Career
Between 1904 and 1923. This notable collection includes over 4,000 objects, hundreds of photographs, books, and two large ledgers filled with correspondence surrounding the collection. The collection is owned by the Saint Joseph Museums, Incorporated.
Harry George corresponded with George Gustav Heye, Francis Louisiana Fleshe, Grace Nicholson, Luther Standing Bear, and many other notable collectors and dealers in Native American artifacts in the early 1900s.
His correspondence includes letters from reservation agents and lesser known collectors that have yet to be significantly researched.
Harry Lewis George was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in November, 1849. He moved to Saint Joseph, Missouri, in September, 1869, and immediately entered the employ of R. L. McDonald & Company, with whom he continued for a period of twenty-seven years.
They had two daughters. In 1904, Harry George purchased his first basket on a trip west and by 1914 the Kansas City Star wrote he had "assembled one of the finest collections in existence".
The Saint Joseph businessman and textile broker died in 1923, leaving the remarkable collection to his heirs.
His hope was to create a museum for Saint Joseph and he had worked towards raising $25,000 for that purpose. In 1924, the collection was loaned to the State Museum in Jefferson City, Missouri lieutenant returned to Saint Joseph in 1944 on loa,n and was purchased by the Saint Joseph Museum in 1947.
