The Lee Marmon photographs collection contains 94 color and black and white photographic prints. Subjects include Laguna and Acoma elders (1950-1965), publicity images of celebrities (1967-1973), Native American portraiture (circa 1987), the New Mexico pueblos and landscape, and the potter Lucy M. Lewis, her daughters, and their pottery (1987). The photographs were shot by Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo), circa 1950-1987.
Scope and Contents:
The Lee Marmon photographs collection contains 94 color and black and white photographic prints that were shot by Laguna Pueblo photographer Lee Marmon, circa 1950-1987. Subjects include people, sites, and landscapes around Laguna Pueblo and Acoma Pueblo (1950-1965) in New Mexico; publicity images of celebrities (1967-1973) including Bob Hope and Dean Martin; Native American portraiture (circa 1987);and the potter Lucy M. Lewis, her daughters, and their pottery (1987).
Arrangement note:
Small prints organized in photo folders; and larger prints are stored in oversize boxes.
Biographical/Historical note:
Lee Howard Marmon was born as the second son of Lily and Henry "Hank" Marmon on September 25, 1925 in Laguna, New Mexico. Marmon's interest in photography was sparked when he took his first photograph at the age of 11 of an automobile accident on Route 66. Initially planning to attend the University of New Mexico to study geology, Marmon dropped out after several semesters to begin his World War II career as a Sergeant-Major on Shemya Island, Alaska in 1943. Marmon's service to the United States in the Aleutian chain lasted until 1946, after which he returned to Laguna.
Marmon retained an interest in photography and purchased his first professional camera, a 2¼ x 2¾ Speed Graphic. Later in his career, he would use a 4x5 Speed Graphic, a Rolleiflex, a Hasselblad Superwide, and a Hasselblad C model. When Marmon began photographing, he favored Kodachrome sheet film (ASA 8) and super speed B&W (ASA 100). As Marmon was learning this new hobby, his civilian life included employment as the Laguna postmaster and as a worker in his father's store, The Laguna Trading Post. Photography escalated from a hobby to a more serious pursuit after Marmon's father suggested that his son bring a camera along while making store deliveries in order to take portraits of the Laguna elders. These early black and white photographs, taken using fixed-lens cameras and natural light, became some of Marmon's most well-known images.
While Marmon mainly focused on documenting the traditions and lifestyles of the Laguna and Acoma Pueblos, a departure from this theme occurred when he moved from New Mexico to Palm Springs, California in 1966. As the official photographer for the Bob Hope Desert Classic Golf Tournament from 1967 until 1973, Marmon took publicity photographs of golfers participating in the competition along with celebrity entertainers and guests at the accompanying Bob Hope Ball. Marmon also worked as a freelance photographer throughout this time, contributing to publications such as Time Magazine and The Saturday Evening Post, working as a still photographer for Columbia Pictures, and completing a commission from President and Mrs. Nixon to photograph a collection of New Mexican Puebloan pottery.
Marmon moved back to Laguna in 1982, and in the following years he showed his work in a variety of venues, opened a bookstore called The Blue-Eyed Indian, and won an ADDY award for his contribution to the PBS documentary series, Surviving Columbus: The Story of the Pueblo People. In 2003, Marmon published a book, The Pueblo Imagination: Landscape and Memory in the Photography of Lee Marmon, in collaboration with his daughter, author Leslie Marmon Silko, and poets Joy Harjo and Simon Ortiz. The book was heralded as a success, collecting first place awards from The Mountains and Plains Bookseller's Association and from Independent Publisher Online.
After the publication of his book, Marmon's photographic activity began to diminish. His final show, Pueblo Faces and Places, was held in 2007 at the Sky City Cultural Center in Acoma, New Mexico. In recognition for achievements in the photographic field, Marmon was honored as the 88th Annual Inter-Tribal Ceremonial's "Living Treasure" of 2009, the first photographer to be given the award. Throughout his life, Marmon produced a great volume of work. In May of 2009, he donated his personal papers and over 65,000 photographs to the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections (CSWR) at the University of New Mexico. From a humble beginning of taking photographs of village elders, Marmon eventually built a career out of saving the memories of the Laguna and Acoma tribes and is now one of the country's best-known Native American photographers.
