I am new to this forum. I am interested if anyone has any information on Parson 'Percy' Dana. Percy is the renown West Coast photographer of fights and fighters from early 1900's. Collectors buy and sell the photos he took using the Dana name as evidence of his skills and the photos authenticity, but little is known about his life. I have been able to piece together bits of his life (which I am willing to share), but I am always looking for more. Any assistance would be appreciated.
I assume OP has seen this, but it has a good bit of information … enough for a start, I’d say. https://www.foundsf.org/Percy_Dana,_Boxing_Photographer It would appear someone named Howard Ruff has a collection that includes a number of photos from Pee Wee Dana.
The article was written by an intern with most of the information I was able to obtain. Actually, some of the information in the article is incorrect. He was never known as Charles. There was a famous newspaper editor named Charles Percy Dana. There were actually a few Percy Dana's living in S.F. in the early 1900's. So, a few people have mixed them up. He was not born in Missouri. He was born in Kansas. This Dana was not a doorman and his father wasn't a broker. The reason S.F was such a hot bed for big fights at this time was most states had banned matches or limited them to 4-6 round non decision affairs (newspaper decisions). “From 1900-1910, there were 10 world title fights in New York State and six in England, birthplace of the modern game. During the same span, California hosted 60, and more than half of those–in all seven weight divisions of the time–were in the Bay Area.” - San Francisco Chronicle And it seems Dana photographer most of them.
