Photographs of art objects collected by Maxwell C., 1904-1984, and Betty Stanley. The Stanley's had begun to collect African art objects during a business trip to West Africa in the 1960s, and they gradually acquired nearly 600 pieces. The objects are found today in the University of Iowa Museum. Events documented include official government ceremonies with staged indigenous dances; rituals in villages such as young members of the female sande society returning from the initiation camp; and visits by foreign heads of state such as Queen Elizabeth II and Josip Broz Tito of Yoguslavia. Art works include figures, masks, musical instruments, sculptures and staffs.
Biographical/Historical note:
Christopher D. Roy, Curator of African, Oceanic, and New-World cultures, The University of Iowa Museum of Art; Associate Professor of Art History, The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History, 1991.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
For study purposes only. Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form:
Color slides
Identifier:
EEPA.1987-002
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
"Since Olokun, god of the waters, is a god who demands beauty, many of these devotees are channeled into artistic activities associated with the decoration of his shrines, which are found both in villages and in the urban homes of chiefs and cult leaders." [Ben-Amos P.,1986: Artistic Creativity in Benin Kingdom. African Arts, May 1986, pp.60-63]. During his trip to Nigeria, Elisofon visited Benin City in the Edo region. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon traveled to Africa from March 17, 1970 to July 17, 1970.
Local Numbers:
EENG-II-15, 34.
General:
Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note:
Typed index card reads, "I 2 Bni. Bini. Nigeria, Benin City. Shrine of Olokun, goddess of the sea (waters), House of Chief Oghiamien (hereditary title). 5/1970. EE. neg.no. II-15, 34." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
"Since Olokun, god of the waters, is a god who demands beauty, many of these devotees are channeled into artistic activities associated with the decoration of his shrines, which are found both in villages and in the urban homes of chiefs and cult leaders." [Ben-Amos P.,1986: Artistic Creativity in Benin Kingdom. African Arts, May 1986, pp.60-63]. During his trip to Nigeria, Elisofon visited Benin City in the Edo region. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon traveled to Africa from March 17, 1970 to July 17, 1970.
Local Numbers:
EENG-II-15, 35.
General:
Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note:
Typed index card reads, "I 2 Bni. Bini. Nigeria, Benin City. Shrine of Olokun, goddess of the sea (waters), House of Chief Oghiamien (hereditary title). 5/1970. EE. neg.no. II-15, 35." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Photographs documenting pottery and pottery designs from historic Pueblo groups and archeological sites, including Nampeyo pottery and an image of Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso and examples of her pottery. There are also some photographs that depict a pueblo, Southwest landscapes, cliff dwellings, rock art, craftspeople, and dwellings, mostly relating to Southwest Indians, Peruvians, and Australian aborigines. The collection includes images of artifacts in the collections of the Chicago Natural History Museum, Field Museum, British Museum, University of Illinois, Santa Fe Laboratory of Anthropology, and Paul Pearson collection. Notes and notices relating to publication are also available with the collection.
Biographical/Historical note:
Whitney Halstead (1926-1979) was an art historian and artist. He acquired his BFA and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he became Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts in 1967. He also worked as an assistant in the Field Museum's anthropology department and wrote art history publications.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 89-43
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds Whitney Halstead's papers.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Copy prints of photographs or photographs of objects held by Chicago Natural History Museum, Field Museum of Natural History, British Museum, University of Illinois, and Santa Fe Laboratory of Anthropology cannot be copied. Copies or permission must be obtained from these repositories.
The Historic Engravings collection is comprised of 154 pages of engravings, dating from 1747 to circa 1905. The engravings depict subject matter related to Africa and Africans.
Scope and Contents:
The Historic Engravings collection consists of 154 pages of engravings, dating from 1747 to circa 1905, with the bulk created in the second half of the nineteenth century. Many of the engravings were completed for publication in leading nineteenth-century newspapers, including the Illustrated London News and Harper's Weekly.
