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MS 4800 James O. Dorsey papers

Creator:
Dorsey, James Owen, 1848-1895  Search this
Names:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
Bushotter, George, 1864-1892  Search this
Gatschet, Albert S. (Albert Samuel), 1832-1907  Search this
Hewitt, J. N. B. (John Napoleon Brinton), 1859-1937  Search this
Mooney, James, 1861-1921  Search this
Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902  Search this
Riggs, Stephen Return, 1812-1883  Search this
Extent:
30 Linear feet (70 boxes, 1 oversized box, 20 manuscript envelopes, 4 rolled maps, and 23 map folders)
Culture:
Indians of North America -- Subarctic  Search this
Athapascan Indians  Search this
Catawba Indians  Search this
Minitari (Hidatsa)  Search this
Numakiki (Mandan)  Search this
Biloxi Indians  Search this
Tutelo  Search this
Iowa  Search this
Chiwere  Search this
Ho-Chunk (Winnebago)  Search this
Oto  Search this
Quapaw Indians  Search this
Osage  Search this
Sioux  Search this
Lakota (Teton/Western Sioux)  Search this
Dhegiha Indians  Search this
Assiniboine (Stoney)  Search this
Ponca  Search this
Omaha  Search this
Tututni (Tutuni)  Search this
Kaw (Kansa)  Search this
Siletz  Search this
Coos (Kusan)  Search this
Yaquina (Yakwina)  Search this
Arctic peoples  Search this
Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America  Search this
Indians of North America -- Great Plains  Search this
Indians of North America -- Southeast  Search this
Takelma (Rogue River Indians)  Search this
Klikitat  Search this
Chasta Costa (Chastacosta)  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Field notes
Drawings
Vocabulary
Folklore
Sermons
Manuscripts
Obituaries
Correspondence
Newspaper clippings
Place:
Siletz Indian Reservation (Or.)
Date:
circa 1870-1956
bulk 1870-1895
Summary:
Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages.The papers of James Owen Dorsey comprise mostly ethnographic and linguistic materials on various tribes of the Siouan language family as well as tribes from Siletz Reservation in Oregon. These materials include texts and letters with interlineal translations; grammar notes; dictionaries; drawings; and his manuscripts. In addition, the collection contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, his obituaries, and reprints.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains James O. Dorsey's research and writings as a BAE ethnologist, as well as his earlier work as a missionary among the Ponca. The vast majority of the collection pertains to his research on Siouan-Catawban languages, including the Dakota and Dhegiha languages, Chiwere, Winnebago, Mandan, Hidatsa, Tutelo, Biloxi, and Catawba. His research on Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan languages from his field work at Siletz Reservation are also present, as well as some notes on the Caddoan languages. Dorsey's research files include linguistic and ethnological field notes, reading notes, stories and myths, vocabularies, drawings, and unpublished and published manuscripts. The collection also contains Omaha, Ponca, Quapaw, and Biloxi dictionaries that he compiled and materials relating to his work editing Steven Riggs' Dakota-English Dictionary. Additional noteworthy materials in the collection are Teton texts and drawings from George Bushotter and drawings by Stephen Stubbs (Kansa), Pahaule-gagli (Kansa), and George Miller (Omaha). The collection also contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, obituaries, and his collection of reprints.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into 6 series: 1) Siouan; 2) Siletz Reservation; 3) Caddoan; 4) General Correspondence; 5) Personal Papers; 6) Miscellaneous & Reprints.
Biographical Note:
Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages.

Dorsey was born on October 31, 1848 in Baltimore, Maryland. He exhibited a talent for languages at an early age. At age 6 he learned the Hebrew alphabet and was able to read the language at age 10. In 1867 Dorsey attended the Theological Seminary of Virginia and was ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1871. In May of that year, Dorsey traveled to the Dakota Territory to serve as a missionary among the Ponca. Plagued by ill health, Dorsey was forced to end his missionary work in August 1873. By that time, however, he had learned the Ponca language well enough to converse with members of the tribe without an interpreter.

Dorsey returned to Maryland and engaged in parish work while continuing his studies of Siouan languages. His linguistic talents and knowledge of these languages attracted the attention of Major John Wesley Powell. Powell arranged for Dorsey to work among the Omaha in Nebraska from 1878 to 1880 to collect linguistic and ethnological notes. When the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) was established in 1879, Powell recruited Dorsey to join the staff.

As an ethnologist for the BAE, Dorsey continued his research on Siouan tribes. His studies focused on languages but also included Siouan personal names, folklore, social organization, religion, beliefs, and customs. He conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada (1882); the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory (1883-1884); the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana (1892); and again with the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission (1894). He also worked with Native Americans that visited DC, including George Bushotter (Teton), Philip Longtail (Winnebago), Samuel Fremont (Omaha), and Little Standing Buffalo (Ponca). He also spent time at Siletz Reservation in 1884 to collect linguistic notes on the Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan stocks.

In addition to his research, Dorsey helped found the American Folklore Society and served as the first vice-president of the association. He also served as vice-president of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

At the age of 47, Dorsey died of typhoid fever on February 4, 1895.

Sources Consulted

1st-16th Annual Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 1881-1897.

Hewitt, J.N.B. 1895. "James Owen Dorsey" American Anthropologist A8, 180-183.

McGee, W.J. 1895. "In Memoriam." Journal of American Folklore 8(28): 79-80.

1848 -- Born on October 31 in Baltimore, Maryland.

1871 -- Ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

1871-1873 -- Served as a missionary among the Ponca in Dakota Territory.

1878-1880 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Omaha in Nebraska.

1879 -- Joined the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

1882 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada.

1883-1884 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory.

1887 -- Worked with George Bushotter to record information regarding the language and culture of the Dakota.

1884 -- Conducted fieldwork at Siletz Reservation.

1892 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

1894 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission in Indian Territory.

1895 -- Died of typhoid fever on February 4th at the age of 47.
Restrictions:
The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this
Ethnology  Search this
Indians of North America -- Northeast  Search this
Social structure  Search this
Kinship  Search this
Manners and customs  Search this
Shahaptian languages  Search this
Yakonan languages  Search this
Athapascan languages  Search this
Kusan languages  Search this
Linguistics  Search this
Siouan languages  Search this
Dhegiha language  Search this
Siuslaw Indians  Search this
Hidatsa language  Search this
Omaha language  Search this
Dakota language  Search this
Catawba language  Search this
Biloxi language  Search this
Caddoan languages  Search this
Osage language  Search this
Alsea language  Search this
Kansa language  Search this
Mandan language  Search this
Chastacosta language  Search this
Coquille language  Search this
Tutelo language  Search this
Winnebago language  Search this
Siuslaw language  Search this
Takelma language  Search this
Genre/Form:
Field notes
Drawings
Vocabulary
Folklore
Sermons
Manuscripts
Obituaries
Correspondence
Newspaper clippings
Citation:
Manuscript 4800 James O. Dorsey papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NAA.MS4800
See more items in:
MS 4800 James O. Dorsey papers
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3261ab492-5f9d-4be7-b1f4-c24d3f5da29b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-ms4800
Online Media:

Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects

Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology  Search this
Extent:
18,000 Items (ca. 18,000 items)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Negatives
Prints
Works of art
Printed material
Date:
1840s-1960s
Scope and Contents:
The collections consists mostly of original and copy prints. There are also some negatives, artwork, photographs of artwork, and printed materials. Included is a large miscellany of ethnological, historical, and some archaeological subjects collected by the Bureau of American Ethnology from a wide variety of sources. To these have been added some photographs and other illustrative material acquired and sometimes accessioned by the Department of Anthropology of the United States National Museum/National Museum of Natural History. There are also prints of photographs from the archives' collection of glass negatives of Indians and the subject and geographic file. Although most of the material relates to North America, some images relating to historical events and to areas outside North America are included.
The relationship beween this collection and the National Anthropological Archives series of numbered manuscripts is close, for many of the accessions to the photographic collection were originally described in the catalog to the numbered manuscripts and are, hence, identified by a manuscript number. Today, the archives treat the two collections as separate entities, however, because there has been so much interfiling of uncatalog images among those with the manuscript numbers.
Arrangement:
The arrangement is complicated: (1) America north of Mexico, divided by geographic region and tribe based on George P. Murdock and Timothy J. O'Leary's scheme in Ethnographic Bilbiography of North America, 1975. The material is further subdivided by the organization that acted in the past as repository (Bureau of American Ethnology, United States National Museum [Department of Anthropology], National Museum of Natural History [Department of Anthropology], Smithsonian Office of Anthropology, and National Anthropological Archives). Thereunder it is divided into catalog unit or comparable categories generally based on provenance; (2) miscellany, historical and unidentified; (3) archaeology, arranged by geographic area; (4) Latin America; (5) material which did not lend itself to classification in categories given above and is identified by National Anthropological Archives catalog numbers.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Negatives
Prints
Works of art
Printed material
Citation:
Photo lot 24, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NAA.PhotoLot.24
See more items in:
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3e08670ad-b881-4c35-9eb8-e196b039e553
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-photolot-24
Online Media:

Tuberculosis Patient (Young Man) Outside Hospital Room

Creator:
Post, Helen M.  Search this
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology  Search this
Extent:
1 Photographic print (008 in x 010 in mounted on 010 in x 014 in)
Container:
Oversize OS:3, Folder 7
Culture:
Diné (Navajo)  Search this
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Photographs
Date:
1961
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.02269800

NAA MS.4638
Local Note:
Black and white photoprint on cardboard mount
Place:
Arizona -- Navaho Reservation
Topic:
Navaho  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 24 SPC Sw Navaho BAE 4638 02269800, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects / Series 1: America north of Mexico / Southwest / Navaho
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw31d64e8f8-6b5f-4fe3-aafb-4b2f8cbeb0a3
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-photolot-24-ref19949

List of publications of the Bureau of American Ethnology; with index to authors and titles

