| The Old West will come alive in a new photography
exhibit set to open Wednesday and run through October 11 at the Ontario Museum
of History and Art.
The rare photographs on display show railroads, Native
Americans and frontier life. They were taken by 15 19th century
American photographers.
The 40 black and white photographs are among the first
photographic images ever made of this land and its people.
As part of the exhibit, the museum will sponsor two
events open to the public.
The first is a two-part photo mural workshop September
12 and 19. Children and adults will photograph historical sites in Ontario to
display in a mural at the museum.
| The workshop will be conducted by Steve Thomas, a
Rancho Cucamonga resident, photographer and collections manager for the
California museum of photography at UC Riverside.
The second event is a slide presentation and discussion
planned for September 17. It will be led by Jennifer Watts, curator of
photographs for the Huntington Library, who will discuss photographs and their
effect on the legend of the Old West.
The traveling exhibit enters California via sponsorship
from the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas and the California Council for
the Humanities.
"The exhibit contains photos from the Smithsonian,
Huntington Library and a variety of museum collections from throughout the
country," said Teresa Hanley, museum director. |
 A Southern Pacific Railroad train pulls into a station in 1916. The photo is one of those on exhibit at the Ontario Museum of
History and Art. |
The exhibit is divided into three sections: documentation
of the natural environment, exploration of emigrants and indigenous people and
illustration of the romanticized view of the West.
Featured photographers include Carleton Watkins, whose
photographs of Yosemite prompted President Lincoln to make Yosemite the first
national part.
Other photographers are Camillus S. Fly, who was
invited by the U.S. government to photograph the surrender of Geronimo and the
Apaches, and John C. H. Grabill, one of the photographers at Wounded Knee for
the last battle between the Sioux and the U. S. military.
The Museum of History and Art is at 225 South Euclid
Avenue. It is open from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.
Information: (909) 983-3198. |
