MANDAN Historical Society

Working to Preserve & Promote Mandan's Heritage since 2004

Welcome

Membership

Upcoming Events

Mandan Museum

WWII Exhibit

Biographies A-K

J D Allen

Franklin Anders

Richard Baron

George Bingenheimer

Philip Blumenthal

Elijah Boley

Frank Briggs

Leo Broderick

William Broderick

Lyman Cary

James Clark

Henry Coe

Daniel Collins

Elizabeth Custer

George Custer

Alice Dahners

Henry Dahners

Esther Davis

Tony Dean

Joseph Devine

Ronald Erhardt

John Forbes

Gilbert Furness

Aloysius Galowitsch

Frederic Gerard

Zalmon Gilbert

Charles Grantier

James Hanley Jr

James Hanley Sr

Mary Harris

Biographies L-Z

William Langer

Richard Longfellow

Rolland Lutz

Hiram Lyon

George Marback

Gary Miller

Lee Mohr

George Peoples

Hoy Russell

Antonie Rybnicek

Ervin Rybnicek

Hynek Rybnicek

Margaret Schaaf

George Shafer

William Simpson

Anna Knox Stark

Mary Stark

J O Sullivan

John Sullivan

Era Bell Thompson

George Toman

Earle Tostevin

Edwin A Tostevin Sr

Edwin D Tostevin Jr

Walter Tostevin

A B Welch

Levon West

Harry Wheeler

What's New

Area History

Custer Drama / Trail West

FDR Visit August 1936

Mandan Rodeo / Fair

Area Landmarks

Cary Bldg - Mandan Drug

Christ the King Church

Collins Av Civic Bldg

1st Presbyterian Church

Lewis & Clark Hotel

Main St Theatre

Mandan Hill

Methodist Church

NP Beanery

NP Rail High Bridge

NP Railway Depots

Roughrider Statue

St Joseph Church

Great Plains Expermt Stn

WWar Memorial Bldg

Youth Correctional Center

Gone Forever

Collins Ave Courthouse

Deaconess Hospital

Eielson Field

First St Federal Bldg

Havana Club

Hotel Nigey

Liberty Memorial Bridge

Mandan Creamery & Produce

Peoples' Hotel

Rock Haven

Young's Tavern

Heritage Homes

Ellis-Uden Home

Freeburg-Esser Home

Lyon-Weigel Home

Parkins-Cooley Home

Stuart Dunlap Home

Welch-Ness Home

'09 Lincoln Bicentennial

View Collection

Endowment Fund

Levon West / Ivan Dmitri (1900-1968)
Levon West was the third individual to be awarded ND's civilian highest honor - the Theodore Roosevelt Roughrider Award. Govenor William Guy presented him with the award on April 13, 1962 in its former form as an honorary Colonel in Theordore Roosevelt's Roughrider regiment. Gaining international fame for his sensitive portrayals in color photography, etchings and watercolors, West’s work has been exhibited in nearly every major art museum in the western world.
Also known as Ivan Dmitri, Levon West gained international fame for his portrayals in color photography, etchings and watercolors. During his youth, West moved throughout North Dakota, as his father was a congressional preacher. After graduating from high school he taught school for a year and enlisted in the United States Navy. West was the recipient of a scholarship to the University of Minnesota where, although he was interested in art, he studied business administration.
c. 1962 Receiving Roughrider Award from Gov. Guy
Printmaker, photographer. Levon West was Dmitri's given name, which he changed to Ivan Dmitri at the time he changed careers from printmaking to photography.

West gained recognition as an artist upon the publication of his etching “The Spirit of St. Louis”, when Charles Lindbergh arrived in Paris. His etchings were soon in great demand. He also gained recognition as a photographer and, in order to separate his two artistic fields, West took the name of Ivan Dmitri for his photographic work. Dmitri founded Photography in the Fine Arts in 1959.

Levon West was an etcher, painter, photographer, writer and teacher.  As a photographer, he used the name “Ivan Dmitri.”  Born in North Dakota, he graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1924 and studied at the Art Student’s League and with J. Pennell the following year.  West was a member of the Society of American Etchers and the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and published at least two instructional books, including Making an Etching (1930).  By the 1940s, his work was in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Museum, the Havemeyer Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many others.  He was represented by Kennedy Gallery in New York City.


The MHSoc's museum and office is located at 411 W Main St, Mandan, ND 58554
Contact us at info@mandanhistory.org or leave message at 
(701) 751-2983


Last Updated 05
/07/09    ©  2006-2009  Mandan Historical Society  All rights reserved