Artist Lydia Sohlberg Deere
(Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925)
(Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925)
The Smoky River
(The Smoky Hill River)
(The Smoky Hill River)
The Smoky River photographs were taken between 1900 and 1914, while Lydia was at her first Lindsborg job at the Sohlberg Millinery Company and her succeeding job at Bethany College as Dean of Women and Matron of the Ladies Dormitory at Lane Hart Hall.
These photographs are of school children and of Lydia’s niece, Nina Sohlberg, with her girlfriends, all of whom were most likely going to school at the Bethany Academy. In these photographs, you will see that it was not unusual for Lydia to have her trusting subjects take risks to get the right compositions.
Early history in Lindsborg reveals that the Smoky River was called the Smoky Hill River; and the Smoky Valley was called the Smoky Hill River Valley and the Smoky Hill Valley.* (The Smoky River is a tributary of the Missouri River which flows into the Mississippi River.)
To vary the viewing experience, sometimes I have displayed the photographs individually and then in groupings.
These photographs are of school children and of Lydia’s niece, Nina Sohlberg, with her girlfriends, all of whom were most likely going to school at the Bethany Academy. In these photographs, you will see that it was not unusual for Lydia to have her trusting subjects take risks to get the right compositions.
Early history in Lindsborg reveals that the Smoky River was called the Smoky Hill River; and the Smoky Valley was called the Smoky Hill River Valley and the Smoky Hill Valley.* (The Smoky River is a tributary of the Missouri River which flows into the Mississippi River.)
To vary the viewing experience, sometimes I have displayed the photographs individually and then in groupings.
- Ten Children Out-on-a-Limb over the Smoky River -
- Across the Smoky River from the Old Mill -
- One Day, Six Poses -
- Near the Old Mill on Lindsborg's railroad bridge over the Smoky River -
- On a bank of the Smoky River near the Old Mill -
- At the Gear House of the Old Mill by the Smoky River -
- The Big Flood -
For The Smoky Hills photographs, go HERE.
*Source: 1965 Pioneer Swedish-American Culture in Central Kansas by Ruth Billdt
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"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.
"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.