Author:
Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Department of Anthropology  Search this
Physical description:
134 p
Type:
Bibliography
Place:
America
United States
Date:
1971
Topic:
Ethnology  Search this
Government publications  Search this
Antiquities  Search this
Call number:
Z1209 .L77 1971
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_208396

The Iroquois Eagle dance : an offshoot of the Calumet dance / William N. Fenton. With An analysis of the Iroquois Eagle dance and songs / by Gertrude Prokosch Kurath

Author:
Fenton, William N (William Nelson) 1908-2005  Search this
Kurath, Gertrude Prokosch Analysis of the Iroquois eagle dance and songs  Search this
Physical description:
xiii, 324 pages, 28 pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 23 cm
Type:
Books
Date:
1991
1953
Topic:
Eagle dance  Search this
Iroquois dance  Search this
Rites and ceremonies  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_826065

Ute Group with Tipi and White? Man

Creator:
Beaman, E. O. (Elias Olcott), 1837-1876  Search this
Names:
Powell-Thompson Survey  Search this
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology  Search this
Extent:
1 Photographic print (003 in x 004 in mounted on 007 in x 004 in)
Container:
Box VII:3, Folder 2
Box Remove, Folder 8-13
Culture:
Ute -- Uintah  Search this
Indians of North America -- Great Basin  Search this
Uintah Ute  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Photographic prints
Photographs
Date:
1874
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.00198900
Local Note:
Black and white photoprint on Stereograph
Place:
Utah -- Uinta Valley/Wasatch Mountains
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 24 SPC Stereo Basin Ute 00198900, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects / Stereo File / Basin Ute
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw34ebc2e15-0cb9-4bdc-91db-045122712138
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-photolot-24-ref5699

Ute Man and Woman Visiting Settler

Creator:
Beaman, E. O. (Elias Olcott), 1837-1876  Search this
Names:
Powell-Thompson Survey  Search this
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology  Search this
Extent:
1 Photographic print (003 in x 005 in mounted on 007 in x 004 in)
Container:
Box VII:3, Folder 2
Box Remove, Folder 8-13
Culture:
Ute -- Uintah  Search this
Indians of North America -- Great Basin  Search this
Uintah Ute  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Photographic prints
Photographs
Date:
1874
Scope and Contents:
Ouray and his wife Chipeta. Identified by James Jefferson (3/8/2006)
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.00199400

OPPS NEG.BAE 1600B
Local Note:
Black and white photoprint on Stereograph
Place:
Utah -- Uinta Valley/Wasatch Mountains
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 24 SPC Stereo Basin Ute 00199400, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects / Stereo File / Basin Ute
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw397b84fdf-5766-46b5-97fa-9344b41c5915
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-photolot-24-ref5704

Paiute Council

Creator:
Beaman, E. O. (Elias Olcott), 1837-1876  Search this
Names:
Powell-Thompson Survey  Search this
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology  Search this
Extent:
1 Photographic print (003 in x 004 in mounted on 007 in x 004 in)
Container:
Box Stereo:1
Culture:
Paiute -- Kaivavit  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Photographic prints
Photographs
Date:
1874
Scope and Contents:
Group of Natives, Some Wearing Rabbit Skin Capes, With Two Non-Native Men Outside Brush Shelter
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.00188700

OPPS NEG.BAE 1621
Local Note:
Black and white photoprint on Stereograph
Place:
Arizona -- Kaibab Plateau
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 24 SPC Stereo Basin Paiute 00188700, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects / Stereo File / Basin Paiute
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw35d4a4e8e-185f-499d-b66a-d786187957ee
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-photolot-24-ref5597

Paiute Council

Creator:
Beaman, E. O. (Elias Olcott), 1837-1876  Search this
Names:
Powell-Thompson Survey  Search this
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology  Search this
Extent:
1 Photographic print (003 in x 004 in mounted on 007 in x 004 in)
Container:
Box Stereo:1
Culture:
Paiute -- Kaivavit  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Photographic prints
Photographs
Date:
1874
Scope and Contents:
Group of Natives, Some Wearing Rabbit Skin Capes, With Two Non-Native Men in Front of Brush Shelter
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.00190800

OPPS NEG.BAE 1621
Local Note:
Black and white photoprint on Stereograph
Place:
Arizona -- Kaibab Plateau
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 24 SPC Stereo Basin Paiute 00190800, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects / Stereo File / Basin Paiute
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3659d2bc1-ca56-41e1-94ac-347ce9d48b49
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-photolot-24-ref5618

Ute Group with Tipi and White? Man

Creator:
Beaman, E. O. (Elias Olcott), 1837-1876  Search this
Names:
Powell-Thompson Survey  Search this
Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology  Search this
Extent:
1 Photographic print (003 in x 004 in mounted on 007 in x 004 in)
Container:
Box Stereo:1
Box Remove, Folder 8-13
Culture:
Ute -- Uintah  Search this
Indians of North America -- Great Basin  Search this
Uintah Ute  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Photographic prints
Photographs
Date:
1874
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.00196400
Local Note:
Black and white photoprint on Stereograph
Place:
Utah -- Uinta Valley/Wasatch Mountains
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 24 SPC Stereo Basin Ute 00196400, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects / Stereo File / Basin Ute
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3463978b2-a574-4a8e-957b-2aa2e2240ad8
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-photolot-24-ref5674

Portraits of anthropologists

Depicted:
American Association for the Advancement of Science  Search this
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
United States De Soto Expedition Commission  Search this
Boas, Franz, 1858-1942  Search this
Bond, Q. M.  Search this
Cammerer, Arno B.  Search this
Cushing, Frank Hamilton, 1857-1900  Search this
Davis, E. H. (Edwin Hamilton), 1811-1888  Search this
Densmore, Frances, 1867-1957  Search this
Dorsey, James Owen, 1848-1895  Search this
Drucker, Philip, 1911-1982  Search this
Fewkes, Jesse Walter, 1850-1930  Search this
Gatschet, Albert S. (Albert Samuel), 1832-1907  Search this
Geary, James A.  Search this
Goode, G. Brown (George Brown), 1851-1896  Search this
Hale, Horatio, 1817-1896  Search this
Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961  Search this
Henshaw, Henry W. (Henry Wetherbee), 1850-1930  Search this
Hewitt, J. N. B. (John Napoleon Brinton), 1859-1937  Search this
Hillers, John K., 1843-1925  Search this
Holmes, William Henry, 1846-1933  Search this
Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942  Search this
Judd, Neil Merton, 1887-1976  Search this
Knez, Eugene I. (Eugene Irving), 1916-2010  Search this
Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960  Search this
Le Plongeon, Augustus, 1826-1908  Search this
Mason, Otis Tufton, 1838-1908  Search this
Matthews, Washington, 1843-1905  Search this
McGee, W J, 1853-1912  Search this
Merriam, C. Hart (Clinton Hart), 1855-1942  Search this
Mooney, James, 1861-1921  Search this
Morgan, Lewis Henry, 1818-1881  Search this
Pilling, James Constantine, 1846-1895  Search this
Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902  Search this
Rink, Signe  Search this
Roberts, Frank H. H. (Frank Harold Hanna), 1897-1966  Search this
Royce, Charles C., 1845-1923  Search this
Stephenson, Robert L. (Robert Lloyd), 1919-  Search this
Stevenson, James, 1840-1888  Search this
Stevenson, Matilda Coxe, 1850-1915  Search this
Steward, Julian Haynes, 1902-1972  Search this
Struever, Stuart  Search this
Swan, James G., 1818-1900  Search this
Swanton, John Reed, 1873-1958  Search this
Upham, E. P. (Edwin Porter), 1845-1918  Search this
Washburn, Wilcomb E.  Search this
Willey, Gordon R. (Gordon Randolph), 1913-2002  Search this
Photographer:
Bachrach & Brother  Search this
Blackstone Studios  Search this
National Geographic Society (U.S.)  Search this
Bailey, Vernon Orlando  Search this
Dana (of New York)  Search this
Garrett, Gene  Search this
Gilbert, C. W.  Search this
Gill, De Lancey, 1859-1940  Search this
Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942  Search this
Kemethy, Kets  Search this
Koby, Paul  Search this
McDonough, David  Search this
Parker, Charles  Search this
Phillips, H. C.  Search this
Rice (of Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Shuck, J. A.  Search this
Names:
Geological Survey (U.S.)  Search this
Artist:
Nicholson, Grace, -1948  Search this
Extent:
1 Print (photogravure)
8 Prints (halftone (including one newspaper clipping))
124 Prints (circa, silver gelatin, albumen, and platinum)
50 Copy prints (circa)
3 copper printing plates
1 Color print
1 Print (wood engraving)
3 Copy negatives (glass)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Copy prints
Color prints
Copy negatives
Photographs
Date:
circa 1860s-1970
Scope and Contents note:
This collection is an artificial collection of photographs, copper plates, and a few notes, all of which depict or relate to anthropologists, many of which were associated with the Bureau of American Ethnology.

Included are portraits of Franz Boas, Q. M. Bond, Arno B. Cammerer, Frank Hamilton Cushing, Edwin Hamilton Davis, J. Woodbridge Davis, Frances Densmore, James Owen Dorsey, Philip Drucker, Jesse Walter Fewkes (including photographs of his home by Frances Densmore), Albert Samuel Gatschet, James A. Geary, De Lancey W. Gill, George Brown Goode, Horatio Hale, Henry Wetherbee Henshaw, John Napoleon Brinton Hewitt, John K. Hillers, William Henry Holmes, William Henry Jackson, Eugene Irving Knez, Alfred Louis Kroeber, Pere Albert Lacomb, Augustus Le Plongeon, James Mooney, Lewis Henry Morgan, Carl Oschsicanes, James Constantine Pilling, John Wesley Powell, Frau Signe Rink, Frank Harold Hanna Roberts, Jr., Charles C. Royce, Robert Lloyd Stephenson, James Stevenson, Matilda Coxe Stevenson, Julian Haynes Steward, Steward Struever, James Gilchrist Swan, John Reed Swanton, Edwin P. Upham, Wilcomb E. Washburn, and Gordon Randolph Willey. Groups depicted include the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1936; the De Soto Commission; officers of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1885; a 1920 expedition group to Hawikuk; staff of the Great Lakes Division, United States Geological Survey, in Salt Lake City, 1882; a group at Moundville, Alabama, 1932; the University of Nebraska archeological field party, 1920; the Pecos conference, 1927; John Wesley Powell with Wild Hank, Kentucky Mountain Bill, and Jesus Aloiso; and the United States Geological Survey staff, ca. 1894.

