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= Charles_Fletcher_Lummis =
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Introduction
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Charles Fletcher Lummis (March 1, 1859 - November 25, 1928) was an
American journalist, civil rights activist, preservationist, poet and
librarian who promoted Native American rights and historic
preservation. He founded the Southwest Museum of the American Indian.
Lummis began his career as a printer and wrote poems. He traveled in
the American Southwest, and settled in Los Angeles, California, where
he became known as a historian, photographer, ethnographer and
archaeologist. He worked as a city editor for the 'Los Angeles Times'.
After being paralyzed, he lived in a Pueblo Indian village and began
promoting Native American rights. Later in his life he was a city
librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library.
Early life and career
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Lummis was born in 1859, in Lynn, Massachusetts. He lost his mother at
age two and was homeschooled by his father, who was a schoolmaster and
a Methodist minister. Lummis enrolled in Harvard for college and was a
classmate of Theodore Roosevelt, but dropped out during his senior
year. While at Harvard he worked during the summer as a printer and
published his first work, 'Birch Bark Poems.' This small volume was
printed on paper-thin sheets of birch bark; he won acclaim from 'Life'
magazine and recognition from some of the day's leading poets. He sold
the books by subscription and used the money to pay for college. A
poem from this work, "My Cigarette", highlighted tobacco as one of his
life's obsessions.
In 1880, at the age of 21, Lummis married Dorothea Rhodes of
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Transcontinental walk
=======================
In 1884, Lummis was working for a newspaper in Cincinnati and was
offered a job with the 'Los Angeles Times'. At that time, Los Angeles
had a population of only 12,000. Lummis decided to make the 3,507-mile
journey from Cincinnati to Los Angeles on foot, taking 143 days, all
the while sending weekly dispatches to the paper chronicling his trip.
One of his dispatches chronicled his meeting and interview with famed
outlaw Frank James. The trip began in September and lasted through the
winter. Lummis suffered a broken arm and struggled in the heavy winter
snows of New Mexico. He became enamored with the American Southwest,
and its Spanish and Native American inhabitants. Several years later,
he published his account of this journey in 'A Tramp Across the
Continent' (1892).
Editor at the ''Los Angeles Times''
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Upon his arrival, Lummis was offered the job of the first City Editor
of the 'Los Angeles Times'. He covered a multitude of interesting
stories from the new and growing community. Work was hard and
demanding under the pace set by publisher Harrison Gray Otis. Lummis
was happy until he suffered from a mild stroke that left his left side
paralyzed.
New Mexico
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In 1888, Lummis moved to San Mateo, New Mexico to recuperate from his
paralysis. He rode on the Plains while holding a rifle in one good
hand and shooting jack rabbits. Here, he began a new career as a
prolific freelance writer, writing on everything that was particularly
special about the Southwest and Native American cultures. His articles
about corrupt bosses committing murders in San Mateo drew threats on
his life, so he moved to a new location in the Pueblo Indian village
of Isleta, New Mexico, on the Rio Grande.
Pueblo People of Isleta
=========================
Somewhat recovered from his paralysis, Lummis was able to win over the
confidence of the Isleta Pueblo, a Southern Tiwa people, by his
outgoing and generous nature. But a hit man from San Mateo was sent up
to Isleta, where he shot Lummis but failed to kill him.
In Isleta, Lummis divorced his first wife and married Eva Douglas, who
lived in the village and was the sister-in-law of an English trader.
Somehow he convinced Eva to stay with Dorothea in Los Angeles until
the divorce went through. In the meantime, Lummis became entangled in
fights with the U.S. government agents over Native American education.
In this period, the government was pushing assimilation and had
established Native American boarding schools. It charged its agents
with recruiting Native American children for the schools, where they
were usually forced to give up traditional clothing and hair styles,
and prevented from speaking their own languages or using their own
customs. They were often prohibited from returning home during
holidays or vacation periods, or their families were too poor to
afford such travel. Lummis persuaded the government to allow 36
children from the Albuquerque Indian School to return to their homes.
While in Isleta, he made friends with Father Anton Docher from France;
he was the missionary Padre of Isleta. They both also befriended
Adolph Bandelier. While living in Isleta, Lummis boarded in the home
of Juan Rey Abeita. In 1890, he traveled with Bandelier to study the
indigenous people of the area.
