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Ales Hrdlicka collection of photographs of Native Americans for the Panama-California Exposition

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Catalog Data

Collector:
Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943  Search this
Photographer:
Fiske, Frank Bennett, 1883-1952  Search this
Gill, De Lancey, 1859-1940  Search this
Micka, Frank  Search this
Extent:
1 Copy negative
135 Prints (circa, silver gelatin and albumen)
2 Copy prints
Culture:
Indians of North America -- Great Plains  Search this
Lakota (Teton/Western Sioux)  Search this
Sioux  Search this
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New  Search this
Jicarilla Apache  Search this
Kiowa  Search this
Osage  Search this
Omaha  Search this
Yanktonnai Nakota (Yankton Sioux)  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Copy negatives
Prints
Copy prints
Date:
1912
Scope and Contents note:
Front and profile images of Apache, Kiowa, Omaha, Osage, Teton, and Yankton people made for Ales Hrdlicka's use in preparing busts and physical anthropological exhibits for the Panama-California Exposition in 1915. Accompanying the photographs are notes produced under the supervision of Lucile Eleanor St. Hoyme; these include the tribe, age, sex, name(s), photographer, and number of corresponding bust. Photographers represented in the collection are Frank Micka, a sculptor hired by the exposition to make busts, as well as photographers Frank Bennett Fiske, De Lancey W. Gill, and others.
Biographical/Historical note:
Ales Hrdlicka (1869-1943) was born in Czechoslovakia and came to the United States at the age of thirteen. Originally trained in medicine, he developed an interest in physical anthropology while working with the New York State hospitals and researching with the Department of Anthropology in the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals. Hrdlicka joined the Hyde Expeditions to the American Southwest and made his own expeditions to study physical characteristics of Southwest tribes. In 1903, he was appointed head of the United States National Museum's newly-formed Division of Physical Anthropology. In 1912, Hrdlicka planned and directed seven expeditions, gathering information that helped him prepare physical anthropology exhibits for the Panama-California Exposition at San Diego, California (1915). During this process, he hired sculptor Frank Micka to make busts of people from around the world. While in the field making casts, Micka also took front and profile photographs of subjects. Hrdlicka made his own trip to photograph the people in Urga, Mongolia, making 360 images of Mongolians and some Tibetans for use in the exposition.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 9, USNM ACC 61302
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds original negatives for many of these photographs (Photo Lot 73-26B) and images of resulting busts (Photo Lot 88-25).
The National Anthropological Archives also holds the Ales Hrdlicka Papers ca. 1887-1943.
Material from Hrdlicka, mostly correspondence, is held in the National Anthropological Archives in the papers and records of William Louis Abbott, Henry Bascom Collins, Herbert William Krieger, Frank Spencer, the American Anthropological Association, Bureau of American Ethnology, Department of Anthropology of the United States National Museum (National Museum of Natural History), Science Service, Anthropological Society of Washington, and the United States Army Medical Museum (anatomical section, records relating to specimens transferred to the Smithsonian Institution).
Hrdlicka photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 8, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 70, Photo Lot 78, Photo Lot 97, Photo Lot 73-26B, Photo Lot 73-26G, Photo Lot 83-41, and Photo Lot 92-46.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
Photo lot 9, Aleš Hrdlička collection of photographs of Native Americans for the Panama-California Exposition, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NAA.PhotoLot.9
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3a66ee37c-3c65-4127-b29f-d6e6cd5b9aab
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-photolot-9