Lee Marmon passed away in March 2021 at age 95.
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:
Copyright held by the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.
Genre/Form:
Portraits
Photographs
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lee Marmon photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.054; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Outdoor portrait of Hill Kie, Assistant Lt. Governor of Laguna Pueblo, seated in a stairway next to an adobe wall. Photograph by Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo).
Collection 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).
Collection Rights:
Copyright held by the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lee Marmon photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.054; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Outdoor portrait of John Riley beating a drum while sitting on a rock in front of a plastered adobe wall. Photograph by Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo).
Collection 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).
Collection Rights:
Copyright held by the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lee Marmon photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.054; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Outdoor portrait of the man Santiago Thomas seated on a rock outcropping. Photograph by Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo).
Collection 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).
Collection Rights:
Copyright held by the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lee Marmon photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.054; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph of a man and woman of the Sheyea (Sheya) family seated on a bench in front of a house shucking cobs of blue corn piled on the ground in front of them; a young child stands on a step in the background. Photograph by Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo).
Collection 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).
Collection Rights:
Copyright held by the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lee Marmon photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.054; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting Riley Kids, photographed by Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo), 1949.
Collection 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).
Collection Rights:
Copyright held by the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lee Marmon photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.054; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting Laguna Deer Dance, photographed by Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo), 1947.
Collection 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).
Collection Rights:
Copyright held by the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lee Marmon photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.054; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting Laguna Eagle Dancers, photographed by Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo), 1949.
Collection 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).
Collection Rights:
Copyright held by the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections at the University of New Mexico.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lee Marmon photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.054; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection contains 260 photographs depicting many American Indian communities including Diné (Navajo); Hopi; Isleta Pueblo; Pikuni (Piegan) [Blackfeet Nation, Browning, Montana]; Taos Pueblo; and Lacandon Maya, as well as others. Photographs were shot by amateur photographer Herbert Underhill Silleck circa 1924-1944 during his travels with his wife Agnes Smartt Silleck.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 260 photographs (196 film negatives and 64 photos in an album) shot by amateur photographer Herbert Underhill Silleck during his travels with his wife Agnes Smartt Silleck circa 1924-1944.
The photographs depict many American Indian communities in western United States including Diné (Navajo), Hopi, Isleta Pueblo, Pikuni (Piegan) [Blackfeet Nation, Browning, Montana], Taos Pueblo, and Lacandon Maya. The images include scenes of candid portraits; powwows in Flagstaff, Arizona and Montana; Pueblos; tourist goods for sale; Aztec Ruins National Monument, New Mexico, among other scenes.
Arrangement:
The photographs are intellectually arranged by subject matter and physically arranged in boxes by image #.
Biographical / Historical:
Relatively little is known about Herbert Underhill Silleck. He was born in New York in April 24, 1881 and worked for the Brooklyn Trust Company for about 47 years. He married Agnes Smartt on June 1, 1905 and they had one daughter Doris G. Silbeck (born 1918). He died in New York on March 14, 1961. Based on Herbert's photographic record, it appears that he was an amateur photographer who traveled throughout the western United States.
Separated Materials:
Agnes Smartt Silleck also donated a sash, hair tie, and a painting to the museum, which can now be found under object numbers 23/2012 - 23/2014.
Provenance:
Gift of Agnes Smartt Silleck, 1962.
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.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Herbert U. Silleck photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.223; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists of seventeen photographic prints depicting Native artists from Chaticks Si Chaticks (Pawnee), Jemez Pueblo, Kiowa, Niuam (Comanche), Southern Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Southern Cheyenne), and Oklahoma Muskogee (Creek) communities. Many of these individuals studied under Oscar B. Jacobson at the University of Oklahoma in the first half of the twentieth century.
