This collection include souvenir photographs shot by producer Frank E. Moore of his 1906 outdoor stage production of "Hiawatha: The Indian Passion Play" based on Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. This production of Hiawatha was performed near the Cattaraugus Reservation, New York, and included Seneca [Cattaraugus] performers, possibly with Jesse Cornplanter in the role of Hiawatha.
Scope and Contents:
This collection includes 98 photographic prints from a souvenir book of a 1906 performance of "The Song of Hiawatha" produced by Frank E. Moore. The performance was held on the shore of Lake Chautauqua near the Cattaraugus Reservation. It is very likely that several of the performers photographed in this collection were also a part of the 1913 film production of Hiawatha, also produced by Frank E. Moore. This includes Jesse Cornplanter, in the role of Hiawatha, and his father Edward Cornplanter. The photographs show scenes from the theatrical production featuring characters such as Hiawatha, Minnehaha, Nokomis, and Pau-Puk-keewis. 18 copy negatives were later made from the photographic prints.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow first published the epic poem, Song of Hiawatha, in 1855. By 1900, the poem had been translated into 20 different European languages as well as back into the Ojibwe language at the turn of the century ushering in a "Hiawatha Revival" that captured American Imaginations. In 1901, Louis Oliver Armstrong, an amateur ethnologist and land agent for the Canadian Pacific Railroad, wrote a new libretto from the Longfellow poem in English and Ojibwe which was first prepared with Garden River Anishinaabeg community members as actors. His performances, or "Pageants," became regular events which led to additional versions and tours around the United States. Not long after Armstrong discontinued his show in 1905, Frank E. Moore created his own version. Originally from Middletown, Ohio, Moore gathered a large cast of Native performers from various tribal communities including many actors from the Seneca Nation on the Cattaraugus Reservation. Moore continued the tradition of large outdoor pageant performances of "Hiawatha" which were performed along a body of water and featured Native actors performing traditional dances and wearing "Native" costumes alongside narration of Longfellow's poem.
In 1913 Frank E. Moore produced the stage version of Hiawatha into a film, hiring Jesse Cornplanter (Seneca) to play Hiawatha. Jesse Cornplanter had previously accompanied his father, Edward Cornplanter, acting and singing in the Hiawatha pageant on tour through the United States and Europe. "Hiawatha" was shot in upstate New York and northern Michigan by Moore and was the first feature film to use an all-Native cast, with reportedly 150 actors from the Cattaraugus Reservation. A twenty-eight-minute cut is housed in the American Film Institute's collection in the Library of Congress.
Sources:
McNally, Michael D. "The Indian Passion Play: Contesting the Real Indian in "Song of Hiawatha" Pageants, 1901-1965," American Quarterly Vol. 58, No. 1 (March 2006), pp. 105-136.
Evans, Katy Young. "The People's Pageant: The Stage as Native Space in Anishinaabe Dramatic Interpretations of "Hiawatha"," Melus Vol. 41, No. 2 (Summer 2016), pp. 124-146.
Related Materials:
Library of Congress, Lot 8218, "Scenes from theatrical production of Hiawatha, Lake Chautauqua, New York."
Provenance:
Gift of Reginald P. Bolton, 1918.
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.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); "Hiawatha: the Indian Passion Play" performance photographs, image #, NMAI.AC.162; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Painting by James Earl Taylor, 1886, Depicting the Wooing Of Hiawatha; Two Men and A Woman in Costume with Knife, Quiver, Rush Mat, and Dead Deer Beside Tent Near Waterfall
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Container:
Box 28, Sheet 8-5
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1898
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Historic American Merchant Marine Survey, 1936-1937, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Container:
Box 41, Folder 32
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Date:
undated
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Series Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Container:
Box 77, Folder 15
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
undated
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Series Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Container:
Box 94, Folder 14
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
undated
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Series Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Photographs
Date:
1908-1909
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs commissioned by Rodman Wanamaker to document the "vanishing" way of life for Native Americans during 1908-1913. The photographs were made by Joseph Kossuth Dixon and largely depict northern Plains tribes, including Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, and Dakota. These large bromide prints form a set of presentation photographs and apparently such sets were placed by Rodman Wanamaker in several museums.
Biographical/Historical note:
Rodman Wanamaker (1863-1928) was heir to a successful Philadelphia department business and patron of the arts, education, and Native American culture. In the early 20th century, he hired photographer Joseph Kossuth Dixon and sponsored three expeditions to Native American reservations (1908-1913). The main goal of these expeditions was to document the way of life of Native Americans, whom he saw as a "vanishing race," and to make "first-class citizens" of the Indians as a means of saving them from extinction. In additiona to still photography, films were also made during these expeditions including a motion picture film about Hiawatha made on the first expedition (1908), and a reenactment of the Battle of the Little Big Horn made on the second expedition (1909). The third expedition, the "Expedition of Citizenship" (1913), focused on carrying an American flag to tribes across the country and inviting them to sign a declaration of allegiance to the United States.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 64
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Dixonʹs negatives are at the Indiana University, Mathers Museum of World Cultures.
The National Anthropological Archives also holds a copy photograph of Wanamaker's Memorial to First Americans ground-breaking (Photo Lot R82-55).
The National Museum of the American Indian holds artifacts and some additional photographs from Wanamaker's expeditions. The Human Studies Film Archives holds expedition footage.
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 64, Rodman Wanamaker photograph collection relating to Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Container:
Box 24
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
undated
Subseries Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Subseries Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Subseries Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Same as RSN 15217, 15218 and 27910 ["Hiawatha"] on envelope.
Currently stored in box 3.1.42 [40].
Orig. no. 56144.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Same as RSN 15216, 15218 and 27910 ["Song of Hiawatha Set"] on envelope.
Currently stored in box 3.1.42 [40].
Copy and Version Identification Note:
56144
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Same as RSN 15220, 15221, 15222 and 27911; ["Hiawatha ; Sac and Fox Indians, Okla. Used by Touriscope"] on envelope.
Currently stored in box 3.1.42 [40].
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Same as RSN 15219, 15221, 15222 and 27911; ["Song negative Hiawatha set"] on envelope.
Currently stored in box 3.1.42 [40].
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Currently stored in box 3.2.53 [59], moved from [122].
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1981 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
