Photographs relating to archeology, most of which were made by Bureau of American Ethnology photographers and ethnologists. Much of the collection consists of photographs by Cosmos and Victor Mindeleff of Southwest pueblos. Images depict mounds and excavations (including Grant Mound in Pennsylvania and additional mounds in West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and elsewhere); Hopi Sipaulovi village; petroglyphs in Wind River, Wyoming; ancient artifacts; Standing Rock; Tohono O'odham Indians; Canyon de Chelly; and Clear Creek. Photographers represented include John K. Hillers; C. H. Bryan of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky; the Mindeleff brothers; Henry Bascom Collins; L. C. Rennick; J. W. Milner; Hattons Studio in Lansing, Michigan; and a drawing by W. A. Rogers.
Collection may contain images of human remains.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 28
Location of Other Archival Materials:
William Dinwiddie photographs documenting Papago Indians, previously filed in Photo Lot 28, have been relocated to National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 89.
Additional Mindeleff photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 4362, Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 78, and the BAE historical negatives.
Additional Hillers photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, 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 Collins photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 82-23, Photo Lot 86-42, Photo Lot 86-43, and Photo Lot 86-59.
See others in:
Photograph collection relating to archeology, burial mounds, and the Southwest, 1880s-1920s
Photo Lot 28, Bureau of American Ethnology photograph collection relating to archeology and burial mounds, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Mounted prints
Photographs
Place:
Chelly, Canyon de (Ariz.)
Date:
1870s-1880s
bulk 1879-1879
Scope and Contents note:
The collection primarily consists of photographs made by John K. Hillers for the Bureau of American Ethnology documenting pueblos, cliff and rock dwellings, and people in Arizona and New Mexico. The photographs depict Navajo, Zuni, Taos, Oraibi, Walpi, Tesuque, Sichomovi, Cochiti, Mishongnavi, and Shipaulovi Pueblos. There are also pictures of mounds, possibly in West Virginia, and a Hobart Nichols drawing of the interior of a Pueblo dwelling. The bulk of the photographs are on BAE mounts, of which some are stamped "Compliments of J. W. Powell". Several of the images were made during the United States Geological Survey in 1885.
Biographical/Historical note:
John K. Hillers (1843-1925) immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1852. He spent almost twenty years photographing Native Americans, largely for the Bureau of American Ethnology and the United States Geological Survey. He began work on the Survey as a boatman on John Wesley Powell's second expedition down the Colorado River in 1871. He soon became the assistant, and then main photographer (1872) for the expedition. From 1879 to 1900, Hillers served as the first staff photographer of the Bureau of Ethnology, and in 1881 he took pictures for the United States Geological Survey.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 143
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional Hillers photographs in the National Anthropological Archives can be found in Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 28, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 83-18, Photo Lot 87-2N, Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 92-46, and the BAE historical negatives.
The National Anthropological Archives also holds Hillers's diary from 1871-1872 and 1874, 1875 (MS 4410).
This collection contains photographs documenting American Indian communities and landscape scenes in the Southwest photographed by Timothy O'Sullivan and William Bell for U.S. geographical surveys circa 1971-1974.
This collection contains 54 photographs (plus 7 copy negatives) that were shot by photographer Timothy O'Sullivan 1871, 1873, and 1874 and William Bell in 1872 for the U.S. Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, under Lieutenant George M. Wheeler, War Department, Corps of Engineers, U.S.A. The survey was commonly referred to as the "Wheeler Surveys."
The photographs depict American Indian Pueblos in the Southwest including Apache; A:shiwi (Zuni); Diné (Navajo); Hopi; Jicarilla Apache; Laguna Pueblo; Mohave; San Felipe Pueblo; Taos Pueblo; and Ute, among other communities. In addition, the collection contains landscape and scenic shot in the same region.
The bulk of the photos in this collection are one half of a stereoscope photograph that was never pasted onto a stereoscope card. The copy negatives in this collection were created by the Museum of the American Indian in the late 1960s.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged by year and subject matter.
Biographical / Historical:
The geographical surveys west of the 100th meridian were operated under the United States Army Corps of Engineers and supervised by First Lieutenant (later Captain) George Montague Wheeler from 1869 through 1879. They were intended to document the geography in order to make accurate maps, record locations of American Indian tribes in the region, select possible sites for military installations and rail or common roads, and note resources in the area. In total, the surveys analyzed the region now covered by Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon, and the expeditions produced 164 maps, 41 publications, and a series of stereoviews. Timothy H. O'Sullivan began photographing geographical surveys in 1867-1869 when he was the official photographer for Clarence King's United States Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel. He served as the official photographer for the Wheeler surveys in 1871, 1873, and 1874, with William Bell taking over in 1872. O'Sullivan later became the United States Geological Survey's first photographer in Washington, D.C.
[History note from the National Anthropological Archives collection record NAA.PhotoLot.167 with edits made by NMAI]
Provenance:
It is unclear when most of these photographs were obtained by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives 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:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, 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. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Collection of Timothy H. O'Sullivan photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.229, National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Search this
Indians of North America -- Great Basin Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Stereographs
Photographs
Place:
Zuni (N.M.)
Chelly, Canyon de (Ariz.)
Grand Canyon (Ariz.)
Colorado River
Date:
1871-1874
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs made on the Geographical Explorations and Surveys west of the 100th meridian, under Lieutenant George M. Wheeler, War Department, Corps of Engineers, U.S.A. 1871-74. They include images of expedition party members, archeological sites, pueblos and puebloan and other Indigenous people of the southwest (including Zuni, Navajo, Apache, Coyotero Apache, Jicarilla Apache, Ute, and Mohave), and scenic views in Canyon de Chelly, canyons of the Colorado River (including the Grand Canyon and Black Canyon), Apache Lake, and the Cerro Blanco Mountains.
The collection includes two complete sets of the stereographs published by the War Department Corps of Engineers, which were collected by John R. Swanton and Alice C. Fletcher, and an incomplete set donated by Vincent McMullen. It also includes lists and notes (circa 1935-1948) regarding the photographs prepared by F. M. Fryxell and Bruno Klinger, as well as stereographs published by the Corps of Engineers.
Biographical/Historical note:
The geographical surveys west of the 100th meridian were operated under the United States Army Corps of Engineers and supervised by First Lieutenant (later Captain) George Montague Wheeler from 1869 through 1879. They documented Native American tribes and geography in the region, in order to make accurate maps; selected possible sites for military installations and rail or common roads; and noted resources in the area. In total, the surveys analyzed the region now covered by Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon, and the expeditions produced 164 maps, 41 publications, and a series of stereoviews. Timothy H. O'Sullivan began photographing geographical surveys in 1867-1869 when he was official photographer for Clarence King's United States Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel. He served as official photographer for the Wheeler surveys in 1871, 1872, and 1874, with William Bell taking over in 1873. O'Sullivan would go on to become the United States Geological Survey's first photographer in Washington, DC.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4501, NAA MS 4500, NAA MS 4499, NAA Photo Lot 4558
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Descriptive lists and notes relating to the expedition photographs, previously filed in MS 4499, have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 4501.
Complete sets of Wheeler Expedition stereographs published by the Corps of Engineers, previously filed in MS 4500 and Photo Lot 4558, have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 4501.
Additional O'Sullivan and Bell photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo lot 40, Photo Lot 37, Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 97, and Photo Lot 167.
Contained in:
Numbered manuscripts 1850s-1980s (some earlier)
See others in:
Timothy H. O'Sullivan and William Bell photographs from the Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, 1871-1874
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Stereographs
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 4501, Timothy H. O'Sullivan and William Bell photographs from the "Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian" and associated papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Basin Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Contact prints
Enlarged prints
Negatives
Photographs
Place:
Colorado River
Grand Canyon (Ariz.)
Chelly, Canyon de (Ariz.)
Date:
1871-1874
Scope and Contents note:
Stereographic photographs made on the geographical explorations and surveys west of the 100th meridian, under Lieutenant George M. Wheeler, War Department, Corps of Engineers, U.S.A. 1871-74. The bulk of the photographs were made by Timothy H. Sullivan during the years 1871-1872 and 1874, but there are also some taken by William Bell in 1873. The photos include images of expedition party members, camps, and transportation, as well as pueblos, (including Zuni, Navajo, Apache, Coyotero Apache, Jicarilla Apache, Ute, and Mohave), puebloan people, and scenic views in canyons of the Colorado River, Canyon de Chelly, Apache Lake, and the Cerro Blanco Mountains.
