Grace and Charles Herring Collection

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Volume:

27 black-and-white copy photographs

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The collection has images of various trading posts in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, along with the traders who ran them. There are also images of rugs that were made for the Toadlena Trading Post. In addition, there are images of the Bloomfield and Herring families as well as Navajo families.

Biographic Note:

Grace Bloomfield Herring was born on August 4, 1910 to George (1882-1959) and Lucy (1884-1981) Bloomfield. At the time she was born, her father worked for the federal government service that had sent him to build the school in Toadlena, New Mexico. In 1910, George bought the Toadlena Trading Post and by 1911, had taken it over.

There were eight children in the Bloomfield family: Fern, Vernon, Genevieve (who died at age 12), Grace, Monk, Ruthie, who later married Roscoe McGee, Marilene, who later married Raymond Blair, and Paula. Grace's mother, Lucy, ran the trading post, while George Bloomfield did other business. Although his wife ran the trading post, George Bloomfield would not allow his daughters to work there.

The Bloomfields were devout members of the Mormon church. Charles Herring, while helping to build a road between Gallup and Shiprock, met Grace at a carnival given by the church. He came calling on her, even though he was not of the Mormon religion. Grace was sent on a mission to Chicago soon after Charles proposed, and while she was gone, he joined the Mormon church. They were married soon after her return. Grace was unable to have children, so they adopted two. Jill, in 1935, who was a Navajo Indian, and Derryl, in 1937, a boy from Germany.

Grace and Charles Herring bought the Toadlena Trading Post from her parents in 1943. George and Lucy Bloomfield moved to Mancos Creek, Colorado. The trading post traded rugs and jewelry, and Charles was a member of the United Indian Traders Association.

Charles Herring was called Hastiin Dlóó' Yázhí by the Indians, which means "little prairie dog," because when he and Grace were first married, he worked doing a biological survey to help control prairie dogs. Grace Herring was called Tsii>>gaii, "white hair", while growing up, because her hair was so light colored. When she ran the trading post with her husband, the Indians called her Asdzani Haske, which means "the cranky woman". The Herrings sold the Toadlena Trading Post in 1959.

Scope and Content:

Related Material:

Oral History with Grace Herring.

Cline Library
Special Collections and Archives Department
Northern Arizona University