Among photographers represented are Vernon Orlando Bailey, Blackston Studios of New York, Dana of New York, Frances Densmore, Gene Garrett, C. W. Gilbert, De Lancey W. Gill, John K. Hillers, William H. Jackson, Kets Kemethy, Paul Koby, David McDonough, H. C. Phillips, Rice of Washington, D. C., and J. A. Shuck of El Reno, Oklahoma.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 33
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Four photographs with negatives by Matilda Coxe Stevenson have been relocated to Photo Lot 23.
This collection includes photographs that have been removed from other collections in the National Anthropological Archives, including MS 4970, MS 4851, MS 4780, MS 4250, MS 4751, MS 4516, MS 4860, MS 4695, MS 4970, and MS 4558.
See others in:
Portraits of anthropologists, 1860s-1960s
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.

Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Copy prints of original photographs held by the American Philosophical Society, National Geographic Society, and National Archives cannot be copied. Copies may be obtained from these repositories.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 33, Portraits of anthropologists, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NAA.PhotoLot.33
See more items in:
Portraits of anthropologists
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw315fa853c-2f6b-4db6-9f01-be3010ee1f93
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-photolot-33
Online Media:

Portrait of staff of Bureau of American Ethnology

Names:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
Extent:
1 Photographic print (005 in x 010 in)
Culture:
Black American ?  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Photographs
Date:
DEC 1936
Scope and Contents:
Back Row; Wilding, Chappell, Powers, Nichols, Tucker, Ketchum, Heitkemper, Cassedy, Carter; Front Row; Searles, Steward, Hewitt, Stirling, Roberts, Michelson, Strong, Harrington
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.02872400
Local Note:
Black and white photoprint
Place:
Washington, DC
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.

Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Copy prints of original photographs held by the American Philosophical Society, National Geographic Society, and National Archives cannot be copied. Copies may be obtained from these repositories.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Collection Citation:
Photo lot 33, Portraits of anthropologists, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
Portraits of anthropologists
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw34c889b8f-f9f8-40ef-91be-48c5602edf6f
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-photolot-33-ref684
Online Media:

Library of Congress Copyright Office photographs of Native Americans, Series 2: Edward S. Curtis

Creator:
Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952  Search this
Extent:
16 Linear feet (23 document boxes, 5 oversize flat boxes)
1,950 Photographic prints (Gelatin Silver Chloride and Platinum)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Date:
1899-1927
Summary:
The collection comprises series 2 of Photo Lot 59, the Library of Congress Copyright Office photographs of Native Americans and contains the photographs of Edward S. Curtis, primarily from his major publication, The North American Indian.
Scope and Contents:
The Library of Congress Copyright Office photos, Series 2 comprise almost 2000 prints submitted by Edward S. Curtis to the copyright office. Most of the photographs relate to his major 20-volume publication, The North American Indian. Included are photographs from all of the volumes with the exception of Volume 20, which focuses on Alaska and the North American arctic, which is not represented.

The photographs include portraits of individuals, village and landscape views, dances and ceremonies, day to day activities, and events.

Please see Photo Lot 59, the Library of Congress Copyright Office photographs of Native Americans for other photographs in Photo Lot 59.
Arrangement:
The Collection forms series 2 of Photo Lot 59, the Library of Congress Copyright Office Photographs. It is arranged in 19 subseries based on the volumes of Curtis's publication, The North American Indian (NAI). There is one subseries, "Other photographs" that contain photos not related to NAI.
Biographical note:
Edward Sherriff Curtis (1868-1952) was an American photographer famous for his photographs of the indigenous peoples of North America. His work was highly influential in shaping a sympathetic yet romantic view of cultures that he and many others believed to be "vanishing." Over the course of 30 years, Curtis visited more than 80 Native American communities and published his photographs and ethnographies in the twenty-volume North American Indian (NAI) (1907-1930).

Curtis was born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, to Ellen and Johnson Curtis in 1868. In about 1874, his family moved to a farm in Cordova, Minnesota. At a young age, Curtis built a camera, and it is possible that he may have worked in a Minneapolis photography studio for a time. In 1887, Curtis and his father moved West and settled on a plot near what is now Port Orchard, Washington, with the rest of the family joining them the following year. When Johnson Curtis died within a month of the family's arrival, 20-year-old Curtis became the head of the family.

In 1891, Curtis moved to Seattle and bought into a photo studio with Rasmus Rothi. Less than a year later, he and Thomas Guptill formed "Curtis and Guptill, Photographers and Photoengravers." The endeavor became a premier portrait studio for Seattle society and found success in photoengraving for many local publications. In 1892, Curtis married Clara Phillips (1874-1932) and in 1893 their son Harold was born (1893-1988), followed by Elizabeth (Beth) (1896-1973), Florence (1899-1987) and Katherine (Billy) (1909-?). Around 1895, Curtis made his first photographs of local Native people, including the daughter of Duwamish chief Seattle: Kickisomlo or "Princess Angeline." Curtis submitted a series of his Native American photographs to the National Photographic Convention, and received an award in the category of "genre studies" for Homeward (later published in volume 9 of the NAI). In 1896, the entire Curtis family moved to Seattle, which included Curtis's mother, his siblings Eva and Asahel, Clara's sisters Susie and Nellie Phillips, and their cousin William Phillips. Most of the household worked in Curtis's studio along with other employees. Curtis became sole proprietor of the studio in 1897, which remained a popular portrait studio but also sold his scenic landscapes and views of the Seattle Area. Curtis also sent his brother Asahel to Alaska and the Yukon to photograph the Klondike Gold Rush, and sold those views as well. Asahel went on to become a well-known photographer in his own right, primarily working in the American Northwest.

Curtis was an avid outdoorsman and joined the Mazamas Club after his first of many climbs of Mount Rainier. On a climb in 1898, Curtis evidently met a group of scientists, including C. Hart Merriam, George Bird Grinnell, and Gifford Pinchot, who had lost their way on the mountain, and led them to safety. This encounter led to an invitation from Merriam for Curtis to accompany a group of over 30 well-known scientists, naturalists, and artists as the official photographer on a maritime expedition to the Alaskan coast. Funded by railroad magnate Edward Harriman, the Harriman Alaska Expedition left Seattle in May of 1899, and returned at the end of July. Curtis made around 5000 photographs during the trip, including photographs of the indigenous peoples they met as well as views of mountains, glaciers, and other natural features. Many of the photographs appeared in the expedition's 14 published volumes of their findings.

In 1900, Curtis accompanied Grinnell to Montana for a Blackfoot Sundance. Here, Curtis made numerous photographs and became interested in the idea of a larger project to document the Native peoples of North America. Almost immediately upon returning from the Sundance, Curtis set off for the Southwest to photograph Puebloan communities. By 1904, Curtis had already held at least one exhibit of his "Indian pictures" and his project to "form a comprehensive and permanent record of all the important tribes of the United States and Alaska that still retain to a considerable degree their primitive customs and traditions" (General Introduction, the NAI) had taken shape and already received some press coverage. With his fieldwork now increasing his absences from home, Curtis hired Adolph Muhr, former assistant to Omaha photographer Frank Rinehart, to help manage the Seattle studio.

In 1904, Curtis was a winner in the Ladies Home Journal "Prettiest Children In America" portrait contest. His photograph of Marie Fischer was selected as one of 112 that would be published and Fischer was one of 12 children selected from the photographs who would have their portrait painted by Walter Russell. Russell and Curtis made an acquaintance while Russell was in Seattle to paint Fischer's portrait, and not long afterwards, Russell contacted Curtis to make photographic studies of Theodore Roosevelt's children for portraits he would paint. Curtis subsequently photographed the entire Roosevelt family, and developed a social connection with the President. Several important outcomes came of this new friendship, including Roosevelt eventually writing the foreword to the NAI, as well as making introductions to influential people.

Key among these introductions was one to wealthy financier John Pierpont Morgan, in 1906. After a brief meeting with Curtis during which he viewed several of Curtis's photographs of Native Americans, Morgan agreed to finance the fieldwork for the NAI project for five years, at $15,000.00 per year. It was up to Curtis to cover publishing and promotion costs, with the publication being sold as a subscription. In return, Morgan would receive 25 sets of the 20-volume publication. The ambitious publication plan outlined 20 volumes of ethnological text, each to be illustrated with 75 photogravure prints made from acid-etched copper plates. Each volume would be accompanied by a companion portfolio of 35 large photogravures. With high-quality papers and fine binding, a set would cost $3000.00. 500 sets were planned. Under Morgan, the North American Indian, Inc. formed as body to administer the monies. Also around this time, Frederick Webb Hodge, Director of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology, agreed to edit the publications.

Curtis then began more systematic fieldwork, accompanied by a team of research assistants and Native interpreters. In 1906, Curtis hired William E. Myers, a former journalist, as a field assistant and stenographer. Over the years, Myers became the lead researcher on the project, making enormous contributions in collecting data and possibly doing the bulk of the writing for the first 18 volumes. Upon meeting a new community, Curtis and his team would work on gathering data dealing with all aspects of the community's life, including language, social and political organization, religion, food ways, measures and values, and many other topics. (See box 2 folder 1 in this collection for Curtis's list of topics.) Curtis and his assistants, especially Myers, brought books and papers to the field relating to the tribes they were currently concerned with, and often wrote from the field to anthropologists at the Bureau of American Ethnology and other institutions for information or publications. In addition to fieldnotes and photographs, the team also employed sound recording equipment, making thousands of recordings on wax cylinders. Curtis also often brought a motion picture camera, although few of his films have survived.

