Fletcher, Alice C. (Alice Cunningham), 1838-1923 Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1888-1918
Scope and Contents:
The majority of this material is musical transcriptions of native songs and ceremonies. In many cases Fletcher and La Flesche did not label the tribe or otherwise identify the sheet music. Those items not clearly related to any publications have simply been labeled as sheet music.
The Omaha and Osage tribes are most fully represented in this subseries, although a few transcriptions of other tribes (Nez Perce, Ponca, Winnebago, etc.) are included.
Fletcher acquired J. C. Fillmore and Franz Boas' musical transcriptions of non-Native American peoples from the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. This material is located at the end of the subseries. Many composers created popular adaptations of Native American music; Fletcher's collection of these materials is located at the end of this subseries.
Arrangement:
The material is arranged by document type; by tribe and date therein. Dates are non-inclusive.
Collection Restrictions:
The Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers are open for research.
Access to the Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4558 Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Fletcher, Alice C. (Alice Cunningham), 1838-1923 Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1873-1925
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Alice Fletcher include materials that reflect her allotment work among Native Americans and her many anthropological investigations and organizational affiliations. Additionally, Fletcher's early ethnographic research, conducted under the tutelage of F. W. Putnam at Harvard University's Peabody Museum, is well represented. Little material predating 1879 can be found in the series.
Items of interest include Fletcher's early correspondence in which she outlines her views on the contemporary problems facing Native Americans, as well as her early historical lectures, which illustrate the evolution of her interest in ethnology and archaeology.
Materials related to Fletcher's ethnographic work among the Nez Perce, Omaha, Pawnee, Ponca, and Winnebago tribes, as well as her government-sponsored trip to Alaska, may be found in series 3.
Arrangement:
Series 1 is divided into the following 10 subseries: 1.1) Incoming correspondence, 1874-1923 (bulk 1882-1923); 1.2) Outgoing correspondence, 1873-1921; 1.3) Correspondence on specific subjects, 1881-1925; 1.4) Correspondence between Fletcher and La Flesche, 1895-1922; 1.5) Publications, 1882-1920; 1.6) Organizational records, 1904-1921; 1.7) General anthropological notes, undated; 1.8) Lectures, circa 1878-1910; 1.9) Diaries, 1881-1922; 1.10) Biography and memorabilia, 1878-1925.
Collection Restrictions:
The Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers are open for research.
Access to the Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4558 Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Fletcher, Alice C. (Alice Cunningham), 1838-1923 Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1882-1922
Scope and Contents:
This subseries encompasses the slight amount of information that Fletcher and La Flesche collected on other Native American tribes. Much of the material in this subseries reflects their field work among the Ponca and the Winnebago, some of which yielded information used in The Omaha Tribe. Other field notes illustrate Fletcher and La Flesche's interest in the Sun Dance among different tribes. In addition, this subseries includes miscellaneous reading notes.
Further materials on the Sun Dance are located in subseries 3.25.
Arrangement:
The material is arranged alphabetically by tribe. Dates are non-inclusive.
Collection Restrictions:
The Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers are open for research.
Access to the Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4558 Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Fletcher, Alice C. (Alice Cunningham), 1838-1923 Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1873-1921
Scope and Contents:
Fletcher rarely retained complete copies of letters that she sent; therefore the bulk of these materials are incomplete handwritten drafts.
Material dated between 1881 and 1892 was largely written by Fletcher while she was pursuing field work and government allotment and may overlap with items in subseries 1.3 relating to Fletcher's work at the Omaha, Nez Perce, and Winnebago reservations.
The majority of the items between 1898 and 1911 reflect Fletcher's anthropological work and professional affiliations. More information on Fletcher's research on earth lodges, as illustrated in her 1898 correspondence with "Lassie" (E. Jane Gay), is located elsewhere in the collection (subseries 3.18).
Arrangement:
The material is arranged chronologically. Dates are non-inclusive.
Collection Restrictions:
The Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers are open for research.
Access to the Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4558 Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Fletcher, Alice C. (Alice Cunningham), 1838-1923 Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1881-1925
Scope and Contents:
This subseries was created to encompass correspondence that was separated from the rest of Fletcher's letters. Materials have been divided into five subject headings, covering Fletcher's allotment work for the Omaha (1881-1884), Winnebago (1887-1889), and Nez Perce (1889-1894); the theft of the Omaha sacred buffalo hide; and the anthropology department at the University of California, Berkeley.
Fletcher's allotment work consisted of distributing and assigning plots of reservation land, previously held communally, to private Native American individuals under the provisions of various Congressional bills. The bulk of the allotment correspondence is between Fletcher and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Included are her instructions, inquiries regarding spurious land claims, and updates on her work. There is no incoming correspondence for the Nez Perce allotment. Other materials relating to allotment, including record books of land claims, are included in this subseries.
In 1898 the Omaha sacred hide was stolen from James Robinson. Francis La Flesche was involved in the search for item and is included in this correspondence.
In 1901, Phoebe Apperson Hearst funded a new Anthropology museum and department at the University of California, Berkeley, and Fletcher was named a member of its Advisory Committee. This section reflects her brief involvement in the new department.
Ethnographic materials are filed under series 3: for the Omaha, see subseries 3.21; for the Winnebago, see subseries 3.26; for the Nez Perce, see subseries 3.20.
Arrangement:
The material is arranged chronologically by subject.
Collection Restrictions:
The Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers are open for research.
Access to the Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4558 Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution