Elizabeth Lochrie was born July 1, 1890, in Deer Lodge, Montana, to Frank and Mary Davey. Her father was an electrician for the City of Butte, and her mother was a musician, dietician and teacher. She had three younger brothers, Joe, Tom, and Clarence. She was educated in Deer Lodge and Butte, later attending the Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, N.Y. for teacher training. Her impressive art education includes instruction from Wienold Reiss, Dorothy Pucinneli, and Victor Arnotoff.
Mrs. Lochrie's art career spans from the 1920s to the 1950s. Her patrons included the U.S. Treasury Department, the State of Montana, the Ford Motor Company, New York Life Insurance Company, and the First National Bank of Seattle. During 1924-1925 she painted eighteen children's murals for the Montana State Hospital at Galen, Montana. After 1931 she specialized in Native American portraits, particularly of Blackfoot tribal members, having produced more that a thousand water colors, oils, murals, and sculptures. In 1937 she won the Treasury Department's competition to paint a mural for the new Dillon post office with "News from the States" depicting the arrival of mail to that community in 1869. From 1937 to 1939 Lochrie also painted historic murals in the post offices at Burley and Saint Anthony, Idaho. She studied with Wienold Reiss at Glacier National Park and from 1936 to 1939 she was staff artist for the Great Northern Railroad in Glacier National Park. Her artistic honors also include arts show in New York City and at the prestigious Whitney Museum in Wyoming.
Elizabeth Lochrie's ties to the Native American tribes in Montana extended beyond her artwork. She frequently used the fees charged for her lectures to purchase clothing and other necessaries for needy members of Montana's tribes, especially the Blackfoot. She was adopted by the Blackfeet and given the name Netchitaki which translates to "Woman Alone on Her Way".
Elizabeth Davey married Arthur James Lochrie on June 14, 1913. The couple had two daughters, Betty Jane and Helena; and one son, Arthur James, Jr. Elizabeth Lochrie died in 1981.
This collection consists of biographical materials (1959-1970) including her resume; general correspondence (1932-1971) between Lochrie and her family, friends, fans, and people purchasing or commissioning her art work; diaries (1938, 1946-1967) these include traditional diaries and annotated calendars; financial records (1914-1968) includes scattered records of commissions, and daily household expenses; subject files (1914-1977) including newspaper clippings, correspondence, writings and research materials on various subjects relating primarily to art and Native Americans; speeches (1928-1953) primarily to service and women's groups regarding art and her study of Native Americans; writings (1940, 1947, undated) re Native American subjects primarily relating to people she painted; miscellany (1930-1979) including articles about Lochrie, art supply catalogs, guest books to her shows, and scrapbooks; clippings (1929-1970) from newspapers and magazines relating to art and artists, Native Americans, and Montana history.
by series
Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society 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.
item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.