Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology Search this
Extent:
112.75 Linear feet
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1897-1965
Scope and Contents:
This series constitutes the administrative correspondence of the BAE, and is the largest series in the collection. It is divided into twenty subseries. The first subseries, Indices and Registers of Letters Sent and Received, is arranged chronologically and then, therein, alphabetically by correspondent. These records provide the date of receipt, name of sender and a brief description of subject discussed. There is a substantial gap in these records from 1902 to 1949.
Bound copies of outgoing letters comprise the second subseries, Letterbooks. Letterbooks are arranged categorically by kind and then, therein, chronologically. Letterbooks in the "general series" include outgoing letters sent chiefly by John Wesley Powell, James C. Pilling, Garrick Mallery, H.C. Rizer, WJ McGee, Frederick W. Hodge and William Henry Holmes. Matters discussed in these letters relate to the preparation and distribution of publications issued by the BAE; formal instructions relating to staff research projects; the maintenance and reproduction of manuscripts and photographs within the BAE collection; the collection and distribution of material objects obtained on BAE field expeditions; the appointment of BAE staff and arrangements made with outside collaborators; requests for appropriations; plans of operation; summaries of expenditures; Indian legislation; laws for the preservation of antiquities; execution of the Antiquities Act; and cooperation with other government agencies. Also discussed are routine housekeeping matters such as the acquisition and return of materials borrowed from the Library of Congress and other institutions or the purchase of supplies and equipment. Lettersbooks comprising letters of "transmittal" discuss the distribution of publications, manuscripts or anthropological information. Letterbooks regarding "requisitions for printing and binding" include letters sent to the Public Printing Office. Letterbooks pertaining to "annual reports" include complete or partial reports addressed to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. They differ slightly in content from those published in the BAE Annual Report series. Letters filed and bound under "library" mostly concern the borrowing or lending of library material, and the purchase of library supplies. "Editorial" letterbooks includes letters to authors, editors and printers, expressing editorial or printing concerns. Letterbooks relating to "accounts" pertain generally to BAE accounts and the conveyance of vouchers.
The letterbooks of William Henry Holmes include letters concerning his charge as Chief Officer of the BAE. Many discuss BAE accounts, plans of operation, staff changes, staff instructions and proposed federal laws for the preservation of antiquities. Others discuss the archaeological work of the BAE, especially the mound surveys carried out by the Division of Mound Explorations. They include replies to requests for information pertaining to Indian mines, quarries and caves, as well as the methods used in excavating these sites. Also included are acknowledgements for the receipt of specimens, photographs and manuscripts. The letterbook of Frank M. Barnett includes letters relating primarily to BAE accounts. Letters in Frank Hamilton Cushing's letterbooks concern, by and large, the collection of specimens in Florida for the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Pennsylvania.
The letterbooks of WJ McGee include letters relating to BAE scholarly work and the Bureau's dealings with the American Geological Society, the Columbia Historical Society, the Joint Commission of the Scientific Societies of Washington (later the Washington Academy of Science), the National Geographic Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Anthropological Association, the Washington Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America and the International Archaeological Commission. Other letters document McGee's professional relationship with fellow ethnologists and geologists, his personal relationship with William Henry Holmes, and his role as the executor of the estate of Alexander H. and Maria Matilda Evans (parents of Matilda Coxe Stevenson). Others document his position as vice president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and his role as the American representative to the preliminary conferences responsible for forming the International Archaeological Commission. Discussed elsewhere is the preparation and distribution of McGee's own publications, his involvement in a series of public lectures hosted by the Smithsonian Institution, and his observances on the death of John Wesley Powell. Of particular interest is a letter dated July 10, 1896 concerning charges of fraud brought against Frank Hamilton Cushing and another dated November 18, 1902 describing John Wesley Powell's last years as a scholar and administrator of the BAE. McGee's letterbooks also include typescript articles, lectures and similar works. Worthy of note is an article by Matilda Coxe Stevenson relating to a Zuni Scalp ceremony (November 27, 1894). Other articles include, "Primitive Trephining Illustrated by the Munis Peruvian Collection" (January 26, 1894), "The Antiquity of Man in America" (April 13, 1894), "The Expedition to Seriland" (February 14, 1896), "The Papago Time Concept" (July 22, 1896), "A Proposed American Anthropologic Association" (June 21, 1902), "Powell as Anthropologist" (April 11, 1902) and "Progress toward an International Archaeolgic and Ethnologic Commission".
The third subseries, Letters Received 1878, relates exclusively to the work of the US Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region. The series is arranged in no particular order. The fourth subseries, Letters Received 1879-1887, is arranged alphabetically by correspondent or institution. Attached to many of these letters are official copies of BAE outgoing replies. Letters deserving special attention include Alexander Graham Bell's letter and chart pertaining to Powell's phonetic alphabet; Franz Boas' rationale and plan for publishing material relating to Northwest Coast Indians; Cushing's sketch map of ruins and caves in the vicinities of San Juan and Wingate, Arizona; Dorsey's wordlist of "Shasti or Klamath"; Gatschet's 1884 "Map of Creek Country in the Eighteenth Century: Names and Sites Restored from the Contemporaneous Documents"; Gatschet's "Affinities between Tehwa and Shoshonian Dialects"; and Cyrus Thomas' report regarding the Traona manuscript.
