Carl Nelson Gorman Explained

Carl Nelson Gorman
Other Names:Carl Gorman
Birth Name:Kin-Ya-Onny-Beyeh
Birth Date:5 October 1907
Birth Place:Chinle, Arizona, U.S.
Death Place:Gallup, New Mexico, U.S.
Resting Place:Family Cemeteries, Apache County, Arizona, U.S.
Monuments:C.N. Gorman Museum (1973) at University of California, Davis
Nationality:Navajo Nation, United States
Alma Mater:Otis College of Art and Design
Occupation:code talker, soldier, painter, illustrator, printmaker, professor, healer
Spouses:Adele Katherine Brown,
Mary Excie Wilson(m.195
Children:5, including R.C. Gorman
Signature:Carl Nelson Gorman signature.png

Carl Nelson Gorman (1907–1998), also known as Kin-Ya-Onny-Beyeh, was a Navajo code talker, visual artist, painter, illustrator, and professor. He was faculty at the University of California, Davis, from 1950 until 1973. During World War II, Gorman served as a code talker with the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific.[1] [2]

Early life and education

Carl Nelson Gorman was born on October 5, 1907, in Chinle, Arizona.[1] Chinle is located on the rim of the Canyon de Chelly National Monument. He was a member of the Dibeh Łizhin clan (the Black Sheep Clan) and born for the Khinyá' áni clan (the Towering House People).[3] [4] His father was a cattleman and "Indian trader".[5] When he was a child, his mother Alice, who was a traditional weaver, supported his earliest artistic pursuits.[6] [5] His mother also worked to translate hymns from English into Navajo.[5] His parents gave a portion of their land to found the First Presbyterian Mission in Chinle.[5] Gorman's western education began at the Rehoboth Mission School in Rehoboth, New Mexico; an American Indian boarding school where he was punished for speaking the Navajo language.[7] [8] His father removed him from the school and enrolled him in the Albuquerque Indian School in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he excelled at sports including boxing and football.[9]

Career

In April 1942, Gorman was one of 29 Navajo men recruited by the United States Marine Corps to create a code based on the Navajo language.[2] The Navajo code talkers fought and deployed the code in every campaign from Guadalcanal through the Occupation of Japan. Gorman served in four campaigns: Guadalcanal, Saipan, Tinian, and Tarawa. The Navajo code was formally developed and modeled on the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet that uses agreed-upon English words to represent letters or other meanings. The Japanese were never able to crack the Navajo-based encryption. In 1945, Gorman was honorably discharged as Private First Class.

After the war, Gorman studied art at the Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design), on the G.I. Bill.[6] [5] In 1949, Gorman was working as an illustrator in Los Angeles,[7] including technical illustration work for Douglas Aircraft Company.

In 1950, he joined the faculty at UC Davis, where he remained until 1973.[7] Gorman helped in the formation of the Native American Studies Department, as well as in the creation of a Native American art studio workshop.[7] In 1969, the Native American Studies Department at UC Davis was formed under the name Tehcumseh Center, Gorman was one of the first faculty working alongside Jack D. Forbes, and David Risling, Jr.[10] joined the faculty in 1970, and George Longfish joined in 1973.

Gorman used traditional Navajo motifs in his visual art practice.

Around 1973, Gorman and his wife Mary moved to Gallup, New Mexico where he worked on many community-based projects; including directing the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild, he founded the Navajo Code Talkers Association, worked on an oral history project with Navajo elders, and taught classes at both Navajo Community College (now Diné College) and University of New Mexico-Gallup.[6]

Significant dates in art career

Significant dates in military career

Death, honors, and legacy

Gorman died from cancer on January 29, 1998, in Gallup, New Mexico.[2] His son R.C. Gorman (1931–2005) was a renowned Navajo artist.[6] His daughter Zonnie Gorman is a noted historian of Navajo Code Talkers.[13] [14] His son Alfred Kee Gorman (1957–1966) also was an artist, but he died at an early age.[15]

In 1990, Gorman was awarded a doctor of humane letters from the University of New Mexico.

Shortly after his retirement in 1973, UC Davis named their new museum, the C.N. Gorman Museum in his honor, and Gorman donated to the collection.[7] In 1995, Northern Arizona University unveiled a code talker monument, a bust of Gorman sculpted by his son, R.C. Gorman.

