George Wharton James (27 September
1858
Events
January–March
* January –
** Benito Juárez (1806–1872) becomes Liberal President of Mexico. At the same time, conservatives install Félix María Zuloaga (1813–1898) as president.
** William I of Prussia becomes regen ...
– 8 November
1923
Events
January–February
* January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory).
* January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...
)
was an American popular lecturer, photographer, journalist and editor. Born in
Lincolnshire, England
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire an ...
, he emigrated to the United States as a young man after being ordained as a Methodist minister.
He served in parishes in Nevada and Southern California, gradually beginning his journalism and writing career. An editor of two magazines, he also wrote more than 40 books and many articles and pamphlets on
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
and the
American Southwest
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...
.
Biography
George Wharton James was born in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
, England. He married and was ordained as a Methodist minister. He and his wife immigrated to the United States in 1881.
He served in parishes in Nevada and southern California. However, in 1889 his wife sued for divorce, accusing him of committing numerous acts of adultery. He was tried by the Methodist Church, charged with real estate fraud, using faked credentials, and sexual misconduct. He was defrocked, although he was later reinstated.
In addition to writing his own books, James was associate editor of ''
The Craftsman'' (1904–05), and editor of ''
Out West'' (1912–14). In the style of the times, he was a popular lecturer in the region. He also lectured at both the
Panama-Pacific and
Panama-California expositions 1915–16.
James had a long-running feud with
Charles Fletcher Lummis
Charles Fletcher Lummis (March 1, 1859, in Lynn, Massachusetts – November 25, 1928, in Los Angeles, California) was a United States journalist, and an activist for Indian rights and historic preservation. A traveler in the American Southwest, h ...
, a California writer with similar regional interests.
[ Starr, Kevin (1985). ''Inventing the Dream: California through the Progressive Era''. New York: Oxford University Press.] Both men also explored the American Southwest, becoming acquainted with Father
Anton Docher
Anton Docher (1852–1928), born Antonin Jean Baptiste Docher (pronounced ɑ̃tɔnɛ̃ ʒɑ̃ batist dɔʃe), was a French Franciscan Roman Catholic priest, who served as a missionary to Native Americans in New Mexico, in the Southwest of t ...
, a French-born
missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
priest who served at
Pueblo of Isleta in New Mexico for 34 years.
James's books included the well-received ''The Wonders of the Colorado Desert'' (1906), ''Through
Ramona
''Ramona'' is a 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War, it portrays the life of a mixed-race Scottish– Native American orphan girl, who suffers racial discrimination and ...
's Country'' (1909), ''In and Out of the Old Missions of California'' (1905), and ''The Lake of the Sky'' (1915). Characteristics of his writing included
romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, an enthusiasm for natural environments, the idealization of aboriginal lifeways, and the promotion of health fads.
After his divorce, James married again, living in
Pasadena, California with his second wife at 1098 North Raymond Avenue. Writer Lawrence Clark Powell later described James's home as serving as "a kind of museum salon in the same way that El Alisal served as the center for his rival booster
Lummis' Los Angeles followers. He founded the Pasadena
Browning Society and the Anti-Whispering Society. According to Powell, the Anti-Whispering Society was "devoted to the suppression of (1) talking audiences, (2) peanut fiends, and (3) crying babies."
James was an advocate of outdoor nakedness or nudism.
Honors
*His books and pamphlets were collected by the
California State Library
The California State Library is the state library of the State of California, founded in 1850 by the California State Legislature. The Library collects, preserves, generates and disseminates a wide array of information. Today, it is the central ...
and the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
.
*A collection of his photographs is on file at the
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
.
*The
Southwest Museum in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
has some of his papers and photographs.
Bibliography
* (with illustrations by
Carl Eytel
Carl Eytel (September 12, 1862 – September 17, 1925) was a German American artist who built his reputation for paintings and drawings of desert subjects in the American Southwest. Immigrating to the United States in 1885, he settled in Palm Sp ...
)
[Eytel contributed the color plate ''Mirage in the Desert'' (1905) and over 300 drawings – ]
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Notes
References
* Bourdon, Roger Joseph (1966). ''George Wharton James, Interpreter of the Southwest''. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Los Angeles. Ph.D. thesis. pp. 375.
*
*
*
Starr, Kevin (1973 and 1986). ''Americans and the California Dream, 1850–1915''. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 494. (1986)
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
"Basket Makers," ''Sunset'' 8(1)(1901)
(1902)
(1903)
* (1910)
* (1913)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, George Wharton
American nature writers
American non-fiction outdoors writers
American travel writers
American male non-fiction writers
Writers from California
1858 births
1923 deaths
American naturists
Social nudity advocates