These records document the governance and programmatic activities of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (MAI) from its inception in 1904 until its sublimation by the Smithsonian Institution in 1990. The types of materials present in this collection include personal and institutional correspondence, individual subject files, minutes and annual reports, financial ledgers, legal records, expedition field notes, research notes, catalog and object lists, publications, clippings, flyers, maps, photographs, negatives and audio-visual materials. These materials span a varied range of subjects relating to the activities of the museum which are more fully described on the series level.
Scope and Contents:
These records document the governance and programmatic activities of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation (MAI) from its inception in 1904 until its sublimation by the Smithsonian Institution in 1990. The types of materials present in this collection include personal and institutional correspondence, individual subject files, minutes and annual reports, financial ledgers, legal records, expedition field notes, research notes, catalog and object lists, publications, clippings, flyers, maps, photographs, negatives and audio-visual materials. These materials span a varied range of subjects relating to the activities of the museum which are more fully described on the series level.
Arrangement:
The MAI, Heye Foundation records have been arranged into 21 series and 50 subseries:
Series 1: Directors, 1908-1990 (1.1: George Gustav Heye, 1863-1962, 1.2: Edwin K. Burnett, 1943-1960, 1.3: Frederick Dockstader, 1950-1976, 1.4: Alexander F. Draper, 1972-1977, 1.5:Roland W. Force, 1963-1990, 1.6: George Eager, Assistant Director, 1977-1990)
Series 2: Board of Trustees, 1916-1990 (2.1: Board of Trustee Minutes, 1916-1990, 2.2: Individual Board Correspondence, 1943-1990, 2.3: Subject Files, 1917-1990)
Series 3: Administrative, 1916-1989 (3.1: Subject Files, 1904-1991, 3.2: Personnel, 1956-1991, 3.3: Legal, 1900-1989, 3.4: Task Force, 1976-1986, 3.5: George Abrams, 1980-1991)
Series 4: Financial, 1916-1990 (4.1: Ledgers, 1900-1962, 4.2: Correspondence, 1905-1985, 4.3: Subject Files, 1916-1990)
Series 5: Expeditions, 1896-1973Series 6: Collectors, 1872-1981Series 7: Registration, 1856-1993Series 8: Collections Management, 1937-1988Series 9: Curatorial, 1963-1990 (9.1: Curatorial Council, 1973-1990, 9.2: Gary Galante, 1979-1991, 9.3: Mary Jane Lenz, 1974-1994, 9.4: James G. E. Smith, 1963-1990, 9.5: U. Vincent Wilcox, 1968-1984, 9.6: Anna C. Roosevelt, 1973-1988)
Series 10: Exhibits, 1923-1991 (10.1: MAI Exhibits, 1923-1990, 10.2: Non-MAI Exhibits, 1937-1991)
Series 11: Public Programs, 1935-1990Series 12: Publications, 1904-1994 (12.1: Annual Reports, 1917-1989, 12.2: Publications by MAI, 1904-1990, 12.3: Publications by Other Sources, 1881-1990, 12.4: Administration, 1920-1988, 12.5: Archival Set of Official Publications, 1907-1976)
Series 13: Public Affairs, 1938-1991Series 14: Development, 1927-1991 (14.1: Administration, 1979-1990, 14.2: Donors, 1978-1990, 14.3: Fundraising, 1973-1990, 14.4: Grants, 1970-1990, 14.5: Subject Files, 1976-1990)
Series 15: Other Departments, 1914-1990 (15.1: Archives, 1914-1990, 15.2: Conservation, 1972-1989, 15.3: Education, 1921-1990, 15.4: Indian Information Center, 1977-1989, 15.5: Museum Shop, 1947-1989, 15.6: Photography, 1918-1990, 15.7: Physical Anthropology, 1919-1956)
Series 16: Huntington Free Library, 1926-1991Series 17: Museum Relocation, 1969-1992 (17.1: Subject Files, 1979-1990, 17.2: American Museum of Natural History, 1980-1987, 17.3: Dallas, Texas, 1984-1987, 17.4: Smithsonian Institution, 1979-1990, 17.5: U.S. Custom House, 1977-1990, 17.6: Other Locations, 1974-1987)
Series 18: MediaSeries 19: PhotographsSeries 20: Miscellaneous, 1837-1990Series 21: Oversize, 1873-1972 (21.1: Maps, 1873-1975, 21.2: Miscellaneous, 1884-1982)
History of the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation:
The Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation was established by wealthy collector George Gustav Heye in 1908. Heye began collecting American Indian artifacts as early as 1897 and his collection rapidly increased over the next several years. Based in New York, Heye bought collections and documentary photographs, sponsored expeditions, and traveled and collected items himself. In addition, once MAI was established he sponsored numerous expeditions across the Western Hemisphere, including North American, Canada, South America and Central America.
From 1908 to 1917 Heye housed his artifacts on temporary loan at the University of Pennsylvania's University Museum, Pennsylvania, in lofts on East 33rd Street in New York City, and at other depositories. In 1917, the collections moved from his apartment to their permanent museum location at Audubon Terrace, at 155th Street and Broadway in New York City. The museum, containing ethnographic and archaeological collections from North, Central and South America, opened to the public in 1922. Less than ten years later, Heye completed a storage facility in the Pelham Bay area of the Bronx, known as the Research Branch. Heye served as Chairman of the Board and Museum Director until his death in 1957. After growing concern about the financial and other management of the collections came to a head, the museum became part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1989 and in 1994 opened exhibit space in the U.S. Customs House at Bowling Green near New York City's Battery Park. The Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland later opened in 1999 and the main Washington, DC museum opened in 2004.
Please visit the following links for more information about the history of the museum; History of the Collection, Collections Overview, and Significance of the Collection. Moreover, for information about how the museum currently cares for and exhibits the collection, please see the Conservation department and recent entries regarding Exhibitions and Conservation on the NMAI Blog. In addition, see portions of the NMAI Archive Center's collections highlighted in the SIRIS Blog.
Related Materials:
In 2004, the Huntington Fee Library, once part of the MAI/Heye Foundation, was transferred to the Cornell University Library Rare Book and Manuscript Collection. While this collection mainly contained books, it also contained a significant amount of archival materials. The Huntington Free Library's Native American Collection contains outstanding materials documenting the history, culture, languages, and arts of the native tribes of both North and South America, as well as contemporary politics and human rights issues are also important components of the collection. Further information about the collection and links to finding aids can be found here: rmc.library.cornell.edu/collections/HFL_old.html.
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 broadcast materials from the collection must be requested from the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation Records, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
A SEARCH FOR VANISHED PEOPLE and THE EARTH IS OUR HOME, produced by Elizabeth Patapoff and Oregon Public Broadcasting. (Both titles are on the same tape).
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Biographical / Historical:
Elizabeth Patapoff was a public broadcasting writer and producer based in Portland, Oregon, where she led television production for KOAP-TV (now KOPB-TV) from the 1960s through the 1990s.
Provenance:
Received from the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution, in 1994.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
The Matthew Williams Stirling and Marion Stirling Pugh papers, 1876-2004 (bulk 1921-1975), document the professional and personal lives of Matthew Stirling, Smithsonian archaeologist and Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology (1928-1957), and his wife and constant collaborator, Marion Stirling Pugh. The bulk of the material is professional in nature and includes material from Matthew's early career in the 1920s, the careers of Matthew and Marion together from when they married in 1933 to Matthew's death in 1975, and Marion's life and work from 1975 until her death in 2001.
The majority of the documentation relates to the investigation of the Olmec culture in Mexico by the Stirlings, including the discoveries of eight colossal Olmec heads. In addition, the collection documents their work in Panama, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, looking for connections between Mesoamerica and South America. Materials include field notes, journals, correspondence, photographs, writings, clippings, ephemera, articles, and scrapbooks.
Scope and Contents:
The Matthew Williams Stirling and Marion Stirling Pugh papers, 1876-2004 (bulk 1921-1975), document the professional and personal lives of Matthew Stirling, Smithsonian archaeologist, and Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology (1928-1957), and his wife and constant collaborator, Marion Stirling Pugh. The bulk of the material is professional in nature and includes material from Matthew's early career in the 1920s, the careers of Matthew and Marion together from when they married in 1933 to Matthew's death in 1975, and Marion's life and work from 1975 until her death in 2001.
The majority of the documentation relates to the investigation of the Olmec culture in Mexico by the Stirlings, including the discoveries of eight colossal Olmec heads. In addition, the collection documents their work in Panama, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, looking for connections between Mesoamerica and South America. Materials include field notes, journals, correspondence, photographs, writings, clippings, ephemera, articles, and scrapbooks.
Series 1. Field work, 1921-1998 (bulk 1921-1975) and undated, documents the archaeological expeditions undertaken by Matthew and Marion Stirling over a span of 40 years. This includes expeditions Matthew undertook prior to his marriage and collaboration with Marion to Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, and Florida, and extensive documentation of expeditions they embarked on together to Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.
Series 2. Other travels, 1946-1972 is comprised of materials documenting trips the Stirlings took that, for the most part, did not include field work. This includes trips for both business and personal travel, however it was common for the two to overlap.
Series 3. Administrative files, 1924-1980 and undated is partly comprised of materials the Stirlings compiled and organized into an alphabetical filing structure and also of materials that are administrative in nature and did not directly relate to other categories outlined in this finding aid.
Series 4 Writings and lectures, 1925-1990 and undated, consists of articles, papers, drafts, and notes primarily written by Matthew Stirling, with some materials co-written by Marion, and documentation relating to presentations the Stirlings gave regarding their field work and other professional matters. Also included is material relating to films that were made about the Stirling's work.
Series 5. Personal and family materials, 1880-1996 and undated, consists of documents, photographs, and ephemera that are personal in nature. This includes items relating to Matthew Stirling's young life and family history, photographs, correspondence, and clippings relating to his extended family, and photographs of and correspondence from Matt and Marion's children.
Series 6. Anthropological journals, 1876-1959, consists of collections of anthropological journals collected and categorized for reference and research purposes.
Series 7. Marion Stirling Pugh, 1924-2004 (bulk 1948-2002) and undated, consists of materials relating to endeavors Marion undertook without Matthew, primarily relating to her participation in the Society of Women Geographers from 1948-2000 and her life after Matthew died in 1975 until her death in 2001.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 7 series: 1) Field work, 1921-1998 (bulk 1921-1975), undated; 2) Other travels, 1946-1972; 3) Administrative files, 1924-1980, undated; 4) Writings and lectures, 1925-1990, undated; 5) Personal and family materials, 1880-1996, undated; 6) Anthropological journals, 1876-1959; 7) Marion Stirling Pugh, 1924-2004 (bulk 1948-2002), undated.
Biographical note:
MATTHEW WILLIAMS STIRLING:
Matthew Williams Stirling, archaeologist and Director of the Bureau of American Ethnology (1928-1957), was born on August 28, 1896 in Salinas, California. After serving as an Ensign in the Navy from 1917-1919, he graduated with a B.A. in Anthropology in 1920 from the University of California, Berkeley studying under T.T. Waterman, Alfred L. Kroeber, and E.W. Gifford. From 1920-1921 he worked as a teaching fellow at the university, where he taught William Duncan Strong. Stirling's first tenure at the Smithsonian (then the U.S. National Museum (USNM)) was from 1921-1924, first as a museum aide, then as an Assistant Curator of Ethnology. While in the position he took night classes at George Washington University and received his M.A. in 1922. He received an honorary Sc.D. from Tampa University in 1943. In 1924, Stirling resigned his position at the museum and embarked on a journey to South American with his friend Perry Patton. From 1925-1927 he embarked on the Smithsonian sponsored American-Dutch Expedition to Papua New Guinea to explore the previously unknown interior region of Dutch New Guinea. Stirling was appointed Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution in 1928 and married Marion Illig in 1933. They worked together for the next 40 years studying Olmec culture and the connection to greater Mesoamerica and South America. They had two children (Matthew W. Stirling Jr. in 1938 and Ariana Stirling in 1942). Stirling retired as Director of the B.A.E. on December 31, 1957. He died January 23, 1975 in Washington, D.C.
Sources consulted:
Collins, Henry B. "Matthew Williams Stirling, 1896-1975." American Anthropologist, New Series, 78, no. 4 (1976): 886-88.
Coe, Michael D. "Matthew Williams Stirling, 1896-1975." American Antiquity 41, no. 1 (1976): 67-73.
MARION STIRLING PUGH:
Marion Stirling Pugh (nee Illig) was born in Middletown, New York on May 12, 1911. She graduated from Rider College in 1930 and came to Washington D.C. in 1931 where she took a job as a secretary to the Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Matthew Stirling. She attended night school at George Washington University from 1931-1933 where she studied anthropology, geology, and Russian. Marion and Matthew were married on December 11, 1933 and promptly embarked on a honeymoon expedition to Florida where Matthew was in charge of Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. They worked together for the next 40 years studying Olmec culture and the connection to greater Mesoamerica and South America. They had two children (Matthew W. Stirling Jr. in 1938 and Ariana Stirling in 1942).
Marion was an active member of the Society of Women Geographers and was elected to the executive board in 1954. She served as president of the society from 1960-1963 and 1969-1972. She had a long-time association with the Textile Museum in Washington D.C. and in the 1970s established what would become the Latin American Research Fund to secure Latin American ethnographic textiles for the museum.
After Matthew's death in 1975, Marion married General John Ramsey Pugh in 1977. Pugh died in 1994. Marion continued to travel the world, including making a trip to Antarctica in her 80s, until her death on April 24, 2001 in Tucson, Arizona.
Sources consulted:
"Marion Stirling Pugh, 89." The Washington Post. May 11, 2001. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/05/11/marion-stirling-pugh-89/01329ba8-f32b-4d66-83fb-9f3c311aaefb/?utm_term=.ab20f25e060b (accessed May 16, 2019).
Conroy, Sarah Booth. "Archaeologist Marion Pugh, Digging Up Memories." The Washington Post. July 8, 1996. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/07/08/archaeologist-marion-pugh-digging-up-memories/09f465e7-5900-455e-bcd5-b81828a502d5/?utm_term=.703ff0e84313 (accessed May 16, 2019).
Matthew Williams Stirling and Marion Stirling Pugh Chronology
1896 August 28 -- Matthew Williams Stirling born in Salinas, California to Ariana and John Williams Stirling
1911 May 12 -- Marion Illig born in Middletown, New York
1914-1920 -- Matthew Stirling attended the University of California, Berkeley, receiving his B.A. in Anthropology in 1920. He studied under A.L. Kroeber, T.T. Waterman, and E.W. Gifford.