The fifth subseries, Letters Received 1888-1906, is arranged alphabetically by correspondent or institution. Attached to many of these letters are official copies of BAE outgoing replies. Letters deserving special mention include Dinwiddie's explanation of the fraud charges brought against Frank Hamilton Cushing; Washington Matthews' discussion of the pueblo names in Chaco Canyon; Shelley's transcription of Quanah Parker's statements regarding James Mooney; Mooney's letters concerning his Arapaho photographs; Franz Boas' list of Chinook place names; Abbe's letter concerning the origin of the term "Chinook winds"; and Ashenhurst's letter including a copy of "The Lord's Prayer in Millipama (Mith-hhlama, Tenino).
The sixth and seventh subseries, Letters Received 1907 and Letters Received 1908, are arranged alphabetically by correspondent or institution. Attached to many of these letters are official copies of BAE outgoing replies. Material largely concerns special projects being conducted by the BAE at the time, including the study of various aboriginal languages spoken throughout Indiana, Fewkes' work at Casa Grande, and Frachtenberg's work among the Tutelo. Letters regarding the preparation of various BAE publications, such as the second volume of Hodge's Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, are also included in these subseries.
The eighth and ninth subseries, Letters Received 1909-1949 and Letters Received 1950-1965, are arranged alphabetically by correspondent or institution with the exception of those letters filed by subject or project. Letters received include requests for information regarding Native American languages, customs, relics or lands surveyed by the BAE. Inquiries were received from museum curators, geologists, military officials, professional anthropologists, students and members of the general public. The majority of outgoing letters were composed by BAE administrative staff fielding these queries; however, some were composed by members of the BAE research staff themselves. Other incoming letters concern personnel matters; research proposals; the BAE budget; the acquisition or distribution of specimens, manuscripts and photographs; legislation affecting BAE activities; and BAE publications. Also found among these letters are official reports concerning the progress of field work being carried out by BAE staff and collaborators. Noteworthy material found among Letters Received 1909-1949, include Boas' "Memorandum on the Changes of the Human Body under the Influences of American Life"; Densmore's "Native Songs of Two Hybrid Ceremonies among the American Indians"; Fenton's photographs taken while on the Tonawanda Reservation; John Peabody Harrington's photographs of his informants; Thomas M. Galey's print of the Osage Indian Non-pe-wa-the; and Kelsey's photograph of Kuanui of the Palolo Valley, Oahu, Hawaii; and the Latin American Expedition's photographs of the Tule. Material deserving special mention in Letters Received 1950-1965 is William S. Laughlin's preliminary report of the archaeological work being conducted on the Aleutian Islands during the summer of 1952; William Reeder's report on the biological investigations carried out on the Kodiak Islands; and Alice Larde de Venturino's "Astonishing Stone Inscriptions of North Chile".
The tenth and eleventh subseries, Letters Sent, Photocopies and Transcripts 1879-1902 and Letters Received, Photocopies and Transcripts 1879-1906, are arranged in no particular order. Reasons behind the duplication or transcription of these letters are unknown. The twelfth subseries, Letters Received, Temporary Correspondence 1949 to 1965, follows two ordering schemes: material dating from 1949 to 1952 is arranged alphabetically by correspondent or institution and material dating from 1953 to 1965 is arranged chronologically. Letters in this subseries appear to have been culled from two separate accumulations of correspondence (one maintained between 1949 and 1952; the other between 1953 and 1965), and unified as a sampling of the various types of requests that were received by the Bureau during this period.
The remaining eight subseries comprise the correspondence of specific individuals, institutions or organizations that worked directly or indirectly with the BAE. They are arranged chronologically and then, therein, alphabetically. The decision to isolate this correspondence from the larger, chronologically ordered unit of BAE correspondence (described above) is unknown. Also unknown is when the separation occurred; it may have occurred at the archival processing level or earlier at the BAE administrative level. It should be noted that the separation process was not comprehensive and, thus, BAE correspondence with these individuals, institutions and organizations may also be found elsewhere in the series.
Arrangement:
Subseries: Indices and Registers of Letters Sent and Received.
Subseries: Letterbooks
Subseries: Letters Received 1878
Subseries: Letters Received 1879-1887
Subseries: Letters Received 1888-1906
Subseries: Letters Received 1907
Subseries: Letters Received 1908
Subseries: Letters Received 1909-1949
Subseries: Letters Received 1950-1965
Subseries: Letters Sent, Photocopies and Transcripts 1879-1902
Subseries: Letters Received, Photocopies and Transcripts 1879-1906
Subseries: Letters Received, Temporary Correspondence 1949 to 1965
Subseries: Letters Received, S. F. Baird, 1879-1887
Subseries: Letters Received, Franz Boas, 1889-1947
Subseries: Letters Received, Matilda Coxe Stevenson, 1890-1918
Subseries: Letters Received, Smithsonian Institution, 1889-1907
Subseries: Letters Received, Matthew Stirling 1925-1950
Subseries: Letters Received, US Government Agencies 1888-1908
Subseries: Letters Received, US Government Agencies 1909-1950
Subseries: Letters Received, US National Museum Smithsonian Institution 1889-1909
Subseries: Letters Received, Charles D. Walcott 1907-1909
Collection Restrictions:
The Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology are open for research.
Access to the Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
