Nellie Gail Moulton’s World Travel Photography
October 4, 2023
The exhibit “Nellie Gail Moulton’s World Travel Photography” opens on October 26th at Moulton Museum in Nellie’s Gallery. Our museum is honored to recognize Nellie Gail Moulton and her international perspectives acclimated by decades of world travel. Nellie visited six continents and more than thirty countries throughout her ninety-three years of life.
Nellie shared in her memoir, “I have touched just briefly on the history of my travels, leaving out a great deal – what I have forgotten is all to be seen in vivid and minute portrayal in my extensive file of slide films. My next trip is yet to be.” This exhibit opens as part of our series for National Arts & Humanities Month for October.
It is through the lens that the viewer is taken on a journey to the past to see what Nellie saw and experienced. It is an itinerary that cannot be duplicated in the present day.
Nellie Gail Moulton’s World Travel Photography is an exhibit which begins with a voyage on December 1st, 1908, as Lewis and Nellie Gail Moulton set sail on the “S.S. Mongolia” for their honeymoon to Hawaiʻi.
Over her ninety-three years, Nellie visited four continents via steamship. Through photographs and stories from her memoir and “flight journal,” we get to join her as she visits an emperor, sails with an exiled president, and meets the beautiful people of such countries as Denmark, Norway,England, Scotland, Egypt, Brazil, Ceylon (modern-day SriLanka), Turkey, Italy, France, Germany, and South Africa.
One of the vessels involved in the Titanic’s sinking bore Nellie and her best friend to Europe. Captain Edward Smith commanded the R.M.S. Baltic on its maiden voyage on June 29,1904, and transferred to the Titanic on April 10, 1912. He was known as the ‘Millionaires’ Captain.’ The Baltic sent an iceberg warning to the Titanic on April 14, 1912. After hitting the infamous iceberg at 11:40 p.m. that same day, the Titanic sent distress signals.
The Baltic diverted from its course for approximately eight hours (134 miles) to try and save people but arrived too late. R.M.S. Carpathia, the closer ship, rescued approximately 700. Captain Smith perished with his ship.
In 1954 – the African sojourn … Ethiopia, and invited to a tea reception at the palace of Emperor Haile Selassie,” Nellie wrote in her memoir. “We’d been coached as to protocol, to approach His Majesty in groups of four, bow in greeting, then withdraw, never turning. Some, in their excitement, completely forgot their instructions – a few backs were quite in evidence to His Majesty.” Haile Selaisse became theEmperor of Ethiopia in 1930. Rastafarianism is named after Selaisse’s birth name, Ras Tafari Makonnen, as Selaisse’s followers considered him divine. Reggae music developed from the Rastafarianism movement.
A devoted Rastafarian, the lyrics from Bob Marley’s song“War” came from Emperor Selassie’s speech to the UnitedNations in 1963. The song is from the 1976 album RastamanVibration .
Type: Current Exhibit
Date: October 26th, 2023 until Feb 2024
Location:
Nellie’s Gallery
25258 Cabot Rd
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Moulton Museum is honored to present Nellie Gail Moulton’s international perspectives through decades of world travel photography. Nellie visited six out of the seven continents and over thirty countries throughout her ninety-three years of life.
Tuesdays 11:00am – 3:00pm
Thursdays 11:00am – 3:00pm
Fridays – Appointment Only
Saturdays – Appointment Only