Henry Schnautz Incoming Letters from Eve Ball

Series — Box: 1

Identifier: MSS 6288

Staff Only

Scope and Contents note

From the Collection:

Series I: The Henry Schnautz letters and correspondence collection includes one archival series, “Henry Schnautz Incoming letters from Eve Ball.” Materials found in Series 1 include seventy-six (76) letters, as well as photographs and newspaper clippings, from Eve Ball to Henry Schnautz. Letters discuss Schnautz’s art work, life on the Apache reservation, activities in New Mexico, and Eve Ball’s work.

Dates

1956-1980

Creator

Schnautz, Henry (Person)

Conditions Governing Access note

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use note

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Henry Schnautz letters must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical History

From the Collection:

Henry Schnautz (1910-) was very interested in the Apache Tribe of south central New Mexico. He painted a series of well-known portraits of Apache leaders and tribal members.

Henry Schnautz was born in 1910 in Evansville, Indiana, to August Schnautz and Ann Ferstel Schnautz. He was involved with the American Communist and American Socialist parties in the 1930’s. Schnautz was also a body guard to Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia in Coyoacan, Mexico, a suburb of Mexico City, and was with Trotsky on August 20th, 1940, the day he died. He served in the United States Army during World War II, and fought in France and Germany. In the late 1940s Schnautz left the Communist and Socialist parties when ideological debate and conflict developed between the two organizations. Henry Schnautz was deeply interested in Native American history and culture, especially the Apache Tribe of south central New Mexico. In 1956, he wrote the well-known historian of Apache culture, Eve Ball. Schnautz and Ball became friends and collaborators, and their correspondence dates from 1956 – 1984. Schnautz painted a series of well-known portraits of Apache leaders and tribal members; in addition, he contributed financially to a series of Apache projects. Schnautz’s art and his interest in Apache culture and history were frequent topics in their correspondence. Schnautz’s art is located in various churches and institutions throughout the southwestern United States.

Biographical History

From the Collection:

Katherine Evelyn Daly Eve Ball (1890-1984) was a well-known historian of Apache culture.

Katherine Evelyn Daly (Eve Ball) Eve Ball was born March 14, 1890 in Kentucky. In 1918 she received a BS degree in education from Kansas State Teacher’s College. Eve’s husband, Joseph P. Ball, was a Captain in the Kansas National Guard, and died in the First World War. In 1934 she received a master’s degree in education from the University of Kansas. She taught school, for a period of time, in Kansas and Oklahoma. In addition she also owned businesses in Hobbs, New Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona. In 1942 she moved to Ruidoso, New Mexico where she devoted herself to the study of Southwest history. A noted oral historian, Ms. Ball authored a series of influential articles and books on the history of the Apache Indians and the American Southwest. She died December 24, 1984.