The Burton Holmes Lectures playbills

Elias Burton Holmes (1870-1958) was born on January 8, 1870 to Ira and Virginia (née Burton) Holmes. As part of an affluent Chicago family, Holmes attended the Allen Academy and Harvard School in Chicago until the age of sixteen. In 1886, Holmes left school to travel to Europe with his grandmother on the RMS Etruria. Having bought his first camera at the age of thirteen, Holmes documented most of this trip. In 1890, he presented his lantern slides to the Chicago Camera Club. His lecture was well-received and marked the start of a successful career.

In 1893, Holmes decided to become a professional lecturer, sharing images and stories from his trips overseas. Over the next few years he travelled to England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Greece, Russia, China, Japan, Egypt, and Morocco. He also travelled in North America, visiting both Alaska, Hawaii, and the Grand Canyon. These travels, among others, formed the basis of Holmes's lecture series. Considering himself a performer rather than a lecturer, Holmes performed at many prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, Symphony Hall in Boston, and Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

One of the highlights of Holmes's lecture series was his incorporation of film into each presentation. Following his lecture, Holmes would show a brief motion picture using a Chronomatographe. The film essentially contained a series of images taken at twenty second intervals and pieced together on a "ribbon of transparent film." Holmes's early film creation marked one of the first times that motion pictures were incorporated into a public lecture. These films and lectures eventually evolved into travelogues, making Holmes a prominent name in the early film industry. In recognition of his contribution to the motion picture industry, Holmes was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Holmes married Margaret Elise Oliver (1879-1968) of Baltimore on March 21, 1914. He received numerous awards throughout his lifetime and gave over 8,000 lectures by the time he retired in 1949. Holmes died on July 22, 1958 and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.