This collection consists of 145 postcards and 11 photographs depicting Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with dates ranging 1890 – 1930s. The bulk of the collection consists of postcards of Native communities throughout the United States, and includes portrait images, dwellings, basket-making, weaving, and crafts.
Scope and Contents:
The Dale Jenkins postcard and photograph collection consists of 145 postcards and 11 photographs with dates ranging 1890 – 1930s. The images depict Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and spans a large geographical breadth extending from the Arctic in the north to Chile and Peru in South America. The bulk of the collection consists of postcards of Native communities throughout the United States, with a significant number of images depicting various Pueblo and Southwest cultural groups; many of these latter postcards were produced by the Fred Harvey Company. A number of the postcards and photographs include portrait images, dwellings, basket-making, weaving, and crafts. Also of particular note are 13 scenes of daily life at a number of different Indian Boarding Schools at the turn of the twentieth century. Finally, in addition to the postcard images are 11 photographs consisting of cabinet cards and other photographic prints.
Please note that the language and terminology used in this collection reflects the context and culture of the time of its creation, and may include culturally sensitive information. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into 11 series, organized thematically (Indian Boarding Schools) and then regionally by location or culture group. Series 1: Indian Boarding Schools, Series 2: Arctic/Subarctic, Series 3: Northwest Coast,
Series 4: California, Series 5: Great Basin/Plateau, Series 6: Southwest, Series 7: Plains, Series 8: Northeast/Great Lakes, Series 9: Southeast, Series 10: Mexico/Central America, Series 11: South America
Biographical / Historical:
Dale Jenkins is a retired Financial Planner living in California, having previously worked in the Aerospace industry. He has collected late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century American photographs and postcards for over 30 years. In addition to archival collections donated to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian, Jenkins has also donated postcard and photograph collections to the California Museum of Photography, the California Historical Society, and the Museum of the City of New York.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Dale Jenkins in 2013 and 2014.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 3:30 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 Archives Center's Digital Image request website.
Indians of Central America -- Guatemala Search this
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Dale Jenkins postcard and photograph collection, NMAI.AC.069, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
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.
The bulk of the collection consists of photographs documenting Indigenous peoples of Central America, including Cheripo, Guatuso, Talamanca, and Guatemala people. Additional photographs document stone artifacts found at grave sites, Panamanian women, people in Bogata, and a museum in San Jose, Costa Rica. The photographs may have been collected by Robert Thomas Hill from H. N. Rudd, a postcard publisher in Costa Rica. A letter from Rudd to Hill is also in the collection.
Biographical/Historical note:
Robert Thomas Hill (1858-1941) was a geologist best known for his work in Texas for the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Hill was orphaned during the Civil War and raised by his grandmother. While employed at his brother's newspaper in Comanche, Texas, he developed an interest in collecting rocks and fossils. In 1887, he earned a BS in geology from Cornell University. Hill worked for the USGS from 1885 to 1903 and is credited with discovering the Comanche Series of the Lower Cretaceous strata. Additionally, he conducted some preliminary studies in Central America and the West Indies between 1894 and 1902, collecting for the Bureau of American Ethnology and the United States National Museum. Hill resigned from the USGS in 1903 to pursue personal interests in geology and Texas history.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 170
Location of Other Archival Materials:
This collection has been relocated from Photo Lot 123.
Correspondence from Hill is held in the National Anthropological Archives in records of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Artifacts collected by Hill are held in the Department of Anthropology collections in accessions 035646, 053949, 028088, and 034831.
The Smithsonian Institution Archives holds a field notebook from Hill (1895, 1924) in SIA ACC. 12-126. Southern Methodist University, DeGolyer Library, and Autry Center's Braun Research Library, hold collections of Hill's papers.
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
Correspondence
Citation:
Photo Lot 170, Robert Thomas Hill photograph collection relating to the Indigenous peoples of Central America, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
The Samuel K. Lothrop photograph collection primarily contains negatives, photographic prints, and lantern slides made by Lothrop while employed by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation from 1924-1930. Lothrop was an archaeologist and photographer who extensively traveled and worked throughout Central America and South America and led expeditions on behalf of the MAI to Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Peru. There are also photographs from prior to Lothrop's time at MAI that were made in other locations in Central America, Puerto Rico, New Mexico, Arizona, and Wisconsin between 1915 and 1918.