Numerous engravings depict scenes from expeditions, including the Dr. Livingstone (Central and South Africa), Baker (Central Africa), and Stanley expeditions. Topics illustrated include agriculture, ceremonies, city and town views, ships, animals, battles, domestic scenes, diamond mines, and fashions. Represented peoples include the Khoikoi, Abyssinian, Ashanti, Griquas, Khoikoi, Ndebele, and Zulu. Finally, the engravings depict such wide-ranging locations as Abyssinia, Annesley Bay, Chupanga, Dahomey, Gondokoro, Hadoda Pass, Hamhamo Spring, Keiskamma Gorge, Mount Kilimanjaro, Kongone River, Lake Tanganyika, Limpopo River, Matabili [now Zimbabwe], Morocco, Nigeria, the Red Sea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tekonda Pass, Ujiji, Umizimkulu Waterfall, Zambesi Delta, and Zanzibar, among others.
Arrangement:
Series one and two are arranged by publisher name and filed chronologically thereafter. Series 3 is arranged alphabetically by expedition leader name, and series 4 is organized by accession number.
Series 1: Illustrated London News, 1851-1901 (51 items; Map Case Drawer M1, 9 folders)
Series 2: Harper's Weekly, 1867-1905 (19 items; Map Case Drawer M1, 4 folders)
Series 3: Expedition Leaders, Bankes to Smith, circa 1800s-circa 1904 (51 items; Map Case Drawer M1, 11 folders)
Series 4: Other/Unidentified, 1747-circa 1905 (33 items; Map Case Drawer M1, 5 folders)
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
William Ian Brinkworth's collection, dated from 1901 to 1991, includes an extensive number of black and white photographs, negatives, color transparencies, books, audio tapes, manuscripts, and research materials. The manuscripts include Brinkworth's book drafts, film treatments, correspondence, historical documents, legal documents, journals and magazines in which his work was published.
Scope and Contents:
Brinkworth's black and white photographs, 35mm negatives and color transparencies form a major component of the collection and illustrate a vast array of subjects titled and arranged by Brinkworth. Many images focus on the Benin region of Nigeria, Olakun figures and shrines, hairstyles, bronze casting and Benin bronzes, tattooing, the Queens of the Oba, crafts and art objects, towns and marketplaces, seated dancing, personal adornment, agriculture and industry, and ceremonies and the daily life of Nigerian people. Subjects of special interest include the "Watchers of the Night" masquerade, the crowning of a chief in Abeokuta and the titling of a Yoruba chief. Also included are images of a Felesh priest (or "God of Thunder"), the Yoruba city of Jebba, a Popo women's cult, the Nupe people and a workshop in Bida, the University College at Ibadan and G.A. Akiola, the Aro of Igan Alade. Although the images were largely taken in Nigeria, there are a small number that depict domestic life of the Brinkworth family in England.
Brinkworth's manuscripts and personal documents include an extensive official diary from 1901 of Major W. R. Reeve-Tucker, the first British Traveling Commissioner in Nigeria. The series also includes some of Brinkworth's passports, personal notes, an "Enquiry into the Ogwashi-Uku Native Court," a treatment for the film African Priestess, essay and book drafts (many focusing on the mud figures of Benin), an issue of Functional Photography magazine featuring an article by Ian Brinkworth, correspondence, and paperwork concerning the law suit filed against Brinkworth by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Brinkworth's collection of publications contains books, pamphlets and articles from Noir Et Blanc and Picture Post featuring his photography.
Arrangement note:
Series 1 is arranged according to subject categories supplied by Brinkworth. Series 2 and 3 were kept in original order. Series 4 is organized according to Brinkworth's hand-written number annotations. All unnumbered transparencies were kept in the order in which they were received. Series 5 is arranged chronologically as well as according to Brinkworth's notes and number markings. Series 6 is arranged according to packet number, those unidentified are arranged miscellaneously. Series 7 is arranged according to subject and Series 8 is organized by tape number.
Series 1: Black and White Photographs, circa 1946-1957 (637 items; Box 1-5)
Series 2: Manuscripts and Personal Documents, 1901-1991 (65 Documents; Boxes 6-7)
Series 3: Publications, 1942-1956 (8 items; Box 8)
Series 4: 35 mm Color Transperancies, circa 1946-1957 (?)
Series 5: Black and White Negatives, circa 1946-1957 (3600 negatives; Cold Vault Shelves B5-6 and B5-7)
Series 6: Contact Sheets
Series 7: Research Materials and Inventories
Series 8: Audio Cassettes
Biographical/Historical note:
William Ian Brinkworth (1914-2000) was born in Karagpur, India to British parents and raised in Scotland, France, Germany and England. His interest in art brought him to the Slade School of Fine Art in London where he was trained as a painter. While studying there, Brinkworth was named a Slade Scholar and awarded the Slade Summer Composition Prize.
