Photographs depicting Native American baskets and portraits of Native Americans with whom C. Hart Merriam worked, as well as scenic views and images of animals and plants, mostly in California. Many of the photographs were made by Merriam himself or his daughter Zenaida Merriam Talbot. In addition, Merriam collected photographs from other researchers and photographers, including J. S. Diller, John Peabody Harrington, Henry Wetherbee Henshaw, and O. E. Meddaugh. There are also images acquired from the Boysen Studio of Yosemite and photographs of Mark Twain, John Muir, basketmaker Maggie James, and Merriam's family.
Biographical/Historical note:
Clinton Hart Merriam (1855-1942) was a Columbia University-educated physician who worked as a naturalist, including as head of the Biological Survey for the US Department of Agriculture. He joined the Harriman Alaska Expedition as a zoologist in 1899. In 1910, he left the USDA and began to conduct research among California tribes. Financed by Mary W. Harriman and the E. H. Harriman Fund administered by the Smithsonian, he researched tribes' vocabularies, history, mythology, crafts (particularly basketmaking) until about 1936. His resarch was assisted by his daughter, Zenaida, who took photographs and painted glass slides for him. Merriam served as President of the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1920-1921.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 74-27
General note:
Additional information supplied by Marvin Shodas.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Merriam's notes held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 1563 and in the Smithsonian Institution Archives in SIA Acc. 12-264.
Additional photographs by Merriam held in the National Museum of American Indian Archives in the Mary Harriman Rumsey Photograph Collection and the Harriman Alaska Expedition Photograph Collection.
Correspondence from Merriam held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4558, the Department of Anthropology records (Manuscript and Pamphlet file), Bureau of American Ethnology records, J.C. Pilling Papers, Ales Hrdlicka Papers, and Jesse Logan Nusbaum Papers.
The Bancroft Library at University of California, Berkeley holds the C. Hart Merriam Papers, C. Hart Merriam Collection of Native American Photographs (prints corresponding to negatives in this collection), and C. Hart Merriam pictorial collection.
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Field notes
Vocabulary
Narratives
Manuscripts
Place:
California
Date:
1922
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Northern and Central California series contains Harrington's research on Achomawi, Atsugewi, Wintu, and Yana. Materials include his notes on Achomawi, Atsugewi, Wintu and Yana vocabulary; notes on Atsugewi grammar; records relating to placenames; stories and myths; and ethnographic and biographical notes.
The first section consists of Achomawi vocabulary. Vocabulary provided by James Hawkins consist of words in the Big Bend or Madessi dialect of Achomawi. Glosses and notes on pronunciation are accompanied by cognates in Atsugewi, Wintu, and Yana. A few comments from Clara Grant were probably added by Harrington on a separate occasion. Copies of miscellaneous Achomawi terms given by Mrs. Hank Haley as equivalences of her husband's Yana vocabulary (see below) are filed following the excerpts from Hawkins. Typed and handwritten copies of lexical items from William Halsey are also included. The original notes from which the latter were extracted have not been located.
Notes on Atsugewi ("Hat Creek") vocabulary and grammar were provided by Clara Grant, Grace and Alec Brown, Captain Jack and Dave Brown, and the group "at Rod[erick]'s." Semantic categories in the notes include geographical terms, plants, animals, and material culture. The grammar files contain additional miscellaneous vocabulary, such as the words for colors and numbers, lists of pronouns, and examples of verbs used in various short sentences.
The Yana vocabulary was obtained from Kate Snooks, Albert Thomas, and Hank Haley and his wife. The vocabulary covers placenames, tribenames, names of plants and animals, terms for material culture, age-sex terms, and numerous phrases and short sentences. Achomawi cognates and a few Atsugewi equivalences from Mrs. Haley are scattered throughout. A small set of Yana linguistic data is from Walter Moody. Harrington also excerpted a little data from his work with the Halseys and Captain Jack and Dave Brown for cross-filing with the Yana.