The first volume of the NAI was published towards the end of 1907. Already, Curtis was encountering difficulty in finding subscribers to the publication despite great praise in the press and among those who could afford the volumes. Curtis spent progressively more of his time outside the field season promoting the project through lectures and in 1911, presenting his "Picture Musicale"—a lecture illustrated with lantern slides and accompanied by an original musical score—in major cities. After the initial five funded years, only eight of the twenty volumes had been completed. However, Morgan agreed to continue support for the fieldwork and publication continued.

Starting in 1910, Curtis and his team worked among the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation on Vancouver Island, and in 1913 began to develop a documentary film project featuring the community in Alert Bay. In 1914, Curtis produced the feature-length film, In the Land of the Headhunters. The film showcased an all-indigenous cast and included an original musical score. Screened in New York and Seattle, it received high praise. However after this initial success, it did not receive the attention Curtis had hoped for, and resulted in financial loss.

Meanwhile, Curtis's prolonged absences from home had taken a toll on his marriage and in 1919 Clara and Edward divorced. The Seattle studio was awarded to Clara, and Curtis moved to Los Angeles, opening a photography studio with his daughter Beth and her husband Manford "Mag" Magnuson. Daughters Florence and Katherine came to Los Angeles sometime later. Curtis continued with fieldwork and promotion of the project, and in 1922 volume 12 of the NAI was published. Also in 1922, Curtis was accompanied during the field season in California by his daughter Florence Curtis Graybill, the first time a family member had gone to the field with him since the Curtis children were very small.

Curtis continued to push the project and publications along, yet never without financial struggle and he picked up work in Hollywood as both a still and motion picture photographer. John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., continued to provide funding for the fieldwork in memory of his father, but with the various financial upsets of the 1910s and 1920s, Curtis had a difficult time getting subscribers on board. In 1926, Myers, feeling the strain, regretfully resigned after the completion of volume 18. Anthropologist Frank Speck recommended Stewart Eastwood, a recent graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, to replace Myers as ethnologist for the final two volumes.

In 1927, Curtis and his team, along with his daughter Beth Curtis Magnuson, headed north from Seattle to Alaska and Canada on a final field season. Harsh weather and a hip injury made the trip difficult for Curtis, but he was very satisfied with the season's work. The party returned to Seattle, and upon arrival Curtis was arrested for unpaid alimony. He returned exhausted to Los Angeles, and in 1930 the final two volumes of NAI were published without fanfare. Curtis spent the next two years recovering from physical and mental exhaustion. Beth and Mag continued to run the Curtis studio in LA, but for the most part, Curtis had set down his camera for good. With the NAI behind him and his health recovered, Curtis pursued various interests and employment, eventually, settling down on a farm outside Los Angeles. he later moved in with Beth and Mag. Curtis died at home in 1952.

Sources Cited Davis, Barbara. Edward S. Curtis: the life and times of a shadowcatcher. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1984. Gidley, Mick. The North American Indian, Incorporated. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Related Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds additional Curtis material in Photo Lot 59, the Library of Congress Copyright Offie photographs, MS 2000-18, Curtis's research into Battle of Little Bighorn 2010-28, the Edward Curtis papers and photographs, 2022-12, Christopher Cardozo collection of Edward S. Curtis photographs and ephemera, and 2022-04, Edward S. Curtis photogravure printing plates.

The Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University holds Curtis's wax cylinder audio recordings from 1907-1913.

The Braun Research Library at the Autry Museum of the American West holds the Frederick Webb Hodge papers (1888-1931), which contain substantial correspondence from Curtis. The Braun also holds a small amount of Curtis papers and photographs, including some of Curtis's cyanotypes.

The Getty Research Institute holds the Edward S. Curtis papers (1900-1978), which include the original manuscript scores for the Curtis Picture Musicale and film In the Land of the Headhunters.

The Palace of the Governors at the New Mexico History Museum holds original Curtis negatives pertaining to the southwest.

The Pierpont Morgan Library holds the Edward S. Curtis papers (1906-1947), which contain the records of the North American Indian, Inc., as well as Curtis's correspondence to librarian, and later library director, Belle Da Costa Greene. The library also holds a large collection of Curtis's lantern slides, used in his Picture Musicale.

The Seattle Public Library holds correspondence of Curtis to Librarian Harriet Leitch (1948-1951), pertaining to his career.

The Seaver Center for Western History Research at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History holds collection GC 1143, which contains Curtis's field notes as well as manuscript drafts for the North American Indian.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian holds NMAI.AC.080, the Edward S. Curtis photogravure plates and proofs, as well as NMAI.AC.053, the Mary Harriman Rumsey collection of Harriman Alaska Expedition photographs.

The University of Washington Libraries Special Collections holds the Edward S. Curtis papers (1893-1983). Additionally, the Burke Museum holds papers and photographs of Edmund Schwinke, which relate to Curtis's work with the Kwakwaka'wakw community.
Provenance:
This set of Edward S. Curtis photographs form part of the Library of Congress Copyright Office photographs collection. The collection was formed from submissions made to the Library of Congress as part of the copyright registration process. Two copies of each item were required. Eventually the copyright submission photographs were sent to the Prints and Photographs division at the Library of Congress. In the late 1950s, arrangements were made to transfer the duplicate set of photographs relating to Native Americans to the Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. On-site access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
Photo Lot 59, Library of Congress Copyright Office photographs, Series 2: Edward S. Curtis, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NAA.PhotoLot.59.Series2
See more items in:
Library of Congress Copyright Office photographs of Native Americans, Series 2: Edward S. Curtis
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3331cd47e-5933-44e6-a961-6511262d3f21
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-photolot-59-series2

Christopher Cardozo Collection of Edward S. Curtis papers and photographs

Creator:
Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952  Search this
Names:
Harriman Alaska Expedition (1899)  Search this
Former owner:
Cardozo, Christopher  Search this
Extent:
12.5 Linear feet
Culture:
Acoma Pueblo  Search this
Apache  Search this
Assiniboine (Stoney)  Search this
Niitsitapii (Blackfoot/Blackfeet)  Search this
Sicangu Lakota (Brulé Sioux)  Search this
Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne)  Search this
Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke)  Search this
Duwamish (Dwamish)  Search this
Hopi Pueblo  Search this
Hupa  Search this
Klamath  Search this
Jicarilla Apache  Search this
Kootenai (Kutenai)  Search this
Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl)  Search this
Diné (Navajo)  Search this
Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux)  Search this
Coast Salish  Search this
Taos Pueblo  Search this
San Ildefonso Pueblo  Search this
Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo)  Search this
Wishram  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1899-1930
Summary:
The collection comprises Edward S. Curtis original and copy negatives, prints, and photogravures relating to the Harriman Alaska Expedition and Curtis's 20 volume publication, the North American Indian (NAI), as well as ephemera and one gold-tone of Fort Lapawi.
Scope and Contents:
The Christopher Cardozo collection of Edward S. Curtis papers and photographs primarily relate to Curtis's opus, the North American Indian, and also the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition. Papers in the collection include promotional ephemera for the NAI as well as articles by Curtis and others. Photographic material includes original and copy negatives, prints, two Harriman Alaska Expedition souvenir albums, and one gold-tone of Fort Lapawi.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in two series: 1. Papers; and 2. Photographs and photogravures.
Biographical / Historical:
Edward Sherriff Curtis (1868-1952) was an American photographer famous for his photographs of the indigenous peoples of North America. His work was highly influential in shaping a sympathetic yet romantic view of cultures that he and many others believed to be "vanishing." Over the course of 30 years, Curtis visited more than 80 Native American communities and published his photographs and ethnographies in the twenty-volume North American Indian (NAI) (1907-1930).

Curtis was born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, to Ellen and Johnson Curtis in 1868. In about 1874, his family moved to a farm in Cordova, Minnesota. At a young age, Curtis built a camera, and it is possible that he may have worked in a Minneapolis photography studio for a time. In 1887, Curtis and his father moved West and settled on a plot near what is now Port Orchard, Washington, with the rest of the family joining them the following year. When Johnson Curtis died within a month of the family's arrival, 20-year-old Curtis became the head of the family.

In 1891, Curtis moved to Seattle and bought into a photo studio with Rasmus Rothi. Less than a year later, he and Thomas Guptill formed "Curtis and Guptill, Photographers and Photoengravers." The endeavor became a premier portrait studio for Seattle society and found success in photoengraving for many local publications. In 1892, Curtis married Clara Phillips (1874-1932) and in 1893 their son Harold was born (1893-1988), followed by Elizabeth (Beth) (1896-1973), Florence (1899-1987) and Katherine (Billy) (1909-?). Around 1895, Curtis made his first photographs of local Native people, including the daughter of Duwamish chief Seattle: Kickisomlo or "Princess Angeline." Curtis submitted a series of his Native American photographs to the National Photographic Convention, and received an award in the category of "genre studies" for Homeward (later published in volume 9 of the NAI). In 1896, the entire Curtis family moved to Seattle, which included Curtis's mother, his siblings Eva and Asahel, Clara's sisters Susie and Nellie Phillips, and their cousin William Phillips. Most of the household worked in Curtis's studio along with other employees. Curtis became sole proprietor of the studio in 1897, which remained a popular portrait studio but also sold his scenic landscapes and views of the Seattle Area. Curtis also sent his brother Asahel to Alaska and the Yukon to photograph the Klondike Gold Rush, and sold those views as well. Asahel went on to become a well-known photographer in his own right, primarily working in the American Northwest.

Curtis was an avid outdoorsman and joined the Mazamas Club after his first of many climbs of Mount Rainier. On a climb in 1898, Curtis evidently met a group of scientists, including C. Hart Merriam, George Bird Grinnell, and Gifford Pinchot, who had lost their way on the mountain, and led them to safety. This encounter led to an invitation from Merriam for Curtis to accompany a group of over 30 well-known scientists, naturalists, and artists as the official photographer on a maritime expedition to the Alaskan coast. Funded by railroad magnate Edward Harriman, the Harriman Alaska Expedition left Seattle in May of 1899, and returned at the end of July. Curtis made around 5000 photographs during the trip, including photographs of the indigenous peoples they met as well as views of mountains, glaciers, and other natural features. Many of the photographs appeared in the expedition's 14 published volumes of their findings.