Scope and Contents:
The Samuel K. Lothrop collection primarily contains negatives, photographic prints, and lantern slides made by Lothrop while employed by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation from 1924-1930. There are also photographs from prior to Lothrop's time at MAI that were made in other locations in Central America, Puerto Rico, New Mexico, Arizona, and Wisconsin between 1915 and 1918.
Series 1: Non-MAI Expeditions to Wisconsin and the Southwest, United States, 1915, includes photographic negatives from S.K. Lothrop's first field experience in archaeology the summer of 1915 under the direction of A.V. Kidder through the R.S. Peabody Foundation of Andover. This includes photographs in the Southwest at the San Cristobal Pueblo ruins, A:shiwi (Zuni) Pueblo, Acoma Pueblo, K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo) in New Mexico and at various locations at Hopi Pueblo, Arizona. There are also photographs of Bird Effigy Mound and Panther Effigy in Lake Mendota, Wisconsin, also made in 1915.
Series 2: Non-MAI Expeditions to Central America and Puerto Rico, circa 1915-1918, includes photographic negatives and lantern slides from Lothrop's time as Director of the Harvard Peabody Museum's Central American,1916-1917. Some of the photographs in this series are listed as 1918, though during that time Lothrop was working for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence. It's also possible that the photographs from Puerto Rico, which are cataloged as 1918 were taken during a 1915 trip to the island. The photographs in this series include views from Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico.
Series 3: MAI Central American Expedition to El Salvador, 1924, includes photographs from the "S.K. Lothrop Central American Expedition" between January and May 1924. The majority of the photographs were made in El Salvador, though a small amount were taken in Guatemala. The photographs in EL Salvador include photographs of volcanos, archaeological sites, antiquities, landscape views, villages, and native peoples, such as the Lenca, engaged in pottery and rope making, food preparation, house building, and ceremonial activities.
Series 4: MAI Tierra del Fuego Expedition, 1924-1925, includes photographs from the "MAI Tierra del Fuego Expedition" between October 1924 and March, 1925. Lothrop, accompanied by J. Linzee Weld, spent three months on the Islands of Tierra del Fuego (Chile, Argentina) visiting Selk'nam (Ona) and Yámana (Yagán/Yahgan) settlements. The three Selk'nam (Ona) settlements included one at the Southeast corner of Lake Fagnano, one at the Northeast of Lake Fagnano and the third east of the Laguna de Pescados. Yámana (Yagán/Yahgan) settlements were encountered at Tierra Mayor, Cambaceres Bay, Gable island and Puerto Mejillones on Navarin Island. The photographs include depictions of the daily live and ceremonial activities of the Native peoples, as well as landscape views. Also included in this series are photographic negatives made in Peru sometime in 1925 during Lothrop's trip in South America. These include images in Incahuasi and La Centinela, among other locations.
Series 5: MAI La Plata Expedition (Paraná River Delta Argentina Expedition), 1925, includes photographic negatives from the "Mrs. Thea Heye, La Plata Expedition" also known as the "Thea Heye - Lothrop Paraná River Delta Argentina Expedition" between March and June 1925. The expedition was conducted jointly between the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation and the Museo de la Plata in Argentina (Argentine Republic). Excavations were made in the Río Paraná Delta in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Many of the photographs show views of the river as well as views of the excavation site including mounds and trenches. There are a number of restricted photographs in this series due to cultural sensitivity.
Series 6: MAI Guatemala Expedition, 1928, includes photographic negatives from the "Mrs. Thea Heye Guatemala Expedition" between February and May 1928. Many of the photographs include depictions of Mayan ruins in different Guatemalan provinces. There are also photographs of Tz'utuhil Maya (Tzutuhil/Zutigil), K'iche' (Quiché) Maya, and Kaqchikel Maya (Cakchiquel) people engaged in weaving, rope making, canoeing, and ceremonial activities. There are a number of restricted photographs in this series due to cultural sensitivity.
Arrangement note:
This collection has been arranged in six Series chronologically by expedition.
