Photographs depicting Aztec atlatls in the Museo Nazionale di Antropologia e Etnologia of the Museo di Storia Naturale dell'Universita degli Studi of Florence, Italy, and the Museo Kircheriano in Rome. Complete images of each atlatl were made by combining multiple prints. There are also extracts from Bushnell's article about the objects, "Two Ancient Mexican Atlatls," American Anthropologist, vol. 8 (1906), pages 218-221.
Biographical/Historical note:
David Ives Bushnell, Jr. (1875-1941) was educated in St. Louis, Missouri, and in Europe before joining his first anthropological expedition to northern Minnesota in 1899. From 1901-1904, he worked as an archaeological assistant at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University and continued his studies in anthropology. In addition to excavations and studies, Bushnell went to Europe in 1904 and documented North American ethnographic material held in collections and museums there. The Smithsonian hired him as a contributor to the Handbook of American Indians (1907) before appointing him editor for the Bureau of American Ethnology (1912-1921).
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 80-35, USNM ACC 55031
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Surveys, reports, data and notes by Bushnell held in National Anthropological Archives MS 3433, MS 2255, MS 3434, MS 4098, MS 7138, MS 4109, MS 2126, and MS 4494.
Photographs by Bushnell held in National Anthropological Archives Photo lot 141B, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 2522-c, and the BAE historical negatives.
Correspondence from Bushnell can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in the Henry Bascom Collins, Jr. Papers, John P. Harrington Papers, Ales Hrdlicka Papers, Bureau of American Ethnology records, and MS 4210.
The Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary holds the David Ives Bushnell, Jr. Papers, 1797-1941 and the Peabody Museum Archives, Harvard University holds the Bushnell, David Ives, Jr. (1875-1941) collection records, as well as his large painting and artifact collection.
Contents: Words and lists of days, months and years and other time divisions, approximately 100 pages. (includes Maya, Aztec, etc.) Color adjectives, 8 pages. Totemic clans of all tribes, 37 pages. Personal names (Chiefs, etc.), 25 pages. (Personal names of "Knisteneaux or Crees, Shawnee, Crow, Dakota, Arikaras, Cheyennes, Blackfeet, Piegan, Menomoni, Peoria, Otawa, Sauk").
Photographs depicting physical anthropology specimens. The images include a profile of the Lansing skull near a long bone, front and profile views of a skull, an Aztec mummy, and a mummified infant and cyst. All of the photographs have been stamped and dated by the Library of Congress Copyright Office.
Photo Lot 86-40, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division photograph collection relating to physical anthropology subjects, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Front and profile studio portraits of Indigenous peoples of Mexico, representing Aztec, Chinantec, Chocho, Chol, Chontal, Cuicatec, Huastec, Huave, Maya, Mazatec, Mixe, Mixtec, Otomi, Tarascan, Tepehua, Tlaxcalan, Totonac, Trique, Tzental, Tzotzil, Zapotec, Zapotec Tehuartepec, and Zoque tribes. The photographs were made by William L. Koehne of Chicago for publication in Frederick Starr's book, Physical Characters of Indians of Southern Mexico.
Biographical/Historical note:
Frederick Starr (1858-1933) was an anthropologist and academic who worked as curator at the American Museum of Natural History and professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago. During his professiorship, Starr hired professional photographer and studio owner William L. Koehne to make the studio portraits for his 1902 book, Physical Characters of Indians of Southern Mexico. Additionally, Starr made several field studies in Mexico and commissioned field photographs and plaster busts.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 123
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Photographs collected by Cyrus Thomas, Robert T. Hill, Edward W. Nelson, and Edgar L. Hewitt have been relocated to Photo Lot 169, Photo Lot 170, Photo Lot 171, and Photo Lot 172, respectively.
The Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian Archives holds the Frederick Starr negatives and lanterns slides, 1894-1910.
Correspondence from Starr held in the National Anthropological Archives is in MS 4558, MS 4821, and the Bureau of American Ethnology records.
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 123, Frederick Starr collection of William L. Koehne photographs of Indigenous peoples of Mexico, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photographs relating to a Mexican natural history collection, including archeological, ethnographic, physical, entomological, ornithological, conchological, and paleontological collections. The photographs are mounted in an album entitled "Collections de Auguste Genin," where they are divided according to discipline and have accompanying typewritten descriptions by Genin. There are images of Huichol peoples; a diorite yoke from Jalapa; Aztec, Zapotec, Matlatlzinca, Huichol, and Tarahumara arms, tools, urns, vases, and idols; statuettes from Nayarit and statuettes of musicians and musical instruments; a wooden instrument from Hidalgo; ancient and modern musical instruments; terra cotta Spanish objects; coins and medals; skulls from Guerrero and the Valley of Mexico; a shell collection; and mastodon bones.
