Aired: 11/01/22, Rating: NR
- The Cave Paintings of Baja California: Discovering the Great Murals of an Unknown People (Copley Books, 1975, reissued by Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, 1997);[6][7]
- Gateway to Alta California: The Expedition to San Diego, 1769 (Sunbelt, 2004), which was a finalist for the 2003 Southern California Booksellers Association award;[8] and
- Antigua California: Mission and Colony on the Peninsula Frontier, 1697-1768 (University of New Mexico Press, 1996),[9] which won the 1995 Caroline Bancroft History Prize from the Denver Public Library.[10]
"Harry Crosby Photographs About this collection Extent 5323 digital objects. Description Photographs by San Diego photographer and historian Harry Crosby include those of UCSD taken during the mid-1960s; photographs of Baja California, 1967-1992; and photographs of Sonora, Mexico, 1958-1986. The UCSD photographs are primarily black-and-white. Images were digitized from originals held by the UC San Diego Library. Creation Date 1967-1992 Creator Crosby, Harry W., 1926- Location Of Originals From the Harry Crosby Collection. MSS 333. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. Geographics Baja California (Mexico : Peninsula) Sonora (Mexico : State) Corporate Name University of California, San Diego Topics Architecture--Mexico--Baja California (Peninsula) Baja California (Peninsula)--Social life and customs Jesuit architecture--Mexico--Baja California (Peninsula) Rock paintings--Mexico--Baja California (Peninsula) Spanish mission buildings--Mexico--Baja California (Peninsula) University of California, San Diego--Buildings, structures, etc. University of California, San Diego--History Formats View formats within this collection image video"
Harry graduated from La Jolla High School in 1944, and was sent to study at Occidental College in Los Angeles in the US Navy's officer-candidate program. There, he completed a double major in pre-med and psychology. After graduation, he and his bride, Joanne Haskell, returned to San Diego where he taught high school science for 12 years.
He and his wife had three children. Harry began to turn his energies to photography. His first foray into publishing was a sponsored photo essay book called "Tijuana 1964." This and his extensive travel photos from journeys in Mexico propelled him into work with San Diego Magazine, and textbook publishers CRM and Psychology Today. He was noticed by local publisher, Copley Press, and was hired in 1967 to photographically illustrate "The Call to California," a book commemorating California's bicentennial. Following the route of the Portol expedition of 1769, and working with text derived from original diaries, Crosby rode 600 miles on mule back through the Baja California peninsula. Later, he continued his explorations, and wrote extensively on the ancient cave paintings of Baja California and the peninsula's subsequent history.
Crosby's bibliography includes titles such as "Cave Paintings Of Baja California: Discovering the Great Murals of an Unknown People," and "Last of The Californios," a portrait of the few remaining mountain ranch families who lived into the 1970s in ways similar to their 18th century forbears.
Harry Crosby is survived by his wife, Joanne Haskell Crosby, 96; two daughters, Ristin Crosby Decker (William); Bronle (Daniel Barba); the couple's son, Robbin Crosby passed in 2002; 4 grandchildren Annika Decker Mead (Jordan); Reed Decker (Mariana Godoy); Grant Barba (Sophie Pychlau); Linley Barba (Christopher Tenorio); and 5 great grandchildren Bridger and Crosby Mead; Luka and Lennox Decker; Daniel M. Barba. His was a full, creative life filled with knowledge, people, achievement, and curiosity. We will miss you, Harry.