The subseries also contains a considerable amount of material on Atsugewi placenames. Some were recorded during trips he took with Alec and Grace Brown and Sam Williams. Logs of their travels include descriptions of geographical features and sites, numerous sketch maps, notes on scenic photographs, and anecdotes. Other placenames were provided for regions which Harrington did not visit in person. Much of the data was rechecked with Alec Brown, who provided detailed information on the pronunciation and etymologies of the various placenames.
Textual materials collected by Harrington include an epic-length Achomawi creation myth related by William Halsey. The myth was recorded only in English; a few Pit River terms were given for specialized vocabulary, such as the names of mythological figures and the words of songs. He also obtained a series of short Atsugewi texts from Dave Brown and Captain Jack and Yana text from Hank Haley. In most cases the original handwritten recording of each story is followed by a typed, reworked version. As with the Achomawi myths, the shorter texts are written in English with the addition of a few native terms.
The miscellaneous ethnographic and biographical notes include biographical information on residents of the Pit-River-Hat Creek region. Also included are a detailed description of the manufacture and use of various traps and a few brief remarks of ethnographic interest.
Harrington was not always consistent in the way in which he referred to the languages that he recorded. He used the terms Achomawi (Ach.) and Pit River (Pitr., Pit., Pr., P.) interchangeably. Similarly, he shifted between Atsugewi (Ats.) and Hat Creek (Hatcr., Hc., H.). Yana vocabulary was most frequently marked Noser (Nosu, Nos, Nos.) and sometimes Yana (Y.). Wintu forms were labeled "Win."
Biographical / Historical:
For approximately one month in 1922, from mid-May to mid-June, John P. Harrington did fieldwork in the area of Pit River, Montgomery Creek, and Hat Creek in northern California.
The primary Achomawi speaker with whom he worked was James Hawkins, a twenty-one-year-old speaker of the Big Bend dialect who also knew Atsugewi and a little Wintu and Yana. Harrington acquired some vocabulary and a significant corpus of textual material in English from William Halsey, a doctor of the Madessi band.
For Atsugewi he primarily worked with Clara Grant, who provided a sizable "Hat Creek" (Atsugewi) vocabulary as well as the equivalent forms in Achomawi and Yana. Alec Brown and his wife, Grace, were present at these sessions. Lesser amounts of linguistic data were obtained in the interview at the ranch of Roderick Buckskin, son of the Atsugewi chief Buckskin Jack. The participants were probably Buckskin, Holiday Brown, Sypes Taylor, and Sam Williams. Alec and Grace Brown and Williams also furnished a great deal of data on local placenames, as did Captain Jack; Dave Brown; and his wife, Sarah.
Separate Yana vocabularies were acquired from Kate Snooks, Albert Thomas and Walter Moody. A sizable Yana word list with Pit River equivalents was obtained from Mrs. Hank Haley, who also reheard the forms given by the others.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
This subseries of the Notes and writings on special linguistic studies series contains material that supplement Harrington's Northern and Central California field notes. There are materials on Wiyot/Yurok/Mattole; Nisenan/Northern Sierra Miwok; Southern Pomo/Central Sierra Miwok; Plains Miwok; Karok/Shasta/Konomihu; Chimariko/Hupa; Wailaki; Achomawi/Atsugewi/Wintu/Yana; Yana/Achomawi/Wintu/Chimariko; Costanoan; Esselen; Salinan; and Yokuts. The files include notes Harrington collected from the field, covering linguistic, botanical, biographical, geographical, and ethnographic topics; notes from rehearings; notes and drafts from his papers; notes on his travels and activities; and notes from secondary sources, including field notes from Alfred Kroeber and other colleagues and notes on Sir Francis Drake's travels in California. Some of his botanical notes include scientific identifications and comments by botanist C. V. Morton of the National Herbarium. The Karok section contains labels for Karok baskets housed in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Anthropology.
