This collection includes eight photographic prints and one copy negative of Ohio archaeological sites taken by Major Dache M. Reeves in approximately 1935. The depicted archaeological sites were created by the Adena and Hopewell cultures.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 8 oversized (11" x 14") photographic prints and one copy negative depicting aerial views of archaeological mounds in Ohio. These aerial photographs were taken by Major Dache M. Reeves between 1934-1936 as part of a collaboration with the Ohio History Society to conduct an aerial survey of the ancient mounds and fortifications of Ohio. The mounds pictured include the Great Serpent Mound, the Williamson Mound, the Seip Mound, the Newark works, Mound city, and the Miamisburg Mound. P13212 was published in an April 1936 issue of Scientific American to accompany Reeves' article "The Great Serpent Mount in Ohio."
Prints include P13205- P13212. Copy negatives include N21598.
Arrangement:
Arranged by catalog number.
Biographical / Historical:
Dache M. Reeves was born in 1894 in Bloomingdale, Georgia to David McClain Reeves and Helen Pearl Barnes. During World War I, Reeves served in the Army Air Service in the 9th Aero Squadron, American Expeditionary Forces. He received the Distinguished Service Cross and a Silver Star as a First Lieutenant for "extraordinary heroism in action" while serving north of Avocourt (Meuse), France, on October 9, 1918.
Following his service in World War I, Reeves maintained an interest in aerial photography. In 1923, he invented and patented a device for interpreting aerial photography (patent number US1693527A) and in 1927, his book "Aerial photographs, characteristics and military applications" was published by the Ronald Press Company.
In the 1930s, Reeves began applying his knowledge of aerial photography to the study of archaeology. He began working with the Ohio History Society in 1934 to carry out an aerial survey of the ancient mounds and fortifications of Ohio. In 1936, the Ohio History Journal published his article "A Newly Discovered Extension of the Newark Works," in which Reeves describes his identification of a previously unknown group of earthworks discovered using aerial imaging. The Ohio History Society described him as "one of America's outstanding experts in aerial photography." Reeves also photographed and researched the Serpent Mount of Ohio (pictured within this collection) and authored the article "The Great Serpent Mount in Ohio," which was published with his photographs in an April 1936 issue of Scientific American. In 1938, Reeves donated a collection of photographs detailing the native people, scenery, and habitations of the Philippines to Bureau of American Ethnology. This collection is now housed at the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution (NAA.MS4299).
Reeves married Edith Opal Preston, and together they had four daughters, named Margaret, Katherine, Anne, and Martha Reeves. He died in 1972 in Clearwater, Florida at age 78.
Related Materials:
See also NAA.MS4318, "Aerial photos of mound sites in Ohio," in the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Provenance:
Gift of Major Dache Reeves, 1938.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Major Dache M. Reeves photographs of Ohio Mounds, image #, NMAI.AC.154; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