Series 1: Non-MAI Expeditions to Wisconsin and the Southwest, United States, 1915
Series 2: Non-MAI Expeditions to Central America and Puerto Rico, circa 1915-1918
Series 3: MAI Central American Expedition to El Salvador, 1924
Series 4: MAI Tierra del Fuego Expedition, 1924-1925
Series 5: MAI La Plata Expedition (Paraná River Delta Argentina Expedition), 1925
Samuel Kirkland Lothrop was born in Milton, Massachusetts on July 6, 1892, to William Sturgis Hooper Lothrop and Alice Putnam Lothrop. Lothrop spent his childhood in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico and entered Harvard college in 1911. He graduated in 1915 with a concentration in archaeology and anthropology having studied under Alfred Marston Tozzer. Lothrop had his first field experience in archaeology the summer of 1915 under the direction of A.V. Kidder through the R.S. Peabody Foundation of Andover, spending time in the Southwest as well as studying mounds in Wisconsin. Lothrop also traveled extensively in Central American and in Puerto Rico as an associate of the Peabody Museum of Harvard, visiting sites and making small excavations. During World War I, Lothrop's career was interrupted when he served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence between 1917-1918. Following the war, Lothrop returned to graduate work at Harvard and his thesis, submitted in 1921, was focused on the ceramics of Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
Lothrop was then employed by the Carnegie Institution's Historical Division to make field investigations in Yucatan and Guatemala in 1923. His 1924 publication on the Yucatan ruin of Tulum was the first major monograph published on the subject. Starting in 1923, with the Hendricks-Hodge Hawikku (Hawikuh) expedition, Lothrop joined the research staff of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation (MAI) in New York City. Though George Gustav Heye originally hired Lothrop to research Native Guatemalan and El Salvadoran textiles and pottery, Lothrop also led several expeditions in South America in such places as Tierra del Fuego. During this period, Lothrop became a good friend of Argentine archaeologists at the time such as Fernando Marquez Miranda and published several monographs on his research. Following the dissolution of the MAI's research staff in 1930, Lothrop returned to Harvard's Peabody Museum as a research associate and curator of Andean archaeology until his retirement. Lothrop continued in an active emeritus status until his death in 1965.
Source: Willey, Gordon R. "Samuel Kirkland Lothrop," Biographical Memoirs: Volume 48, pp 253-272. National Academies Press, 1976.
Related Materials:
Samuel K. Lothrop papers (996-20), Peabody Museum Archives. https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/6/resources/4764
Lothrop, S.K. Chile field notes and diary about the Indian of Chile, 1929-1930, #9055. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
Separated Materials:
Photographs that were made by S.K. Lothrop during the Hendricks-Hodge Hawikku (Hawikuh) expedition are included in the Hendricks-Hodge Hawikku Expedition photograph collection, NMAI.AC.001.042.
Catalogs and expense records for Lothrop's expeditions can be found in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation records, NMAI.AC.001, in Series 5: Expeditions.
Provenance:
The photographs produced during Museum of the American Indian expeditions were sent to the MAI by Samuel K. Lothrop, alongside field collections, between 1924 and 1930. The photographs that were made by Lothrop prior to his employment at MAI were donated by Lothrop in 1930.
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.
There are photographs in this collection that are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Topic:
Indians of Central America -- Guatemala -- Photographs Search this
Indians of Central America -- El Salvador -- Photographs Search this
Fuegians -- Social life and customs -- Photographs Search this
Excavations (Archaeology) -- Argentina -- Photographs Search this
Genre/Form:
Lantern slides
Photographs
Negatives
Photographic prints
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Samuel K. Lothrop photograph collection, NMAI.AC.001.010. National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of Chris Gjording primarily document his research and activities in Central America, particularly his research on the Guaymíes and the Cerro Colorado copper mining project in Chiriquí, Panama. Materials pertaining to Panama include Gjording's field notes (portions of which are missing due to severe insect infestation); photographs; reference materials he collected; and his writings, which include his articles, dissertation, and drafts of his dissertation revised for publication. In addition to his work in Panama are his field notes and photographs from his research on campesino communities in Guatemala and El Salvador. Gjording also kept subject files on Latin American countries, focusing on the poor and oppressed and the social and political climate. His writings on those subjects are present in the collection and include a draft of his unpublished paper on peasant uprising in El Salvador and issues of Informacciónes, the Spanish-language newsletter that Gjording published and wrote articles for in Honduras. The collection also contains correspondence and notes relating to his visits to the Guatemalan Indian refugee camps in Los Lirios and Maya Balam in Quintana Roo in Mexico. In addition, the collection contains some of his correspondence with his mentor Ricardo Falla, a Guatemalan Jesuit priest and anthropologist, whom he refers to as "RF" in his notes. The collection also contains computer disks with chapters in Spanish from Falla's book on Ixcán, possibly Masacres de la selva: Ixcán, Guatemala, 1975-1982 (1992).