Content Description:
The Oscar B. Jacobson photographs of Native Artists collection consists of seventeen photographic prints, mainly taken by Oscar B. Jacobson in Oklahoma between 1917 and 1950. Jacobson was the Director of the University of Oklahoma School of Art for several decades in the first half of the twentieth century, mentoring many young Native men and women artists. This collection includes photographs of some of the many students who studied under Jacobson and later emerged as prominent artists, such as the group known as the Kiowa Six, consisting of one Kiowa woman and five Kiowa men. Photographs of other artists who studied with Jacobson include Jemez Pueblo artist Jose Toledo, Oklahoma Muskogee (Creek) and Chaticks Si Chaticks (Pawnee) artist Acee Blue Eagle, and Southern Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Southern Cheyenne) artist Richard West, Sr.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged chronologically into folders.
Biographical / Historical:
Oscar Brousse Jacobson was born in 1882 in Sweden. While still in his youth he immigrated to the United States, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1908 from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. He pursued studies abroad in Denmark, France, and his native Sweden, before receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University, and later a doctorate from Bethany College.
From 1915 until 1954 Jacobson directed the University of Oklahoma's School of Art, mentoring a great many Native men and women during these years. In addition to his work as a professor, Jacobson was also an accomplished painter of portraits and landscapes. He died in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1966.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Oscar B. Jacobson in 1965.
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); Oscar B. Jacobson photographs of Native Artists, NMAI.AC.318; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The photographs of Princess Atalie Unkalunt collection includes 75 photographic prints and postcards of Princess Atalie Unkalunt (Oklahoma Cherokee) taken by various photographers throughout her life and career. Princess Atalie Unkalunt, nee Iva J. Rider, (1895 – 1954) was a Cherokee opera singer, artist, author, and community activist.
Scope and Contents:
The bulk of the collection contains photographic prints and postcards of Princess Atalie Unkalunt (Oklahoma Cherokee) taken by various photographers throughout her life and career. Many of the photographs are undated but it is likely that most were taken between 1920 and 1950.
Included in the collection are studio portraits of Princess Atalie, both headshots and full length shots. In many of the studio shots Princess Atalie is wearing a beaded headband, or a full headdress, a hide dress and moccasins and is frequently posed with additional props. However there are a number of studio portraits where she is wearing non-native dress, often wearing a hat and stole. Princess Atalie was also photographed at the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, circa 1920, modeling hide dresses and moccasins from the collection (see related materials note). There are also photographs of Princess Atalie posed with groups or individuals she met throughout her career. This includes photographs with Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox), famed Olympian and athlete; Charles Curtis (Kaw), Vice President to Herbert Hoover; the Girl Scouts of East Orange, Oklahoma; as well as several groups of unidentified children.
Of note are several postcards from Princess Atalie (signed Iva) written to her sisters from her time in the Business Women's Unit of the Y.M.C.A during WWI. There are also photographs that include a note to Atalie's sister Mary as well as a portrait of Mary that had previously been mis-identified as Atalie. In addition to photographs of Princess Atalie, there are portraits of other opera performers who were contemporaries of Princess Atalie. These include portraits of Chief Yowlachie (Yakama), a bass singer and soloist with the Seneca Orchestra; and Yma Sumac, a Peruvian-American soprano.
Known photographers and photo studios include—Albert R. Dupont, Jack Gordon, Del Ankers, Bryant E. Sherman, Albert Green Heath, Pierson Studio, Strand Studio, Chdnoff Studio, Underwood and Underwood Co., Watton Studio (Oklahoma City), Apeda Studio, Sands Studio and Roege Photo.
Arrangement:
Arranged by catalog number P23844-P23911.
Biographical / Historical:
Princess Atalie Unkalunt, nee Iva J. Rider, (1895 – 1954) was a Cherokee opera singer, artist, author, and community activist. Also known as Sunshine Rider, Atalie was born in Stilwell, Oklahoma to Thomas L. Rider (Domgeske Unkalunt), a Cherokee state senator and chairman of Indian affairs, and Josephine Pace Rider. As a child attending Indian schools, Atalie saw the need for a cultural missionary to educate the world about Native people and their place in history. She developed a gift for song at a young age and after finishing her high school studies spent time in California where she gained experience in film and then moved to Boston to begin vocal studies. After the U.S. entered World War I, Atalie joined the Business Women's Unit of the Y.M.C.A. secretly advancing her age several years in order to meet the age requirements. She served 18 months overseas working as an entertainer and secretary. Upon her return to the United States, she settled in New York City to continue her vocal studies and quickly became an acclaimed opera singer. She sang at concert venues around the country and performed at the White House.
