This collection contains photographs that were commissioned by Fred Harvey Co. and shot by Carl Moon circa 1907-1914. The photographs depict American Indian communities in the southwest including A:shiwi (Zuni), Acoma Pueblo, Diné (Navajo), Hopi, Laguna Pueblo, and Taos Pueblo among many others.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 203 glass transparencies, 2 nitrate negatives, and 1 autochrome (plus 228 copy negatives and copy transparencies) that were commissioned by Fred Harvey Co. and shot by Carl moon circa 1905-1914. The photographs depict the southwest American Indian communities of A:shiwi (Zuni), Acoma Pueblo, Dine (Navajo), Havasupai (Coconino), Hopi Pueblo, Isleta Pueblo, K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo), Kewa (Santo Domingo Pueblo), Laguna Pueblo, Nambe Pueblo, Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo), San Felipe Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Taos Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo, and White Mountain Apache. Some images were also shot in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The photographs are a mix of portraits, posed action shots, and architecture shots. Some of the photographs appear to have been staged by the photographer. There are a few photographs in this collection that may have been shot by Moon prior to his employment with the Fred Harvey Company.
The copy negatives and transparencies were created by the Museum of the American Indian (NMAI's predecessor museum). There are sometimes multiple copy negatives and copy transparencies per glass plate transparency.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 17 series by culture group or location. Series 1: A:shiwi (Zuni), Series 2: Acoma Pueblo, Series 3: Diné (Navajo), Series 4: Havasupai (Coconino), Series 5: Hopi, Series 6: Isleta Pueblo, Series 7: K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo), Series 8: Kewa (Santa Domingo Pueblo), Series 9: Laguna Pueblo, Series 10: Nambe Pueblo, Series 11: Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo), Series 12: San Felipe Pueblo, Series 13: San Ildefonso Pueblo, Series 14: Taos Pueblo, Series 15: Tesuque Pueblo, Series 16: White Mountain Apache, Series 17: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
The collection is physically arranged first by collection type (transparencies and negatives) and then in photo numeric order.
Biographical / Historical:
Born in 1878 in Wilmington, Ohio, Carl E. Moon (originally spelled Karl) took up photography after serving with the Ohio National Guard. He moved to Albuquerque, N.M. in 1903 and opened a photograph studio where he began photographing American Indians in the U.S. southwest region. After publishing and exhibiting many of his photographs nationally, he was commissioned by the Fred Harvey Company in 1907 to take photographs of American Indian communities in the southwest. The Fred Harvey Company was founded by Frederick Henry Harvey and consisted of a chain of successful gift shops, restaurants, and hotels know as Harvey Houses. Moon photographed individuals in his El Tovar Studio in the Grand Canyon, Ariz. and also traveled to communities in the region including A:shiwi (Zuni), Diné (Navajo), Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo, among many others. The Fred Harvey Company used these photographs in their postcards, brochures, and publications for the tourist industry. The Fred Harvey Company also partnered with the Sante Fe Railroad to help generate tourism to the southwest region and Moon became the official photographer for the railroad. Moon also took up drawing and painting and studied with American painter Thomas Moran. Moon stayed with the Fred Harvey Company until 1914.
After Moon left the Fred Harvey Company, he opened a studio in Pasadena, California and continued his career as a photographer and painter. During this period, Moon painted and donated 26 works depicting Southwest American Indians to the Smithsonian Institution (now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection). He also sold 24 oil paintings and 293 photographic prints to Henry E. Huntington that are now part of the Huntington Library in San Marino California. With his wife Grace Purdie Moon, he also produced and illustrated children's books of collected Native American stories and legends. Moon died in San Francisco, Calif. in 1948.
Related Materials:
The Huntington Library in San Marino California holds a large collection of Carl Moon works, including oil paintings and photographic prints. The University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections also holds photographs shot by Carl Moon and the Smithsonian American Art Museum holds 26 Carl Moon paintings.
Separated Materials:
Two nitrate negatives are stored at an offsite storage facility.
Provenance:
Donated to the Museum of the American Indian by the Fred Harvey Company in 1963.
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 National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Indians of North America -- New Mexico Search this
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Fred Harvey Company collection of Carl Moon Southwest photographs, Box and Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo (San Antonio, Tex.) Search this
Extent:
180 Acetate negatives (black and white, 5 x 7 inches.)
71 Photographic prints (gelatin silver, 10 x 13 inches.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Acetate negatives
Photographic prints
Black-and-white negatives
Photographs
Gelatin silver prints
Place:
Alamo (San Antonio, Tex.)
Teotihuacán Site (San Juan Teotihuacán, Mexico)
Date:
1932-1933
Summary:
This collection contains 180 black-and-white acetate negatives and 71 gelatin silver prints taken by American artist Hortense Ferne. The images depict scenes of everyday life in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Puebla, Morales, Guerrero and the Federal District, as well as the Teotihuacán archaeological site. A few images of San Jose Mission and the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, are also present.
Arrangement note:
Negatives: organized in individual sleeves; arranged by image number.
Prints: organized in boxes; arranged by image number.
Biographical/Historical note:
Hortense T. Ferne (1885-1976) was a 20th century lithographer and painter who studied with Charles Webster Hawthorne and William Merritt Chase. Her work was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress and the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts. She was also commissioned by the Library of Congress to create lithographic portraits of prominent American statesmen.
Restrictions:
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Rights:
Copyright: National Museum of the American Indian.
Topic:
Indians of Mexico -- Mexico -- Guerrero (State) Search this
Indians of Mexico -- Mexico -- Puebla (State) Search this
Indians of Mexico -- Mexico -- Distrito Federal Search this
Indians of Mexico -- Mexico -- Oaxaca (State) Search this
Indians of Mexico -- Mexico -- Morelos (State) Search this
Genre/Form:
Black-and-white negatives
Photographs
Gelatin silver prints
Citation:
Hortense T. Ferne negatives and prints, National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution (negative, slide or catalog number).
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.