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Chris Gjording primarily document his research and activities in Central America, particularly his research on the Guaymíes and the Cerro Colorado copper mining project in Chiriquí, Panama. Materials pertaining to Panama include Gjording's field notes (portions of which are missing due to severe insect infestation); photographs; reference materials he collected; and his writings, which include his articles, dissertation, and drafts of his dissertation revised for publication. In addition to his work in Panama are his field notes and photographs from his research on campesino communities in Guatemala and El Salvador. Gjording also kept subject files on Latin American countries, focusing on the poor and oppressed and the social and political climate. His writings on those subjects are present in the collection and include a draft of his unpublished paper on peasant uprising in El Salvador and issues of Informacciónes, the Spanish-language newsletter that Gjording published and wrote articles for in Honduras. The collection also contains correspondence and notes relating to his visits to the Guatemalan Indian refugee camps in Los Lirios and Maya Balam in Quintana Roo in Mexico. In addition, the collection contains some of his correspondence with his mentor Ricardo Falla, a Guatemalan Jesuit priest and anthropologist, whom he refers to as "RF" in his notes. The collection also contains computer disks with chapters in Spanish from Falla's book on Ixcán, possibly Masacres de la selva: Ixcán, Guatemala, 1975-1982 (1992).
Additional materials in the collection are copies of Gjording's curriculum vitae; his student papers; and his college and graduate school diplomas. In addition, the collection contains a letter approving Gjording's advancement to the diaconate and priesthood and his decree of dismissal from the Society of Jesus in 1991.
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 National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
Arranged into 7 series: (1) Correspondence, 1985-91; (2) Panama, 1977-91; (3) Latin America, 1977-90; (4) Journals, 1977-1982, 1988-1989; (5) Personal Files, 1966-1991; (6) Photographs, 1976-89; (7) Computer Disks
Biographical Note:
Chris Gjording was an anthropologist and Jesuit priest, best known for his research on the Guaymí people of Panama and how they were affected by a transnational copper mining project on their land.
Gjording was born on January 12, 1943 in Los Angeles, California. In 1960 he entered a Jesuit seminary in Sheridan, Oregon and obtained his A.B. in philosophy from Spring Hill College in 1966. After earning his M.A. in philosophy from Tulane University (1967) and his M.Div. in theology from the Toronto School of Theology (1973), he was ordained as a Jesuit priest in Spokane, Washington. He taught philosophy and liberation theology at Gonzaga University (1973-75) before continuing his education at the New School for Social Research, where he received his M.A. (1978) and Ph.D. (1985) in social and cultural anthropology.
As both a priest and anthropologist, he felt that "field research essentially involves interpersonal relationships; and [he had] no category for engaging in such relationships with nothing in view as a potential benefit for the other." (Gjording's journal, January 11, 1978) Influenced by liberation theology, Gjording consequently focused his research on the rural poor of Central America during a period of social and political turmoil.
As a graduate student in 1977, Gjording spent the summer conducting ethnographic fieldwork among campesino communities in Chinacá, Guatemala and in Chirilagua, San Miguel, El Salvador. He returned to Central America the following year to work in Chiriquí, Panama with Centro de Estudios y Acción Social (CEASPA), a Jesuit-sponsored organization, as the anthropologist on an interdisciplinary team studying the Cerro Colorado copper mining project and its impact on Panama. Gjording's research focused on the Guaymí people, who lived on the land where the mining project was to occur. His research became the subject of his dissertation, "The Cerro Colorado Copper Project: Panama, Multinational Corporations and the Guaymi Indians." A revised version of the dissertation was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 1991 as Conditions Not of Their Choosing: The Guaymí Indians and Mining Multinationals in Panama.
Gjording left Panama in 1982 but returned to Central America after completing his dissertation in 1985 to serve as codirector of Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación (E.R.I.C.), a Jesuit organization in El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras. As part of his responsibilities, he published and wrote many of the articles for Informaciones, a bimonthly newsletter in Spanish on the social, political, and economic situation in Honduras. In addition, he wrote articles for the Panamanian magazine Diálogo Social; due to the political climate in Panama, he wrote some of the articles under the pseudonym "Enrique Lobo," a name he chose in honor of the anthropologist Eric Wolf. From 1987 to 1989, he made several trips to the Guatemalan refugee camps in Quintana Roo, Mexico. He conducted informal research on the background and situation of the refugees and taught workshops that provided them guidance on whether to return to Guatemala or stay in Mexico.
