Collection is open for research.
The Whitman College and Northwest Archives acquired the prints in 1977 or 1978. They were purchased from Egill Oscar Gustafson who claimed the prints were produced by Edward Curtis. Through conversations and correspondence with Bill Gulick, the University of Washington and the Idaho State Historical Society, Archivist Larry Dodd learned the collection was not from Edward Curtis, but in fact Edward Latham. The accession number is retro-0791.
Edward H. Latham was born in 1845. He graduated from medical school in 1884, and was appointed Agency Physician on the Colville Reservation in 1890. Latham was an amateur photographer and took many photographs of people and life on the Colville Indian Reservation, including members of the Chief Joseph Band of the Nez Perce.
Original negatives held by the University of Washington.
The Latham Photographs contain negative reproductions and 11x14 prints of Edward Latham's photographs of Native Americans in eastern Washington. The collection contains photographs that were originally taken from 1899 to 1906.