J. W. Thompson photographs

J. W. Thompson photographs, 1952-1959

Overview of the Collection

Photographer: Thompson, J. W. (John W.), d. 1978
Title: J. W. Thompson photographs
Dates: 1952-1959 (inclusive)
19521959
Quantity: 1670 slides, including color transparencies and black and white negatives 35 mm
Collection Number: 2004.43 (accession)
Summary: Photographs of Indians of western Washington State, including individual and family posed portraits, school photographs, and images of dancing and ceremonies, fishing and fish preparation scenes, woodcarving and basket weaving
Repository: Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions: The collection is open to the public by appointment.
Additional Reference Guides: A detailed inventory of the slides in available in the repository.
Languages: English.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

J. W. Thompson was a Seattle botanist and teacher. In 1943, Thompson, who was one of the best field botanists in the western United States, and the owner of the best private herbarium and botanical library in the Pacific Northwest, gave both his herbarium and library to the University of Washington Department of Botany. In his retirement, Thompson began a second career as a photographer of Pacific Northwest Indians, taking thousands of slides of the Native people of Washington State.

J.W. Thompson died in 1978.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Photographs of Indians of western Washington State, mostly taken on reservations. Subjects include individual and family posed portraits, school photographs, and images of dancing and ceremonies, fishing and fish preparation scenes, woodcarving and basket weaving. Tribes depicted: Chehalis, Chinook, Duwamish, Lummi, Makah, Quileute, Quinault, Suquamish, Swinomish, Tulalip and Yakima (Yakama).

The following is an alphabetical list of individuals noted in the images, with the names mostly transcribed from handwritten notes on the slide mounts:

Alexander, Mary Charles
Alexander, Mrs.
Allabush [Warner], Myra
Bain, Bessie
Balch
Balch, Emma
Balch, Mrs.
Baldwin, Bernice
Baldwin, Robert
Barber [Ides}, Esther
Barber, Mrs.
Barker, Nora
Bennett, Cynthia
Bennett, Ramona
Bennett, Walter
Billy, Marie
Black, Beatrice
Black, Sherman
Bob, Angel
Bob, Clara
Bob, Ernestine
Bob, Helen
Bob, Leroy
Bob, Lynette
Bob, Margery
Bob, Marlene
Bob, Sticks
Bob, Tommy
Bowechop, Pat]
Brown, Joanna
Brown, John C.
Bruce, Al
Bryan, Bill
Butterfield, Marie
Carol, Joan
Casimir, August
Casimir, Lila
Catli, Mrs. Donald [Johnson, Mary]
Celestine, Aurelia
Celestine, Mr.
Charles, Al
Charles, Cathy
Charles, Judy
Charley, Edwin
Charley, Roland
Clapanahow, Tom
Cole, Fred
Colfax, Lenny
Colfax, Roger
Cultee, Loretta
Cultee, Steve
Daniels, Paulette
Dewey McGee
Douk, Eddie
Dover, Harriet
Eastman, Harvey
Edge, Jim
Edwards, Alfreda
Edwards, David
Edwards, Eileen
Edwards, Russell
Emma
Fryberg, Delores
Gene
George, Addie
George, Ann
Gray, Carrie
Gree, Alec
Green (McQuillen), Mary
Green, Del
Green, Nelson
Hardwick, Lily Norling
Harvard, Esther
Hatch, Patricia
Heck, Daniel
Heck, Edith
Heck, Joan
Heck, Rena
Heck, Sammy
Heck, Tommy
Heck, Virginia
Henderson, Betty
Hicks, Billy
Hicks, Gloria
Hicks, Jimmie
Hilaire, Joe
Hillaire, Ben
Hillaire, Daniel
Hillaire, Esther
Hillaire, Ethel Diane
Hillaire, Helen
Hillaire, Joe
Hillaire, Lena
Hillaire, Lewis
Hillaire, Rosalie
Hobucket, Tyler
Holden, Virginia
Howell, Maydean
Howiattle, Charley
Howiattle, Charlie
Howiattle, Mattie
Howiattle, Nathan
Hunte, Lorraine
Hunter, Arnie
Hunter, Arnold
Hunter, Carol
Hunter, Leo
Hunter, Lorraine
Hyasman, Dollietta
Hyasman, Dolly
Hyasman, Grace
Hyasman, Grace Marie
Hyasman, Leana
Hyasman, Loretta
Ides, Bill]
Ides, Celia
Ides, Perry
Ides, Phillip
Irving, Augusta Tusik
Irving, Clara
Irving, Hillary
Irving, Larry
Irving, Mike
Irving, Pauline
Irving, Polly
Jackson, Henry M.
Jackson, Janice
Jackson, Walter
James, Alex
James, Harvey
James, Harvey J.
Jefferson, Clarence
Jefferson, Lillian
Jimmicum (Dulik), Emma
Joe, Andrew
Joe, Eileen
Joe, Mark Wayne
Joe, Norma
Joe, Vivian
John, Mrs. Herb
Johnson, Blanche
Johnson, Conrad
Johnson, Doris
Johnson, Judy Swan
Johnson, Mary
Johnson, Sadie
Jones, Bernice
Jones, Daryle
Jones, Virginia
Kahana, Charles
Kauffman, Dicie Swan
Kauffman, Yvonee Marie
Kinley, Alta
Kinley, Florence
Kinley, Mavis
Kinley, Sharon
Kinley, Verla
Kowoosh, Baker
Kowoosh, Peterson
Lachester, Jack [Ralph]
LaChester, Ralph ["Lucky"]
Langlen, Delores]
Lee, Donnie May
Lee, Oscar
Lewis, Ernest
Lucas, Cathy
Luggy
Lunsford, Amelia
Luscrer, Barbara
Malmberg, Elizabeth
Markistrum [Penn], Eustace
Markistrum, Ada
Markistrum, Audrey Artis
Markistrum, Juanita
Markistrum, Merle Kay
Markistrum, Terry Elaine
Markistrum, Woody
Martin, Arthur
Martin, August
Martin, Dean
Martin, Dennis
Martin, Eva
Martin, Fidelis
Martin, Harvey
Martin, Paul
Mc Carty, Harry
McCarty, Jerry
McCarty, John
McCarty, Matilda
McGee, Dewey
Metcalf, Leon
Millholland [Ward], June
Millholland, Lila
Millholland, Jo Ernest (Ernie)
Millholland, June
Millholland, Lucy
Millholland, Lydia [Lila]
Millholland, Rita
Obi, Martha
Parker, Beverly
Parker, Paul
Parker, Ty
Patkanim, Chief
Paul, Ray
Payne, Walter
Penn, Agnes
Penn, Bill
Penn, Iola
Penn, Junior
Penn, Steve
Penn, William
Peterson, Helen
Pickernell, Bessie
Pickernell, Frank
Pickernell, John
Pope, Clarence
Pope, Frankie
Pope, Laura
Pope, Pamela
Pope, Rose
Purdy, Elizabeth
Reed, Leda
Rieve, Viola
Robertson, Mable
Rosander, Leonard
Russell, Alfreda
Russell, David
Russell, Glen
Russell, Jane
Russell, John
Sam, Willard
Sampos, Alfreda
Sampson, Charles
Sampson, Iola
Sampson, Wilbert
Sanchez, Annette
Sanchez, Charles
Sawyer, Margarie
Scott, Elaine [?]
Scott, Marion [?]
Sealth, Chief
Seates, Eva
Seattle, Angeline
Seattle, Chief
Secena, Marphy
Senior, Delores
Shamblin, Dottie Johnson
Shaw, Celia
Shelton, Chief
Shelton, Harriet
Shelton, John
Shelton, Mrs. John
Sivonen, Bobbie
Sivonen, Mrs. Nick
Sivonen, Nick
Skates, Sandra
Smeatlum, Amelia
Smiley, Patty
Smith, Charley
Smith, Eileen
Snell, Bob
Solomon, Marge
Soneke [Soeneke] [Dillard], Marilyn
Sotomish, Sarah
Stogan, Elizabeth
Strom , Leon
Strom, Larry
Strom, Leon
Strom, Lillian
Strom, Sheila
Strom, Ted
Strom, Ted, Jr.
Swan, Bessie
Swan, Charles
Swan, Charley
Swan, Dicie
Swan, Don
Swan, Gwen
Swan, Ides
Swan, Levi
Swan, Ruth
Swan, Don
Sylvester, Leonard
Taft, William
Tedford, Vern
Thomas, Jean
Thomas, Jerene
Thomas, Lorraine
Thomas, Marilyn
Thompson, Cynthia
Thompson, J. W. [?]
Toby, Elizabeth
Tom, Geraldine
Tom, Nancy
Twiddy, Francis
Underwood, Burdeen
Underwood, Dave
Underwood, Hazel
Underwood, Kenneth
Underwood, Robert
Ward, Alva
Ward, Ella
Ward, Shirley
Wells, Angeline
Wells, Blanche
Wheeler, Bubbles
White Eagle, Arthur
White Eagle, Ralph
Wickstrum, George
Wilbur, Claude
Wilbur, Claude, Jr.
Wilbur, Douglas
Wilbur, Ida
Wilbur, Jack
Wilbur, Jack Jr.
Wilbur, Jimmy
Wilbur, Johnny Jr.
Wilbur, Marie
Wilbur, Nancy
Wilbur, Richard
Wilbur, Roberta
Wilbur, Tandy
Wilbur, Tandy, Jr.
Wiley, Regina
Wilkie, Nell
Wilkie, Nell
Wilkie, Pat
Williams, Mary
Williams, Verna
Wilson, Jimmy
Wilson, Sharon
Woodruff, Sharon