Gjording returned to the United States in 1989 on a sabbatical from Central America. He left the priesthood in 1991 and obtained a position teaching anthropology and peace studies at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Gjording died of lung cancer on July 5, 1993 at the age of 50.
Sources Consulted
Gjording, Chris. 1978. [Daily Journal]. Chris Gjording Papers. National Anthropological Archives.
Roseberry, William. 1993. Chris N. Gjording. Anthropology Newsletter. 34(7): 44.
Chronology
1943 -- Born January 12 in Los Angeles, California
1966 -- Earns A.B. from Spring Hill College in Philosophy
1967 -- Earns M.A. from Tulane University in Philosophy
1973 -- Earns M.Div. from Toronto School of Theology Becomes an ordained Jesuit priest
1977 -- Spends summer in Central America conducting fieldwork in campesino communities in Guatemala and El Salvador
1978 -- Earns M.A. from the New School for Social Research in Anthropology
1978-1980 -- Conducts fieldwork in Chiriquí, Panama on the Guaymíes and the Cerro Colorado copper mining project
1985 -- Earns Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research in Anthropology
1985-1988 -- Codirector of E.R.I.C. (Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación), El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras
1989 -- Returns to United States
1991 -- Leaves priesthood Teaches Anthropology and Peace Studies at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina
1993 -- Dies on July 5 at the age of 50
Selected Bibliography
1979 -- Gjording, Chris N. "Nicaragua's Unfinished Revolution," America 141 (October 6, 1979): 166-171.
1980 -- Lobo, Enrique. "La Nueva Política Indigenista (o bien: Acabemos con el Indio)," Diálogo Social 123 (May 1980): 15- 18. Lobo, Enrique. "El Pueblo Guaymí y el Gobierno Panameño (o bien: Acabemos con el Guaymí)," Diálogo Social 125 (July 1980): 22-25.
1981 -- Gjording, Chris N. The Cerro Colorado Copper Project and the Guaymí Indians of Panama. Occasional Paper No. 3. Cambridge: Cultural Survival, 1981.
1983 -- Gjording, Chris N. "The Guaymí People and Cerro Colorado." In Panama in Transition: Local Reactions to Development Policies. Monographs in Anthropology 6, edited by John Bort and Mary Helms, 19-52. Columbia: Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri, 1983.
1987 -- Gjording, Chris N. "25 Años de Reforma Agraria . . . ¿Y Que?." Informaciones 8 (May-July 1987): 9-21.
1991 -- Gjording, Chris N. Conditions Not of Their Choosing: The Guaymí Indians and Mining Multinationals in Panama. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991.
Provenance:
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Karin Gjording.
Restrictions:
Computer disks in the collection are restricted due to preservation concerns.
Record labels, correspondence, cover/label copy, misc. production notes, proofs, map used for liner notes, photographs
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:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
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:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Material comprises 56 typed pages manuscript, transcriptions of 2 songs and descriptive analyses of 2 songs. The title page of a manuscript "Songs and Instrumental Music of the Tule Indians of Panama," is filed herein. 56 pages text, 9 pages descriptive analyses, and 11 pages transcriptions, once filed under catalog number 3090, are no longer present. Possibly this manuscript was published in Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Volume 77, Number 11, "Study of Tule Music", 1926.)
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 3090
Local Note:
The following have been returned to Harrington Collection, ELM, 3/78. Another copy of "Music and Customs of the Tule Indians of Panama," found in J. P. Harrington storeroom, 4/65. "Songs and Instrumental Music of the Tule Indians of Panama." 22 page manuscript, 5 pages in the hand of J. P. Harrington, found in J. P. Harrington storeroom, 4/65.
This collection consists of forty-two 3.5 x 5" color photographic prints of the Guna peoples of Ukupseni (formerly Playón Chico), one of the islands in the Guna Yala Indigenous Territory (formerly San Blas), Panama. The photographs were taken by June Alice Spencer during visits in 1996-1997, and depict Guna people in their daily lives.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of forty-two 3.5 x 5" color photographic prints of the Guna peoples of Ukupseni (formerly Playón Chico), one of the islands in the Guna Yala Indigenous Territory (formerly San Blas), Panama. The photographs were taken by June Alice Spencer during visits in 1996-1997, and depict Guna people in their daily lives. Notable images include villagers fishing, repairing a building's roof, harvesting a sea turtle, as well as images of the market, village buildings, molas, a young child with albinism, a young girl having her nose pierced, children at play, and the nearby airport landing strip.
Arrangement:
The materials in this collection are organized into folders.
Biographical / Historical:
June Alice Spencer is a retired Assistant Professor from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA. She took the photographs in this collection while visiting Ukupseni (formerly Playón Chico), Panama, in 1996-1997.
Separated Materials:
Three Guna molas, made on the island of Ukupseni (formerly Playón Chico), were also donated to the NMAI by June Alice Spencer in 2016. These three molas were assigned object numbers: 26/9694, 26/9695, and 26/9696.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by June Alice Spencer in 2016.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday – Friday, 9:30am – 4:30pm. 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 Archive 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); June Alice Spencer photograph collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photographs assembled circa 1942-1948, probably as part of the Strategic Index of Latin America, and relating to people and scenery in Latin America. They depict transportation, irrigation, agriculture and industry (including rubber production), cities and villages, and archeological finds. The prints are arranged geographically into the following locations: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, British Guiana, British Honduras, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Leeward Islands, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Venezuela, Virgin Islands, and Windward Islands. The photographs were copied from published sources (originals circa 1850s-1940s) and are individually labeled with source information and original captions.
Biographical/Historical note:
George Peter Murdock (1897-1985) was an anthropologist of comparative ethnology. Educated at Yale, he received a BA in History (1919) and PhD in Sociology (1925). He taught sociology and anthropology at the University of Maryland for two years before returning to Yale in 1928 as an assistant professor of physical anthropology. In 1931, Murdock was granted a joint appointment with Yale's newly formed anthropology department, in which he served as department chair (1938-1960) and full professor (1939-1960). During his time at Yale, Murdock embarked on his most notable project, the Cross Cultural Survey in 1937. Positioned within the Institute of Human Relations, the CCS was a catalog of anthropological data, indexed according to Murdock's Outline of Cultural Materials (1938) to enable quick reference of cultures and analyses of a unified theory of behavior. During the Second World War, the Strategic Index of Latin America, an auxiliary arm of the CCS, was created to focus on Latin American cultural questions and strategic decision making. After the war, the CCS was reorganized by a consortium of universities as the Human Relations Area Files, with Murdock at the head. Murdock left Yale in 1960 and served as Mellon Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh until 1973.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4632
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives also holds Murdock's Pacific Survey File.
Correspondence with Murdock held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 7027, MS 4821, American Ethnological Society records, Handbook of South American Indians Records, and collections of personal papers.
Photo Lot 4632, Photographs copied by George Peter Murdock's Strategic Index of Latin America, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Pre-Columbian art from Central America and Colombia at Dumbarton Oaks Colin McEwan and John W. Hoopes, editors ; with additional contributions by Harriet F. Beaubien [and thirty others]
This subseries of the Mexico/Central America/South America series contains Harrington's Cuna research, consisting of linguistic and ethnographic notes, reports and clippings, and miscellaneous notes.
There is a small section of "S[an] Blas" vocabulary which was recorded from Enrique Tule in Los Angeles in 1914. Most of his linguistic and ethnographic notes were obtained from the Cuna group that visited Washington, D.C., in 1924. He recorded vocabulary for animals, especially fishes; relationships; months; placenames; and tribenames. He also collected ethnographic information for cataloged artifacts from the Marsh Expedition, such as paddles, necklaces, and baskets. Some notes were elicited while examining the contents of a mannequin case in the U. S. National Museum. Interspersed with the linguistic and ethnographic data are information on members of the Cuna group, references to photographs, and quotes regarding the Marsh Expedition from one of its members, Major H. B. Johnson. Also filed here are a set of texts. Song texts, including the Canoe Song, Flower Song, and Headache Song, appear to have been written down from dictation or during a performance; there are virtually no translations. A few pages are in the hand of Paul Vogenitz. There is also a three-page typescript of Cuna text with a partial interlinear translation. It was dictated by Igwa Nigdibippi on December 9, 1924, as a discussion of the chief's activities in Washington, D.C., and was transcribed by Vogenitz on the following day. The second text, which takes the form of a letter addressed from "Pablo" [Paul] to "Kwan" Uohn], was prepared by Vogenitz as a writing exercise in the Cuna language. The subject is evolution, a topic of public interest at the time in light of the on-going trial of John Thomas Scopes. There are also typed data on note slips with handwritten annotations on plants and material culture. Original catalog numbers and Smithsonian catalog numbers are provided for some of the artifacts discussed. In addition, a few items collected by the Marsh Expedition are illustrated in sketches. There are also references to Dr. Walter Hough, Mr. Marsh, and Dr. Henry B. Collins. A second set of slips deals with terms for parts of the body and for various animal species. The slips were handwritten by both Harrington and Vogenitz. There are corresponding typed copies for many of the slips. Each entry consists of a single word and commentary on the phonetics.
