Lu Jacobson Collection of Latimer and Denny Family Material
See letters, photographs and other ephemera from two of Seattle's early families.
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Eliza Anderson steamboat, ca. 1897
Transcribed from back of photograph: "The "First Love" of O.O.D. This is the first steamer of which he was chief engineer. O.O. photographed it before she sailed for Alaska last August. He was confident she was too old a boat to stand a trip to the north and would never return. She is now a wreck in Dutch Harbor, Alaska." The steamboat left Seattle in August 1897 was wrecked in March 1898.
Identifier: spl_lj_058
Date: 1898?
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Clara Latimer Bickford letter to Alexander Latimer, May 21, 1893
Clara Latimer Bickford was the daughter of Alexander and Sarah Latimer and sister of Narcissa Leonora Latimer Denny. She married Arthur Farrington Bickford in 1888 in Minnesota. They lived in Seattle from roughly 1892-1900 before moving to Oregon. In the letter, Clara discusses the health of her mother, Sarah, and the activities of her daughter, Ethel.
Identifier: spl_lj_003
Date: 1893-05-21
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Clara, Alice and Emma Latimer, ca. 1880
Clara Latimer Bickford (1861-1934), Eliza Alice Latimer Fowler (1856-1934), Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds (1864-1946) were the daughters of Alexander and Sarah Latimer. Their sisters, Narcissa Latimer Denny and Harriet Ellen Latimer Stephens are not pictured. Photograph taken by H.S. & J.W. Hoot in Waterloo, Iowa.
Identifier: spl_lj_042
Date: 1880?
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Unknown woman in Galesburg, Illinois, ca. 1880
Photograph taken by Thomas Harrison in Galesburg, Illinois.
Identifier: spl_lj_048
Date: 1880?
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Narcissa Latimer letter to sisters, November 29, 1868
Narcissa Leonora (Nora) Latimer Denny was the daughter of Alexander and Sarah Latimer. She had four sisters: Eliza Alice Latimer Fowler (1856-1934), Harriet Ellen Latimer Stephens (1859-1938), Clara Latimer Bickford (1861-1934), and Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds (1864-1946). Narcissa married Orion Denny on April 1, 1889. The letter is addressed to Alice and Harriet and discusses how she spent Thanksgiving, events at school, family matters and other aspects of her life. Letter appears to be postmarked from Wichita, Kansas.
Identifier: spl_lj_002
Date: 1868-11-29
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Nude
Frank Asakichi Kunishige was born in Japan on June 5, 1878. He came to the United States via San Francisco in 1895. After graduating from the Illinois College of Photography, he opened a small photography studio in San Francisco. Kunishige moved to Seattle in 1917. In the same year, he married Gin Kunishige and began working in the studio of Edward S. Curtis where he became acquainted with Ella McBride who he worked for in later years. Kunishige was well known for his use of Pictorialism, a popular painterly style of photography. He developed his photographs on "textura tissue," a paper of his own creation, which allowed him to produce almost dreamlike prints. His work was featured nationally and internationally in exhibitions and publications such as Photo-Era and Seattle's Town Crier. In 1924, Kunishige became one of the founding members of the Seattle Camera Club, a group of local photographers including Kyo Koike, Yukio Morinaga, Iwao Matsushita and Fred Y. Ogasawara who gathered to share techniques and ideas, as well as their deep love of the medium. Although the group was initially solely Japanese, they soon welcomed more members including Ella McBride, their first female member. When World War II struck and the country's Japanese internment policy was put in place, Kunishige and his wife were forced to leave Seattle for Idaho where they were interned at the Minidoka camp. After their release, Kunishige spent two years working at a photography studio in Twin Falls, Idaho but eventually returned to Seattle due to his poor health. Frank Kunishige passed away on April 9, 1960.
Identifier: spl_art_367924_12
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Two unknown men, ca. 1865
Tintype portrait of two unidentified men.
Identifier: spl_lj_038
Date: 1865?
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Envelope addressed to Sarah Latimer, September 23, 1892
Empty envelope addressed to Sarah Latimer. Sarah was the wife of Alexander Latimer and mother to five daughters: Narcissa Leonora Latimer Denny (1851-1900), Eliza Alice Latimer Fowler (1856-1934), Harriet Ellen Latimer Stephens (1859-1938), Clara Latimer Bickford (1861-1934), and Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds (1864-1946). The envelope was postmarked from Seattle.
Identifier: spl_lj_011
Date: 1892-09-23
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Unknown man in Seattle, ca. 1885
Photograph taken by Dorsaz & Schwerin in Seattle, Washington Territory.
Identifier: spl_lj_039
Date: 1885?
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Unknown woman in Clarinda, Iowa, ca. 1880
Photograph taken by E.B. Hinman in Clarinda, Iowa.
Identifier: spl_lj_031
Date: 1880?
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