Preservationist
=================
As president of the Landmarks Club of Southern California (an
all-volunteer, privately funded group dedicated to the preservation of
California's Spanish missions), Lummis noted that the historic
structures "...were falling to ruin with frightful rapidity, their
roofs being breached or gone, the adobe walls melting under the winter
rains." Lummis wrote in 1895, "In ten years from now--unless our
intelligence shall awaken at once--"there will remain of these noble
piles nothing but a few indeterminable heaps of adobe. We shall
deserve and shall have the contempt of all thoughtful people if we
suffer our noble missions to fall."
Magazine editor
=================
In 1892, Lummis published 'Some Strange Corners of Our Country,'
recounting some of the areas and sights he had discovered. Between
1893 and 1894, he spent 10 months traveling in Peru with Bandelier.
After the men's return, Lummis and Eva returned to Los Angeles with
their year-old daughter, Turbese. Unemployed, Lummis landed the
position of editor of a regional magazine, 'Land of Sunshine'. The
magazine was renamed 'Out West' in 1901. He published works by famous
authors such as Jack London and John Muir. Over his 11 years as
editor, Lummis also wrote more than 500 pieces for the magazine, as
well as a popular monthly commentary called "In the Lion's Den".
Native American rights activist
=================================
Lummis also established a new Native American rights group called the
"Sequoya League", after the noted early 19th-century Cherokee leader
Sequoyah who developed a writing system for the Cherokee language.
Lummis fought against the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and called on
his classmate President Theodore Roosevelt to help change their manner
of operating. He found a home for a small group of Native Americans
who had been evicted from their property in the Palm Springs,
California area. The Sequoya League began a battle against Indian
Agent Charles Burton, accusing him of imposing a "reign of terror" on
the Hopi pueblo in Oraibi by requiring Hopi men to cut their long
hair. It was their custom to wear it long, a practice with spiritual
meaning. Lummis was accused of overstating the case against Burton and
lost his welcome at the White House. (However, subsequent social
pressure on Burton led him to reverse the haircutting policy.)
Later life
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In 1905, Lummis took the position as City Librarian of the Los Angeles
Public Library. Lummis replaced Mary Jones as City Librarian even
though he had no prior library training. He was criticized for the way
he ran the library and insisted on doing most of the work at home. He
resigned from that sole source of income in 1911, and worked to
establish the Southwest Museum while engaged in a bitter and public
divorce with his wife Eva.
In that year Lummis went blind, which he attributed to a "jungle
fever" contracted while in Guatemala exploring the Mayan ruins of
Quiriguá. After more than a year of blindness, during which he might
appear in public with his eyes covered by a bandanna or wearing dark
amber glasses, he regained his sight. Some privately doubted Lummis
actually went blind. Among them was John Muir, who said so in a letter
to him and encouraged him to get more rest.
In 1915, Lummis married his third wife, Gertrude, at El Alisal.
By 1918, he was destitute. In 1923, the Southwest Museum Board named
him founder emeritus and gave him a small stipend. In 1925, Lummis
also decided to enlarge, revise, and republish 'Some Strange Corners
of Our Country' as 'Mesa, Canyon and Pueblo'. He also engaged in a
renewed civil rights crusade on behalf of the Pueblo Indians.
Death
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Lummis died November 25, 1928, in Los Angeles, California. He was
cremated, and his ashes were placed in a vault in a wall at El Alisal.
Supporters bought his home El Alisal, which was until 2015 used as the
headquarters of the Historical Society of Southern California.
Legacy and honors
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Lummis' cultural influence remains today, including a lasting imprint
on the Mount Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles. The home he
built, The Lummis House, and the museum he founded, The Southwest
Museum, are located within 0.7 miles of each other and remain open to
the public for limited hours on weekends.
El Alisal (Lummis House)
==========================
Lummis purchased a 3-acre plot around 1895 and spent 13 years building
what would become a 4,000-square-foot stone home with an exhibition
hall, calling it El Alisal. He frequently entertained, with parties he
called "noises" for various writers, artists, and other prominent
figures. The parties usually included a lavish Spanish dinner with
dancing and music performed by his own private troubadour. The
extravaganzas wore out a number of female assistants or "secretaries"
conscripted into working on them.
The Lummis House was donated to the Southwest Museum in 1910 and then
sold in 1943 to the state of California, which transferred it to the
city in 1971. The Historical Society of Southern California took
occupancy in 1965, using it as headquarters and helping manage the
property, eventually leaving in 2014. Open to the public as a museum
and park on Saturdays and Sundays, the site also serves as a focus for
Lummis Day activities (see below).
Southwest Museum
==================
By 1907, Lummis had founded the Southwest Museum of Los Angeles,
California. He had led the fundraising campaign to build a new
structure for it and saw the building open in August 1914.
The Southwest Museum operated independently until 2003, when it was
merged into the Autry Museum of the American West. The Autry launched
a multi-year conservation project to preserve the enormous collection
amassed by Lummis and his successors. Much of the material was moved
off-site, but The Southwest Museum has maintained an ongoing public
exhibit on Pueblo pottery that is free of charge and open on Saturdays
only.
Lummis Day Festival
=====================
Beginning in 2006, the annual Lummis Day Festival was established by
the Lummis Day Community Foundation. It holds the festival in Lummis'
honor on the first Sunday in June, drawing people to 'El Alisal' and
Heritage Square Museum for poetry readings, art exhibits, music, dance
performances, and family activities. The foundation is a non-profit
organization of community activists and arts organization leaders.
Publications
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* 'Birch Bark Poems'. C F Lummis. 1883
* 'A New Mexico David and Other Stories & Sketches of The
Southwest'. Scribner's. 1891
* 'Some strange corners of our country: the wonderland of the
Southwest'. 1892
* [
https://archive.org/details/contitrampacross00lummrich 'A Tramp
Across The Continent' (1892)]
* 'My Friend Will'. 1894
* 'The Gold Fish of Gran Chimu: A Novel'. Lamson, Wolffe. 1896
* 'The Enchanted Burro: Stories of New Mexico & South America'.
1897
* 'The awakening of a nation: Mexico of to-day'. 1898
* 'The Landmarks Club Cook Book: A California Collection of the
Choicest Recepes from Everywhere'. The Out West Company. 1903
* 'Pueblo Indian Folk Stories'. The Century Company. 1910
* 'The King Of The Broncos and Other Stories of New Mexico'.
Scribner's. 1915
* [
https://archive.org/details/spanishpioneersa009682mbp 'The Spanish
Pioneers And The California Missions' (1936)] Full book online at The
Internet Archive. 1920
* 'The Prose of It' (poem on Geronimo). c. 1926
* 'A Bronco Pegasus: Poems'. Houghton Mifflin. 1928
* [
https://archive.org/details/flowersofourlost000925mbp 'Flowers Of
Our Lost Romance' (1909)] Full book online at The Internet Archive
Houghton Mifflin. 1929
* 'New Mexican Folk Songs'. UNM Press. 1952
* 'General Crook and the Apache Wars'. 1966
* 'Bullying The Moqui'. 1968
* 'Dateline Fort Bowie: Charles Fletcher Lummis Reports on an Apache
War'. 1979
* 'A Tramp Across the Continent'. University of Nebraska Press. 1982.
* 'Letters From The Southwest: September 20, 1884 to March 14, 1885'.
1989
* 'Mesa, Cañon and Pueblo'. University Press of the Pacific. 2004.
* 'Pueblo Indian Folk-Stories'. Forgotten Books. 2008.
* 'The Land of Poco Tiempo'. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1897.
* 'The Man Who Married the Moon and Other Pueblo Indian Folk Tales'.
(1891)
References
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21. “Messages from the Promised Land: Bohemian Los Angeles, 1880-1920”
Author Sharyn Wiley Yeoman
Contributor Braun Research Library (Southwest Museum, Los Angeles,
Calif.)
Publisher University of Colorado, 2003
Bibliography
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*
*
*
*
* 208 p. (Devotes chapter XIV "Chas" to Lummis) Historical novel.
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
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* (devotes chapter 4 "The Showman with the Shining Right Hand" to
Lummis)
*
External links
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*
* Official website
* Official website
* Official site
Archival collections
======================
*
*
*
*[
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt1q2nc9w8/ "Guide to the
Charles Lummis Photographs"]. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
Other
=======
*
*
*
* [
http://www.charleslummis.com/ Mark Thompson, author of 'American
Character', a biography of Charles Fletcher Lummis]
* [
http://autry.iii.com/search/o=ocn166532558 Charles Fletcher Lummis
Manuscript Collection at the Autry National Center]
* [
http://www.genordell.com/stores/spirit/CFLummis.htm Charles F.
Lummis Page at Spirit of America]
* [
http://digital.boisestate.edu/u?/western,34 "Charles F. Lummis"] by
Robert E. Fleming in the
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172645/http://library.boisestate.edu/westernwriters/
Western Writers Series Digital Editions] at Boise State University
*
[
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/30808-charles-lummis.html
Article, with archival photos, about Charles Fletcher Lummis] - L.A.
as Subject/KCET
*
* "Sunday's Lummis Fest Recalls Infancy of Los Angeles Cultural
Venues" Los Angeles Times, May 30, 2012
License
=========
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Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fletcher_Lummis