This subseries also contains a series of reports on the Cuna Indians. Included are drafts of a paper titled "Ethnological and Linguistic Study of the Tule Indians of Panama" and a similar untitled typescript of two pages. This statement by Harrington includes discussion of estimated population, geographical area, tribal names and divisions, and language of the Cuna and lists the names of his informants. It also contains references to his study of Tule placenames of the coast and mountains and to the map drawn by Chief Igwa Nigdibippi (see MS 4490). The extensive "8000-word vocabulary" mentioned in the paper has not been located. There is also material relating to the reports Frances Densmore prepared regarding her study of the Cuna. Included are a typed copy of "Music and Customs of the Tule Indians of Panama" and handwritten and typed copies by Harrington of "Songs and Instrumental Music of the Tule Indians of Panama." These are followed by notes for an unfavorable review Harrington was writing of the papers by Densmore. Also filed here are newspaper clippings discussing Richard O. Marsh's explorations and Harrington's linguistic work with the Tule Indians.
Harrington retained a number of files of miscellany relating to his study of Cuna. Included are reading notes from Lionel Wafer's book, A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America, concerning observations of the Tule in 1699. They contain a few annotations regarding vocabulary items and phrases. There are also notes on Baron Erland Nordenskiold, a Swedish anthropologist who traveled among the Cuna in 1927, and Karl Gustav Izikowitz, who worked with a Tule informant named Ruben Perez Kantule in Goteborg, Sweden, in 1931. These are accompanied by two lists of vocabulary which were evidently prepared by Vogenitz with the intention of demonstrating the affinity of Cuna with the Scandinavian and Germanic languages. This claim was based on mistranslations or comparisons of inappropriate forms of a given word. A few additional pages, labeled "Tule miscellaneous," include a note from H. B. Johnson to Harrington. There are also random notes on bibliography and the names of contact persons.
Biographical / Historical:
From October through December of 1924, John P. Harrington worked with a party of Cuna--the "White Indians" as they were called by the press. The group was brought to the United States in July by an engineer, Richard O. Marsh, who earlier in 1924 had led the "Marsh Darien" expedition to eastern Panama, with representatives from the Smithsonian and other institutions. After a well-publicized short visit to New York City (during which Harrington probably reported on the Indians for a New Orleans newspaper) and longer stays in upstate New York and Canada, the party travelled in October to Washington, D.C. While in the capital, Marsh lobbied on behalf of the Cuna against the Panamanian government and the party was studied by various Smithsonian scientists--among them Frances Densmore, Herbert Krieger, and Ales Hrdlicka. Harrington and his colleague Paul Vogenitz of the Post Office Department undertook linguistic work with members of the group both at the Smithsonian and at the house where they were staying in nearby Chevy Chase, Maryland.
The party of eight Cuna consisted of three young albinos and five non-albino adults; two of the latter served as chaperones for the young people. The other three were delegates on a secret political mission to the United States. These individuals and their communities of origin are inconsistently identified in the documents. This is due to mistakes and simplifications by Harrington and others and because in this era, Cuna often had multiple and variously spelled names. The chaperones were a couple from the island of Nargana (also referred to as San Jose, Yantuppu and Rio Diablo in the notes): Jim, James, or Santiago Perry (also Berry, Beri, or Campos) and his wife Inez or Alice. The albinos were their adolescent daughter Margarita or Marguerite, and two unrelated boys who were sometimes passed off as their sons. The younger was called Tcippu (the Cuna word for "white," often given to albinos) from the island of Ustupu or Portogandi. The older boy was Olo Piniginya or Olo from Ailigandi.
