Distinctly Montana Magazine

36 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 4 - 2 5 I N 2007, A CHICAGO WOMAN was un- able to keep up with payments on a storage unit, so the contents of the unit were auctioned off to several collectors. One of these collectors, John Maloof, discovered several thousand photographic negatives among his haul, and when he started publish- ing these photographs, they began to garner attention from art critics. By the time Maloof discovered the name of the photographer on one of the boxes, and tried to track her down, Vivian Maier had died, in 2009. But Maloof made a concerted effort to acquire as much of her work as he could find, and now owns about 90% of Maier's work, which includes around 150,000 negatives. But the more Maloof researched Maier's own story, the more fascinating it became. It turned out that Vivian Maier had worked for decades as a nanny in New York City, taking photographs, mostly on the streets of New York, as a hobby. Her collection has since be- come known as one of the most accomplished and extensive urban exposés in the country. When I heard this story a few years ago, I was immediately reminded of a similar sto- ry here in Montana. For decades, there were rumors, especially among the museum com- munity, about a woman in Terry named Janet Williams, who had a collection of glass plate negatives from a photographer who lived in that part of the state in the late 19th and early 20th century. Nobody knew for sure exactly how much material Williams had, but in 1978, a writer from Virginia named Donna Lucey, who was working on a project that included photos from the Great Plains region, tracked down Janet Williams to try to convince her to share what she had. Lucey spent months communicating with Williams by mail, and when Williams sent her a handful of prints, Lucey quickly recognized the quality of the work, and convinced Wil- liams to allow her to come for a visit. When Lucey arrived in Terry, the ninety-five-year- old Williams greeted her at the train with her niece and took her home. It took Lucey several days to earn Williams' trust enough to give her Evelyn by RUSSELL ROWLAND EVELYN CAMERON'S PHOTOS COURTESY OF EVELYN CAMERON HERITAGE, INC. Cameron's friend, Nettie Van, with her pet antelope.

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