Harry W. Crosby (June 10, 1926 - September 12, 2024) was an American historian and photographer. Life and career
Crosby was born on June 10, 1926.[1] His parents moved to La Jolla in 1935. He graduated from La Jolla High School in 1944, and studied math and science at Occidental College in Los Angeles, completing a double major in pre-med and psychology. After twelve years as a teacher of secondary-level science, mostly chemistry, he took up photography, and in 1967, was hired as a photographer to illustrate the book The Call to California for the Commission of the Californias, commemorating California's bicentennial. Following the route of the Portola' expedition of 1769 to make photos to illustrate a text derived from diaries of the trekkers, Crosby rode 600 miles on muleback on remote trails. Since then, he has continued to do primary research and to write extensively on the history and cave paintings of Baja California and the early history of Alta California.[2] Crosby's field research, writing, photography, and advocacy of the Great Mural cave paintings of Baja helped the region to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.[3] While early archeological studies pegged the age of the rock art in Baja at between 500 and 1,500 years old, Crosby long contended that the murals were far older. His views were vindicated in 2022 with the publication of a scientific paper detailing the results of an extensive carbon-dating study conducted by a team of geoscientists and archeologists from Australia, Mexico and Argentina. The study concluded that the Great Murals in central Baja dated as far back as 11,000 years - to the end of the last Ice Age and the estimated arrival of the first humans on the Baja peninsula.[4] The study showed that the cave paintings were created and maintained for thousands of years, ending 500 to 600 years ago with the arrival of Spanish conquistadors and Jesuit missionaries in Baja California.[5] His books include: The Cave Paintings of Baja California: Discovering the Great Murals of an Unknown People (Copley Books, 1975, reissued by Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, 1997);[6][7] Gateway to Alta California: The Expedition to San Diego, 1769 (Sunbelt, 2004), which was a finalist for the 2003 Southern California Booksellers Association award;[8] and Antigua California: Mission and Colony on the Peninsula Frontier, 1697-1768 (University of New Mexico Press, 1996),[9] which won the 1995 Caroline Bancroft History Prize from the Denver Public Library.[10] Some of Crosby's early photography is collected in the book Tijuana 1964: A Photographic and Historic View (SDSU Press, 2000); and his only novel is Portrait of Paloma (Sunbelt, 2001). Crosby died on September 12, 2024, at the age of 98.[11] His son was the late Robbin Crosby, best known for his tenure as guitarist of the rock band Ratt. Bibliography
Harry W. Crosby (April 1984). The Cave Paintings of Baja California. Copley Books. ISBN 978-0-913938-27-0. Harry W. Crosby (1989). Doomed to Fail: Gaspar de Portolá's First California Appointees. SCERP and IRSC publications. ISBN 978-0-925613-00-4. Harry W. Crosby (1994). Antigua California: Mission and Colony on the Peninsular Frontier, 1697-1768. UNM Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-1495-6. Harry W. Crosby (8 October 2015). Californio Portraits: Baja California's Vanishing Culture. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-5258-5. References
[1] Crosby (Harry) Collection
[2] Karen Kenyon, "Tracking the Hispanic Roots of California", Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1987.
[3] "Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco". World Heritage Convention, UNESCO, whc.unesco.org. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
[4] Watchman, Alan; de la Luz Gutierrez, Maria; Hernandez Llosas, Maria Isabel (November 2022). "Variation and Age of the Gran Mural Rock Paintings, Baja California Sur, Mexico". Rock Art Research Journal. 39 (1).
[5] Collins, Craig K. (February 7, 2023). "The Time of the Painters". Hidden Compass Magazine. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
[6] Mark Rose, "Cave Paintings of Baja California", Archeology, December 30, 1998.
[7] John Roach (July 17, 2003). "Baja California Rock Art Dated to 7,500 Years Ago". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on November 10, 2005.
[8] Renee Tawa, "Parker wins top prize for fiction", Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2003.
[9] James D. Reilly (January 1, 1999). "Antigua California: Mission and Colony on the Peninsular Frontier, 1697-1768". The Catholic Historical Review (Book Review). 85 (1): 137–138. doi:10.1353/cat.1999.0050. JSTOR 25025457. S2CID 157643701.
[10] Caroline Bancroft History Prize Archived 2008-12-26 at the Wayback Machine, Denver Public Library (accessed 2012-06-20).
[11] Murió el fotógrafo estadounidense Harry Crosby (in Spanish)
online collection of photographs http://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/baja/crosby/
Baja California - In Search of Painted Caves (Documentary Film) http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/baja/film/index.php
Harry W. Crosby Profile http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/baja/harry_w_crosby/index.php
Harry Crosby Collection, MSS 333. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.https://library.ucsd.edu/speccoll/findingaids/mss0333.html
"Reviews of Harry W. Crosby publications". JSTOR.https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Harry+W.+Crosby%22