Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages.The papers of James Owen Dorsey comprise mostly ethnographic and linguistic materials on various tribes of the Siouan language family as well as tribes from Siletz Reservation in Oregon. These materials include texts and letters with interlineal translations; grammar notes; dictionaries; drawings; and his manuscripts. In addition, the collection contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, his obituaries, and reprints.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains James O. Dorsey's research and writings as a BAE ethnologist, as well as his earlier work as a missionary among the Ponca. The vast majority of the collection pertains to his research on Siouan-Catawban languages, including the Dakota and Dhegiha languages, Chiwere, Winnebago, Mandan, Hidatsa, Tutelo, Biloxi, and Catawba. His research on Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan languages from his field work at Siletz Reservation are also present, as well as some notes on the Caddoan languages. Dorsey's research files include linguistic and ethnological field notes, reading notes, stories and myths, vocabularies, drawings, and unpublished and published manuscripts. The collection also contains Omaha, Ponca, Quapaw, and Biloxi dictionaries that he compiled and materials relating to his work editing Steven Riggs' Dakota-English Dictionary. Additional noteworthy materials in the collection are Teton texts and drawings from George Bushotter and drawings by Stephen Stubbs (Kansa), Pahaule-gagli (Kansa), and George Miller (Omaha). The collection also contains Dorsey's correspondence, newspaper clippings, obituaries, and his collection of reprints.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into 6 series: 1) Siouan; 2) Siletz Reservation; 3) Caddoan; 4) General Correspondence; 5) Personal Papers; 6) Miscellaneous & Reprints.
Biographical Note:
Reverend James Owen Dorsey (1848-1895) was a missionary and Bureau of American Ethnology ethnologist who conducted extensive research on Siouan tribes and languages.
Dorsey was born on October 31, 1848 in Baltimore, Maryland. He exhibited a talent for languages at an early age. At age 6 he learned the Hebrew alphabet and was able to read the language at age 10. In 1867 Dorsey attended the Theological Seminary of Virginia and was ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1871. In May of that year, Dorsey traveled to the Dakota Territory to serve as a missionary among the Ponca. Plagued by ill health, Dorsey was forced to end his missionary work in August 1873. By that time, however, he had learned the Ponca language well enough to converse with members of the tribe without an interpreter.
Dorsey returned to Maryland and engaged in parish work while continuing his studies of Siouan languages. His linguistic talents and knowledge of these languages attracted the attention of Major John Wesley Powell. Powell arranged for Dorsey to work among the Omaha in Nebraska from 1878 to 1880 to collect linguistic and ethnological notes. When the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) was established in 1879, Powell recruited Dorsey to join the staff.
As an ethnologist for the BAE, Dorsey continued his research on Siouan tribes. His studies focused on languages but also included Siouan personal names, folklore, social organization, religion, beliefs, and customs. He conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada (1882); the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory (1883-1884); the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana (1892); and again with the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission (1894). He also worked with Native Americans that visited DC, including George Bushotter (Teton), Philip Longtail (Winnebago), Samuel Fremont (Omaha), and Little Standing Buffalo (Ponca). He also spent time at Siletz Reservation in 1884 to collect linguistic notes on the Athapascan, Kusan, Takilman, and Yakonan stocks.
In addition to his research, Dorsey helped found the American Folklore Society and served as the first vice-president of the association. He also served as vice-president of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
At the age of 47, Dorsey died of typhoid fever on February 4, 1895.
Sources Consulted
1st-16th Annual Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 1881-1897.
Hewitt, J.N.B. 1895. "James Owen Dorsey" American Anthropologist A8, 180-183.
McGee, W.J. 1895. "In Memoriam." Journal of American Folklore 8(28): 79-80.
1848 -- Born on October 31 in Baltimore, Maryland.
1871 -- Ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
1871-1873 -- Served as a missionary among the Ponca in Dakota Territory.
1878-1880 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Omaha in Nebraska.
1879 -- Joined the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
1882 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Tutelo at Six Nations on Grand River in Upper Canada.
