Seven Female Photographers of The Oklahoma and Indian Territories, 1889 to 1907

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine female photographers - four professionals and three amateurs - active in the Oklahoma and Indian Territories from approximately 1889 until about 1907. These women offer valuable insights into the history of photography and women's involvement in that history. They appear in this study because examples of their photography exist at the Oklahoma Historical Society and the University of Oklahoma. They were researched further through the United States Census Records and city directories. The results of these record searches are discussed in Chapters One and Two in conjunction with a discussion of the individual women. This study is organized to place the seven women from the Oklahoma and Indian Territories into the wider history of photography and women's involvement in that history. Chapter One contains information about the trends in professional photography from approximately 1889 until 1907. Incorporated into this general history are four specific women from the Territories: Emma Coleman, Georgia Isbell Rollins, Persis Gibbs, and Alice Mary Robertson. Chapter Two discusses the history of amateur photography and three Territorial amateur women photographers: Annette Ross Hume, Jessie Gilham, and Jennie Ross Cobb. Chapter Three focuses on a description of specific photographs taken by each of the seven women from the two Territories, particularly their photos of Native Americans. This chapter shows the general subject matter of the seven photographers, but does not analyze their assumed manipulation of their subjects within each picture. Finally, a conclusion presents the general results of the research done in the United States Census Records.