The outbreak of World War II changed Brinkworth's career path from painter to soldier. He first served in the Infantry, later joined the Intelligence Corps and then worked with the Free French forces and First Special Air Service Regiment. Brinkworth was taken prisoner in Sardinia for two years and after his release was seconded as a liaison officer between the Foreign Office and the United Nations in 1946. Brinkworth's military service earned him the Member of the British Empire (MBE) medal and an appointment by the British Colonial Administration Service to the position of Assistant District Officer to the Resident of Warri, Nigeria in 1946. He went on to become District Officer and finally Senior District Officer of the region.
Brinkworth's professional responsibilities involved extensive travel throughout Nigeria to many peoples and regions including Warri, Abeakuta, Badagri, Benin, Ogwashiuku, Alaro, Ibaden, Asaba and Ado-Ekiti. While serving as District Officer, Brinkworth was able to incorporate his artistic training and interests with his administrative obligations, chiefly through the mediums of photography and film. Brinkworth's administrative status and extensive interaction with local peoples of Nigeria earned him the privilege of witnessing and filming cultural traditions never before or rarely seen by Westerners.
Brinkworth served as a British Officer in Nigeria until 1957 and continued to minister as an advisor to the independent Nigerian nation during its transition to self-government. He then returned to England and pursued work as a broadcaster, documentary filmmaker, photographer, lecturer and writer. In 1961 he published his first novel, Jimmy Riddle [London; Cassell & Company Ltd., 1961], which won the Putnam Award. He went on to publish the novel's sequel, The Black List [London; Cassell & Company Ltd, 1962], and several other books including his 1966 autobiography The One-Eyed Man Is King [London; Cassell & Company Ltd, 1966]. He often wrote under the pseudonym "Ian Brook." Brinkworth also published several articles in The Geographical Magazine and The West African Review.
After retiring, Brinkworth lived in France with his second wife, Marida, from 1981-1991 before returning once again to England. Much of the photographic, film and art objects from his time in Africa were lost in shipment shortly before his death in 2000. The museum received the remainder of the collection through a donation by Marida Brinkworth in 2008.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Printed caption on verso reads: "Benin King on Rhinoceros - gem chloromelanite, gold, and pear shaped rubies."
Additional printed text on verso reads: "Headley Jewel Museum, Lexingon, Kentucky; Made by Dexter Press, Inc., West Nyack, New York."
Manuscript message, address, and postmarked postage stamp on verso.
Local Numbers:
EEPA NR-03-01
General:
Title source: Postcard caption.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Printed caption on recto reads: "Nigeria - The Oba of Benin."
Local Numbers:
EEPA NR-15-03
General:
Title source: Postcard caption.
Numbering Peculiarities Note:
Verso labelled with former accession number format: 1996-6-041.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Printed text on recto reads: "16. Bénin -- Achèvement d'une toiture à Ekiti." Translated caption reads: [Benin -- Completion of a roof in Ekiti.] Additional printed text on recto reads: "Missions Africaines, 150 Cours Gambetta, Lyon."
Manuscript message on verso. Printed text on verso reads: "Phototypie Mce Lescuyer, 16, r. des Remparts-d'Ainay, Lyon."
Local number:
EEPA NR-07-05
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
These records are the official minutes of the Board. They are compiled at the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian, who is also secretary to the Board, after
approval by the Regents' Executive Committee and by the Regents themselves. The minutes are edited, not a verbatim account of proceedings. For reasons unknown, there are no
manuscript minutes for the period from 1857 through 1890; and researchers must rely on printed minutes published in the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution instead.
Minutes are transferred regularly from the Secretary's Office to the Archives. Minutes less than 15 years old are closed to researchers. Indexes exist for the period from
1907 to 1946 and can be useful.
