Mabel Elizabeth “Lizzie May” (Denny) Thompson (1875-1968) was the daughter of Orion Orville Denny (1853-1916) and Elva Flowers (Coulter) Denny Richmond (1858-1919). Mrs. Thompson was an active participant in Seattle society; she was a founding member of the Seattle Historical Society (now MOHAI), and a member of the Daughters of the Pioneers, the Mayflower Society, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Thompson and her husband, Howard Goodell Thompson (1862-1926), were also avid world travelers. They had one child, Mary Elizabeth (Thompson) Ostrander (1912-1977).

In addition to her other pursuits and hobbies, Lizzie May Thompson was a prize-winning photographer and member of the Photographic Society of America. Mrs. Thompson did not describe where and when, or of whom, the photograph pictured here was taken, although it was likely after 1894 when she married Howard Thompson. The three Indigneous in the photo are wearing dresses in a western style popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of the women is holding an infant in a cradleboard.

Handwritten beneath image: Mabel E. Thompson
Handwritten on verso: Photographed by Mrs. Howard G. Thompson

Caption information source: "Pioneer Portrait: Mrs. Howard G. Thompson," The Seattle Sunday Times, December 21, 1941, p. 47; and "Mrs. Mable E. Thompson, 93," The Seattle Times, July 6, 1968, p. 28.