Collection of group portraits donated by Sproul Observatory. Group portraits include participants at American Astronomical Society and I.A.U. [International Astronomical Union] meetings, as well as several other taken at Johns Hopkins University, Swarthmore College, and an autographed photo of Roy W. Delaplaine at a 24-inch refractor telescope.The photographs were accumulated in the files of the Sproul Observatory, Swarthmore College, over a period of years. They form a visual record of astronomers and attendees at astronomical meetings from 1916 to 1975.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains seventeen silver gelatin photoprints and one key diagram identifying most of the persons shown in a group photograph. Most of the pictures are group portraits of participants at American Astronomical Society and I.A.U. (International Astronomical Union?); also, group photographs taken at the Johns Hopkins University and Swarthmore College, and an autographed photoprint of "Roy M. Delaplaine at 24 inch refractor [telescope]..." Most of the group portraits were probably intended as records of the astronomical association meetings for the use of the organizations and participants.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in one series chronologically.
Biographical / Historical:
The donor did not supply background information with this collection, but apparently these photographs were accumulated and housed in the files of the Sproul Observatory at Swarthmore College over a period of years. They constitute a visual record of astronomers and attendees at astronomical association meetings from 1916 to 1975.
Provenance:
Donated by John E. Gaustad, Director of Sproul Observator at Swarthmore College, in 1987.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Swarthmore College. Sproul Observatory (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania: 1916) Search this
Collection Creator:
Gaustad, John E. (Director, Sproul Observatory) Search this
Container:
Box 1, Item 6
Type:
Archival materials
Scope and Contents:
Typed label: "American Astronomical Society, sixty sixth meeting / Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisconsin, September 7-9, 1941". Rubber stamped on verso: "H. A. Kincaid / The Lake Geneva Photographer / Williams Bay, Wis."
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Sproul Observatory Astronomers Photoprints, 1917-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Standing Rock Indian Reservation (N.D. and S.D.) -- Photographs
Fort Yates (N.D.) -- Photographs
Indianapolis (Ind.) -- Photographs
Date:
1918-1930
Scope and Contents:
The Canisius family photograph album was primarily compiled by Elizabeth Canisius (1882-1977) of Indianapolis, Indiana, and contains photographs made from about 1918 to 1929 by her and various members of her immediate and extended family. Evidently not arranged in chronological order, the photographs document a burgeoning German-American family and their various pursuits. Among the photographs are depictions of unidentified men at work in a shipyard, among them Mrs. Canisius's husband Gustav (1872-1954); unidentified men playing polo or dressed for a game of basketball; men, women, and children posed in front of both urban and rural houses; and choice mid-West vacation spots, including the Great Lakes, Lincoln's tomb and home (Springfield, IL), Turkey Run State Park (IN), and Williams Bay (WI) and its famous Yerkes Observatory.
A good number of the photographs document the young adulthood of Kathryn (Dolly) L. Canisius (1906-1943), the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Canisius. These photographs depict Dolly, her classmates and friends, her teachers, her suitors, her leisure activities, her graduation from high school in 1924, and two years later her apparent graduation from a two-year college. Following her 1926 graduation, Dolly evidently served as an itinerant teacher-in-training and from several teaching posts sent photographs of her young pupils to her mother. These her mother dutifully added to the album, even though Dolly had annotated most of the photographs' versos. Among Dolly's photographs are depictions of her white pupils in a rural mid-West school and of her Native students at Standing Rock Agency in Fort Yates, North Dakota. The Standing Rock photographs consist of depictions of Dolly's female and male Native students posed in groups and on picnics, non-student Natives congregated in town, street scenes, landscape views (including the frozen Missouri River) presumably made just outside of Fort Yates, Agency buildings, and possibly the campus of Saint Bernard Mission School, established by Father Bernard in 1924. There are also several commercially produced photographs, including a studio portrait of Holy Horse distributed by the Northwest Photo Service of Mandan, ND, and a photographic postcard of the "rugged country on Standing Rock Reservation" by Frank B. Fiske. Dolly apparently also traveled as far as Medora, ND, and sent to her mother photographs of the Chateau de Mores, the former home of Medora's founder the Marquis de Mores, and of the Little Missouri River.
Arrangement:
The album arrived at NMAI disbound with some photographs missing from various album pages. The individual album pages were rehoused inside paper envelopes, however original order was maintained.
Biographical / Historical:
Elizabeth Canisius (1882-1977) was the daughter of Frederick Nimz (1845-1921) and Louise Longere (1848-1923). Frederick and Louise were married in 1872 and in 1873 emigrated from Germany to the United States. The couple settled in Indianapolis, IN, where Frederick worked as a carpenter and cabinet maker for a furniture company. They had seven children: Minna Nimz Stelzel (1873-1935), Wilhelm Nimz (1875-1932), Ernestine Nimz Walters (1876-1947), Emma Nimz Crane (1879-1911), Elizabeth Canisius, Katherine Nimz Lang (1885-1973; the donor's grandmother), and Louis Nimz (1887-1966). Elizabeth married Gustav Canisius (1872-1954) and the two lived in Indianapolis, Chicago, IL, and perhaps also Wisconsin. (Elizabeth compiled NMAI's album while living on Congress Street in Indianapolis.) While living in either Chicago or Wisconsin, Gustav worked as a shipfitter on Great Lakes steamers. Kathryn "Dolly" L. Canisius (1906-1943) was the only child of Elizabeth and Gustav. She never married and usually lived with her parents. In 1933, Dolly graduated from Pestalozzi Froebel Teachers College in Chicago.
Provenance:
Donald Kritsch and Barbara Baker;,Gift;,2012;,2012-0065.
Restrictions:
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Thurs., 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Photographs -- Education -- North Dakota Search this
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Canisius family photograph album; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