Historical Note:
The Smithsonian Institution was created by authority of an Act of Congress approved August 10, 1846. The Act entrusted direction of the Smithsonian to a body called
the Establishment, composed of the President; the Vice President; the Chief Justice of the United States; the secretaries of State, War, Navy, Interior, and Agriculture; the
Attorney General; and the Postmaster General. In fact, however, the Establishment last met in 1877, and control of the Smithsonian has always been exercised by its Board of
Regents. The membership of the Regents consists of the Vice President and the Chief Justice of the United States; three members each of the Senate and House of Representatives;
two citizens of the District of Columbia; and seven citizens of the several states, no two from the same state. (Prior to 1970 the category of Citizen Regents not residents
of Washington consisted of four members). By custom the Chief Justice is Chancellor. The office was at first held by the Vice President. However, when Millard Fillmore succeeded
to the presidency on the death of Zachary Taylor in 1851, Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney was chosen in his stead. The office has always been filled by the Chief Justice
since that time.
The Regents of the Smithsonian have included distinguished Americans from many walks of life. Ex officio members (Vice President) have been: Spiro T. Agnew, Chester A.
Arthur, Allen W. Barkley, John C. Breckenridge, George Bush, Schuyler Colfax, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Curtis, George M. Dallas, Charles G. Dawes, Charles W. Fairbanks, Millard
Fillmore, Gerald R. Ford, John N. Garner, Hannibal Hamlin, Thomas A. Hendricks, Garret A. Hobart, Hubert H. Humphrey, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, William R. King, Thomas
R. Marshall, Walter F. Mondale, Levi P. Morton, Richard M. Nixon, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt, James S. Sherman, Adlai E. Stevenson, Harry S. Truman, Henry A.
Wallace, William A. Wheeler, Henry Wilson.
Ex officio members (Chief Justice) have been: Roger B. Taney, Salmon P. Chase, Nathan Clifford, Morrison R. Waite, Samuel F. Miller, Melville W. Fuller, Edward D. White,
William Howard Taft, Charles Evans Hughes, Harlan F. Stone, Fred M. Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren E. Burger.
Regents on the part of the Senate have been: Clinton P. Anderson, Newton Booth, Sidney Breese, Lewis Cass, Robert Milledge Charlton, Bennet Champ Clark, Francis M. Cockrell,
Shelby Moore Cullom, Garrett Davis, Jefferson Davis, George Franklin Edmunds, George Evans, Edwin J. Garn, Walter F. George, Barry Goldwater, George Gray, Hannibal Hamlin,
Nathaniel Peter Hill, George Frisbie Hoar, Henry French Hollis, Henry M. Jackson, William Lindsay, Henry Cabot Lodge, Medill McCormick, James Murray Mason, Samuel Bell Maxey,
Robert B. Morgan, Frank E. Moss, Claiborne Pell, George Wharton Pepper, David A. Reed, Leverett Saltonstall, Hugh Scott, Alexander H. Smith, Robert A. Taft, Lyman Trumbull,
Wallace H. White, Jr., Robert Enoch Withers.
Regents on the part of the House of Representatives have included: Edward P. Boland, Frank T. Bow, William Campbell Breckenridge, Overton Brooks, Benjamin Butterworth,
Clarence Cannon, Lucius Cartrell, Hiester Clymer, William Colcock, William P. Cole, Jr., Maurice Connolly, Silvio O. Conte, Edward E. Cox, Edward H. Crump, John Dalzell, Nathaniel
Deering, Hugh A. Dinsmore, William English, John Farnsworth, Scott Ferris, Graham Fitch, James Garfield, Charles L. Gifford, T. Alan Goldsborough, Frank L. Greene, Gerry Hazleton,
Benjamin Hill, Henry Hilliard, Ebenezer Hoar, William Hough, William M. Howard, Albert Johnson, Leroy Johnson, Joseph Johnston, Michael Kirwan, James T. Lloyd, Robert Luce,
Robert McClelland, Samuel K. McConnell, Jr., George H. Mahon, George McCrary, Edward McPherson, James R. Mann, George Perkins Marsh, Norman Y. Mineta, A. J. Monteague, R.
Walton Moore, Walter H. Newton, Robert Dale Owen, James Patterson, William Phelps, Luke Poland, John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn, B. Carroll Reece, Ernest W. Roberts, Otho Robards
Singleton, Frank Thompson, Jr., John M. Vorys, Hiram Warner, Joseph Wheeler.