In 1900, Curtis accompanied Grinnell to Montana for a Blackfoot Sundance. Here, Curtis made numerous photographs and became interested in the idea of a larger project to document the Native peoples of North America. Almost immediately upon returning from the Sundance, Curtis set off for the Southwest to photograph Puebloan communities. By 1904, Curtis had already held at least one exhibit of his "Indian pictures" and his project to "form a comprehensive and permanent record of all the important tribes of the United States and Alaska that still retain to a considerable degree their primitive customs and traditions" (General Introduction, the NAI) had taken shape and already received some press coverage. With his fieldwork now increasing his absences from home, Curtis hired Adolph Muhr, former assistant to Omaha photographer Frank Rinehart, to help manage the Seattle studio.

In 1904, Curtis was a winner in the Ladies Home Journal "Prettiest Children In America" portrait contest. His photograph of Marie Fischer was selected as one of 112 that would be published and Fischer was one of 12 children selected from the photographs who would have their portrait painted by Walter Russell. Russell and Curtis made an acquaintance while Russell was in Seattle to paint Fischer's portrait, and not long afterwards, Russell contacted Curtis to make photographic studies of Theodore Roosevelt's children for portraits he would paint. Curtis subsequently photographed the entire Roosevelt family, and developed a social connection with the President. Several important outcomes came of this new friendship, including Roosevelt eventually writing the foreword to the NAI, as well as making introductions to influential people.

Key among these introductions was one to wealthy financier John Pierpont Morgan, in 1906. After a brief meeting with Curtis during which he viewed several of Curtis's photographs of Native Americans, Morgan agreed to finance the fieldwork for the NAI project for five years, at $15,000.00 per year. It was up to Curtis to cover publishing and promotion costs, with the publication being sold as a subscription. In return, Morgan would receive 25 sets of the 20-volume publication. The ambitious publication plan outlined 20 volumes of ethnological text, each to be illustrated with 75 photogravure prints made from acid-etched copper plates. Each volume would be accompanied by a companion portfolio of 35 large photogravures. With high-quality papers and fine binding, a set would cost $3000.00. 500 sets were planned. Under Morgan, the North American Indian, Inc. formed as body to administer the monies. Also around this time, Frederick Webb Hodge, Director of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology, agreed to edit the publications.

Curtis then began more systematic fieldwork, accompanied by a team of research assistants and Native interpreters. In 1906, Curtis hired William E. Myers, a former journalist, as a field assistant and stenographer. Over the years, Myers became the lead researcher on the project, making enormous contributions in collecting data and possibly doing the bulk of the writing for the first 18 volumes. Upon meeting a new community, Curtis and his team would work on gathering data dealing with all aspects of the community's life, including language, social and political organization, religion, food ways, measures and values, and many other topics. (See box 2 folder 1 in this collection for Curtis's list of topics.) Curtis and his assistants, especially Myers, brought books and papers to the field relating to the tribes they were currently concerned with, and often wrote from the field to anthropologists at the Bureau of American Ethnology and other institutions for information or publications. In addition to fieldnotes and photographs, the team also employed sound recording equipment, making thousands of recordings on wax cylinders. Curtis also often brought a motion picture camera, although few of his films have survived.

The first volume of the NAI was published towards the end of 1907. Already, Curtis was encountering difficulty in finding subscribers to the publication despite great praise in the press and among those who could afford the volumes. Curtis spent progressively more of his time outside the field season promoting the project through lectures and in 1911, presenting his "Picture Musicale"—a lecture illustrated with lantern slides and accompanied by an original musical score—in major cities. After the initial five funded years, only eight of the twenty volumes had been completed. However, Morgan agreed to continue support for the fieldwork and publication continued.

Starting in 1910, Curtis and his team worked among the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation on Vancouver Island, and in 1913 began to develop a documentary film project featuring the community in Alert Bay. In 1914, Curtis produced the feature-length film, In the Land of the Headhunters. The film showcased an all-indigenous cast and included an original musical score. Screened in New York and Seattle, it received high praise. However after this initial success, it did not receive the attention Curtis had hoped for, and resulted in financial loss.

Meanwhile, Curtis's prolonged absences from home had taken a toll on his marriage and in 1919 Clara and Edward divorced. The Seattle studio was awarded to Clara, and Curtis moved to Los Angeles, opening a photography studio with his daughter Beth and her husband Manford "Mag" Magnuson. Daughters Florence and Katherine came to Los Angeles sometime later. Curtis continued with fieldwork and promotion of the project, and in 1922 volume 12 of the NAI was published. Also in 1922, Curtis was accompanied during the field season in California by his daughter Florence Curtis Graybill, the first time a family member had gone to the field with him since the Curtis children were very small.

Curtis continued to push the project and publications along, yet never without financial struggle and he picked up work in Hollywood as both a still and motion picture photographer. John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., continued to provide funding for the fieldwork in memory of his father, but with the various financial upsets of the 1910s and 1920s, Curtis had a difficult time getting subscribers on board. In 1926, Myers, feeling the strain, regretfully resigned after the completion of volume 18. Anthropologist Frank Speck recommended Stewart Eastwood, a recent graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, to replace Myers as ethnologist for the final two volumes.

In 1927, Curtis and his team, along with his daughter Beth Curtis Magnuson, headed north from Seattle to Alaska and Canada on a final field season. Harsh weather and a hip injury made the trip difficult for Curtis, but he was very satisfied with the season's work. The party returned to Seattle, and upon arrival Curtis was arrested for unpaid alimony. He returned exhausted to Los Angeles, and in 1930 the final two volumes of NAI were published without fanfare. Curtis spent the next two years recovering from physical and mental exhaustion. Beth and Mag continued to run the Curtis studio in LA, but for the most part, Curtis had set down his camera for good. With the NAI behind him and his health recovered, Curtis pursued various interests and employment, eventually, settling down on a farm outside Los Angeles. he later moved in with Beth and Mag. Curtis died at home in 1952.

Sources Cited Davis, Barbara. Edward S. Curtis: the life and times of a shadowcatcher. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1984. Gidley, Mick. The North American Indian, Incorporated. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Christopher Cardozo (1948-2021) was a major collector and dealer in Edward S. Curtis photography.
Related Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds additional Curtis papers and photographs in the Edward S. Curtis papers and photographs, "MS 2000-18, the Edward Curtis investigation of the battle of Little Bighorn"

The Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University holds Curtis's wax cylinder audio recordings from 1907-1913.

The Braun Research Library at the Autry Museum of the American West holds the Frederick Webb Hodge papers (1888-1931), which contain substantial correspondence from Curtis. The Braun also holds a small amount of Curtis papers and photographs, including some of Curtis's cyanotypes.

The Getty Research Institute holds the Edward S. Curtis papers (1900-1978), which include the original manuscript scores for the Curtis Picture Musicale and film In the Land of the Headhunters.

The Palace of the Governors at the New Mexico History Museum holds original Curtis negatives pertaining to the southwest.

The Pierpont Morgan Library holds the Edward S. Curtis papers (1906-1947), which contain the records of the North American Indian, Inc., as well as Curtis's correspondence to librarian, and later library director, Belle Da Costa Greene. The library also holds a large collection of Curtis's lantern slides, used in his Picture Musicale.

The Seattle Public Library holds correspondence of Curtis to Librarian Harriet Leitch (1948-1951), pertaining to his career.

The Seaver Center for Western History Research at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History holds collection GC 1143, which contains Curtis's field notes as well as manuscript drafts for the North American Indian.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian holds NMAI.AC.080, the Edward S. Curtis photogravure plates and proofs, as well as NMAI.AC.053, the Mary Harriman Rumsey collection of Harriman Alaska Expedition photographs.

The University of Washington Libraries Special Collections holds the Edward S. Curtis papers (1893-1983). Additionally, the Burke Museum holds papers and photographs of Edmund Schwinke, which relate to Curtis's work with the Kwakwaka'wakw community.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Julie Cardozo in 2022.
Restrictions:
Viewing of the photographic negatives requires advance notice and the permission of the Photo Archivist.

Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Identifier:
NAA.2022-12
See more items in:
Christopher Cardozo Collection of Edward S. Curtis papers and photographs
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw36944a23c-3be7-4086-bab0-4696f3aab866
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-2022-12

Edward S. Curtis papers and photographs

Creator:
Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952  Search this
Extent:
86 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1895-2001
bulk 1898-1951
Scope and Contents:
The Edward S. Curtis papers and photographs, circa 1895-2001 (bulk 1898-1951) primarily relate to Curtis's work on his opus, the North American Indian (NAI), although other subjects are documented as well. The papers relate closely to the Edward S. Curtis papers at the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections (UW), as that collection was donated by Curtis's daughter Florence Graybill and appears to be part of the same body of materials that was maintained by Curtis, and after his death, by Florence. Occasionally a correspondence exchange or manuscript draft is divided between the National Anthropological Archives and UW. Also found in both collections are notes, mostly dated 1951, in Curtis's handwriting on slips of paper or the document itself that gives an explanation of the document.

The collection includes correspondence, research notes, NAI files and promotional material, writings and memoirs, a small amount of material relating to a complaint regarding his reporting in NAI of certain Pueblo ceremonies, and correspondence and other documents relating to his gold mining interests. Also included are papers of Florence Graybill, who published on Curtis after his death and maintained contacts with various individuals and entities involved in Curtis exhibits, publications, and sales.

The correspondence exchanges are almost exclusively NAI related and document the relationships Curtis had with various influential people, including Gifford Pinchot, Joseph Blethen, Jacob Riis, William Farabee, Smithsonian scholars Frederick Webb Hodge and Matilda Coxe Stevenson, and the immediate and extended family of Theodore Roosevelt. Included are letters of introduction for Curtis as he sought to promote his work.

