Photographing Mesa Verde
Nordenskiöld and Now
William G. Howard,
Douglas J. Hamilton
& Kathleen L. Howard
Fifteen years before Mesa Verde became a national park, a young Swedish scientist
explored and photographed its landscape and cultural sites. Clambering up and down sheer cliffs while hauling heavy, cumbersome equipment, Gustaf Nordenskiöld produced vivid images. Publication of his comprehensive study of the ancient ruins the following year brought worldwide attention to the area.
For the centennial year of Nordenskiöld’s work, two couples carefully recreated his photographs. The resultant images contrast the natural and human-inflicted damages of centuries with the stabilized structures visible today. Photographing Mesa Verde presents those images along with a fascinating narrative about Nordenskiöld’s work at Mesa Verde.
William G. Howard
William G. Howard, consulting engineer with clients in microelectronics and technology-based business planning, served the National Academy of Engineering as Senior Fellow. He was with Motorola until 1990 as Senior Vice President and Director of Research and Development. Dr. Howard is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. He is co-author of Basic Integrated Circuit Engineering and of Profiting from Innovation.
Douglas J. Hamilton
Doug Hamilton was for 30 years Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Arizona in Tucson. His specialties were electronics and integrated circuits. Since retirement he has been doing historical research on Frontier Arizona, with a particular interest in finding the sites where interesting events occurred.
He is also working on a series of short documentary videos filmed at those sites.
Kathleen L. Howard
Kathleen L. Howard earned a Ph.D. in history from Arizona State University.
She is author of Inventing the Southwest: the Fred Harvey Company and Native American Art (with Diana F. Pardue). She was co-curator of “A Century’s Perspective: Gustaf Nordenskiöld’s Mesa Verde Today,” an exhibit at Mesa Verde’s Spruce Tree House Museum. Her current consulting work involves
Southwest exploration and documentation of historic and prehistoric trails.
