These records document the governance and programmatic activities of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (MAI) from its inception in 1904 until its sublimation by the Smithsonian Institution in 1990. The types of materials present in this collection include personal and institutional correspondence, individual subject files, minutes and annual reports, financial ledgers, legal records, expedition field notes, research notes, catalog and object lists, publications, clippings, flyers, maps, photographs, negatives and audio-visual materials. These materials span a varied range of subjects relating to the activities of the museum which are more fully described on the series level.
Scope and Contents:
These records document the governance and programmatic activities of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (MAI) from its inception in 1904 until its sublimation by the Smithsonian Institution in 1990. The types of materials present in this collection include personal and institutional correspondence, individual subject files, minutes and annual reports, financial ledgers, legal records, expedition field notes, research notes, catalog and object lists, publications, clippings, flyers, maps, photographs, negatives and audio-visual materials. These materials span a varied range of subjects relating to the activities of the museum which are more fully described on the series level.
Arrangement:
The MAI, Heye Foundation records have been arranged into 21 series and 50 subseries:
Series 1: Directors, 1908-1990 (1.1: George Gustav Heye, 1863-1962, 1.2: Edwin K. Burnett, 1943-1960, 1.3: Frederick Dockstader, 1950-1976, 1.4: Alexander F. Draper, 1972-1977, 1.5:Roland W. Force, 1963-1990, 1.6: George Eager, Assistant Director, 1977-1990)
Series 2: Board of Trustees, 1916-1990 (2.1: Board of Trustee Minutes, 1916-1990, 2.2: Individual Board Correspondence, 1943-1990, 2.3: Subject Files, 1917-1990)
Series 3: Administrative, 1916-1989 (3.1: Subject Files, 1904-1991, 3.2: Personnel, 1956-1991, 3.3: Legal, 1900-1989, 3.4: Task Force, 1976-1986, 3.5: George Abrams, 1980-1991)
Series 4: Financial, 1916-1990 (4.1: Ledgers, 1900-1962, 4.2: Correspondence, 1905-1985, 4.3: Subject Files, 1916-1990)
Series 5: Expeditions, 1896-1973Series 6: Collectors, 1872-1981Series 7: Registration, 1856-1993Series 8: Collections Management, 1937-1988Series 9: Curatorial, 1963-1990 (9.1: Curatorial Council, 1973-1990, 9.2: Gary Galante, 1979-1991, 9.3: Mary Jane Lenz, 1974-1994, 9.4: James G. E. Smith, 1963-1990, 9.5: U. Vincent Wilcox, 1968-1984, 9.6: Anna C. Roosevelt, 1973-1988)
Series 10: Exhibits, 1923-1991 (10.1: MAI Exhibits, 1923-1990, 10.2: Non-MAI Exhibits, 1937-1991)
Series 11: Public Programs, 1935-1990Series 12: Publications, 1904-1994 (12.1: Annual Reports, 1917-1989, 12.2: Publications by MAI, 1904-1990, 12.3: Publications by Other Sources, 1881-1990, 12.4: Administration, 1920-1988, 12.5: Archival Set of Official Publications, 1907-1976)
Series 13: Public Affairs, 1938-1991Series 14: Development, 1927-1991 (14.1: Administration, 1979-1990, 14.2: Donors, 1978-1990, 14.3: Fundraising, 1973-1990, 14.4: Grants, 1970-1990, 14.5: Subject Files, 1976-1990)
Series 15: Other Departments, 1914-1990 (15.1: Archives, 1914-1990, 15.2: Conservation, 1972-1989, 15.3: Education, 1921-1990, 15.4: Indian Information Center, 1977-1989, 15.5: Museum Shop, 1947-1989, 15.6: Photography, 1918-1990, 15.7: Physical Anthropology, 1919-1956)
Series 16: Huntington Free Library, 1926-1991Series 17: Museum Relocation, 1969-1992 (17.1: Subject Files, 1979-1990, 17.2: American Museum of Natural History, 1980-1987, 17.3: Dallas, Texas, 1984-1987, 17.4: Smithsonian Institution, 1979-1990, 17.5: U.S. Custom House, 1977-1990, 17.6: Other Locations, 1974-1987)
Series 18: MediaSeries 19: PhotographsSeries 20: Miscellaneous, 1837-1990Series 21: Oversize, 1873-1972 (21.1: Maps, 1873-1975, 21.2: Miscellaneous, 1884-1982)
History of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation:
The Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation was established by wealthy collector George Gustav Heye in 1908. Heye began collecting American Indian artifacts as early as 1897 and his collection rapidly increased over the next several years. Based in New York, Heye bought collections and documentary photographs, sponsored expeditions, and traveled and collected items himself. In addition, once MAI was established he sponsored numerous expeditions across the Western Hemisphere, including North American, Canada, South America and Central America.
From 1908 to 1917 Heye housed his artifacts on temporary loan at the University of Pennsylvania's University Museum, Pennsylvania, in lofts on East 33rd Street in New York City, and at other depositories. In 1917, the collections moved from his apartment to their permanent museum location at Audubon Terrace, at 155th Street and Broadway in New York City. The museum, containing ethnographic and archaeological collections from North, Central and South America, opened to the public in 1922. Less than ten years later, Heye completed a storage facility in the Pelham Bay area of the Bronx, known as the Research Branch. Heye served as Chairman of the Board and Museum Director until his death in 1957. After growing concern about the financial and other management of the collections came to a head, the museum became part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1989 and in 1994 opened exhibit space in the U.S. Customs House at Bowling Green near New York City's Battery Park. The Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland later opened in 1999 and the main Washington, DC museum opened in 2004.
