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Title: Clell Gannon
Dates: 1897, n.d.
Collection Number: 00247
Quantity: 52 items
Abstract: Consists of family photos and images of Native Americans.
Provenance: Unknown
Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to materials in this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researcher should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94‑553, Title 17 U.S. Code and an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection name, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
Related Collection:
MSS 20094 Clell Goebel Gannon
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
From the Bismarck Tribune, Friday September 28, 1962
Clell G. Gannon, 62, 912 Mandan St., one of North Dakota’s leading artists, died in a local hospital at 10:42 p.m. Thursday. He had been a patient there since Sunday.
Gannon, an artist, poet, lecturer, historian, and Christian lay leader, spent his life in service to God and his fellowmen, and was one of the most beloved figures in the state.
He started drawing when he was eight years old and began writing poetry at 15. His paintings are prized possessions in homes and public buildings in North Dakota and elsewhere. Some of his poetry is in book form.
Gannon’s historical murals may be seen on the walls of the vestibule of the Burleigh County Courthouse in Bismarck, the Bismarck High School Library, the State Historical Society Library, and in the Bismarck Public Library.
In the field of poetry, he is the author of “Songs of the Bunch Grass Acres” and “How Christians Came to North Dakota” volumes now out of print.
He was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, an honorary life member of the North Dakota Historical Society, member of the Nebraska Writers’ Guild and the American Society of Arts and Sciences.
He was born January 10, 1900 on a farm near Wisner, Neb., a son of Charles W. and Jessie Galbraith Gannon. His family moved to Underwood when Gannon was eight. He grew up there and attended school at Underwood, graduating from high school in 1918.
That fall he enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received his foundation in the fundamentals of art. He attended the institute for 2 ½ years.
In 1923 he returned to North Dakota and became secretary of the Soo Line Railway in Bismarck until 1938. Since then he worked as an artist for Provident Life Insurance Co. here.
For nearly eight years he was unable to work because of illness. He was a patient four years in San Haven sanatorium and lived in Mexico City for a year.
He was married to Ruth Johnson on Dec. 17, 1932, in Bismarck. She is a daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. Norman S. Johnson. They have two sons, Grael, soon to be a Presbyterian minister, and Craig, a high school instructor at Stanton.
In addition he leaves one sister, Miss Flora Gannon, Los Angeles, Calif., and one brother, Dr. William A. Gannon, Pasadena, Calif. His parents and one brother preceded him in death.
Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday from the First Presbyterian Church. The body was willed to the North Dakota Medical Society.
The family prefers memorials to the First Presbyterian Church. The Perry Funeral Home is in charge of the funeral arrangements.
PHOTOGRAPHS INVENTORY
00247-01 Little girl seated by Christmas tree
00247-02 Hazel Dell and her sister in a field of oats
00247-04 Duane age 1. Photographer: Berg Studio, Jamestown, N.D.
00247-05 Little boy portrait
00247-06 Two little girls portrait
00247-07 Young man portrait
00247-08 Two boys by motorcycle with sidecar
00247-09 Portrait of a man
00247-10 Young man in military uniform. Photographer: Paxon’s Studio Riverside, Calif.
00247-11 Young man in military uniform. Photographer: Gibson, Iola, Kans.
00247-13 Individual portraits of a man and a woman. Photographer: Butler Studio, Bismarck
00247-14 Portrait of a woman
00247-16 Two nurses. Photographer: Alvord, Emporia, Kans.
00247-18 Results of the day’s hunt by the campfire
00247-19 Bronco Busting. Photographer: Butler Studio, Bismarck
00247-20 Group holding ‘N. Dakota’ sign
00247-21 Young women wearing capes with ND Indian head logo and ‘N. Dakota’ sign
00247-22 Garden
00247-24 Bicycle Creek at Murray Dickson’s
00247-25 – 27 Winter scene with ice frost on trees
00247-28 Red Tomahawk, Fort Yates (ND) 1897
00247-29 Unknown Native American 1897
00247-30 Unknown Native American 1897
00247-31 Unknown Native American 1897
00247-32 Running Bear
00247-33 Unknown Native American 1897
00247-34 Gathering of Native Americans.
00247-35 Gathering of Native Americans.
00247-36 Unknown Native Americans 1897
00247-37 Tipi poles
00247-38 Unknown Native American woman
00247-39 Sitting Bull’s original tombstone
00247-41 Unidentified camp area of tents
00247-42 Women setting up tipi
00247-43 Gathering of Native Americans
00247-44 Unknown Native American woman
00247-45 Charlie Smith? and unknown Native American woman.
00247-46 Charlie Smith? and unknown Native American woman and two young boys
00247-47 Camping scene with cars and tipis
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