The work of former Le Sueur County resident Edward S. Curtis, a world renowned photographer of Native Americans during the late 1800s and early 1900s, is being celebrated in the form of a free exhibit in the lower-level of the Elysian Area Library and Heritage Center, now through mid-March.
With more than 85 large prints on display and indigenous artifacts, the exhibit is the largest of its kind to be featured in the area—a salute to Curtis’s ties to Elysian Township.
Curtis spent part of his childhood in Le Sueur County’s Elysian and Cordova Townships, during the 1870s and 1880s. His father was a roving preacher, and Curtis often traveled with his father to the various churches throughout the area.
At the age of 12, Curtis discovered a stereopticon lens and built a homemade camera box around it.
The self-made artist went on to have a photo studio in St. Paul, before moving his family to Seattle, Washington, where he continued his work, capturing portraits and landscapes. In the late 1890s, Curtis recognized that Native...
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Large Edward S. Curtis exhibit in Elysian