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format.

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

J. W. Thompson photographs, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Location of Collection

3a.3.10

Custodial History

John W. Thompson's daughter, Lucile Munz, donated the slides as part of a larger collection to the Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale, Washington, in 1997. The Maryhill Museum of Art transferred the slides to the Museum of History & Industry in 2004.

Acquisition Information

Transferred from the Maryhill Museum of Art, October 4, 2004.

Processing Note

A detailed inventory to the collection was created by Randal Hertzler in 2005.

Selections from the collection were scanned and included as part of the Olympic Peninsula Community Museum collections in 2006.

Related Materials

J.W. Thompson's photographs of Native Americans living east of the Cascades remain at the Maryhill Museum of Art.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a list of slides by tribe or nation, arranged alphabetically.

Description	Dates
Chehalis 22 slides 2008.43.1193-.1214	1952-1959
Chinook 19 slides 2004-43.1167-.1185	1952-1959
Duwamish 7 slides 2004.43.1186-1192	1952-1959
Lummi 506 slides 2004.43.661-1166	1952-1959
Makah 423 slides 2004.43.232-654	1952-1959
Quileute 131 slides 2004.43.1270-1283, 1285-1300, 1325-1425	1952-1959
Quileute; Makah 26 slides 2004.43.1284, 1301-1324	1952-1959
Quinault 228 slides 2004.43.1-28, 32-231	1952-1959
Suquamish 6 slides 2004.43.655-656, 1265-1266, 1268-1269	1952-1959
Swinomish 244 slides 2004.43.1426-1479, 1481-1670	1952-1959
Tulalip 51 slides 2004.43.1215-1264, 1267	1952-1959
Yakima (now Yakama) 3 slides 2004.43.29-31	1952-1959
No tribe identified 5 slides 2004.43.657-660, 1480	1952-1959

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Chehalis Indians
Chinook Indians
Dugout canoes--Washington (State)
Duwamish Indians
Indian baskets--Washington (State)
Indian reservations--Washington (State)
Indians of North America--Boats--Washington (State)
Indians of North America--Fishing--Washington (State)
Lummi Indians
Makah Indians
Quileute Indians
Quinault Indians
Suquamish Indians
Swinomish Indians
Tulalip Indians
Yakama Indians

Archives West Finding Aid

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