Roberts Photograph Collection

The Humboldt County Collection in the Library contains several unique photograph collections documenting various aspects of life and activity in Humboldt County at various time periods. One of the most interesting of these is the Roberts Collection which was given to the Library in the late 1960s by the anthropologist Arnold Pilling of Wayne State University. Ruth Kellet Roberts (1885-1967) lived on the lower Klamath River from 1915 to 1933 and then again from 1955 until her death in 1967 in Crescent City. She is perhaps best known for her work with the Del Norte County Historical Society in developing collections related to the Yurok and Tolowa Indians in northwestern California. Her collection of photographs, taken by her as an amateur photographer primarily in the period 1915-1933, reflects this interest and her friendship with those people whom she photographed. Additional information about Ruth Roberts and her son Harry Roberts can be found in Susie VanKirk's Chronological References to Ruth and Harry Roberts.

The finding aid for the Roberts Photograph Collection is available both online and in the Humboldt Room (E 78 C15 R62 HumCo).