Her desire to be a cultural missionary never wavered and she became a lecturer for the New York Board of Education where she spoke to audiences about Native American customs and songs. She broadcasted a radio program to countries in Europe singing both classical arias as well as Native songs. She founded the Society of the First Sons and Daughters of America Foundation whose mission was to recognize and promote the contributions of Native people and give them opportunities to promote their talents in the arts. In addition to her vocal talents, she was a skilled painter and designer and in 1942, she wrote and illustrated the book "The Earth Speaks", a collection of tales adapted from Cherokee legends. In the late 1940s, Atalie moved to Washington D.C. where she spent her time digging through government archival records in order to research claims due the Cherokee Indians from the United States government. Atalie passed away in 1954.
Related Materials:
Three photographs in the collection include images of objects currently in the NMAI collection. These include Princess Atalie wearing a Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce) hide dress (NMAI 029996), a Ute beaded hide dress (NMAI 050958) and Ute mocassins (NMAI 006986) and Ethyl E. Schellbach wearing a Niuam (Comanche) beaded hide dress (NMAI 021803) and Niuam (Comanche) legging moccasins (NMAI 021132).
Provenance:
Donated by Mrs. Dale Hall to the C.H. Nash Museum (Chucalissa) in 1967. Donated by the C.H. Nash Museum (Chucalissa) to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in 1978. It is unclear how Mrs. Hall came into the posesssion of the photographs though it is possible she was a friend of the family or a distant relative.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive 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 Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, 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.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Photographs of Princess Atalie Unkalunt collection, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists of 534 glass lantern slides depicting Indigenous groups throughout North America. It also includes a small number of publications written by Elmer E. Higley and others about Native Americans and missionary work during the early twentieth century.
Scope and Contents:
The Elmer E. Higley collection consists of both Lantern Slides and Printed Materials. Series 1: Lantern Slides, 1900-1924, includes 534 glass lantern slides, many hand-colored. The lantern slides were used by Higley in lectures to promote his missionary and reform work with the Joint Committee on Indian Work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was the Superintendent from 1919 to 1923. While Higley was the photographer of some of the lantern slide images, specifically those taken in Mesa Verde, the majority of the photographs were not taken by Higley, but rather collected by him for use in his lectures as he traveled around the country. Series 2: Printed Materials, 1914-1968, includes a small number of early twentieth-century publications written by Higley and others about Native Americans and missionary work in the United States during this time.
Please note that the language and terminology used in this collection reflects the context and culture of the time of its creation, and may include culturally sensitive information. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into two series. Series 1: Lantern Slides, 1900-1924 and Series 2: Printed Materials, 1914-1968.
Biographical / Historical:
Elmer Ellsworth Higley was born in Ohio in 1867. He attended high school and college in northwestern Pennsylvania before marrying Alice C. Dowler in 1892. Higley later also attended the Drew Theological Seminary and afterwards worked as a pastor in a number of Methodist churches around the country. In approximately 1919 Higley was appointed Superintendent of the Joint Committee on Indian Work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with his office based in Chicago, Illinois. Employed in this work until 1923, Higley traveled the United States, visiting Native reservations and promoting Christian reform efforts for American Indian education. While traveling, Higley frequently presented illustrated lectures on his missionary work to audiences, using the glass lantern slides now residing in the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. In the years after 1923, Higley continued as a pastor in both Ames, Iowa, and Evanston, Illinois, the latter where he eventually died in 1931.
Provenance:
Gift of Mrs. R. S. Jensen and Family in 2018 and 2019.
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.
Some photographs in this colletion are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Elmer E. Higley collection, NMAI.AC.228; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
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