1883-1884 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw in Indian Territory.
1887 -- Worked with George Bushotter to record information regarding the language and culture of the Dakota.
1884 -- Conducted fieldwork at Siletz Reservation.
1892 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Biloxi at Lecompte, Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
1894 -- Conducted fieldwork among the Quapaw at the Quapaw Mission in Indian Territory.
1895 -- Died of typhoid fever on February 4th at the age of 47.
Restrictions:
The James O. Dorsey Papers are open for research. Access to the James O. Dorsey Papers requires an appointment
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Manuscript 4800 James O. Dorsey papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Creation of this finding aid was funded through support from the Arcadia Fund.
Digitization and preparation of additional materials for online access has been funded also by the National Science Foundation under BCS Grant No. 1561167 and the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Contents consist of 4 small notebooks and numerous loose sheets and slips. September 1954: Partly sorted and arranged in folders under the following headings: Botany. Cherokee. Fights. Paintings. Southern Algonquian ethnology (D.C, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina). Southeast ethnology (Catawba and Creek). Southwest. Shields. Tipis. Remainder to be arranged. Principally Kiowa, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche. Many small slips, probably unclassifiable.
List compiled by Mooney. Includes letter from Dorsey to H.W. Henshaw, giving comparative information from other Siouan languages. October 14, 1890. Typescript and autograph letter signed. 2 pages. Also note from Gatschet to Mooney giving some Biloxi, Catawba and Tutelo comparisons. No date. Autograph letter. 1 page.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
Includes marginal notes and comparative Siouan vocabulary entered by J. Owen Dorsey and 15 pages and slips of newspaper clippings and correspondence on the Catawbas from McDonald Furman, Ramsey, South Carolina, 1891-1897 and 2 pages note on the Catawbas by James Mooney and Gatschet.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 1410
Local Note:
Loose sheets pasted together with cardboard covers.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
The collection is made up of illustrations prepared for new printings of James Mooneyʹs "Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians," John Reed Swantonʹs "Indians of the Southeastern United States," and John C. Ewers's "The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Culture" in the Classics of Smithsonian Anthropology series. It includes images of maps, Kiowa, Blackfeet, and Native Americans of the American Southeast, and ANative American artwork and other artifacts. Images of Native people include photographs, portraits, and drawings. There are also textual publication materials, including layout and notated reprint, available with the collection.
Biographical/Historical note:
The aim of the Classics of Smithsonian Anthropology series, which is comprised of reprinted BAE publications, was to appeal to a more popular audience. The series began in 1979 with the publication of "Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians" and "Indians of the Southeastern United States." "The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Culture" was published the following year.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 80-39, NAA Photo Lot 80-6
Reproduction Note:
Copy prints made by Smithsonian Institution, circa 1979.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Photo Lot 80-6 has been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 80-39. These photographs were also made and collected for the Classics of Smithsonian Anthropology publications and form part of this collection.
Originals for some of these images, as well as additional photographs by John Swanton, can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 76 and 87-2Q.
Originals for some of these images, as well as additional photographs by James Mooney, can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 74 and 14 as well as NAA MS 2531.
Originals for some of these images, as well as additional photographs by John C. Ewers, can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in the papers of John Canfield Ewers.
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 North America -- Southern states Search this
Genre/Form:
Illustrations
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 80-39, Illustrations for Classics of Smithsonian Anthropology, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photographs mostly commissioned and collected by personnel in the Bureau of American Ethnology. Most of the photographs are studio portraits of Native Americans made by the Bureau of American Ethnology and Smithsonian Institution, possibly for physical anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka. There are also photographs made by Truman Michelson among the Catawba tribe, copies of illustrations and drawings, and various images of archeological sites and artifacts.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 87-2M, USNM ACC 42191
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Original negatives for many photographs in this collection held in the National Anthropological Archives in the BAE historical negatives.
Additional Michelson photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 13, Photo Lot 24, MS 2139, and MS 4365-c.
