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Lillian Wilhelm Smith Papers, SHM MS-25 1898-1964

SHM MS-25

Biographical Note

Lillian Wilhelm Smith (b. 1882–d. 1971) was born Lillian Wilhelm in New York City, to Henry and Lenore Louise Bergman Wilhelm. Lillian had six siblings, Richard, Arnold, Theodore, Henry, George and Claire. At the age of six, she first demonstrated an interest and skill in art, thus her education was focused in honing her natural artistic skills. She received her art training at the Art Students League in New York, the National Academy and the Leonia School of Art in New Jersey. She first visited Arizona in 1913 with author Zane Grey (1872-1939), a cousin by marriage, to illustrate his western-themed books. After a period of return visits, during which she became inspired by the people and landscapes of Arizona, she decided to move permanently to Arizona in 1916. During the next sixty years there were few places in Arizona where Lillian did not visit or live One example was a twenty acre citrus orchard in Scottsdale she purchased in 1922. She was briefly married to Westbrooke Robertson from 1916-1924, living separately for the final two years of their marriage.

In 1923, Lillian met Jesse (Jess) Raymond Smith (1886-1960), a "good-natured cowboy" and U.S. Army veteran of World War I. They married shortly after her divorce from Robertson was finalized in 1924. Although the couple never had children, they had a wide variety of friends, including famous playwright Porter Emerson Browne (1879-1934) and artists Max Ernst, Jessie Evans Benton, Mary Farrell Colton, Jimmie Swinnerton and Maynard Dixon.

During her career, Lillian was acknowledged as one of the first white women to venture into the more inaccessible regions of Northern Arizona, and much of her work was inspired by Arizona’s natural geological formations and expansive desert vistas, as well as the Hopi and Navajo people and their ceremonies. Smith created the She-Kay-Ah China Designs with indigenous motifs, the two major designs being Navajo symbolic (See Series 3 of collection) and Hopi Symbolic. Smith’s china are collectibles today. The China was introduced at the 1928 Arizona State Fair. She later operated guest ranches in Tuba City and Sedona, and operated an art shop in the Biltmore Resort Hotel in Phoenix for three years. Her paintings were exhibited in the Arizona Museum in Phoenix, Taos, California and elsewhere across North America.

After Jess’s death, Lillian isolated herself in southern Arizona where she remained until her passing in February 1971. By her side for her final years was close friend Kay Manley. Her eulogy highlighted her significance to the artistic community to which she was so closely tied:

"Her brush captured vividly in oil and water color the characteristics of this great land-mountains, canyons and desert. In our opinion she was a fine artist but many of the years through which she lived were difficult economically for the American people and this fact, coupled with the fact that Arizona was still within the first early years of its founding, never brought to the fine artist the recognition locally to which she was truly entitled.”

Scope and Content

This collection consists of family and personal information, sketches, photographs, personal journals, correspondence and newspaper clippings covering Smith’s life in Arizona from 1916-1972. Additional items cover Smith’s collaborations with author Zane Grey (1872-1939) and author Lou Ella Archer. Some books that include information or history regarding Lillian Wilhelm-Smith are:

Additionally, Smith illustrated a number of books for Zane Grey which include the following novels: The Border Legion, The Last Trail, Under the Tonto Rim, The Call of the Canyon, Wild Horse Mesa, The Rainbow Trail.

System of Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

All photographs which depict Hopi ceremonial or sacred activities are RESTRICTED and cannot be viewed or reproduced without the express written consent of the Hopi Tribe, Office of Cultural Preservation located at 1 Main Street, Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039, with a mailing address of P.O. Box 123, Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039. Their phone number is (928) 734-3619.

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished and published manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder. The Sharlot Hall Museum may not own copyright to all parts of this collection. It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the State of Arizona and the Sharlot Hall Museum - this includes its Board of Trustee officers, employees, outside contractors, and agents from and against all claims made by person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Controlled Access Terms

Administrative Information

Custodial History

The materials found within this collection were personally donated by Catherine Manley on June 8, 1976, accession number 76.007; Johni Lou Duncan on November 18, 1982, accession number 82.144; Nina Carney on July 30, 1985 accession number 85.078; and Jim Phillips on October 7, 1987 accession number 87.102. The materials were processed and placed into a standardized DACS compliant archival arrangement and organization scheme. The materials were originally cataloged using a non-standardized organization scheme in Document Box and/or Photo Box 2, Document Box 33, Document Box 169, Document Box 150, Surname File, Photo Box 124, and Photo Box 43. A new DACS compliant number was assigned to the collection – SHM MS 25.

There are no expected accruals at this time, but any items that are donated to the archives in the future regarding Lillian Wilhelm Smith that are not a part of another collection will be added to this collection.

Preferred Citation

Lillian Wilhelm Smith Papers, SHM MS-25. Sharlot Hall Museum Library & Archives.

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