The collection consists of photographs relating to Native Americans, which were submitted to the copyright office of the Library of Congress in and around the early 20th century. Many of the photographs are studio portraits as well as photographs made as part of expeditions and railroad surveys. It includes images of people, dwellings and other structures, agriculture, arts and crafts, burials, ceremonies and dances, games, food preparation, transportation, and scenic views. Some of the photographs were posed to illustrate literary works, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Hiawatha, while others depict paintings or other artwork.
Collection is organized alphabetically by copyright claimant.
Biographical/Historical note:
The collection was formed from submissions made to the Library of Congress as part of the copyright registration process. In 1949, arrangements were made to allow the Bureau of American Ethnology to copy the collection and some negatives were made at that time, largely from the Heyn and Matzen photographs. The project was soon abandoned, however, as too large an undertaking for the facilities of the BAE. In 1957-1958, arrangements were begun by William C. Sturtevant of the BAE to transfer a set of the photographs from the Library of Congress to the BAE.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 59
Provenance:
In 1965, the Bureau merged with the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology to form the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology, and in 1968 the Office of Anthropology Archives transformed into the National Anthropological Archives.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 59, Library of Congress Copyright Office photograph collection of Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Platinum prints
Photographs
Date:
circa 1915-1925
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs depicting Navajo people, including individual portraits and images of Navajos in the desert with horses and a hogan.
Biographical/Historical note:
From 1908-1911, William M. Pennington and Lisle Updike operated the Pen-Dike Studio in Durango, Colorado. Pennington's main focus was studio portraiture while Updike took mostly landscape photographs. In 1911, Pennington bought out Updike's share in the studio and renamed it the Pennington Studio. Pennington and Updike worked together again in the early 1920s photographing the Navajo community in and around Shiprock, New Mexico; the photographs in this collection are probably from that assignment.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 82-2
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional Pennington photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 59.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 82-2, William M. Pennington photographs of Navajo people, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
