A collection of a variety of legal documents that relate to slavery and African-Americans.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists mainly of a wide vareity of court and legal documents such as, bills of sale, warrants, a manumission document, a certificate of free birth, and documents concerning debt, property, and legal obligations. The documents originated in four states: Alabama, the Carolina colony, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. They span the greatest portion of the era of slavery within what is now the United States. Most of the documents are from Lawrence County, Alabama and may have at one time been created or used as evidence in either an orphans court or civil court case. The documents are arranged in one series in chronological order.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into 1 series:
Series 1: Legal Documents Concerning Slavery, 1710-1865, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Up until the Emancipation Proclamation and the subsequent victory of the Union forces in the Civil War, slaves were considered chattel, property that could be bought and sold. Slaves were a commodity that could be attached for non-payment of debt, used as collateral, given as bequests in a will, and were considered assets of a deceased's estate. As such, they engendered legal battles and the need for a variety of legal documents asserting one's freedom or manumission.
Provenance:
Bill of Sale of "one Negro girl named Nancy, about three years old, from Thomas Maynard to John Stephen Hale, for the sum of 30 pounds, Frederick County, Maryland, June 13, 1796." 2002 acquisition: "Receipt for a slave named Wilson", January 19, 1863, and two carte-de-visite portraits: W.B. Mitchell, July 1880, and Pleasant A. Mitchell, undated. Gifts of Julie Clark, 2008 addendum.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Some of the original field notes are restricted due to Frederica de Laguna's request to protect the privacy of those accused of witchcraft. The originals are restricted until 2030. Photocopies may be made with the names of the accused redacted.
Collection Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Frederica de Laguna papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
May Mayko Ebihara's oral history interviews with Conrad Arensberg (3/7/84); Harold Conklin (1/26/82); William Davenport (8/19/82); James B. Griffin (10/7/81); Jane Richardson Hanks (8/6/82); Lucien M. Hanks (8/7/82); Robert Heizer and George Foster (10/2/74); Charles Hocket (8/25/81); Thomas Kirsch (8/25/81); Alfred Kroeber, et al. on Sapir (dub 5/11/1959); Floyd Lounsbury (1/27/82); David Mandelbaum (11/9/78); Margaret Mead (12/8/66); Mervyn Meggitt; Robert and Beatrice Miller (7/29/86); Horace Miner (10/7/81); George P. Murdock (8/20/82); Robert Murphy (10/17/80); John V. Murra (8/24/81); Leopold Pospisil (1/28/82); Irving Rouse (1/27/82); Lauriston Sharp (5/6/82); Edward Shils (11/19/83); Robert J. Smith (8/26/81). Also includes typewritten transcripts for some of the above, as well as for interviews with Theodore Stern and David H. French. The collection also contains notes on anthropology departments at Columbia University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, and University of Pennsylvania.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 2009-15
Other Archival Materials:
May Ebihara's Reed College bachelor's thesis (1955), "An Ethnohistorical Study of the Shoshoni Indians of the Northern Basin," was received with the collection and transferred to the John Wesley Powell Library of Anthropology.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Melvin Kranzberg Papers, 1934-1988, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Collection, Acc. 1992.0023, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Files containing Sturtevant's students' grades have been restricted, as have his students' and colleagues' grant and fellowships applications. Restricted files were separated and placed at the end of their respective series in boxes 87, 264, 322, 389-394, 435-436, 448, 468, and 483. For preservation reasons, his computer files are also restricted. Seminole sound recordings are restricted. Access to the William C. Sturtevant Papers requires an apointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
William C. Sturtevant papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The papers of William C. Sturtevant were processed with the assistance of a Wenner-Gren Foundation Historical Archives Program grant awarded to Dr. Ives Goddard. Digitization and preparation of these materials for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Allan Frumkin Gallery records, 1880, 1944-2016. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Palmer C. Hayden papers, 1920-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Celebrated women travellers of the nineteenth century
Creator:
Adams, W.H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport), 1828-1891 Search this
Type:
Printed Materials
Date:
1883
Citation:
W.H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport) Adams. Celebrated women travellers of the nineteenth century, 1883. Joseph Cornell papers, 1804-1986. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Footage shot of Arno Atoll, Marshall Islands, as part of the Coral Atoll Project sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the United States Navy. Scenes include aerial shots of the atoll; harvesting and processing fronds of coconut and pandanus trees for weaving mats, baskets, and clothing and for roofing; women's dances; preparing and roasting breadfruit; butchering and roasting pig; making sennit; fishing activities; and dancing.
Wade, Gerald: cameraman ; Davenport, William: researcher ; Emery, Kenneth: photographer ; Milne, James: translator. University of Hawaii.
The collection also includes scripts and shot notes used by Dr. Mason to prepare an edited film.
Outrigger canoe ; Grass skirts ; Sennit making ; Cookery ; Breadfruit preservation bwirn ma beljij ; Coconut copra sennit ; Pandanus tree thatch fruit mat clothing ; Dance stick secret ; Aerial view Arno Atoll ; Pig food preparation ; Ship AKL U.S. Naval vessel ; Tools shell ; Weaving basket ; Festival games gunny sack race tug of war ; Fire drills ; Jekkaro coconut tree sap
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Local Number:
HSFA 1983.3.1
Provenance:
Received from Leonard Mason in 1983.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Art treasures in the West, by William Davenport and the Sunset editors. Supervising editor: Jack McDowell. Book design and layout: William Gibson. Architectural renderings: Jim M'Guinness. Regional art consultants: Robert Wark [and others]