Biographical/Historical note:
The geographical surveys west of the 100th meridian were operated under the United States Army Corps of Engineers and supervised by First Lieutenant (later Captain) George Montague Wheeler from 1869 through 1879. They were intended to document the geography in order to make accurate maps, record locations of Native American tribes in the region, select possible sites for military installations and rail or common roads, and note resources in the area. In total, the surveys analyzed the region now covered by Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon, and the expeditions produced 164 maps, 41 publications, and a series of stereoviews. Timothy H. O'Sullivan began photographing geographical surveys in 1867-1869 when he was the official photographer for Clarence King's United States Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel. He served as the official photographer for the Wheeler surveys in 1871, 1872, and 1874, with William Bell taking over in 1873. O'Sullivan later became the United States Geological Survey's first photographer in Washington, D.C.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 167
Location of Other Archival Materials:
This collection has been relocated from Photo Lot 78.
Contact prints and enlargements, previously filed in MS 4498, have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 167.
Published stereographs and associated papers relating to the surveys are held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4501.
Additional O'Sullivan and Bell photographs are held in National Anthropological Archives Photo lot 40, Photo Lot 37, Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 24, and Photo Lot 97.
Some survey negatives were transferred to the National Archives, circa 1948. They are held there in Record Group 106.
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 167, Timothy O'Sullivan photographs from the "Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian," National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection contains individual and group portraits of Native American people. Tribal affiliations include Apache, Arapaho, Assiniboine, Delaware, Isleta, Kickapoo, Mescalero Apache, Navajo, San Carlos Apache, Sioux, Taos, and Tohono O'odham. There are also includes images of weavers, dancers, tipis, Canyon de Chelly, Taos Pueblo, and Taos cemetery, as well as a self-portrait of Gary Auerbach. Also included is one autostereoscopic multidimensional platinum print. Additionally, the collection contains Auerbach's book, We Walk In Beauty, which pairs the portraits with excerpts of interviews that Auerbach conducted with the individuals, and promotional materials including exhibit announcements and catalogs.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into two series: 1. Photographs, and 2. Printed material.
Biographical Note:
Following a career as a chiropractor, Gary Auerbach became a professional photographer in 1991. Concerned about the long-term permanence of his photographs, Auerbach taught himself the platinum printing process. From 1992 to 2003, Auerbach made portraits of a number of Native American people, also asking each individual a series of biographical questions. He published the photographs and short biographies in his book, We Walk in Beauty.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 2004-13
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use and access.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot 2004-13, Gary Auerbach portraits of Native American people, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Images of Canyon de Chelly, including cliff dwellings, masonry, overlooks, and a river.
Biographical/Historical note:
Cosmos Mindeleff (1863-1938) started his career as assistant to his brother Victor Mindeleff, who was employed by the Bureau of American Ethnology to conduct studies of Pueblo architecture (1880s). In 1882, James Stevenson and the Mindeleffs visited Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. In later years, Victor and Cosmos Mindeleff continued their research in Canyon de Chelly and Cosmos published the first authoritative archeological map of White House in 1893.
Local Call Number(s):
Photo Lot 2006-21
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs made by Cosmos Mindeleff held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 28, Photo Lot 83-14, and the BAE historical negatives.
Reports and correspondence by Cosmos Mindeleff held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4733, MS 4734, MS 4745, the Herbert William Krieger papers, Department of Anthropology (Manuscript and Pamphlet file), and Bureau of American Ethnology records.
This collection contains 16 glass plate negatives and 1 gelatin silver print taken by Charles B. Lang between 1894-1910. Also present are 16 duplicate acetate negatives. The images depict views of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley in Arizona, scenes of everyday life in Cochiti Pueblo, and a Navajo silversmith in Bluff, Utah.
Arrangement note:
Glass plate negatives: organized in boxes; arranged by image number.
Duplicate negatives: organized in individual sleeves; arranged by image number.
Print: organized in folder.
Biographical/Historical note:
Charles B. Lang (1871-1935?) was a photographer who worked in the American Southwest. Originally from Pittsburgh, Lang worked with rancher and amateur archaeologist Richard Wetherill and later with Frederick Starr in Mexico. After 1910, he was employed as a technician in a film lab in Los Angeles. Lang is the father of renowned cinematographer Charles B. Lang Jr.
Restrictions:
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Rights:
Copyright: National Museum of the American Indian.
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
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