There are also some general and miscellaneous materials, notes relating to collections of artifacts, notes relating to mission records, notes from conversations, notes from secondary sources, and notes and writings collected from others. Miscellaneous material includes lists of possible informants for a number of California languages, bibliographic references, notes on boats, a list of captions for Harrington's paper "Chainfern and Maidenhair, Adornment Materials of Northwestern California Basketry," a tracing of a map labeled "Plano de la Mision San Jose, 1824," additional references to that mission, and a text. The papers contain references to the Hupa, Maidu, and Yurok tribes. Notes on artifacts pertain to collections held by others, including the George Heye collection of artifacts for the Modoc, Klamath, Pomo, Tolowa, Hupa, and Yurok tribes. Notes from conversations includes interviews with Cora DuBois, C. Hart Merriam, Carl F. Voegelin, and T.T. Waterman. Notes from his meeting with Dr. J.W. Hudson are the most extensive. The last file in the subseries consists of notes from a meeting with Ruth Underhill on January 10, 1941, and a notebook which Harrington evidently obtained from her at that time. The notebook contains class notes from a course on Maidu which Underhill had taken at Columbia University in 1932 with Hans Jorgen Uldall. Included are information on phonetics and grammar and a number of texts.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
MS 4676 English narration of Atsugewi beliefs and practices of Ahookai-moi-see, last medicine man tribe, by his daughter, Boo-noo-koo-ee-me-norra (Mrs Selena La Marr)
Indians of North America -- California Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound tape reels
Sound recordings
Date:
ca. 1963
Scope and Contents:
Side 2: Narration by Selena La Marr with introduction by Clytie Sweet. Side 1: "Formal" recording by Selena La Marr and Clytie Sweet, in which the material of side 2 is re-worked and put into a more formally organized sequence.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 4676
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Citation:
Manuscript 4676, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Digitization and preparation of these materials for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
This collection contains 374 photographic prints and 38 copy negatives made by Grace Nicholson, a collector and dealer of Native American and Asian arts and crafts in Pasadena, California. The majority of the photographs were made between 1910 and 1930 among various native communities in California, though there are smaller amounts of photographs in Arizona and New Mexico. Communities photographed include—Hupa, Yurok, Pomo, Karuk (Karok), Tolowa, Yokayo Pomo, Achomawi (Pit River), Atsugewi (Hat Creek), Hopi Pueblo, Kumeyaay (Digueno), Mojave (Mohave), Paiute, Taos Pueblo, Wintu, Acoma Pueblo, Maidu, Chukchansi Yokuts, Yokuts.
Scope and Contents:
The Grace Nicholson photograph collection contains 374 black and white photographic prints (38 copy negatives) made by Grace Nicholson between 1905 and 1930 however many of the photographs are undated. The majority of the photographs were shot within various native communities in California, including Hupa, Yurok, Pomo, Karuk (Karok), Tolowa, Yokayo Pomo, Achomawi (Pit River), Atsugewi (Hat Creek), Maidu, Chukchansi Yokuts, Yokuts, Kumeyaay (Digueno), Wintu. There are smaller amounts of photographs from Arizona and New Mexico which include photographs within Hopi Pueblo, Taos Pueblo, Acoma Pueblo, Mojave (Mohave) and Paiute communities.
A large number of these photographs include portraits of Native men and women posed with baskets, either made by themselves or other community members. There are also posed portraits of families in front of their homes and going about their daily activities. Nicholson was often close with the families she photographed and took care to include their names with the images, though there are many photographs where the sitters are still unidentified. Some photographs of certain dances and ceremonies have been restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
The majority of the prints are silver gelatin (DOP) and the copy negatives (acetate) were made by the Museum of the American Indian sometime in the 1960s as part of a large photograph conservation project. There were also a number of photographic prints found within the Grace Nicholson manuscript materials (NMAI.AC.001) that were transferred to the photo archives in the early 2000s.