Additional Hillers photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 28, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 143, Photo Lot 83-18, Photo Lot 87-2N, Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 92-46, and the BAE historical negatives.
Additional Jackson photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 37, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 60, Photo Lot 93, Photo Lot 143, Photo Lot R82-10, Photo Lot 87-2P, Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 92-3, the records of the Department of Anthropology, and the BAE historical negatives.
Additional Smillie photographs held in the National Museum of American History Archives Center in the Frances Benjamin Johnston and Thomas W. Smillie Glass Plate Negatives and in Smithsonian Institution Archives SIA Acc. 05-123.
Additional Gardner photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 80-18, Photo Lot 87-2P, Photo Lot 90-1, and the BAE historical negatives.
Associated busts and molds held in the Department of Anthropology collections in accession 42191.
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 North America -- Southern states Search this
Photo lot 87-2M, Bureau of American Ethnology photograph collection relating to Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The collection consists of photographs collected by the Albertype Company for their postcards and viewbooks, including portraits, scenery, camps, Native Americans schools, and some paintings and composites for postcard printing. Additional subjects include rock drawings in Maine; a statue in Kansas City, Missouri; Standing Rock Monument in North Dakota; people in Atlin, British Columbia; Carib rock drawings in the Virgin Islands; and totem poles in Vancouver.
Included are works of Charles Milton Bell, E. A. Benson, C. R. Bourne, H. E. Brown, William Bull, H. H. Clarke, George B. Cornish, Frank Bennett Fiske, H. Lee Flood, N. W. Halsey, Fred Harvey, H. R. Hazeltine, Kiser Photograph Company, W. H. Martin, C. W. Mathers, Frank Matsura, W. H. Matthewson, Charles E. Morris, Ernest Moses, J. S. Myers, M. OʹConnor, G. W. Parsons, Roland W. Reed, C. B. Robinson , J. E. Stimson, W. M. Stoltz, and H. H. Watkins. Clarke and Fiske, however, are the only photographers with more than a few images.
Biographical/Historical note:
The Albertype Company, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, published viewbooks and postcards for national distribution. Founded by Adolph and Herman Witteman, the company began publishing souvenier photographic albums as early as 1867. The Wittemans established Witteman Brothers in 1885, and then the Albertype Company in 1890. From 1890 to 1950, the firm published collotypes made from the photographs of its agents (including Adolph Witteman), other companies, and independent photographers. The firm was purchased in 1952 by Art Vue Post Card Company.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 25
Reproduction Note:
Modern copy negatives and prints made by Smithsonian Institution, circa 1972.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The Library of Congress, Wisconsin Historical Society, and Historical Society of Pennsylvania also hold original Albertype Company prints and negatives.
Albertype Company views are also held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 88-37, Photo Lot 92-37, and Photo Lot 92-3.
Restrictions:
Original nitrate negatives are in cold storage and require advanced notice for viewing. Modern copy prints and copy negatives for nearly all images are available.
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina
Date:
1932-1958
Summary:
These are the papers of Washington, D.C. attorney James E. Curry, whose legal career included work both as a government attorney and in his own private practice. The bulk of the papers reflect his private practice in the area of Indian affairs.
