Artist Lydia Sohlberg Deere
Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925
Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925
The Smoky Hills
(Coronado Heights)
(Coronado Heights)
The Smoky Hills photographs were taken between 1900 and 1913 while Lydia was heading up her Lindsborg business at the Sohlberg Millinery Company with her twin sisters, Ida and Anna Sohlberg after her graduating from McPherson College with a Commerce degree in 1900 and from that business she became around 1907 the Bethany College as Dean of Women and Matron of the Ladies Dormitory at Lane Hart Hall.
These photos were mostly of Lydia’s niece Nina Sohlberg with her girlfriends and of Bethany College students as well, where at times she had her trusting subjects taking risks to get the right compositions for her photographs.
In the early years, the Smoky Hills located 3.8 miles northwest of Lindsborg may have also been referred to as the "Spanish Buttes," the "Smoky Valley Buttes," the "Smoky Valley Bluffs," and perhaps other names as well. For this piece of writing, they shall be referred to as the Smoky Hills. Since 1919, the Smoky Hills official name became "Coronado Heights," the highest hill of which rises 300 feet above the Smoky Valley floor.
However, these Smoky Hills are not to be confused with Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist's "Smoky Hill Bluffs" about which he writes in his 1994 classic Pioneer Cross, Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs, which in earlier times had been referred to as the Smoky Hill Buttes which are 12 miles north of Lindsborg near Smolan, Kansas.
To vary the viewing experience, sometimes I have displayed the photographs individually and then in groupings.
These photos were mostly of Lydia’s niece Nina Sohlberg with her girlfriends and of Bethany College students as well, where at times she had her trusting subjects taking risks to get the right compositions for her photographs.
In the early years, the Smoky Hills located 3.8 miles northwest of Lindsborg may have also been referred to as the "Spanish Buttes," the "Smoky Valley Buttes," the "Smoky Valley Bluffs," and perhaps other names as well. For this piece of writing, they shall be referred to as the Smoky Hills. Since 1919, the Smoky Hills official name became "Coronado Heights," the highest hill of which rises 300 feet above the Smoky Valley floor.
However, these Smoky Hills are not to be confused with Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist's "Smoky Hill Bluffs" about which he writes in his 1994 classic Pioneer Cross, Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs, which in earlier times had been referred to as the Smoky Hill Buttes which are 12 miles north of Lindsborg near Smolan, Kansas.
To vary the viewing experience, sometimes I have displayed the photographs individually and then in groupings.
- Nina and her friends at the Smoky Hill Bluffs -
- Bethany College Women -
- Bethany College Men -
- Selma Sohlberg and Lydia's Shadow -
Lydia's sister, my great grandmother, stiffly poses
Lydia's sister, my great grandmother, stiffly poses
For Coronado Heights -- One Winter's Day, go HERE
*Sources: Geology of Study in the Area of the Smoky Valley Buttes, 1907 Master Thesis by Dr. Emil O. Deere; 1965 Pioneer Swedish-American Culture in Central Kansas by Ruth Billdt; 1975 Bethany in Kansas, the history of a college by Dr. Emory Lindquist.
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"Let Us Celebrate Them"
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Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
"Let Us Celebrate Them"
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