Prints from Grace Nicholson: P05451-P05497, P05505, P08339-P08368, P08469-P08479, P09400-P09453, P09463-P09464, P09836-P09838. Prints from Thyra Maxwell: P18316-P18317, P18932-P19107, P20830-P20836, P20999-P21075. Prints pulled from the MAI records (NMAI.AC.001): P28169, P28170, P28443-P28445. Copy Negatives: N35814-N35844, N36250, N41439, N41551-N41556.
Arrangement:
Arranged by catalog number.
Biographical / Historical:
Grace Nicholson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 31, 1877. She moved to California following her parents and grandparents death, in 1901 and was soon purchasing Native American baskets and other artifacts in association with Carrol S. Hartman, an old family friend from the East. Traveling north through California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and south and east through Arizona and New Mexico, she collected, not only for herself, but also for such institutions as the Smithsonian, the Field Columbian Museum of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania Department of Archeology and later the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. Nicholson kept extensive diaries and notes on her buying trips through Native American territory, especially of the Karok, Klamath, and Pomo Indians. Her subjects included Native American legends, folklore, vocabulary, tribal festivals, basket making, the art trade, and living conditions. Native American artists with whom Nicholson established long-term business and personal connections included Pomo basket weaver Mary Benson (1878-1930) and her husband William Benson (1862-1937), as well as Elizabeth Hickox (1875-1947) of the Karuk tribe. By August of 1902 she was establishing a shop and studio at 41-143 Raymond Ave., Pasadena and she regularly paid higher prices than competitive buyers, thereby obtaining the finest pieces.
In 1909 Grace Nicholson was awarded a silver medal for her ethnological collection exhibited at the Alaska-Yukon- Pacific Exposition in Seattle. In 1924, Nicholson designed and opened a new building for her collections nicknamed the "Treasure House" where she also handled the work of a number of the outstanding artists among them, Joseph H. Sharp and Grace Carpenter Hudson. Throughout her collecting career, Nicholson maintained a correspondence with George Heye selling and donating collections to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation from 1916 until her death in 1948.
Following Nicholson's death, her Native American Indian art collection was left to her assistants Thyra Maxwell and Estelle Bynum who became the executors of her estate. Her 12,000-item Asian art collection was auctioned by the Curtis Gallery in November 1950 and purchased by Los Angeles businessman Edker Pope. In 1968, Maxwell donated Nicholson's papers and photographs to The Huntington Library and sold Nicholson's collection of baskets made by the Bensons, as well as a large collection of correspondence and myths from William Benson, to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, of New York City (now the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution).
Related Materials:
The majority of Grace Nicholson's papers and photographs can be found at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California; Grace Nicholson Photograph Collection (photCL 56), Grace Nicholson Papers and Addenda (mssNicholson papers and addenda).
Additional Nicholson material can be found at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley; Photographic negatives and prints of Calif. Indian baskets and other ethnographic items handled by Grace Nicholson from about 1912-1925 (Accession 2880), Grace Nicholson's ledger of Indian baskets from about 1912-1925 in Pasadena, California (Accession 2881).
Separated Materials:
Correspondence between Grace Nicholsan and George Heye as well as Pomo myths recorded from William Benson can be found in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation records (NMAI.AC.001) in Boxes 262, 262A, 263. Baskets made by Mary and William Benson, as well also additional collections donated and sold by Nicholson to the Museum, can be found in NMAI's ethnographic collection.
Provenance:
The majority of the photographic prints were donated by Thyra Maxwell in 1968 and 1969. The rest of the photographs accompanied collections purchased by the Museum of the American Indian or presented to the Museum from Grace Nicholson in 1923.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu). Photographs with cultural sensitivity are restricted.
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.
Genre/Form:
Photographic prints
Copy negatives
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Grace Nicholson photograph collection, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