Scope and Contents:
The material in the collection includes documents relating to many aspects of Curry's career but most of it relates to his work with Indian tribes and the National Congress of American Indians. For the most, the collection is made up of such materials as letters exchanged with government officials, Indians, and other attorneys; copies of legal documents; published government documents; notes; and clippings and other printed materials. Of particular significance is a subject file relating to Indian affairs. It includes material concerning affairs of Alaskan natives and the Aleut (Akutan, Pribilof Islands), Apache (including Fort Sill, Jicarilla, Mescalero, San Carlos White Mountain), Arapaho (Southern), Assiniboine (Fort Belknap, Fort Peck), Bannock (including Fort Hall), Blackfeet, Caddo, Catawba, Cherokee (Eastern), Cheyenne (Northern, Southern), Chickahominy, Chickasaw, Chippewa (including Lac Courte Oreilles), Choctaw, Cochiti, Cocopa, Coeur d'Alene, Colville, Comanche, Creek, Croatan, Crow, Dakota (Big Foot, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Devil's Lake, Flandreau, Fort Totten, Lower Brule, Mdewakanton, Oglala, Rosebud, Santee, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Standing Rock, Yankton), Delaware, Eskimo (including Gambell, Kiana), Flathead, Fox, Haida (including Kasaan), Havasupai, Hopi, Iroquois (Caughnawaga, Seneca, St. Regis), Isleta, Jemez, Kalilspel, Kansa (Kaw), Kickapoo, Kiowa, Klamath, Kutenai, Laguna, Lummi, Maricopa (Gila River, Salt River), Menominee, Missouria, Mohave (Fort Mohave), Mohave Apache (Fort McDowell), Muckleshoot, Navaho, Nez Perce, Niska, Nooksak, Omaha, Osage, Oto, Papago, Paiute (Fallon, Fort McDermitt), Moapa, Pyramid Lake, Shivwits, Walker River, Yerington), Pima (Gila River, Salt River), Potowatomi, Quinaielt, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Sandia, Sauk, Seminole (Florida, Oklahoma), Seneca, Seri, Shawnee (Eastern), Shoshoni (including Fort Hall), Sia, Spokan, Stockbridge, Taos (Pyote clan), Tesuque, Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa), Tillamook, Tlingit (including Angoon, Craig, Juneau, Kake, Ketchikan, Klawak, Klukwan, Taku, Wrangell), Tsimshian (Metlakatla), Umatilla, Ute (including Uintah-Ouray), Walapai, Washo, Wesort, Winnebago, Wyandot, Yakima, Yaqui, Yavapai, Yuma, and Zuni. There are also materials relating to Curry's work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Congress of American Indians, and material that reflects his interest in conditions and events in given locations (often filed by state) and in organizations with interest in Indians. The material relating to Curry's work in Puerto Rico has been deposited in the Archivo General de Puerto Rico, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena, in San Juan.
Arrangement note:
The James E. Curry Papershave been arranged into 6 series: (1) Daily Chronological Files, 1941-1955; (2) Subject Files Regarding Indian Affairs, bulk 1935-1955; (3) Miscellaneous Files Regarding Indian Affairs, bulk 1947-1953; (4) Non-Indian Affairs, n.d.; (5) Puerto Rico Work, 1941-1947; (6) Miscellany, undated.
Biographical/Historical note:
James E. Curry was trained in law in Chicago and practiced in that city from 1930 until 1936, serving part of that time as secretary of the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. From 1936 to 1938, he was an attorney with the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, being largely involved with matters of credit affecting Indians. From 1938 to 1942, he continued service with the Interior Department but worked in several capacities involving the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration, the department's Consumers' Counsel Division, and the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority.
In 1945, Curry returned to Washington and set up private practice, also maintaining for a time an office in Puerto Rico. In Washington, he became the attorney for the National Congress of American Indians and from that time until the 1950s his practice increasingly involved representation of American Indian tribes, mostly in claims against the federal government. In this work, for a time, he was involved in business relations with a New York Law firm that included Henry Cohen, Felix Cohen, and Jonathan Bingham.
He also often worked closely with lawyers who lived near the tribes he represented, William L. Paul, Jr., of Alaska, for example. This aspect of his practice--representing Indian tribes--was largely broken up during the early 1950s when the Commissioner of Indian Affairs began to use his powers to disapprove contracts between Curry and the tribes. In 1952 and 1953, his official relationship with the National Congress of American Indians was also ended. After this, while Curry continued until his death to act as a consultant in Indian claims with which he had earlier been involved, his career and life developed in a different direction.
Related Materials:
Additional material relating to James E. Curry can be found in the records of the National Congress of American Indians, also located at the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center.