Museum collections and exhibitions

His artwork is included in the permanent museum collections of the C.N. Gorman Museum,[16] the Brooklyn Museum,[17] and the National Museum of the American Indian.[18]

In addition to the many public and private collections of Gorman's work, the Gorman Family has an extensive collection of his artworks, notes, and other ephemera. The Michael Gorman Gallery in Taos, New Mexico, regularly includes rare artwork by the late Carl N. Gorman.

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Thomas . Robert Jr.. 1998-02-01. Carl Gorman, Code Talker In World War II, Dies at 90. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-09-15. 0362-4331.
  2. News: 1998-01-31. Artist Carl Gorman Dies At 90. 2021-09-15. Washington Post.
  3. Book: Monthan, Doris Born. R. C. Gorman: The Lithographs. Northland Press. 1978. 9780873581790. Santa Fe, NM. 5.
  4. Book: Greenberg . Henry . Greenberg . Georgia . Carl Gorman's World . Univ of New Mexico Press . 1984 . 978-0826307385.
  5. Book: Griffin-Pierce, Trudy . The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Southwest . . 2010 . 978-0-231-12790-5 . Columbia Guides to American Indian History and Culture . en . Trudy Griffin-Pierce.
  6. Book: Rosebrough, Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola, Carol Sarath, and Bob. Legendary Locals of Gallup. 2017. Arcadia Publishing. 978-1-4671-2567-3. 109. en.
  7. Web site: Holder. Kathleen. May 19, 2009. Looking Back, Namesakes: Carl N. Gorman. live. 2021-09-15. UC Davis Centennial. https://web.archive.org/web/20090723085304/http://centennial.ucdavis.edu:80/timeline/history/namesakes/gorman.html . 2009-07-23 .
  8. Book: Melton. Brad. Arizona Goes to War: The Home Front and the Front Lines During World War II. Smith. Dean. 2003. University of Arizona Press. 978-0-8165-2190-6. en.
  9. Web site: Gorman . Michael . July 7, 2022 . Dr. Carl N. Gorman . Michael Gorman Gallery.
  10. Book: Lutz, Hartmut. D-Q University: Native American Self-determination in Higher Education. 1980. Department of Applied Behavioral Sciences, Native American Studies, Tecumseh Center. 22. en.
  11. Book: Adams (1), Newlin (2), Ben (1), Richard (2) . R.C. Gorman - The Graphic Works . Taos Editions, Ltd. . 1987 . 0-9619950-0-9 . 1st . Albuquerque, NM . 232–238.
  12. Web site: Gorman . Michael . July 10, 2022 . Home . July 10, 2022.
  13. Web site: 'Growing Up With Heroes: The First Twenty-Nine Navajo Code Talkers of World War II'. live. 2021-09-15. UNM Newsroom. University of New Mexico. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20161028083848/http://news.unm.edu:80/news/the-first-twenty-nine-navajo-code-talkers . 2016-10-28 .
  14. Web site: Navajo Code Talkers: Zonnie Gorman. live. The History Channel. A&E Television Networks, LLC. https://web.archive.org/web/20201112000433/https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/navajo-code-talkers-zonnie-gorman-video . 2020-11-12 .
  15. Web site: 2013-06-25. Exhibitions: C.N. Gorman Museum's Navajo Summer. live. 2021-09-17. UC Davis. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210718164924/https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/exhibitions-cn-gorman-museums-navajo-summer . 2021-07-18 .
  16. Web site: Carl Nelson Gorman, Chumash Rock Painting I . gormanmuseum.ucdavis.edu.
  17. Web site: Brooklyn Museum. www.brooklynmuseum.org.
  18. Web site: Deer Herder. live. 2021-09-15. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian. https://web.archive.org/web/20210911231359/https://americanindian.si.edu/collections-search/objects/NMAI_278550?destination=edan_searchtab?edan_q%3D%252A%253A%252A%26edan_fq%255B0%255D%3Dset_name%253A%2522Din%25C3%25A9%2520%2528Navajo%2529%2522%26edan_fq%255B1%255D%3Dplace%253A%2522Chinle%252C%2520Navajo%2520Reservation%2522 . 2021-09-11 .

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