Image: Woman from Labrador at Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, 1909 (MOHAI 10958)

Description: Miss Columbia was part of a family from Labrador that performed in Seattle at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition's "Eskimo Village" in 1909. Columbia's mother, Esther Eneutseak, was brought from Labrador to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where her daughter, Columbia Smith (1893-1959), was born. Eneutseak recruited other Inuit from Labrador to perform in later expositions, including the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. At the AYPE, Columbia was named "Queen of the Pay Streak," and the most beautiful woman at the exposition. After the fair Columbia moved with her parents, John and Esther Smith, and siblings to Los Angeles. Columbia married Raymond Melling, a motion picture operator, and in 1927 their daughter Esther Sue (Melling) Elliott was born. Later Columbia went on to write and star in the first Hollywood film with a credited Inuit cast. Caption on image: Miss Columbia from Labrador - Seattle, A.Y.P.E. '09. Copyright A. P. for Goetze. Caption information source: "Inuit Entertainers in the United States from the Chicago World's Fair through the Birth of Hollywood," by Jim Zwick, 2006. Subjects: Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909 : Seattle, Wash.)Fur garments--Washington (State)--Seattle Whips--Washington (State)--Seattle Subjects (LCTGM): Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909 : Seattle, Wash.); Fur garments--Washington (State)--Seattle; Whips--Washington (State)--Seattle
Title: Woman from Labrador at Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, 1909
Credit: Museum of History and Industry
Author: Unknown authorUnknown author
Permission: This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No