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Maud Lockley Gibson Photographs, circa 1889-1927

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Gibson, Maud Lockley, 1866-1927
Title
Maud Lockley Gibson Photographs
Dates
circa 1889-1927 (inclusive)
Quantity
5.8 linear feet
Collection Number
Mss 960
Summary
The Maud Lockley Gibson Photographs include photo albums and individual photographs taken by Maud Gibson, primarily between 1908 and 1925. The majority of images are of people and places in Western Montana. Other images were taken during her automobile travels around the country with her husband, A.J. Gibson.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula. One folder is restricted due to burial content.

Languages
visual
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Biographical Note

Etta Maud (Maude) Lockley Gibson was born to Frederic E. Lockley Sr. (1824-1905) and Elizabeth Metcalf Campbell (1843-1929) on August 26, 1866, in Cleveland, Ohio. Frederic moved his family west after Maud's birth, living in Leavenworth, Kansas by 1870, Salt Lake City, Utah by 1872 and ultimately to Butte, Montana. It was in Butte where Maud met her future husband, Albert John (A.J.) Gibson. The two were married on January 30, 1889 in Butte and moved to Missoula, Montana that same year. A.J. Gibson became a well-known architect in the Missoula area.

Maud was a member of the Montana State Bitter Root chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was the chapter’s chairman of the Committee for the Preservation of Historic Spots. Maud and A.J. were charter members of the Missoula Automobile Club, owning one of the first automobiles in town. Following A.J.'s retirement in 1909, the couple set out on several cross country tours, including a trip from Missoula, Montana to New York State in 1910. They were the first to make the trip by automobile. Maud was also interested in photography and was a member of a photography group headed by Missoula photographer Rollin H. McKay. She compiled numerous scrapbooks of images of A.J.'s work, Missoula-area scenes, friends and family, scenery and sites from their automobile travels.

A.J. and Maud did not have children of their own but had boarders at their home, often for extended periods. They raised Franklin Rutherford after his mother died when he was an infant until he went to live with his uncle in Ohio at age four. Rutherford continued to visit the Gibsons during the summers. Archie Strang, the nephew of a boarder, made frequent trips with the Gibsons.

Maud and A.J. died on New Year’s Eve of 1927 in an automobile-train collision in Missoula, Montana.

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Content Description

The Maud Lockley Gibson Photographs include photos from the Missoula area and from Maud Gibson's automobile travels with her husband, A.J. Gibson. The photos in each series range from images of Western Montana to family photos. Included in the collection are photographs of Salish and Kootenai people on the Flathead Reservation.

The collection has been divided into three series based on format: Albums, Prints and Negatives. Subjects range from Salish gatherings in Arlee, Montana, to the impacts of the 1908 flood in Missoula, to A.J. Gibson's architectural projects. A large portion of the images are of family and friends of the Gibson’s, and scenes from their automobile travels including to California, Salt Lake City and Glacier National Park.

The vast majority of the images were taken by Maud, but at least one image in the collection is by the commercial photographer Herman Schnitzmeyer; it is unknown whether other images are not hers.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to the University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

Maud Lockley Gibson Photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Series I: Albums, 1.4 linear feet, circa 1889-1927

Series II: Prints, 2.0 linear feet, 1905-1915 and undated

Series III: Negatives, 2.4 linear feet, 1908-1925

Custodial History

The Maud Lockley Gibson photographs were donated to the University of Montana Archives in 2018 by Sibley Malee-Ligas. They were acquired originally by Franklin Knight Rutherford upon Maud Gibson’s death. The images passed from him to Sibley’s father, Thomas M. Malee.

Acquisition Information

Sibley Malee-Ligas donated the Maud Lockley Gibson collection to the University of Montana in November of 2018.

Processing Note

During processing at the Archives, images were removed from plastic bags and placed into archival photo sleeves. Original groupings were maintained and within the groupings photographs were arrnaged by subject matter.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Automobile travel--Montana--Missoula
  • Floods--Clark Fork (Mont. and Idaho)--Photographs
  • Kootenai Indians--Social life and customs--Photographs
  • Powwows--Montana--Flathead Indian Reservation--Photographs
  • Salish Indians--Social life and customs--Photographs

Personal Names

  • Gibson, A. J. (Albert John), 1862-1927
  • Gibson, Maud Lockley, 1866-1927--Archives

Family Names

  • Gibson family--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • Flathead Indian Reservation--Photographs
  • Missoula (Mont.)--Photographs
  • Montana--Photographs

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographs

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Schnitzmeyer, Herman (creator)

Finding aid prepared by Micaela Connolly and Shelby Fisher
2025, 2021

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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