Photographs relating to archeology, most of which were made by Bureau of American Ethnology photographers and ethnologists. Much of the collection consists of photographs by Cosmos and Victor Mindeleff of Southwest pueblos. Images depict mounds and excavations (including Grant Mound in Pennsylvania and additional mounds in West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and elsewhere); Hopi Sipaulovi village; petroglyphs in Wind River, Wyoming; ancient artifacts; Standing Rock; Tohono O'odham Indians; Canyon de Chelly; and Clear Creek. Photographers represented include John K. Hillers; C. H. Bryan of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky; the Mindeleff brothers; Henry Bascom Collins; L. C. Rennick; J. W. Milner; Hattons Studio in Lansing, Michigan; and a drawing by W. A. Rogers.
Collection may contain images of human remains.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 28
Location of Other Archival Materials:
William Dinwiddie photographs documenting Papago Indians, previously filed in Photo Lot 28, have been relocated to National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 89.
Additional Mindeleff photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 4362, Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 78, and the BAE historical negatives.
Additional Hillers photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 143, Photo Lot 83-18, Photo Lot 87-2N, Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 92-46, and the BAE historical negatives.
Additional Collins photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 82-23, Photo Lot 86-42, Photo Lot 86-43, and Photo Lot 86-59.
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Photograph collection relating to archeology, burial mounds, and the Southwest, 1880s-1920s
Photo Lot 28, Bureau of American Ethnology photograph collection relating to archeology and burial mounds, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photograph albums prepared by the Bureau of American Ethnology or the photographic lab, possibly for reference purposes by staff. The use of such albums has been mentioned by BAE photographer De Lancey W. Gill. The albums contain photographs made from the Bureau of American Ethnology's collection of negatives, documenting Apache, Arapaho, Assiniboin, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Cocopa, Dakota, Flathead, Fox, Iowa, Kalispel, Kiowa Apache, Nez Perce, Omaha, Osage, Ponca, Santa Clara, Sauk, Shoshoni, Spokane Tonkawa, Wichita, and Winnebago people. The bulk of the photographs are studio portraits, made at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha in 1898 or during delegation visits to Washington, DC. There are also other photographs made during Victor Mindeleffʹs work in Chaco Canyon, and on W J McGeeʹs expedition to Sonora, Mexico, in 1900.
Photographers include Charles Milton Bell, William Dinwiddie, Alexander Gardner, De Lancey W. Gill, John K. Hillers, William Henry Jackson, Frank Albert Rinehart, Wells Moses Sawyer, Antonio Zeno Shindler, Victor or Cosmos Mindeleff, Julian Vannerson with Samuel A. Cohner. Included are negative numbers formerly used by BAE, but the National Anthropological Archives also annotated them with current negative numbers.
Arrangement note:
Titles of the albums are (1) Omaha and Winnebago; (2) miscellaneous; (3) Sauk and Fox; (4) miscellaneous; (5) Arapaho and Cheyenne; (6) Chiricahua, San Carlos, and Apache; (7) Sauk and Fox; (8) Osage, Shoshoni and Nez Perce, Siouan, Oto; (9) Santa Clara and Flathead; (10) Ponca; (11) Sauk and (12) Wichita and Kiowa Apache; (13) Cocopa; and (14) Assiniboin and Blackfoot
Biographical/Historical note:
The Bureau of American Ethnology was founded in 1879 in part as a result of the federal geological surveys and under the administration of the Smithsonian Institution. Under the directorship of John Wesley Powell (1879-1902), the BAE supported field research by its staff and collaborators, initiated several anthropological publications, and supported the growth of the anthropological discipline, particularly as it related to Native Americans. In addition to its research and publications program, it developed a manuscript repository, library, and an illustrations section that included (in addition to the preparation of artwork for publications) photography and a photographic collection. The BAE commissioned studio portraits of visiting Indian delegates and hired De Lancey Gill served as the its official photographer and illustrator from the 1890s to 1930.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 60
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives also holds the Bureau of American Ethnology records and the BAE historical negatives, as well as Dinwiddie photographs of the W. J. McGee expeditions are held in (Photo Lot 89 and Photo Lot 144), Charles Milton Bell photographs (Photo Lot 80), and additional photographs by most photographers represented in this collection (Photo Lot 59 and Photo Lot 90-1)
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Bureau of American Ethnology photograph albums of Native Americans, 1858-1905
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 60, Bureau of American Ethnology photograph albums of American Indians, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
Tennessee River -- Archeology
Date:
1880's-1925
Scope and Contents:
Contents: (1) Letter from Francis Densmore to W. H. Holmes describing a Hidatsa "bannerstone," June 6, 1916. (2) Letters received from and copies of letters sent to Gerard Fowke, mainly relative to cave explorations, 1890-91, 1893, 1903-1904. Also reports of "Shell Mounds on Tennessee River & Tributaries," 5 pages, and hematite Indian mine, Leslie Missouri, 6 pages. (3) Letters received by Gerard Fowke from Mark E. Zimmerman and Harry L. Keefe, 1914-1916, 1925. Also correspondence between Holmes and Fowke relative to Zimmerman's archeology. (4) Two copies of a letter from W. H. Holmes to Cosmos Mindeleff, 1890. (5) Three letters received by W. H. Holmes from Victor Mindeleff, 1882-1883. (6) Clippings and letters concerning Matilda C. Stevenson's biography and death including, a transcript of the notes made by Mrs Walker during her interview with Mrs Stevenson, just before the latter's death. (7) Copy of a letter from Clark Wissler to W. H. Holmes, September 20, 1919.
Photographs made by Victor and Cosmos Mindeleff, possibly as part of their studies of Pueblo architecture. They depict houses and ovens at Pescado, New Mexico, and a Hopi house at Moenkopi, Arizona.
Biographical/Historical note:
In the 1880s, Victor Mindeleff (1860-1948) was employed by the Bureau of American Ethnology to conduct studies of Pueblo architecture. He hired His brother, Cosmos Mindeleff (1863-1938), to be his assistant. They worked at Zuni, Acoma, and Hopi villages, as well as among the Navajo; at ruins at Kin Tiel, Canyon de Chelly, and Chaco Canyon; and at Etowah Mound in Georgia.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 83-14
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional Mindeleff photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 4362, Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 28, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 78, and the BAE historical negatives.
Victor Mindeleff's manuscript on the Origin of Pueblo architecture and correspondence describing his fieldwork can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in the records of the Department of Anthropology.
Mindeleff sketches, plans, and drawings relating to Pueblo architecture can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 2138, MS 2926, and MS 2621.
Three photograph albums made by Victor Mindeleff documenting pueblo architecture, villages, and people. Some photographs, including those published in the Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, were made by Hillers, according to notations on file prints in Bureau of American Ethnology.
Biographical/Historical note:
In the 1880s, Victor Mindeleff (1860-1948) was employed by the Bureau of American Ethnology to conduct studies of Pueblo architecture. He hired His brother, Cosmos Mindeleff (1863-1938), to be his assistant. They worked at Zuni, Acoma, and Hopi villages, as well as among the Navajo; at ruins at Kin Tiel, Canyon de Chelly, and Chaco Canyon; and at Etowah Mound in Georgia. Victor Mindeleff left the BAE in 1890 for a career in architecture.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4362
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Original negatives for some of these photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 14.
Additional Mindeleff photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 28, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 78, and the BAE historical negatives.
Victor Mindeleff's manuscript, Origins of Pueblo Architecture (1887), and correspondence describing his fieldwork can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in the records of the Department of Anthropology.
Aditional Mindeleff sketches, plans, and drawings relating to Pueblo architecture held in MS 2138 and MS 2621] in the National Anthropological Archives.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Sketches and ground plans, also made by Victor Mindeleff or his brother Cosmos, were sent to the Bureau of American Ethnology with these photograph albums. They now form MS 2926 in the National Anthropological Archives.
Images of Canyon de Chelly, including cliff dwellings, masonry, overlooks, and a river.
Biographical/Historical note:
Cosmos Mindeleff (1863-1938) started his career as assistant to his brother Victor Mindeleff, who was employed by the Bureau of American Ethnology to conduct studies of Pueblo architecture (1880s). In 1882, James Stevenson and the Mindeleffs visited Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. In later years, Victor and Cosmos Mindeleff continued their research in Canyon de Chelly and Cosmos published the first authoritative archeological map of White House in 1893.
Local Call Number(s):
Photo Lot 2006-21
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs made by Cosmos Mindeleff held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 28, Photo Lot 83-14, and the BAE historical negatives.
Reports and correspondence by Cosmos Mindeleff held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4733, MS 4734, MS 4745, the Herbert William Krieger papers, Department of Anthropology (Manuscript and Pamphlet file), and Bureau of American Ethnology records.
American Museum of Natural History -- Photographs Search this
Extent:
1 Volume
64 Pages
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Volumes
Pages
Place:
Arizona -- Archeology
Date:
ca. 1890
Scope and Contents:
The bound volume is a catalog of archeological and ethnological collections made on Clear Creek, Beaver Creek, Verde River, Fossil Creek, Oak Creek, and Salt River in Arizona. Included are Mearns's numbers, names, dimensions, and other descriptivive material, locations, and dates of findings (between 1884-1887). There is also a summary list of stone tools sent to the American Museum of Natural History. A few references to photographs (a note indicates what had been sent to the museum) are incomplete.
There are also a few related notes, pages from a diary, ground plans of ruins on the Middle Verde, an inventory of items taken from Montezuma's Castle, a letter from Cosmos Mindeleff concerning plans for Mearns to plot locations of ruins on a USGS quadrant map, notes concerning ruins on the San Juan River by Stewart Daniels, notes on the Acequia Ruin in Arizona, and a note on Mearns's photograps and his photography.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 7438
Citation:
Manuscript 7438, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Includes maps of : 1. Rio Verde, South side of Clear Lake 2. Rio Verde, White Canon, cavate lodges 3. Rio Verde, Ancient ditch near Mrs. Youngʹs below Camp Verde 4. Casa Grande ruin, ground plan (2) 5. Casa Grande group (2) 6. Casa Grande hollow mound 7. Casa Grande large mound 8. Ruins opposite Camp Verde, Arizona 9. Ruin south side East Verde.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 2493
Citation:
Manuscript 2493, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Consists of printed material taken from magazine pasted on them, including one illustration, showing Casa Grande Ruin; and three mounted photos (no titles) 12 x 7 3/4 inches
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 2495
Citation:
Manuscript 2495, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
Some of the film negatives are in special storage and cannot normally be consulted by researchers. Under special circumstances, however, examination will be allowed but researchers should make special arrangements well in advance of the need
