Charles Fletcher Lummis

Charles Fletcher Lummis (1859-1928) was an American journalist, activist, and historic preservationist. Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, he was homeschooled by his father and attended Harvard University. To pay for his studies, Lummis publishedBirch Bark Poems, an acclaimed collection. In 1880, he married Dorothea Rhodes in Cincinnati, where he worked for a local newspaper. Offered a position with the Los Angeles Times, Lummis embarked on a 3,507 mile journey by foot across the American West, sending dispatches along the way. He became the first City Editor of the Los Angeles Times upon arrival, but after several years suffered a debilitating stroke that forced him to resign. He went to New Mexico to recover, eventually settling with the Pueblo Indians at the village of Isleta. In 1890, Lummis joined his friend Adolph Bandelier in his study of the local indigenous people. He became a prominent activist for Indian rights, clashing with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and eventually founding the Southwest Museum of the American Indian in Los Angeles.