Citizen Regents have been: David C. Acheson, Louis Agassiz, James B. Angell, Anne L. Armstrong, William Backhouse Astor, J. Paul Austin, Alexander Dallas Bache, George
Edmund Badger, George Bancroft, Alexander Graham Bell, James Gabriel Berrett, John McPherson Berrien, Robert W. Bingham, Sayles Jenks Bowen, William G. Bowen, Robert S. Brookings,
John Nicholas Brown, William A. M. Burden, Vannevar Bush, Charles F. Choate, Jr., Rufus Choate, Arthur H. Compton, Henry David Cooke, Henry Coppee, Samuel Sullivan Cox, Edward
H. Crump, James Dwight Dana, Harvey N. Davis, William Lewis Dayton, Everette Lee Degolyer, Richard Delafield, Frederic A. Delano, Charles Devens, Matthew Gault Emery, Cornelius
Conway Felton, Robert V. Fleming, Murray Gell-Mann, Robert F. Goheen, Asa Gray, George Gray, Crawford Hallock Greenwalt, Nancy Hanks, Caryl Parker Haskins, Gideon Hawley,
John B. Henderson, John B. Henderson, Jr., A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Gardner Greene Hubbard, Charles Evans Hughes, Carlisle H. Humelsine, Jerome C. Hunsaker, William Preston
Johnston, Irwin B. Laughlin, Walter Lenox, Augustus P. Loring, John Maclean, William Beans Magruder, John Walker Maury, Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, John C. Merriam, R. Walton
Moore, Roland S. Morris, Dwight W. Morrow, Richard Olney, Peter Parker, Noah Porter, William Campbell Preston, Owen Josephus Roberts, Richard Rush, William Winston Seaton,
Alexander Roby Shepherd, William Tecumseh Sherman, Otho Robards Singleton, Joseph Gilbert Totten, John Thomas Towers, Frederic C. Walcott, Richard Wallach, Thomas J. Watson,
Jr., James E. Webb, James Clarke Welling, Andrew Dickson White, Henry White, Theodore Dwight Woolsey.
The collection consists of approximately 1,950 glass plate and large format film negatives,100 hand-tinted and black-and-white prints and four photographic albums containing prints of various sizes, taken by Chief Solomon Osagie Alonge, the royal photographer to the Oba of Benin, Akenzua II (1933-1978). These images span six decades (1926 - 1989) and represent a dynamic, continuous record of the Benin Royal Court in Nigeria. Alonge documented the pageantry, ritual and regalia of the Obas, their wives and retainers for over a half-century, including the coronation of the King and the Iyoba, or queen mother. The collection also documents historic visits to Benin by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (1956), Princess Alexandra (1960), foreign dignitaries, traditional rulers, political leaders and celebrities. The collection preserves an important historical record of Benin art and culture during the periods of British colonial rule and Nigerian independence in the 20th century. The rarity and historical value of the collection are enhanced by Alonge's privileged access to the Palace as a chief in the Iwebo Palace Society, a position which presents a unique insider's view of Benin royalty. The quality of the collection is testament to Alonge's technological skills in photography and his professionalism in keeping the collection ordered and well-preserved despite the heat, humidity and tropical climate of Nigeria.
Arrangement note:
Arrangement of negatives reflects the original order established by the photographer.
Biographical/Historical note:
Chief Solomon Osagie Alonge (1911-1994) was the first indigenous photographer of the Royal Court of Benin and one of the premier photographers of Nigeria. His significance as one of the earliest indigenous photographers in West Africa has been documented in detail by anthropologist Flora Kaplan. Alonge learned the craft of photography as a youth in Lagos during the 1920s and saw his profession as an honorable and distinguished calling. He clearly demonstrated an inclusive documentary perspective in his efforts to photograph many aspects of the world around him. In 1942, Alonge established the Ideal Photography Studio in Benin City and documented colonial society, the establishment of churches and businesses, and the formation of new civic organizations and social groups like the Benin Social Club (1940s). As a commercial photographer, Alonge photographed individual and group portraits, preserving a visual record of the everyday lives and peoples of Benin City. Alonge's studio portraits illustrate how local Africans presented themselves to the camera and engaged with the practice of photography during the early to mid-twentieth century.
General note:
Title provided by EEPA staff.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