The research notes consist of a small mixture of writings on field experiences as well as maps used during his fieldwork (the bulk of Curtis's fieldnotes and NAI manuscripts are at the Seaver Center in the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History). The NAI files chiefly contain material promoting the work, such as published reviews, articles, and ephemera, but there are a few North American Indian Inc. business records (the bulk of the business records are maintained at the Pierpont Morgan Library). Of note is a lengthy annual report for the North American Indian, Inc., in which Curtis explains difficulties encountered in the fieldwork and volume publication. Related to his NAI work are letters and other materials documenting a 1934 complaint from Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior on Curtis's reporting of certain Pueblo ceremonies, as well as Curtis's response.

The writings comprise manuscript drafts on various topics. Most are short, stand-alone stories relating to his NAI work, often relaying a story about his own experiences. Similar stories can be found in Florence Graybill's papers, as she published some of them after his death. Also part of the writings are drafts for several chapters of Curtis's unpublished memoir, "As it Was."

Curtis's interest in gold mining is represented in correspondence and other material dating from 1938-1950. Most of the letters are between Curtis and his son Harold. Curtis's invention of a concentrator for separating fine gold from placer tailings is also documented in photographs and drawings.

Florence Graybill's papers pertain to writings, talks, and projects relating to Curtis after his death. Included are publication files for Graybill's biography of Curtis written with Victor Boesen, Visions of a Vanishing Race, as well as other of her articles and book reviews. Graybill's correspondence reveals her commitment to assist scholars and others interested in researching and exhibiting Curtis material, as well as her communication with individuals having a commercial interest in Curtis. Also present are Graybill's lecture notes for talks given, and articles and newspaper features on Curtis written by others.

The photographs in this collection primarily relate to Curtis's NAI work (1898-1927) and are a mix of original and working copy negatives, prints, and transparencies. The original negatives are remarkable in that they reveal some of Curtis's working methods in crafting his images through pencil and other enhancements, as well as showing removal of unwanted items from the image. Also of note are two original logbooks used for recording negatives from approximately 1895-1916. The majority of the prints appear to be silver gelatin prints made for reference; however, there are a fair number of platinum prints as well as several blue-toned silver prints in the collection. There are only a few cyanotypes.

Among the photographs is a deerskin-bound photograph album containing Harriman Alaska Expedition and NAI photographs, representing some of Curtis's earliest Native American subjects. These include images of people from the Puget Sound area as well as from his 1900 trip to the Blackfoot reservation. There are no annotations in the album; however, tucked among the pages are a few small notes of identification in Curtis's handwriting.

Photographs documenting other subjects are also present to a lesser degree. Among these are photographs of Curtis's Seattle photography studio, a 1915 Grand Canyon trip, hop field workers in the Puget Sound area, and Curtis's illustrations for Marah Ryan's book Flute of the Gods. Additionally, the collection contains a number of photographs of Curtis, his children, and portraits of various individuals including Theodore Roosevelt and actor Anna May Wong.
Arrangement:
The Edward S. Curtis papers and photographs are arranged into the following 10 series:

Series 1: Biographical information, 1919-1952

Series 2: Correspondence, 1904-1951

Series 3: Research notes, 1900-1930, undated

Series 4: North American Indian, circa 1906-1920

Series 5: Writings, 1906, 1948, undated

Series 6: Complaint regarding Curtis's reporting of Pueblo ceremonies, 1924-1935

Series 7: Gold mining, 1938-1950

Series 8. Florence Curtis Graybill papers, 1948-2001

Series 9: Photographs, circa 1896-1927

Series 10: Duplicate material, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Edward Sherriff Curtis (1868-1952) was an American photographer famous for his photographs of the indigenous peoples of North America. His work was highly influential in shaping a sympathetic yet romantic view of cultures that he and many others believed to be "vanishing." Over the course of 30 years, Curtis visited more than 80 Native American communities and published his photographs and ethnographies in the twenty-volume North American Indian (NAI) (1907-1930).

Curtis was born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, to Ellen and Johnson Curtis in 1868. In about 1874, his family moved to a farm in Cordova, Minnesota. At a young age, Curtis built a camera, and it is possible that he may have worked in a Minneapolis photography studio for a time. In 1887, Curtis and his father moved West and settled on a plot near what is now Port Orchard, Washington, with the rest of the family joining them the following year. When Johnson Curtis died within a month of the family's arrival, 20-year-old Curtis became the head of the family.

In 1891, Curtis moved to Seattle and bought into a photo studio with Rasmus Rothi. Less than a year later, he and Thomas Guptill formed "Curtis and Guptill, Photographers and Photoengravers." The endeavor became a premier portrait studio for Seattle society and found success in photoengraving for many local publications. In 1892, Curtis married Clara Phillips (1874-1932) and in 1893 their son Harold was born (1893-1988), followed by Elizabeth (Beth) (1896-1973), Florence (1899-1987) and Katherine (Billy) (1909-?). Around 1895, Curtis made his first photographs of local Native people, including the daughter of Duwamish chief Seattle: Kickisomlo or "Princess Angeline." Curtis submitted a series of his Native American photographs to the National Photographic Convention, and received an award in the category of "genre studies" for Homeward (later published in volume 9 of the NAI). In 1896, the entire Curtis family moved to Seattle, which included Curtis's mother, his siblings Eva and Asahel, Clara's sisters Susie and Nellie Phillips, and their cousin William Phillips. Most of the household worked in Curtis's studio along with other employees. Curtis became sole proprietor of the studio in 1897, which remained a popular portrait studio but also sold his scenic landscapes and views of the Seattle Area. Curtis also sent his brother Asahel to Alaska and the Yukon to photograph the Klondike Gold Rush, and sold those views as well. Asahel went on to become a well-known photographer in his own right, primarily working in the American Northwest.

Curtis was an avid outdoorsman and joined the Mazamas Club after his first of many climbs of Mount Rainier. On a climb in 1898, Curtis evidently met a group of scientists, including C. Hart Merriam, George Bird Grinnell, and Gifford Pinchot, who had lost their way on the mountain, and led them to safety. This encounter led to an invitation from Merriam for Curtis to accompany a group of over 30 well-known scientists, naturalists, and artists as the official photographer on a maritime expedition to the Alaskan coast. Funded by railroad magnate Edward Harriman, the Harriman Alaska Expedition left Seattle in May of 1899, and returned at the end of July. Curtis made around 5000 photographs during the trip, including photographs of the indigenous peoples they met as well as views of mountains, glaciers, and other natural features. Many of the photographs appeared in the expedition's 14 published volumes of their findings.

In 1900, Curtis accompanied Grinnell to Montana for a Blackfoot Sundance. Here, Curtis made numerous photographs and became interested in the idea of a larger project to document the Native peoples of North America. Almost immediately upon returning from the Sundance, Curtis set off for the Southwest to photograph Puebloan communities. By 1904, Curtis had already held at least one exhibit of his "Indian pictures" and his project to "form a comprehensive and permanent record of all the important tribes of the United States and Alaska that still retain to a considerable degree their primitive customs and traditions" (General Introduction, the NAI) had taken shape and already received some press coverage. With his fieldwork now increasing his absences from home, Curtis hired Adolph Muhr, former assistant to Omaha photographer Frank Rinehart, to help manage the Seattle studio.

In 1904, Curtis was a winner in the Ladies Home Journal "Prettiest Children In America" portrait contest. His photograph of Marie Fischer was selected as one of 112 that would be published and Fischer was one of 12 children selected from the photographs who would have their portrait painted by Walter Russell. Russell and Curtis made an acquaintance while Russell was in Seattle to paint Fischer's portrait, and not long afterwards, Russell contacted Curtis to make photographic studies of Theodore Roosevelt's children for portraits he would paint. Curtis subsequently photographed the entire Roosevelt family, and developed a social connection with the President. Several important outcomes came of this new friendship, including Roosevelt eventually writing the foreword to the NAI, as well as making introductions to influential people.

Key among these introductions was one to wealthy financier John Pierpont Morgan, in 1906. After a brief meeting with Curtis during which he viewed several of Curtis's photographs of Native Americans, Morgan agreed to finance the fieldwork for the NAI project for five years, at $15,000.00 per year. It was up to Curtis to cover publishing and promotion costs, with the publication being sold as a subscription. In return, Morgan would receive 25 sets of the 20-volume publication. The ambitious publication plan outlined 20 volumes of ethnological text, each to be illustrated with 75 photogravure prints made from acid-etched copper plates. Each volume would be accompanied by a companion portfolio of 35 large photogravures. With high-quality papers and fine binding, a set would cost $3000.00. 500 sets were planned. Under Morgan, the North American Indian, Inc. formed as body to administer the monies. Also around this time, Frederick Webb Hodge, Director of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology, agreed to edit the publications.

Curtis then began more systematic fieldwork, accompanied by a team of research assistants and Native interpreters. In 1906, Curtis hired William E. Myers, a former journalist, as a field assistant and stenographer. Over the years, Myers became the lead researcher on the project, making enormous contributions in collecting data and possibly doing the bulk of the writing for the first 18 volumes. Upon meeting a new community, Curtis and his team would work on gathering data dealing with all aspects of the community's life, including language, social and political organization, religion, food ways, measures and values, and many other topics. (See box 2 folder 1 in this collection for Curtis's list of topics.) Curtis and his assistants, especially Myers, brought books and papers to the field relating to the tribes they were currently concerned with, and often wrote from the field to anthropologists at the Bureau of American Ethnology and other institutions for information or publications. In addition to fieldnotes and photographs, the team also employed sound recording equipment, making thousands of recordings on wax cylinders. Curtis also often brought a motion picture camera, although few of his films have survived.

The first volume of the NAI was published towards the end of 1907. Already, Curtis was encountering difficulty in finding subscribers to the publication despite great praise in the press and among those who could afford the volumes. Curtis spent progressively more of his time outside the field season promoting the project through lectures and in 1911, presenting his "Picture Musicale"—a lecture illustrated with lantern slides and accompanied by an original musical score—in major cities. After the initial five funded years, only eight of the twenty volumes had been completed. However, Morgan agreed to continue support for the fieldwork and publication continued.

