the 1930s and 1940s by Lucius Panfelo “Paul” Soberanes, a descendant of early Spanish landholders in California. 
Call number: photCL 528

Missions

California Missions Souvenir Album  
Contains photographs and a few illustrations of California Missions.
Call number: photCL 23

Photograph Collection of California Hotels, Missions, and Coastal Scenery 
Includes photographs of Missions Santa Barbara, San Gabriel, and San Juan Capistrano.
Call number: photCL 93

Photograph Album of California and the Pacific Coast
Includes views of California Missions and coastal landscapes.
Call number: photCL 94

Collection of Southern California and Mexico Photographs
California views include Missions San Gabriel, San Fernando, and San Juan Capistrano.
Call number: photCL 110 

Photographs of California Mission Restoration by Jasper Schad
Includes photographs of eleven California Missions and their grounds during a restoration period from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s.  Call number: photCL 120

Photographic Travel Album of the Southern and Western United States
Includes photographs of Missions San Gabriel, San Juan Capistrano; San Fernando, Santa Barbara, San Miguel, and Carmel.
Call number: photCL 230

Photographs of Churches and Architecture in Mexico and England
Views of some California Missions are included, with a focus on San Fernando Rey. Call number: photCL 238

Charles Francis Saunders and Mira Culin Saunders Collection of Photographs and Negatives
Features Saunders’ travels throughout California and the Southwest, photographing the California Missions, Native Americans, and flora.
Call number: photCL 276

Pictorialist Photographs of California Missions by Louis Fleckenstein
Pictorial photographs of California Mission ruins, most notable are San Juan Capistrano, San Juan Bautista, San Luis Obispo, and San Fernando Rey.
Call number: photCL 411

Photographs of Los Angeles and Vicinity by W.H. Fletcher
Images of Missions San Fernando Rey, San Luis Rey, and San Juan Capistrano are included. Call number: photCL 435

Photographs of the California Missions by William Henry Jackson
One or more images of the following missions are included: San Antonio de Padua, San Carlos Borroméo de Carmel, San Diego de Alcalá, San Fernando Rey, San Francisco de Asís, San Gabriel Arcángel, San Juan Bautista, San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Rey, San Miguel Arcángel, Santa Barbara and Santa Ines.
Call number: photCL 444

Photograph Album of California Missions and Catholic Churches 
Photographs of eight California Missions, in both ruined and repaired states. Includes images of tourists and Native American children.
Call number: photCL 455

Connie Rothstein Collection of California Missions, The Mission Play, and Southern California
Photographs and ephemera of California Missions, collected by Southern California educator Connie Rothstein, with an emphasis on the San Gabriel Mission, the history of the city of San Gabriel, and the production of "The Mission Play" by John Steven McGroarty. 
Call number: photCL 496

Lou K. Ross Lantern Slide Collection of Southern California Missions
Lantern slides of eleven California Missions shown in states of past affluence and of then present disrepair in the 1920s. Call number: photCL 516