Please visit the following links for more information about the history of the museum; History of the Collection, Collections Overview, and Significance of the Collection. Moreover, for information about how the museum currently cares for and exhibits the collection, please see the Conservation department and recent entries regarding Exhibitions and Conservation on the NMAI Blog. In addition, see portions of the NMAI Archive Center's collections highlighted in the SIRIS Blog.
Related Materials:
In 2004, the Huntington Fee Library, once part of the MAI/Heye Foundation, was transferred to the Cornell University Library Rare Book and Manuscript Collection. While this collection mainly contained books, it also contained a significant amount of archival materials. The Huntington Free Library's Native American Collection contains outstanding materials documenting the history, culture, languages, and arts of the native tribes of both North and South America, as well as contemporary politics and human rights issues are also important components of the collection. Further information about the collection and links to finding aids can be found here: rmc.library.cornell.edu/collections/HFL_old.html.
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:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadcast materials from the collection must be requested from the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation Records, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection contains 3 photographic prints (and 3 copy negatives) depicting a Seri man in Mexico, photographed by Dane Coolidge in 1932.
Scope and Contents:
N37332-N37334, P15199-P15201
This collection contains 3 gelatin silver prints shot by Dane Coolidge in Mexico in 1932 and 3 copy prints created from those prints by the Museum of the American Indian. Coolidge and his wife Mary Roberts Coolidge studied the Seri in the 1930s. All three photographs are outdoor portraits of Seri medicine man Santo Blanco. In one photo he is shaking rattles, in a another photo he is depicting playing a musical bow, and in the third photo he is wearing a medicine man's crown. Some of these photos were used to illustrate Dane and Mary Coolidge's book The Last of the Seris (1939).
Arrangement:
Arranged by catalog number.
Biographical / Historical:
Naturalist and novelist Dane Coolidge was a born on March 24, 1873 in Natick, Massachusetts and grew up in Riverside, California. He received his education from Standard and Harvard Universities. He later worked as a field collector for the British Museum, Stanford University, and the U.S. National Zoological Park. He wrote both fiction and non-fiction usually set in Western locales such as California and the U.S. Southwest. In 1906, he married sociologist Mary Roberts and the two collaborated on the books The Navajo Indians (1930) and The Last of the Seris (1939). Dane Coolidge died in 1940 and Mary Roberts Coolidge in 1945.
Related Materials:
The University of California's The Bancroft Library holds Dan Coolidge Papers (Collection Number: BANC MSS C-H 82).
The Smithsonian Institution Libraries holds a copy of The Last of the Seris (Call no. F1221.S43C7).
Separated Materials:
Mary Roberts Coolidge also donated Seri objects to NMAI (catalog numbers 203200 - 203414).
Provenance:
This collection was purchased from Mary Roberts Coolidge in 1940.
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 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); Dane Coolidge photographs from Mexico, catalog #, NMAI.AC.202; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection consists of 42 NABISCO Straight Arrow cards, 30 postcards, and 25 stereographs depicting indigenous peoples of North and Central America, with dates ranging 1880 – 1960. The bulk of the collection consists of images of Native communities throughout the United States, and includes portrait images, dwellings, and landscape views.
Scope and Contents:
The Douglas E. Evelyn photograph and ephemera collection consists of 42 NABISCO Straight Arrow cards, 30 postcards, and 25 stereographs, with dates ranging 1880 – 1960. The images depict indigenous peoples of the Americas, and spans a large geographical breadth extending from the Arctic in the north to El Salvador in Central America in the south. The bulk of the collection consists of images of Native communities throughout the United States, and includes portrait images, dwellings, and landscape views. Of particular note are the NABISCO Straight Arrow cards, marketed towards children from 1949 to 1952, which depict outdoor activities as romanticized constructions about American Indian identity and life.
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 9 series, organized thematically and then regionally by location or culture group. Series 1: NABISCO Straight Arrow cards, Series 2: Arctic/Subarctic, Series 3: Northwest Coast,
Series 4: California, Series 5: Southwest, Series 6: Plains, Series 7: Northeast/Great Lakes, Series 8: Southeast, Series 9: Central America
Biographical / Historical:
Douglas E. Evelyn worked for several decades in senior-level management positions with the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of American History, and the National Museum of the American Indian. Evelyn is also the author of a number of scholarly articles and books, among them On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C., co-authored with Paul Dickson.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Douglas E. Evelyn in 2006.
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:
The following images are restricted due to cultural sensitivity: 226_pht_010_003; 226_pht_010_004; 226_pht_012_002; P33114; P33116; P33120.
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 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.
Topic:
Indians of Central America -- El Salvador Search this
Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians. Minnesota Search this
Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 : Saint Louis, Mo.) Search this
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Douglas E. Evelyn photograph and ephemera collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This series contains 1 Keystone View Company stereograph depicting a woman and child using a metate to grind corn in El Salvador.
Collection 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).
Collection Rights:
The following images are restricted due to cultural sensitivity: 226_pht_010_003; 226_pht_010_004; 226_pht_012_002; P33114; P33116; P33120.
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 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.
Topic:
Indians of Central America -- El Salvador Search this
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Douglas E. Evelyn photograph and ephemera collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