Starting in 1910, Curtis and his team worked among the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation on Vancouver Island, and in 1913 began to develop a documentary film project featuring the community in Alert Bay. In 1914, Curtis produced the feature-length film, In the Land of the Headhunters. The film showcased an all-indigenous cast and included an original musical score. Screened in New York and Seattle, it received high praise. However after this initial success, it did not receive the attention Curtis had hoped for, and resulted in financial loss.

Meanwhile, Curtis's prolonged absences from home had taken a toll on his marriage and in 1919 Clara and Edward divorced. The Seattle studio was awarded to Clara, and Curtis moved to Los Angeles, opening a photography studio with his daughter Beth and her husband Manford "Mag" Magnuson. Daughters Florence and Katherine came to Los Angeles sometime later. Curtis continued with fieldwork and promotion of the project, and in 1922 volume 12 of the NAI was published. Also in 1922, Curtis was accompanied during the field season in California by his daughter Florence Curtis Graybill, the first time a family member had gone to the field with him since the Curtis children were very small.

Curtis continued to push the project and publications along, yet never without financial struggle and he picked up work in Hollywood as both a still and motion picture photographer. John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., continued to provide funding for the fieldwork in memory of his father, but with the various financial upsets of the 1910s and 1920s, Curtis had a difficult time getting subscribers on board. In 1926, Myers, feeling the strain, regretfully resigned after the completion of volume 18. Anthropologist Frank Speck recommended Stewart Eastwood, a recent graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, to replace Myers as ethnologist for the final two volumes.

In 1927, Curtis and his team, along with his daughter Beth Curtis Magnuson, headed north from Seattle to Alaska and Canada on a final field season. Harsh weather and a hip injury made the trip difficult for Curtis, but he was very satisfied with the season's work. The party returned to Seattle, and upon arrival Curtis was arrested for unpaid alimony. He returned exhausted to Los Angeles, and in 1930 the final two volumes of NAI were published without fanfare. Curtis spent the next two years recovering from physical and mental exhaustion. Beth and Mag continued to run the Curtis studio in LA, but for the most part, Curtis had set down his camera for good. With the NAI behind him and his health recovered, Curtis pursued various interests and employment; he continued to do some work in Hollywood, including working on The Plainsman, starring Gary Cooper.

In 1933 Curtis was publicly criticized by John Collier, the Commissioner for Indian Affairs for some of the statements he had made on certain Pueblo ceremonies in the NAI volume 16, published in 1924. In September of 1934 Curtis received a letter from Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior regarding the claims published in volume 16, demanding a printed apology to be distributed among the text of the book as well as removal of the offending text from any undistributed copies of the publication. Curtis spent months writing and compiling supporting documentation in his defense, which he submitted to Ickes in January 1935. Also in 1935, the Morgan estate liquidated the North American Indian, Inc. and sold the remaining sets of the NAI volumes and unbound pages, photogravures, and copper printing plates along with the rights to the material to Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat for $1000.00.

Curtis's interest in gold prospecting took a front seat in the mid-1930s. While he scouted for potentially profitable mines in Northern California, his friend Ted Shell and possibly his son Harold sought investors. However, nothing ever fully panned out, though Curtis did design and build a concentrator for separating fine gold from placer tailings. He later sold the patent for ten dollars. Eventually, Curtis settled down on a farm outside Los Angeles, moving later to live with Beth and Mag, where he stayed until his death. In the mid to late 1940s Curtis began to write his memoirs. His daughter Florence visited him regularly and typed as Curtis dictated his recollections, and at some point he completed a draft of a memoir titled "As it Was." He also went through his papers and annotated or tucked notes among the correspondence and other material giving a brief explanation of the item or its context. Curtis died at home in 1952.

Prior to his death, Curtis had been out of the public eye for some years, and the NAI had slipped into relative obscurity. The Curtis studio in Los Angeles continued to sell Curtis's Native American photographs, and Florence gave occasional talks on her father, but it wasn't until the early 1970s that Curtis's work saw a renewed interest. This renaissance took place largely in the art photography market, but Curtis's biography and the NAI were also getting treatment in publications. Florence Curtis Graybill partnered with Victor Boesen to produce two narrative histories of Curtis and his work, and these were followed by many others. Florence continued to publish short works on her father for many years, and stayed in touch with numerous people involved in projects both scholarly and commercial that related to Curtis's work.

Sources Cited

Davis, Barbara. Edward S. Curtis: the life and times of a shadowcatcher. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1984.

Gidley, Mick. The North American Indian, Incorporated. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Chronology

1868 -- Curtis is born in Whitewater, Wisconsin

circa 1874 -- Curtis family moves to Cordova, Minnesota

1887 -- Moves with his father to Washington territory to be joined by his mother and siblings in 1888

1891 -- With Rasmus Rothi forms Rothi & Curtis photography studio in Seattle

1892 -- Marries Clara Phillips With Thomas Guptill forms Curtis & Guptill Photographers and Photoengravers in Seattle

circa 1895 -- Becomes interested in photographing the indigenous people of the area

1897 -- Guptill leaves, Curtis establishes himself as Edward S. Curtis, Photographer and Photoengraver

1898 -- Meets C. Hart Merriam, George Bird Grinnell, and Gifford Pinchot during climb on Mount Rainier Receives first place award from the National Photographic Convention in the "Genre Studies" for his photographs of Native Americans

1899 -- Joins Harriman Alaska Expedition as official photographer at request of C. Hart Merriam and George Bird Grinnell

1900 -- Accompanies George Bird Grinnell to Blackfoot reservation in Montana for Sundance Becomes interested in a major project to document Native American tribes Travels to Arizona to photograph Hopi communities

circa 1902 -- Travels again to the southwest to photograph Native communities

1903 -- Holds first formal exhibit of Native American photographs in his studio

1904 -- Publicly announces intention to produce major publication on Native Americans Portrait entered in the Ladies Home Journal "Prettiest Children in America" contest is selected for publication and as a result, Curtis is asked to photograph President Theodore Roosevelt's family

circa 1904-1906 -- Conducts fieldwork among Native communities of the southwest

1906 -- Meets with J. P. Morgan, who agrees to finance the fieldwork for Curtis's project Hires William E. Myers as researcher and writer for the project

1907 -- Volume 1 of NAI is published

1908 -- Volumes 2 and 3 of NAI are published

1909 -- Volumes 4 and 5 of NAI are published

1911 -- Volumes 6, 7, and 8 of NAI are published Presents and tours the "Picture Musicale"

1913 -- J. P. Morgan dies, but his son agrees to continue to provide support for NAI Volume 9 of NAI is published

1914 -- Releases film In the Land of the Headhunters

1915 -- Volume 10 of NAI is published

1916 -- Volume 11 of NAI is published

1919 -- Edward and Clara Curtis divorce and the Seattle studio is awarded to Clara Moves to Los Angeles and opens new studio with daughter Beth and her husband, Manford Magnuson

1922 -- Volume 12 of NAI is published Conducts fieldwork in California with daughter Florence Curtis Graybill

1924 -- Volumes 13 and 14 of NAI are published

1926 -- Volumes 15, 16, and 17 of NAI are published William E. Myers resigns as chief writer and ethnologist of NAI

1927 -- Conducts fieldwork in Alaska and Canada for final NAI volume with daughter Beth Curtis Magnuson

1928 -- Volume 18 of NAI is published

1930 -- Volumes 19 and 20 of NAI are published

circa 1930-1950 -- Applies himself to various interests, especially gold mining

1952 -- Dies in Los Angeles at the home of Beth and Manford Magnuson
Related Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds additional Curtis papers and photographs in MS 2000-18, the Edward Curtis investigation of the battle of Little Bighorn and Photo Lot 59, the Library of Congress copyright prints collection.

The Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University holds Curtis's wax cylinder audio recordings from 1907-1913.

The Braun Research Library at the Autry Museum of the American West holds the Frederick Webb Hodge papers (1888-1931), which contain substantial correspondence from Curtis. The Braun also holds a small amount of Curtis papers and photographs, including some of Curtis's cyanotypes.

The Getty Research Institute holds the Edward S. Curtis papers (1900-1978), which include the original manuscript scores for the Curtis Picture Musicale and film In the Land of the Headhunters.

The Palace of the Governors at the New Mexico History Museum holds original Curtis negatives pertaining to the southwest.

The Pierpont Morgan Library holds the Edward S. Curtis papers (1906-1947), which contain the records of the North American Indian, Inc., as well as Curtis's correspondence to librarian, and later library director, Belle Da Costa Greene. The library also holds a large collection of Curtis's lantern slides, used in his Picture Musicale.

The Seattle Public Library holds correspondence of Curtis to Librarian Harriet Leitch (1948-1951), pertaining to his career.

The Seaver Center for Western History Research at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History holds collection GC 1143, which contains Curtis's field notes as well as manuscript drafts for the North American Indian.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian holds NMAI.AC.080, the Edward S. Curtis photogravure plates and proofs, as well as NMAI.AC.053, the Mary Harriman Rumsey collection of Harriman Alaska Expedition photographs.

The University of Washington Libraries Special Collections holds the Edward S. Curtis papers (1893-1983). Additionally, the Burke Museum holds papers and photographs of Edmund Schwinke, which relate to Curtis's work with the Kwakwaka'wakw community.
Separated Materials:
Artifacts collected by Curtis that were a part of this donation comprise Accession No. 2058745 in the collections of the Department of Anthropology in the National Museum of Natural History.
Provenance:
The papers and photographs were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Jim Graybill, grandson of Edward S. Curtis, in 2010 and 2011.
Restrictions:
Viewing of the photographic negatives and transparencies requires advance notice and the permission of the Photo Archivist.