Biographical/Historical note:
Auguste Genin (1862-1931) was a a Franco-Mexican writer, poet, photographer, ethnologist. He was a resident of Mexico and director of the Mexican National Company of Dynamite and Explosives.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 86-25B
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Digital surrogates for most of the photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4523, a duplicate album sent to the Bureau of American Ethnology.
The bulk of the photographs document Mayan reliefs and hieroglyphics at ancient sites, including Chichen Itza, Palenque, and Yaxchilan. Additional photographs depict items in the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico, including a necklace, the Stone of Tizoc, and a stone altar disk to Tlaltecuhtli. The collection includes photographs made by Alvarez y Medina, Kildare y Cia, and a photograph of a drawing by Frederic de Waldeck.
Biographical/Historical note:
Cyrus Thomas (1825-1910) was an archeologist for the Bureau of American Ethnology best known for his work on American Indian burial mounds in the American Midwest. Born in Kingsport, Tennessee, Thomas was educated in law and served as Deputy County Clerk under his brother-in-law, the County Clerk of Jackson County, Illinois (1850-1853). In 1858, Thomas helped found the Illinois Natural History Society, through which he met John Wesley Powell. Thomas served for a brief period as an Evangelical Lutheran minister (1864-1866) before becoming an entomologist for the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (1869-1873), Illinois State Entomologist (1874-1876), and a member of the US Entomological Commission (1876-1882). In 1876, he also worked as a professor of natural history at Southern Illinois Normal College and founded the school's Museum of Natural History (now the University Museum). During this time, Thomas also became interested in Mesoamerican ethnology, publishing articles about Mesoamerican codices and writing systems. In 1881 Thomas joined the Bureau of American Ethnology at the Smithsonian and served as the Director of the Division of Mound Exploration, a position he maintained until his death in 1910.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 169
Location of Other Archival Materials:
This collection has been relocated from Photo Lot 123.
Additional Cyrus Thomas materials relating to Mesoamerica held in the National Anthropological Archives are in MS 103, MS 1328, MS 3705, MS 3956, MS 3530, MS 3941, MS 3260, MS 2337, and MS 3920-b.
Correspondence from Thomas is held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4821, the J. C. Pilling papers, and records of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Indians of Mexico -- Languages -- writing Search this
Citation:
Photo Lot 169, Cyrus Thomas photograph collection relating to Mayan and Aztec carvings, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Photographs made and collected by Harris M. McLaughlin during his travels in the American southwest and other parts of North and South America, as well as Asia and Europe. Photographs made in Texas include images of the 1928 American Legion National Convention, the dirigible "Los Angeles" floating over San Antonio, the first train in Rio Grande City, cowboys and ranchers, missions, and city and scenic views. McLaughlin also took photographs at the Grand Canyon, Canyon del Muerto, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Park, and collected Frashers Foto postcards with photographs of Apache and Navajo people, a Papago dwelling, a Pueblo potterymaker, and a Hopi Snake Dance. Photographs from Guatemala include images of villages and cities (including Antigua and Zacapa), as well as a harvest ceremony in Chichicastenango. McLaughlin also took photographs during a trip to Monterey, Mexico, which include images of towns and scenic views. Additional photographs depict flood damage in Aurora, Indiana; city views and scenery of Merida, Mexico; Chichen Itza; a banana plantation in Honduras; and wartime China and Europe.
Photographs of Cuba in 1898, probably not made by McLaughlin, include images of the USS Maine wreck, and funeral services for the sailors of the ship and residents of Havana. The collection also contains photographs of trees and a dwelling in Honduras made by H. E. Chapman in 1933, photographs of people and scenery in Sumatra made by J. H. Zimmermann, and commercial photographs of archeological collections at the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Historia y Etnografia in Mexico. There are also images of scenery and architecture in Japan, Panama and the Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Belgium, England, and other places in Europe. Depicted individuals include Charles A. Lindbergh, as well as McLaughlin and his family.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 2000-04
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional Frashers photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 59.
Restrictions:
Nitrate negatives are in cold storage and require advanced notice for viewing.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 2000-04, Harris M. McLaughlin photographs of the Americas and Asia, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution