The majority of the photographs were made by Thomas B. Card during World War II and the postwar years in Japan, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East. He documented people, architecture, and scenery, as well as military bases and personnel in Okinawa, Japan. Additionally, there are images of Mexican archeological sites, Camp Claiborne in Louisiana (made in 1944), the 1932 Amur River flood, and Benito Mussolini's execution.
The collection also includes photographs taken by Paul W. Card in China before World War II, including images of the Yangtze River, historical architecture and art, people, shrines, and cities.
Biographical/Historical note:
Thomas B. Card was an engineer and Army officer during World War II. After completing his freshman year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (September 1916-October 1917), he joined the signal corps in World War I, later transferrimg to become a pilot in the air service. Returning to school, he graduated from the Masssachusetts Institute of Technology in 1921 and received a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Graduate School in 1930. During World War II, he supervised the construction of bases in the Caribbean and Japan, and served as commanding officer of the 601st Engineers Base Depot on Okinawa. He was promoted to Colonel, CE, in 1945. In 1947, he led a group of engineers working on the Bechtel International Modernization Project in Saudi Arabia, as well as other post-war work in Argentina and Trinidad.
Paul W. Card, Thomas B. Card's brother, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1927 and was assigned to work in China's Yangtze River region until 1938. He spent most of his time protecting the United States Legation in Nanjing and gathered intelligence as a "naval observer."
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 2000-02, NAA Photo Lot 97-43
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Photographs made by Thomas B. Card, previously filed in Photo Lot 97-43, have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 2000-02. These photographs were were made at the same time and places and form part of this collection.
Restrictions:
Original nitrate negatives are in cold storage and require advanced notice for viewing.
Photo Lot 2000-02, Thomas B. Card and Paul W. Card photographs of world travels and World War II, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
The Squier collection consists primarily of glass plate negatives made by Squier in the Central Andes region of Peru from 1862 to 1868 while he served as the United States Commissioner to Peru.
Scope and Contents:
The Squier collection consists primarily of glass plate negatives made by Squier in the Central Andes region of Peru from 1862 to 1868 while he served as the United States Commissioner to Peru. A few of the negatives measure 6.5 x 8.5 inches but the overwhelming majority of them are stereoscopic. Each stereoscopic negative has a notation in Squier's hand etched into the emulsion. The bulk of these Squier made in Cusco and the Cusco region and include depictions of colonial and archaeological Inka (Inca) architecture and antiquities, and Spanish architecture. The negatives he made in Lima and Lima Province, and the Trujillo, Ancash, Puno, Ayacucho, and Arequipa regions also depict Inka or Central Andres (which includes Chimú) antiquities and Inka colonial architecture. In addition, there are representations of objects, contemporary streets scenes and village scenes, and a few negatives made in Bolivia. The few prints in the collection are copy photographs made of Squier's drawings.
Arrangement note:
Negatives Arranged by negative number (N18828-N19139)
Prints Arranged by print number (P04466, P04467, P18525)
Biographical/Historical note:
Ephraim George Squier (1821-1888) was born Bethlehem, New York, and as a young man pursued several career paths until he settled on archaeology in about 1847. This interest led to the publication of the 1848 Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, which he co-authored with Edwin H. Davis and represents the Smithsonian Institution's first official publication. His fascination with the antiquities of the Western Hemisphere encouraged him to secure political posts in Central and South America that would allow him to pursue these interests. From 1846 to 1869, Squier worked in various diplomatic positions throughout Latin America, and it was then that he undertook archaeological and ethnological field work. Originally appointed by President Lincoln, from 1862 to 1868, Squier was the United States Commissioner to Peru. His studies and travels produced another extremely popular book, Peru: Incidents of Travel and Exploration in the Land of the Incas (1877). Several of the photographs in the NMAI's collection appear as (slightly altered) illustrations in this book. Squier's papers and the original photographs from his negatives are housed at the Tulane University Library. Squier died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1888.
Related Materials:
Papers of Ephraim George Squier,1835–1872; Tulane University Library.
Provenance:
Historically, the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation managed all photographic materials separately. This collection description represents current management practices of organizing and contextualizing related archival materials.
Restrictions:
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Rights:
Restricted: Cultural Sensitivity
Topic:
Incas -- Peru -- Antiquities -- Photographs Search this
Ephraim George Squier collection of negatives and prints, circa 1862-1868, National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution (negative, slide or catalog number).
The Inca world : ancient people and places ; art, architecture, religion, everyday life, culture ; the native civilizations of the Andes and South America explored in 500 paintings, drawing and photographs / David M. Jones