Access to the Edward S. Curtis papers and photographs requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Identifier:
NAA.2010-28
See more items in:
Edward S. Curtis papers and photographs
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3d9637048-0e34-47a7-8fd4-210055d47c69
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-2010-28
Online Media:

font, baptismal

Expedition director:
Powell, John Wesley  Search this
Transfer:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
Physical Description:
metal, copper (overall material)
Measurements:
overall: 5.08 cm x 335.28 cm; 2 in x 132 in
overall: 26 in x 26 in; 66.04 cm x 66.04 cm
overall, font: 15 1/2 in x 24 in; 39.37 cm x 60.96 cm
Object Name:
Font, Baptismal
baptismal font, copper
Place made:
United States: Arizona
Location where used:
United States: Arizona
Date made:
ca. 1811
Religion association:
Roman Catholicism  Search this
Credit Line:
Bureau of Ethnology
ID Number:
CL.135348
Catalog number:
135348
135348
Accession number:
24012
See more items in:
Home and Community Life: Religion
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746aa-aae9-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_659672

whip

Associated user:
unknown  Search this
Physical Description:
cloth (overall material)
cotton, string (overall material)
fiber, plant (overall material)
Measurements:
overall: 24 in x 2 in x 3/4 in; 60.96 cm x 5.08 cm x 1.905 cm
Object Name:
Whip
Place made:
United States: New Mexico
Location where used:
United States: New Mexico
Religion association:
Roman Catholicism  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology
ID Number:
CL.234786
Accession number:
43829
Catalog number:
234786
See more items in:
Home and Community Life: Religion
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a4-b95c-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_661417

Memoranda Prepared in Response to Letters of Inquiry

Creator:
Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961  Search this
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
Collection Creator:
Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961  Search this
Extent:
1 Item (box)
Type:
Archival materials
Memorandums
Date:
circa 1940s-circa 1950s, undated
Scope and Contents:
This subseries is part of the Notes and writings on special linguistic studies series in the John P. Harrington papers. The memoranda are a result of Harrington's responsibility as ethnologist at the Bureau of American Ethnology to respond to various letters of inquiry from scholars and members of the general public. Harrington did not answer these reference letters directly but drafted memoranda which were used as the basis for replies by the current clerk or chief of the bureau, specifically Matthew W. Stirling and Frank H. H. Roberts. The inquiries deal with many American languages as well as some others throughout the world. The subjects usually involve questions on the etymology of words or geographic names or requests for translations into other languages of English greetings, names, numbers, or such common words as "man," "mother," and "father."
Arrangement:
The memoranda have been grouped roughly by the name of the individual to whom they were addressed.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages  Search this
Names, Geographical  Search this
Language and languages -- etymology  Search this
Genre/Form:
Memorandums
Collection Citation:
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Identifier:
NAA.1976-95, Subseries 8.10
See more items in:
John Peabody Harrington papers
John Peabody Harrington papers / Series 8: Notes and Writings on Special Linguistic Studies
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw34032d740-4c27-4fd0-9b46-5474094d6bef
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-1976-95-ref15377
Online Media:

Miscellaneous Writings on Various Linguistic Topics

Creator:
Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961  Search this
Names:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400  Search this
Churchill, Winston, Sir, 1874-1965  Search this
Columbus, Christopher  Search this
Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948  Search this
Collection Creator:
Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961  Search this
Extent:
10 Boxes
Culture:
Indians of North America  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Notes
Manuscripts
Writings
Date:
1911-1959, bulk 1945-1949
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Notes and writings on special linguistic studies series represents John P. Harrington's miscellaneous writings on a variety of linguistic topics. The subseries is divided into three subsections. The first and largest contains a mixture of preliminary notes, rough drafts, and final drafts for approximately 120 proposed announcements, articles, and papers. The second section contains contributions to the works of others in the form of rough drafts, introductions, and translations, while the third consists of reviews of a number of books and papers, mostly written by friends and colleagues. Within each section papers have been arranged alphabetically.

The papers are based largely on research in secondary sources and cover a broad spectrum of anthropological topics. Some, such as those on binomial nomenclature, captioning, and various inventions, reflect Harrington's interest in scientific method and the technical aspects of the linguistic field. Others deal with the history of linguistic study and, in particular, the contributions of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

One common theme throughout many of the articles is the genetic relationship of the American Indian languages. These papers illustrate Harrington's belief that "language sheds more light on the early history of the American Indian than archeology." Another focus in many of the writings is the importance and uniqueness of the American Indian, especially from the point of view of sign language.

Articles on non-American languages and on the etymologies of certain words reveal his constant sense of curiosity and the numerous sidelines he pursued, as do a set of papers on such historical figures as Chaucer, Columbus, Churchill, and Ghandi. Still other papers ("Counting," for example) were written as part of the "war effort."

Harrington authored all but two of the papers-"New Russian Alphabet Praised by Ethnologist" and "[Translation of the Lord's Prayer]." These items are filed here because they are either based largely on notes from Harrington or contain many quotes from him. A number of the papers were coauthored by associates.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this
Language and languages  Search this
Linguistics  Search this
Indians of North America -- Languages  Search this
Genre/Form:
Notes
Manuscripts
Writings
Collection Citation:
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Identifier:
NAA.1976-95, Subseries 8.18
See more items in:
John Peabody Harrington papers
John Peabody Harrington papers / Series 8: Notes and Writings on Special Linguistic Studies
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw32f923530-94f0-4a6b-baa5-bd4de0984116
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-1976-95-ref15679
Online Media:

Letters Received

Creator:
Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961  Search this
Roberts, Helen H. (Helen Heffron), 1888-1985  Search this
Correspondent:
Boas, Franz, 1858-1942  Search this
Collins, Henry Bascom, 1899-1987  Search this
Densmore, Frances, 1867-1957  Search this
Fewkes, Jesse Walter, 1850-1930  Search this
Harrington, Arthur  Search this
Hewett, Edgar L. (Edgar Lee), 1865-1946  Search this
Hodge, Frederick Webb, 1864-1956  Search this
Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960  Search this
Marr, John Paul  Search this
Martin, Fredericka I.  Search this
Mason, John Alden, 1885-1967  Search this
Merriam, C. Hart (Clinton Hart), 1855-1942  Search this
Michelson, Truman, 1879-1938  Search this
Roberts, Frank H. H. (Frank Harold Hanna), 1897-1966  Search this
Sapir, Edward, 1884-1939  Search this
Speck, Frank G. (Frank Gouldsmith), 1881-1950  Search this
Stirling, Matthew Williams, 1896-1975  Search this
Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973  Search this
Van Valkenburgh, Richard F.  Search this
Voegelin, C. F. (Charles Frederick), 1906-1986  Search this
Waterman, T. T. (Thomas Talbot), b. 1885  Search this
Young, Robert W., 1912-2007  Search this
Names:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
United States. Office of Censorship  Search this
Collection Creator:
Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961  Search this
Extent:
26 Boxes
Type:
Archival materials
Correspondence
Date:
1904-1960
bulk 1935-1954
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Correspondence series contains letters received by John P. Harrington. His incoming letters include handwritten and typed letters, postcards, and telegrams.

The primary focus of Harrington's correspondence is his work--both that which he undertook on an official basis for the B.A.E. and that which he pursued because of strong personal interests. References to his research and fieldwork take the form of passing references in letters to acquaintances, detailed accounts in letters to close friends, requests for authorization of proposed fieldwork, and reports of work accomplished in letters to supervisors, and lists of instructions to field and clerical assistants.

Much of the correspondence involves queries and the exchange of information and questions. Harrington wrote to scientists for identification of plant, animal or mineral specimens collected during fieldwork, and to postmasters, Indian agents, and social works in search of informants. There is also correspondence regarding acquisition of books, photostats, microfilm, and various supplies and equipment. There are also letters to editors of various journals enclosing articles for publication as well as letters of introduction, obtained by Harrington to facilitate his own work or prepared by him for use by his assistants. A number of letters involve answers which Harrington prepared to questions which were addressed directly to him by members of the public or were referred to him in the capacity of Senior Ethnologist at the B.A.E.

Several hundred items of correspondence relate to Harrington's duties when detailed to the Office of Censorship from 1943 to 1945. Most of these reflect his efforts to obtain translations of letters in foreign languages which he could not identify or for which dictionaries were not available.

Finally there are letters exchanged with landladies; real estate agents; bank personnel; and city, county and federal officials regarding payment or collection of rent, selling of property, confirmation of bank balances, and payment of taxes, as well as letters written to friends and family dealing with purely personal matters.

Some of the letters are incomplete. A number of lengthy responses to Harrington's queries were cut apart by him and pasted on separate sheets for filing in various subject categories in his field notes. Such letters were reconstructed as much as possible by N.A.A. staff. Attempts were also made to determine the identity of each correspondent. The full name of an individual is supplied if known even though only the first name, initials, or a nickname were used on a letter. In those cases in which signatures are illegible, a suggested form is given in brackets; if the form is doubtful, it is marked with a question mark. There is a small file of four items at the end for which the identity of the correspondent has not been determined. In those cases where onlly a partial date was given by Harrington or his correspondents, brackets have been used to supply a fuller suggested date.

More than 140 incoming letters were never opened by Harrington. These items were removed from their envelopes after any relevant data appearing on an envelope were transferred to the letter. These are annotated with the date when they were opened at the N.A.A.
Arrangement:
The documents are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the correspondent and thereunder chronologically; any undated items have been placed at the end of the group of letters for each person. In those instances when only a company name is given, the item in question is filed under that name. Some letters written by third parties to various acquaintances of Harrington were then forwarded to him without a cover letter. These records have been filed under the name of the original recipient as though they were enclosures. Letters, photographs, notes, drawings, maps, and other miscellaneous items which were sent under cover of a letter are labeled as enclosures and immediately follow the letter with which they were sent.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this
Linguistics  Search this
Genre/Form:
Correspondence
Collection Citation:
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Identifier:
NAA.1976-95, Subseries 9.1
See more items in:
John Peabody Harrington papers
John Peabody Harrington papers / Series 9: Correspondence
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3aa1e7caa-edea-4fac-a7d7-6d0d7e7936fe
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-1976-95-ref15991

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