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Guide to the Seema Aissen Weatherwax Photographs
M0868
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Table of contents
Title: Seema Aissen Weatherwax photographs
Dates: 1933-1993
Collection number: M0868
Creator:
Seema Aissen Weatherwax
Collection Size:
3 linear ft.
Repository:
Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.
Abstract: Photographs and negatives of the Long Beach earthquake, 1933, Woodie Guthrie, Fred Ross, and the Shafter farm labor camp,
1941, a Los Angeles labor demonstration, 1945, the Hollywood strike, 1945, and many informal and formal photographs from the
Yosemite camera workshops with Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, 1941-42. Included is a 24-page typescript, "The Queen of Montgomery
Street," by her husband, John M. Weatherwax.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research; materials must be requested at least 24 hours in advance of intended use.
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.
Seema Aissen Weatherwax photographs, M0868. Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biography / Administrative History
Emigrating from Tsarist Russia with her parents in 1913 to escape
persecution and the conscription
act, Seema graduated from high school and began studying science courses in
Leeds, England. A few
years after her father's death, her mother took the three daughters to
Boston to join relatives, and Seema became involved in photography. She moved to Southern California in
1929, lived in Tahiti in 1931, 32 for a year and back to Southern California where she joined the
film and photo league in 1934. Ansel Adams asked her in 1938 to run his darkroom in Yosemite and
assist him in his work. She helped him with his First Camera Workshop in Yosemite in 1939. In 1941
Seema met the writer Jack Weatherwax and with him and Woody Guthrie visited the Shafter Farm
Security Administration Camp where she photographed Dust Bowl refugees and their surroundings. Since
Jack's death in 1985, Seema has continued her activism in Santa Cruz and has had several
exhibits of her work.
Scope and Content of Collection
Photographs and negatives of the Long Beach earthquake, 1933, Woodie Guthrie, Fred Ross, and the Shafter farm labor camp,
1941, a Los Angeles labor demonstration, 1945, the Hollywood strike, 1945, and many informal and formal photographs from the
Yosemite camera workshops with Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, 1941-42. Included is a 24-page typescript, "The Queen of Montgomery
Street," by her husband, John M. Weatherwax.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Adams, Ansel, 1902-
Guthrie, Woodie, 1912-1967.
Ross, Fred.
Weatherwax, John M.
Weston, Edward.
Yosemite camera workshop.
Agricultural laborers--California.
Demonstrations--California.
Earthquakes--Long Beach.
Photography.
Shafter farm labor camp.
Yosemite--Photographs.
Negatives.
Photoprints.