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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The grapes
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_10
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Unknown man in Santa Barbara, California, ca. 1880
Photograph taken by W.N. Tuttle in Santa Barbara, California.
Identifier: spl_lj_030
Date: 1880?
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Unknown woman in Hiawatha, Kansas, ca. 1880 [Narcissa?]
Photograph taken by R.A. Hickox in Hiawatha, Kansas.
Identifier: spl_lj_027
Date: 1880?
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Children of Sarah Jane Latimer Dawdy, ca. 1920
Sarah Jane Latimer Dawdy (1847-1915) was the daughter of Alexander Latimer and his second wife, Julia Ann Hart (1819-1850). She married John W. Dowdy on March 25, 1868 in Knox, Illinois. They had three children, Drennan Latimer Dawdy, Norval Dawdy and Daisy E. Dawdy. Location and exact date of the photograph are unknown.
Identifier: spl_lj_070
Date: 1920?
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Clara Latimer Bickford letter to mother Sarah Latimer, February 16, 1892
Clara Latimer Bickford was the daughter of Alexander and Sarah Latimer and sister of Narcissa Latimer Denny. She married Arthur Farrington Bickford in 1888 in Minnesota. They lived in Seattle from roughly 1892-1900 before moving to Oregon. The letter discusses Clara's sister and brother-in-law Narcissa and Orion Denny, along with Clara's daughter Ethel and other family matters.
Identifier: spl_lj_009
Date: 1892-02-16
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Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds, ca. 1880
Emma Chesney Latimer Reynolds was the daughter of Alexander and Sarah Latimer and sister to Narcissa Latimer. Emma married Charles Reynolds in 1886 in Minnesota. Photograph taken by the Meason Studio in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Identifier: spl_lj_041
Date: 1880?
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The Black Ball
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_16
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Florence Wiltsie, Alice Fowler and Anita at Money Creek Park, 1920
Transcribed from photograph: "1920. Florence Wiltsie, Alice Fowler and Anita at Money Creek Park on Miller River, near Seattle." Eliza Alice Latimer Fowler was the sister of Narcissa Latimer Denny. Her daughter, Alice Anita Fowler, was born in 1890. The identity of the child in the photograph is unknown.
Identifier: spl_lj_066
Date: 1920
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Group of three Native Americans, ca. 1897
Identity of the men and location of the photograph unknown. Time period provided is estimated.
Identifier: spl_lj_069
Date: 1897?
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Unknown man in Abington, Illinois, 1879
Photograph taken by C.H. Smith in Abingdon, Illinois.
Identifier: spl_lj_033
Date: 1879
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