The three political delegates were Igwa Nigdibippi, a subchief of the island of Ailigandi and personal emissary of the high chief Cimral Coleman; Alfred Robinson or Kantule, son of the high chief Nele Kantule of Portogandi; and Phillip (Phillip, Felipe) Thompson, also called Niga ("nephew") of Tikantikki or Niatupu. Alfred and Phillip spoke English and Spanish, and Phillip had attended primary school in Washington some years earlier.
Harrington and Vogenitz worked with Jim Perry and his daughter Margarita, Phillip Thompson (abbreviated "Ph." or "Fe!."), Alfred Robinson ("Alf."), and Igwa Nigdibippi ("Chief"). The group was first brought to the museum on October 18, 1924, and Harrington began recording information from them the next day. His field notes mention dates in October through December; during some of this period Vogenitz worked more intensively with the Indians while Harrington attended to other work at the Smithsonian. A vocabulary slip dated January 12 [1925] was probably written out after the fact. Frances Densmore began her musical studies with the Cuna on November 25th and worked intensively with them from November 30 to December 6.
The Cuna party left the United States at the beginning of January. Later in the month Marsh returned to San BIas, the coastal territory of the Cuna, and at the end of February helped to lead an uprising against the Panamanian government.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Related Materials:
See Manuscript 4490 for the map of San Blas drawn by Igwa Nigdibippi for Harrington. The NAA also holds the papers of Richard Marsh.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
This subseries of the Notes and writings on special linguistic studies series contains material that supplement Harrington's Mexico, Central America, and South America field notes.
The Pima/Papago/Seri/Opata section contains a partial page torn from one of the notebooks recording the placename trip which Harrington made through southern California, Arizona, and Mexico in the spring of 1930. Also filed here are a letter of recommendation by Guadalupe Flores on March 11, 1934, and a brief note from a telephone conversation with Ruth Underhill on April 2, 1948.
The earliest item relating to Nahuatl is a draft of a review of the book The Song of Quetzalcoatl, a translation of the Aztec poem by John H. Cornyn. There is also a card with a brief untranslated text. The reverse side of the card shows a standard form devised by William Gates. Other materials include a brief list of addresses of informants and collaborators in Harrington's Nahuatl fieldwork, a note on the native name of Mexico City, reading notes from Cyrus Thomas's Indian Languages of Mexico and Central America (1911), a three-page typed statement with two pages on Aztec phrases and one page on Aztec numbers, and a miscellaneous group of grammatical and bibliographic references.
For Cakchiquel there is one page with a bibliographic reference and two lexical items.
Material on Yucatec consists of linguistic notes from Castulo Ucan, data on the Maya counting system and glyphs, and bibliographic references. There are also a review of Book II of the Florentine Codex labeled "finished Apr. 7, 1952" and page one of a third version of a review of S. G. Morley's book The Ancient Maya.
The Cuna file contains a permission slip and a one-page typed draft of "Foreign Elements in the Language of the Tule Indians." There is also a copy of the Service's Daily Science News Bulletin for December 17, 1924, which includes a two-page story titled "White Indian Language Has Many Norse Words." These brief announcements are related to the miscellaneous notes which were compiled by Harrington and Paul Vogenitz to demonstrate the affinity of Cuna with the Scandinavian languages.
Harrington's files on South American languages contain small blocks of data pertaining to Arawak, Carib, Jivaro, and Quechua. They begin with miscellaneous notes from secondary sources on the areas where Arawak and Carib were spoken. Material on Jivaro consists of about eighty pages of vocabulary which was obtained in 1944 from Seaman H. G. Eamigh. There are also two pages of excerpts from Ghinassi's Jibaro vocabulary. Material relating to Quechua includes bibliographic references with various spellings of the name; a few pages of grammatical and phonetic notes from other sources; two pages of notes from Mr. Indacochea dated January 16, 1945; and two permission slips and notes regarding a review of Farfan's Poesia folklorica quechua. The file ends with three small pages of notes which were exchanged between Julian Steward and Harrington regarding various South American languages.
Under general and miscellaneous materials is a two-page typed list of captions for twenty-six photographs under the heading "Quirigua, Guatamala," with references to Dr. Hewett and Dr. Lummus (possibly Charles F. Lummis?) and a miscellaneous note regarding the native palm of Panama. There are also notes from secondary sources on historical exploration of the coast of Yucatan and on the Tepecano language of Mexico.
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
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.
