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Laura Adams Armer

ローラ・アダムズ・アーマー

Laura Adams Armer

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1874-01-12 （Sacramento, California, United States）
Died
1963-03-16 （Sacramento, California, United States） age 89
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Sacramento (birthplace) → San Francisco (moved before 1880s) → Berkeley (resident from 1903)

Career

Occupations
writer, children's author, photographer, artist
Active Years
1893-1963

Education

California School of Design (Mark Hopkins Institute)
Period: 1893–1899
Year of Graduation: 1899
Country: United States
Left studies by 1899 to open a photographic studio

Awards

Newbery Medal
1932
Work: Waterless Mountain
Organization: American Library Association
Result: winner
Caldecott Honor
1939
Work: The Forest Pool
Organization: American Library Association
Result: honor

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Waterless Mountain

1931 Children's literature (juvenile fiction)

The coming-of-age story of a Navajo boy called Younger Brother; explores indigenous culture, traditions, and rites of passage.

Native American culturecoming-of-agetradition and ritual

Dark Circle of Branches

1933 essays/short fiction

A collection of short pieces and essays (based on contemporary descriptions).

naturememorylandscape depiction

In Navajo Land

1962 photography / ethnographic record

Photographs and text documenting Navajo life and art.

ethnographyphotographic recordAmerican Southwest

Southwest

1935 photography / travel

A photographic record of the landscape and peoples of the American Southwest.

landscape photographyethnic culture

The Trader's Children

1937 children's book

A children's story set against the background of trading life in the Southwest.

daily lifecultural exchange

Farthest West

1938 travel / essays

Essays and records related to the American West.

Western frontierslandscape

The Forest Pool

1938 children's picture book

A nature-themed children's picture book; illustrations were by Armer and her husband.

natureenvironmentfairy-tale elements

Bibliography

  • Waterless Mountain, 1931
  • Dark Circle of Branches, 1933
  • Southwest, 1935
  • The Trader's Children, 1937
  • Farthest West, 1938
  • The Forest Pool, 1938
  • In Navajo Land, 1962

Adaptations

  • The Mountain Chant (short film, 1928)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
ethnographic description blended with narrativeaccessible tone for childrenemphasis on visual and landscape description
Recurring Motifs
Southwestern landscapesNative American rituals and artrespect for nature and the land

Legacy

Laura Adams Armer won the Newbery Medal as a children's author and was an early photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area who documented Hopi and Navajo life in the American Southwest. Her photographs are held in several museum collections and she is recognized for contributions to both children's literature and ethnographic record.

Museums

  • Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology Berkeley, California, United States
  • Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
  • California Historical Society (holds photographic collection) San Francisco, California, United States

Archives

  • Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology collections
  • Wheelwright Museum collections
  • California Historical Society photographic archives

In Popular Culture

  • Referenced as a Newbery-winning author in histories of children's literature

Trivia

  • Opened a successful photographic studio in the Flood Building in San Francisco in the early 1900s.
  • From around 1919–1920 she systematically documented Hopi and Navajo communities, producing photographs, publications, and a short film.
  • Won the Newbery Medal in 1932 for Waterless Mountain.
  • Received a Caldecott Honor in 1939 for The Forest Pool.
  • Her works and photographs are in collections such as the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum and the Wheelwright Museum.