1917-1919 -- Matthew Stirling served as an ensign in the U.S. Navy during World War I
1920 -- Matthew Stirling's travels to Europe with his parents
1920-1921 -- Matthew Stirling worked as teaching fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and taught William Duncan Strong
1921-1924 -- Matthew Stirling worked at the United States National Museum (USNM), first as a Museum Aide and then as an Assistant Curator of Ethnology
1922 -- Matthew Stirling received Master of Arts degree from George Washington University, studying under Truman Michelson Matthew Stirling went on a trip to the cave country of France and Spain with friend Perry J. Patton
1923 Winter -- Matthew Stirling sent by J. Walter Fewkes to excavate at Weedon (or Weeden) Island, Florida
1924 Spring -- Matthew Stirling resigned from his Smithsonian USNM post
1924 Summer -- Matthew Stirling conducted excavations in Mobridge, South Dakota
1924 July -- Matthew Stirling went on a trip to South America with friend, Perry J. Patton
1924 Winter -- Matthew Stirling continued excavations in Weedon Island, FL
1924-1925 -- Matthew Stirling sold real estate on Weedon Island, Florida to fund the expedition to Papua New Guinea in the winters of 1924 and 1925
1925-1927 -- Matthew Stirling organized and led the American-Dutch Expedition (or Smithsonian Institution-Dutch Colonial Government expedition) to Papua New Guinea
1928 -- Matthew Stirling named Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) at the Smithsonian Institution
1929 March-April -- Matthew Stirling surveyed mounds in Tampa Bay and Calusa areas of Florida
1930s -- Matthew Stirling conducted various archaeological excavations in Georgia and Florida under the Works Progress Administration (WPA)
1930 -- Marion Illig received a Bachelor of Science degree from Rider College From February through April, Mathew Stirling conducted more work on Tampa Bay mounds in Florida In July, Matthew Stirling went to Marfa, Texas to examine pictographs in caves and also went to Deeth, Nevada
1931 September-1932 March -- Matthew Stirling a member of the Latin American Expedition to South and Central America. He studied the Tule/Kuna Indians in Panama and the Jivaro in Ecuador
1931-1933 -- Marion Illig moved to Washington D.C. to attend George Washington University and worked at the BAE as a secretary for Matthew Stirling
1933 December 11 -- Matthew and Marion Stirling married
1933 December-1934 May 5 -- Matthew Stirling supervised Federal Civil Works Administration (or Federal Emergency Relief Administration) projects in Florida, also called Florida Federal Relief (Bradenton, Perico Island, Canaveral Island, and Belle Glade) and BAE excavations in Macon, Georgia
1934 October -- Conducted archaeological work in King, Queen, and Halifax counties in Virginia and Granville City, North Carolina
1935 -- Matthew Stirling acted as the president of the Anthropological Society of Washington Expedition to Guatemala, Honduras, and Yucatan Peninsula to study the Maya and the Quché (or Quiche) Indians from January to February 15, 1935
1935-1936 -- Matthew Stirling acted as the vice president of the American Anthropological Association
1936 -- Matthew Stirling and WPA workers conducted archaeological surveys in southern Florida in July 1936 Matthew and Marion Stirling visited an excavation in Macon, Georgia in Fall 1936 Matthew Stirling supervised archaeological projects in Hillsborough and Dade Counties in Florida
1938 January-March -- Matthew and Marion Stirling take first field trip to Mexico, visiting Tres Zapotes
1938 December 24-1939 April 15 -- First Smithsonian Institution/National Geographic Society Expedition to Mexico with C.W. Weiant. Excavated Tres Zapotes and discovered lower portion of Stela C
1939 -- Matthew Stirling received his first Franklyn L. Burr Award from the National Geographic Society
1939 December 26-1940 April 20 -- Second Smithsonian Institution/National Geographic Society Expedition to Mexico with Dr. Philip Drucker. Excavated Cerro de las Mesas and La Venta
1940 December 29-1941 April 30 -- Third Smithsonian Institution/National Geographic Society Expedition to Mexico with Dr. Philip Drucker. Excavated Cerro de las Mesas and Izapa
