Norman Edson papers, undated (before 1971)

Painter, photographer, and poet Norman Stewart Edson was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1876. He was the son of Allen Edson, an oil painter whose paintings were purchased by Queen Victoria. After first studying in his father’s studio, Edson studied figure painting at the Delecuse Studio in Paris. He later taught art at Standstead College in Quebec, served as the head of the art department at the Omaha College of Music and Fine Arts, and taught classes in Vermont and in Everett, Washington. Edson was also a commercial photographer for thirty years, as well as a prolific writer who produced an autobiography, three books of poetry, and other poems that were published in national magazines.

Edson’s first experience in the Pacific Northwest occurred in 1905, when he traveled to Everett, Washington, where he performed many different odd jobs before working as a photographer’s apprentice under Bert J. Brush. He later opened his own studio and became well known for his photographs of Tulalip Indians, logging camps, and other Northwest scenes. After returning to Canada for four years in 1907, he once again settled in Washington with his wife, Henrietta, and daughter in 1911. Edson and his family resided for many years in Burton, Washington (on Vashon Island) and died in 1968.