Provenance:
The Curry papers were originally donated to the National Anthropological Archives by James E. Curry's daughter Mrs. Aileen Curry-Cloonan in December 1973. In 2007 The Curry papers were transferred from the National Anthropological Archives to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center along with several other records concerning American Indian law and political rights.
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 broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Genre/Form:
Notes
Letters
Clippings
Legal documents
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); James E. Curry papers, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Includes specimen numbers and notes. The material was collected in the South from whites and Indians, including Choctaws and Catawbas. Also includes transmittal letter, Cyrus Thomas to Spencer F. Baird, November 21, 1884.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Southern states Search this
Citation:
Manuscript 7207, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
Contents: Comparative vocabulary, 117 items, in English, Hidatsa, Ofo, Mandan, Dakota, Biloxi, Tutelo, Osage and (a few) Winnebago. 3 pages. Comparison of 24 words: English, Catawba, Ofo, Tutelo, Dakota and Quapaw. 1 slip. Synonyms for the name "Ofo". 1 slip. Summary of history of classification of Tutelo, Catawba, and Woccon as Siouan. 1 slip.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 4234
Local Note:
typescript document
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Catawba linguistic notes and texts collected by Truman Michelson in South Carolina. The purpose of Michelson's research on Cawtaba was to determine the resemblance between the Siouan and Muskhogean stocks. He compiled notes on the Catawba language through his work with John Brown, Margaret Brown, Robert Lee Harris, Ben Harris, Sarah Harris, Billy Harris, Ep Harris, and Taylor George. The notes include card slips of Catawba vocabulary with English translations. The texts included stories of the rabbit and terrapin; the ground squirrel and terrapin fight; and the deer and opposum in Catawba and English.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 2714
Local Note:
Title changed from "Catawba linguistic notes, texts, vocabularies and miscellaneous notes" 4/16/2014.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Date:
1941-1960
Scope and Contents:
Relates to Southwestern projects and project areas of the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, made by Bureau photographers 1941-1960.
Catalog Number 4584: (1) Tribe: Catawba Description: E. H. Garce in ceremonial costume Photographer: Friend B. Slote, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation Date: After 1943. (2) Catawba E. H. Garce at Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah Friend B. Slote, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation After 1943. (3) Laguna Old man, "an early irrigationist" B. D. Glaha, Bureau of Reclamation May, 1941. (4) Laguna Woman with water jar B. D. Glaha, Bureau of Reclamation May, 1941. (5) Laguna Woman dipping water from cistern B. D. Glaha, Bureau of Reclamation May, 1941. (6) Isleta Albert Lujan (Tho-b-aa, =Sun Path), 14, dances at most of the Pueblo Indian ceremonies. He is shown here in costume doing the porcupine dance. This is not an original dance; it is danced to entertain tourists. A. E. McCloud, Bureau of Reclamation October 29, 1946. (7) Navaho Medicine man near Kayenta, Arizona B. D. Glaha, Bureau of Reclamation May, 1941. (8) Navaho Jackson Manson Yazzie poses on his horse near Page prior to the Page Navaho Indian Ceremonial Dances A. E. Turner, Bureau of Reclamation June 2, 1960. (9) A production still from "Water in the Wilderness" B. D. Glaha, Bureau of Reclamation August, 1941.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 4584
Local Note:
Filed according to tribe in "Original Prints" series.
MS 933-b Biloxi vocabulary with some cognate forms in Catawba, Santee, Yankton and Teton Dakota, Hidatsa, Kansa and Tutelo In Department of the Interior schedule
Creator:
Gatschet, Albert S. (Albert Samuel), 1832-1907 Search this
173 entries in printed U. S. Geographical and Geological Survey "Comparative Vocabulary" form. Corrections of entries 92 and 93 by J. Owen Dorsey.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 933-b
Local Note:
Autograph document signed
General:
Previously titled"Biloxi vocabulary (collected October - November, 1886) with some cognate forms in Catawba, Santee, Yankton and Teton Dakota, Hidatsa, Kansa and Tutelo."
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
