Edward S. Curtis Digital Collection
Preview up to 100 items from this collection below. Photographer Edward S. Curtis devoted two decades to making “The North American Indian,” an early 20th century photography and text project studying Western tribes.
-
Letter from Edward S. Curtis to Harriet Leitch, February 2, 1951
Letter from Edward Curtis to Harriet Leitch describing the production of his birthday portrait. He writes "It was the first time in eight years I had been to the studio; some of the girls threatened to kiss me - think of that - at my age." Curtis also writes about the distribution of the photographs to Seattle newspapers and others who have sent him written requests. He says that he has been delayed in responding to some of these requests due to the fact that the letters were lost while he was in a period of poor health and he has only recently uncovered them. He asks for Leitch's help in making sure the autographed photographs are properly distributed and adds that one should be sent to the Seattle Public Library as well.
Identifier: spl_esc_022
Date: 1951-02-02
View this item -
Letter from Edward S. Curtis to Harriet Leitch, November 24, 1948
Letter from Edward Curtis to Harriet Leitch promising to send her more than 200 reviews of The North American Indian supplied by his clipping agency. He discusses rediscovering his writings relating to his trip to the Arctic and a daily log that recorded his team's experiences in the field. Curtis also recounts how he acquired his bad leg, stating "While making a motion picture of a large whale, he became annoyed and with his tail smashed our whaling boat with a swat of his tail. I came out of the smashing with a broken hip. It's more than twenty years since that mishap and I still limp slightly. At the time of the northern trip I limped badly."
Identifier: spl_esc_004
Date: 1948-11-24
View this item