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An interesting chapter of my Katherine Anne Porter life began on September 22, 1994. On that date, Roland H. Harrison, a grandson of William Niven, telephoned me in my office at McKeldin Library. William Niven served as the model for Givens in Katherine Anne Porter's "Maria Concepcion" as well as the central figure in her sketch "The Charmed Life." Dr. Harrison, a retired research chemist, was at the beginning of the work that resulted in the publication of Buried Cities, Forgotten Gods, a biography of his grandfather published by Texas Tech University Press in 1999.

The instigator of this project was Professor Robert S. Wicks of the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio. Professor Wicks had become fascinated with William Niven while still a student in high school; his enthusiasm led him to the Niven family and to involving family members in the biography project. The ostensible reason for Dr. Harrison's first call was to ask me if I would be willing to attempt to identify one of the women in some photographs taken at William Niven's dig at Atzcapotzalco, north of Mexico City, in the early 1920s. Professor Wicks had alerted him that the woman in question might be Katherine Anne Porter. Dr. Harrison and other family members had a treasure trove of original glass plate negatives made by his grandfather documenting his life and work in Mexico. Both Dr. Harrison and I became very excited during the telephone call, and he promised to send me copies of three prints he had managed to make, even though they were somewhat blurry. In my September 28 reply to the letter in which Dr. Harrison enclosed three photographic prints, I expressed my elation because the "woman in the beret/soft hat in the three photographs" was "definitely Katherine Anne Porter." As far as I know, these are the only photographs documenting the visits she describes as making to Atzcapotzalco in 1920-1921. I suspected that "the more formally dressed people in the group shot may be some of the people who attended the Pan American Federation of Labor conference in Mexico City in January 1921." Both Dr. Harrison and I tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to identify others in this group photograph. I also suspected that the Indian woman and one of the Indian men who appear in the photographs may have served as models for the title character in "Maria Concepcion" and for Juan, her husband.

In his October 26, 1994, letter to me, Dr. Harrison enclosed four photographs of William Niven, Katherine Anne Porter, and various other people, which he numbered 1 through 4. Three of these duplicated the prints he had previously sent me. All were contact printed from William Niven's glass negatives and were much clearer than the prints that I had previously received. One of these prints, which he numbered 2, illustrates this article. His letter asked me specific questions both about possible identities of the individuals in the prints as well as questions that arose as he continued his research. Our correspondence continued to be fairly frequent through 1995. Dr. Harrison's letters often included interesting information about his grandfather, much of which appears in the biography. I learned that the curio store and museum he operated in Mexico City had been housed in two locations: Calle Gante 12 from 1910 to 1917 and at Calle San Juan de Letran from about 1918 to the late 1920s. Also, "contemporary crafts" such as "picture frames, feather pictures, lace work, blankets, leather work, etc." were purchased "from many places and people" to be sold in the shop. I was amazed when he told me that he had over 300 black and white slides of William Niven and his activities in Mexico dating from 1890 to 1929. As I am a frequent visitor to Cuernavaca, he also recounted interesting stories of the Niven family's life in that city in the early years of the twentieth century. In fact, during my 1995 visit, I was able to locate and photograph the still existing grave of Dr. Harrison's great-grandmother Emma Sumner Purcell as well as the building that housed the Hotel Bella Vista. His uncle William Albert Niven managed this hotel before and during the 1910 Mexican Revolution. When I asked Dr. Harrison if William Niven had been involved in any way with the Mexican Revolution, he sent me an interesting account of the travails of the Niven family during that dangerous period, including his mother's evacuation from Tampico by the U.S. Navy. In another letter, he revealed that his grandfather "gave slide shows along with a lecture entitled 'Life in Mexico' beginning in November 1895 and continuing to March 1897 in New York. He used lantern slides and also had some stereopticon pictures" (RHH to RMA, 23 June 1995). One of Dr. Harrison's early letters described his own Mexican adventure:

When I read the story of "A Study of Two Americas" by Stuart Chase, and the "Outline of Mexican Popular Arts and Crafts" by KAP, it took me back 50 years. My uncles, aunts, and cousins showed me most of the places and things mentioned and more, too, as a high school graduation gift. I ate lunch in a boat at Xochimilco, climbed the pyramid of the Sun, prayed at Guadalupe and downtown Cathedrals, viewed the skeletons in the basement of the church at San Angel, attended a bull fight, toured the Desierto de los Leones, shopped at the Mercado and Weston's, ate at Sanborn's on D-Day, toured Chapultepec Castle, danced at the Churubusco Country Club, etc. In Cuernavaca, I visited the Palace and saw Rivera's murals, visited my great-grandmother's grave, visited the Borda Gardens and the Cathedral, walked around the downtown, saw one house where the Nivens had lived, etc. In Taxco, we walked around the town and saw all the silver shops. In Puebla we visited the Cathedral and I ran into a girlfriend from Texas upstairs in a tile factory! All in three weeks, including travel time from Austin! (RHH to RMA, 30 November 1994)

For various reasons, our communication came to a virtual stop until fairly recently. In November 1999, Dr. Harrison called me to discuss the successful publication of Buried Cities, Forgotten Gods and to inquire if mention of it could be included in the next issue of the society's newsletter. He also told me that the publication of the book had engendered the first Niven family reunion to be held since 1937. One of his recent communications included this excerpt from his wife's 1999 Christmas letter:

Well, this was the year of "THE BOOK." Buried Cities, Forgotten Gods, William Niven's Life of Discovery and Revolution in Mexico and the American Southwest by Robert S. Wicks and Roland H. Harrison was published by the Texas Tech University Press at the end of June. It is the culmination of eleven years of concentrated effort. There was lots of waiting while the Press worked things out but when the dust jacket arrived here for approval it really looked like the publishing date was near. Everyone was so excited over the beautiful jacket that we began to plan a Niven family reunion to coincide with the release of the book. [One daughter] said, "Hey, we ought to have a T-shirt with the jacket icon on the front!" So she took over that job. [Another] made a very large, 3' x 8', color-coded Niven family descendant chart. Roland got busy collecting and arranging Niven materials, pictures and slides for viewing and began sending and receiving numerous e-mail invitations and replies. . . . And it all came together. Niven family reunion II !! 60 people attended. A truly amazing feat for such a short time! Dr. Bob Wicks was able to come and spent a magical evening with slides explaining the place of our ancestor, William Niven, in history. We made Bob an honorary Niven. (RHH to RMA, 19 January 2000)

This article is the most recent portion of the Porter-Niven-Harrison-Wicks-Alvarez story. I agreed to write something for the society's newsletter about Buried Cities, Forgotten Gods, William Niven's Life of Discovery and Revolution in Mexico and the American Southwest. I have read and enjoyed this account of the amazing exploits of Dr. Harrison's grandfather, liberally illustrated with his fabulous Mexican photographs. Other members of the society can purchase copies directly from Texas Tech University Press by calling 1-800-832-4042 or from the Web site of the press, www.ttup.ttu.edu.