Glimpses of Loma Land, ca. 1902-1903
16 photographs in 1 album.
Glimpses of Loma Land contains 16 photographs related to the Theosophical community of Lomaland established in the year 1900 by Katherine Tingley in Point Loma, California. The album (37 x 30 cm) is string-bound and has brown leather covers with the words "Glimpses of Loma Land" sylistically illustrated on the front. All of the photographs are supplied with manuscript captions that are often accompanied by elaborate illustrations and/or quotes from Tingley.
The first page bears the inscribed Theosophical motto "There is no Religion higher than truth", while an inscription on the second page reads: "The Universal Brotherhood Organized by Katherine Tingley for the benefit of the people of the earth and all creatures Among the various Departments are the Theosophical Society The Isis League of Music and Drama and the International Brotherhood League The international headquarters are at Point Loma California." The photographs begin on the third page. Images in order of appearance include a half-length portrait of Katherine Tingley in profile accompanied by an exalting inscription; the "Aryan Temple" built by Tingley in memory of "H. P. Blavatsky" and "W. Q. Judge"; a group portrait of some of Tingley's female students; a group of "Cuban boys of the Raja Yoga School" picking flowers to be used during a celebration of the arrival of 11 Cuban children described as having been previously "imprisoned at Ellis Island by the Gerry Society"; a group of American and Cuban girls "of the Raja Yoga School"; a man dressed as George Washington for "one of the character studies in the historical drama given by the Raja Yoga students"; a group portrait including "Emilio Bacardi - Mayor of Santiago de Cuba" (a personal acquaintance of Tingley's who took part in the inspection of Lomaland during the Cuban children controversy) and "Daniel Faiardo Ortiz - Editor of 'El Cubano Libre' - Santiago de Cuba" posing with students of Tingley at the "Loma Homestead"; a photograph of a Theosophical painting by Lomaland pupil A. Markell entitled "The Path"; three of the "Eleven Cuban Children" that have "become famous through the persecution of Katherine Tingley By the Gerry Society"; four Cuban girls at the Raja Yoga School "Receiving instructions in the Department of Silk Industry"; the Raja Yoga Chorus assembled for a performance; a daily calisthenics course; a group of "Comrades and Students Near One of the Ideal Homes"; the "Great Amphitheatre," the first of its kind in the United States; the "Egyptian Gate" which served as an "Entrance to the School of Antiquity"; the "Entrance to the caves of Loma Shore"; and a group portrait of several young girls at a dining table captioned "Tiny Lotus Buds - Some of the little Homemakers of the Raja Yoga School."