Charles Fletcher Lummis

Born in Massachusetts in 1859, Charles Fletcher Lummis became known as a journalist, author, photographer, and public figure whose work was deeply tied to the American Southwest. He is widely remembered for championing Native American rights and for arguing that historic places and regional cultures deserved serious protection.

After moving west, he worked in Los Angeles journalism and went on to play a visible role in the city's cultural life. He was associated with the Los Angeles Public Library, edited regional magazines, and helped found the Southwest Museum, an institution created to preserve and interpret the history and cultures of the Southwest.

Lummis died in 1928, but his reputation has endured because of the unusual range of his work: reporting, writing, collecting, preservation, and activism all at once. Today he is often described as one of the energetic early boosters of Southwestern history and culture, even as modern readers may also view parts of that legacy through a more critical historical lens.