1941 -- Matthew and Marion Stirling received the Franklyn L. Burr Award from the National Geographic Society (shared with Richard Hewitt Stewart)
1942 April -- Matthew Stirling visited Dr. Philip Drucker at La Venta
1942 April-June -- Fourth Smithsonian Institution/National Geographic Society Expedition to Mexico. Visited Tuxtla Gutierrez, Zoque, Tzotzil and Chamula Indians, and Palenque
1943 -- Fifth Smithsonian Institution/National Geographic Society Expedition to Mexico with Dr. Waldo R. Wedel. Excavated La Venta Matthew Stirling awarded honorary Doctor of Science from Tampa University
1944 January 28-May -- Sixth Smithsonian Institution/National Geographic Society Expedition to Mexico. Visited Michoacán, Jalisco, Uruapan, Tlaquepaque, and Tarascan Indians from Lake Pátzcuaro and conducted archaeological surveys in Southern Veracruz, Tabasco, and Campeche
1945 January 22-May 31 -- Seventh Smithsonian Institution/National Geographic Society Expedition to Mexico. Excavated La Venta, San Lorenzo, Piedra Parada, and Tapachula
1946 January 26-April -- Eighth Smithsonian Institution/National Geographic Society Expedition to Mexico with Dr. Philip Drucker. Excavated San Lorenzo
1947 -- Matthew Stirling becomes Director of the Bureau of American Ethnology (title changed from "Chief")
1947 December-1948 -- First Smithsonian Institution/ National Geographic Society Expeditions to Panama including Cocle, Balboa, Chitre, Parita (Sixto Pinilla Place), Monagrillo, and El Hatillo
1949 -- Second Smithsonian Institution/ National Geographic Society Expedition to Panama
1951 -- Third Smithsonian Institution/ National Geographic Society Expedition to Panama
1953 -- Fourth Smithsonian Institution/ National Geographic Society Expedition to Panama
1954 -- Marion Stirling elected to the executive board of the Society of Women Geographers
1956-1957 -- Smithsonian Institution/ National Geographic Society Expedition to Ecuador. Excavated in the ManabÍ Province
1957 December 31 -- Matthew Stirling retired as Director of the Bureau of American Ethnology
1958 -- Matthew Stirling received his third Franklyn L. Burr Award from the National Geographic Society
1960-1963 -- Marion Stirling acted as president for the Society of Women Geographers for the first time
1960-1975 -- Matthew Stirling's membership in the National Geographic Society Committee on Research and Exploration
1961 -- Trip to Mexico Marion Stirling's trip to Peru Matthew Stirling collaborated with Dr. L.S.B. Leakey through the NGS Committee on Research and Exploration
1963 -- Trip to Nicaragua
1964 -- Expedition to Costa Rica Trip to Asia
1967 -- International Tuna Match, Bahamas
1968 -- Trip to New Guinea Attended the Cultural Olympics in Mexico City
1969 -- Trip to Turkey, Bali, Etc.
1969-1972 -- Marion Stirling acted as president for the Society of Women Geographers for the second time
1972 -- Trip to Peru, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands Farmer finds upper portion of Stela C, confirming Matthew Stirling's original date as 31 B.C.
1972-1973 -- Trip to Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
1974 -- Marion Stirling established the Mexican Research Fund (now the Latin American Research fund) for the Textile Museum
1975 January 23 -- Matthew Williams Stirling died in Washington D.C.
1977 -- Marion Stirling married Major General John Ramsey Pugh
1985 -- Marion Stirling Pugh received the Distinguished Service Medal from the Peruvian Embassy
1994 -- Death of Major General John Ramsey Pugh Marion Stirling Pugh's trip to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco
1995 -- Marion Stirling Pugh's trip to Antarctica and the Falkland Islands
1996 -- Marion Stirling Pugh's trip to China, and separately to Belize and Honduras
2001 April 24 -- Marion Stirling Pugh died in Tucson, Arizona
Separated Materials:
Film materials were transferred to the Human Studies Film Archive (HSFA).
Provenance:
The bulk of these papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives in 2016 by Matthew and Marion Stirling's grandchildren, Jessica Gronberg and Jeremy Withers.
Restrictions:
The Matthew Williams Stirling and Marion Stirling Pugh papers are open for research.
The scrapbooks listed in Series 1.7 are restricted due to preservation concerns. Please contact the reference archivist for more information.
Access to the Matthew Williams Stirling and Marion Stirling Pugh papers requires an appointment.
Includes images of excavations in Nevada, including images of Lake Tahoe, the ghost town of St. Thomas, and Pueblo Grande de Nevada, known as Nevada's "Lost City."
Scope and Contents:
The Schellbach collection consists primarily of negatives, photographs, and lantern slides made from 1924 to 1929 on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation by Schellbach. The bulk of the materials depict various Museum excavations in Nevada, particuarly at Pueblo Grande de Nevada (known as Nevada's "Lost City') but also St. Thomas, Virginia City, and Mesa House. Related to this body of work are photographs of exhumed antiquities, etc. from Pueblo Grande. The Museum and the state of Nevada apparently co-sponsored these excavations. The collection also includes photographs Schellbach made in 1922 in Guatemala; in 1929 in Idaho, again on behalf of the Musuem, along the Snake River of both the landscape and various petroglyphs he encountered; and in 1930 of Pinckney's Hummock archaeological site. In addition the collection includes several photographs made by Schellbach on September 23, 1923, of Northern Inunaina (Arapaho) men from the Wind River Reservation visiting the Musuem on their way to London.
Arrangement note:
Lantern slides: organized in boxes; arranged by L number
Negatives: organized in envelopes; arranged by negative number
Prints: organized in folders; arranged by print number
Biographical/Historical note:
Born in New York in 1887, Louis Schellbach is primarily remembered as the Grand Canyon's chief park naturalist, a position he held from 1941 to 1957. Prior to joining the Grand Canyon staff in 1937, Schellbach worked for the state of Nevada (as state archaeologist), the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, the Western Museum Laboratory in Berkeley, Aztec Ruins National Monument, and the Department of the Interior Museum. Schellbach died in Tucson, Arizona, in 1971.
Restrictions:
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Louis Schellbach collection of negatives, photographs and lantern slides, 1922-1930. National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution (negative, slide or catalog number)
Metalurgia en la América antigua : teoría, arqueología, simbología y tecnología de los metales prehispánicos / Roberto Lleras Pérez, editor científico
Hohokam Tradition (archaeological culture) Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Copy prints
Photographs
Place:
Hohokam Pima National Monument (Ariz.)
Date:
circa 1968-1975
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs documenting Hohokam canals, excavations of Hohokam houses, and the surrounding desert. A photograph dated 1968 is by E.E. Hertzog.
Biographical/Historical note:
The Hohokam were an ancient peoples living in the Salt River Valley, possibly as early as 300 B.C. They were farmers who built an irrigation system of canals over 100 miles long, which forms the basis of the modern Salt River Project irrigation system.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 77-60
Reproduction Note:
Copy prints made by United States Bureau of Reclamation, circa 1975.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs of Hohokam canals can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 3.
Additional photographs by the Bureau of Reclamation can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 32.
The libraries at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas hold additional photographs made by E.E. Hertzog for the Bureau of Reclamation.
Photo lot 77-60, Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation photographs of Hohokam Canals, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Studies in the Hohokam community of Marana / edited by Glen E. Rice ; with contributions by Dan Brooks ... [et al.] ; submitted to U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Boulder City, Nevada ; submitted by Office of Cultural Resource Management, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University
Archaeological investigations at Panaca Summit / by Robert G. Elston and Kenneth E. Juell ; with contributions by Elizabeth E. Budy, Dave N. Schmitt, Michael P. Drews
Excavations at Harmony Borax Works : historical archeology at Death Valley National Monument / by George A. Teague and Lynette O. Shenk ; contributions by Vincent Morgan
The archaeology of the eastern Nevada paleoarchaic. Part I, The Sunshine Locality / [edited] by Charlotte Beck and George T. Jones ; with contributions by Jack M. Broughton ... [et al.]
