The Curtis Legacy Foundation’s Descendants Project with Coleen & John Graybill
Stand in the Light: Native Voices Illuminated by Edward S. Curtis is available in the Museum Gift Shop.
The Descendants Project gives voice to Native Americans whose ancestors were photographed by Edward Curtis over a century ago–symbolically reuniting their present and past lives.
April 12, 2023 – The purpose of the Descendants Project is to photograph the living descendants, gather their history, and use those materials to educate and enhance the public’s understanding of Native Americans. Curtis’ great-grandson, John Graybill, takes the photographs of the descendants using camera equipment and techniques much like his “great-gramps” did all those years ago.
John Graybill, president of the Curtis Legacy Foundation, is the youngest of only three great-grandchildren descending from Edward S. Curtis. John gives Curtis presentations across the nation and is a leading authority on Edward S. Curtis.
Coleen Graybill manages the Descendants Project as well as all of Curtis’ unpublished work for the Curtis Legacy Foundation. Coleen has authored/edited Edward S. Curtis: Unpublished Alaska and Edward S. Curtis: Unpublished Plains is due out the end of 2023. She is planning a 4-volume series of unpublished Curtis works to include Alaska, the Plains, Southwest and Northwest. She also gives presentations alongside her husband John, making them a dynamic team.
