The collection includes materials from cultures in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, and Guiana: Acoma Pueblo, Apache, Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboine, Caddo, Cahuilla, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chibcha, Chinantec, Chippewa (Ojibwa), Choco, Chol, Chontal, Cochiti Pueblo, Crow, Cuicatec, Eskimo, Flathead, Haida, Hopi, Huastec, Huave, Iowa, Iroquois, Isleta, Karaja, Kwakiutl, Laguna Pueblo, Macusi, Mandan, Maya, Mazahua, Mazatec, Mehinaku, Menomini, Mixe, Mixtec, Navajo, Nez Perce, Osage, Otomi, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pima, Ponca, Potawatomi, Salish, San Blas, San Felipe Pueblo, Sauk & Fox, Shuar, Sioux, Taos Pueblo, Tarasco, Teotihuacan, Tepehua, Tlaxcala, Tlingit, Tonkawa, Totonac, Triqui, Tzental, Tzotzil, Ute, Wampanoag, Zapotec, Zoque, Zuni.
Arrangement note:
Collection arranged by item number.
Biographical/Historical note:
Frederick Starr was born in Auburn, New York, on September 2, 1858. He received a Ph.D. in biology in 1884 at Coe College, where he was later appointed professor of biology. Starr did postgraduate work in anthropology at Yale. In 1889 he was appointed head of Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History, and in 1892 he was chosen by William Harper to organize the Anthropology Department at the new University of Chicago. Starr remained at the University until his retirement in 1923. Besides his field studies with various Indian tribes in the United States, Starr traveled to Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Guiana, Japan, the Philippines, and Africa. He died in Tokyo, Japan, on August 14, 1933. Starr was the author of several books and scholarly articles.
General note:
Starr hired professional photographers Charles B. Lang and Louis Grabic to accompany him on his field trips. One lantern slide of Moses Ladd (Menomini) was taken by William H. Jackson.
Provenance:
Dr. Frederick Starr, Purchased, circa 1929
Restrictions:
Access restricted. Researchers should contact the staff of the NMAI Archives for an appointment to access the collection.
Enlargements of photographs made by Donald Bush Cordry during his time in Mexico. These were mounted for a 1970s Bellas Artes-sponsored traveling exhibit based on Cordry's collection of Mexican Indian costumes. Included are images of Mexican Indians, fiestas and dances, pottery, boats, weaving, spinning, masks, vendors and markets, churches, and shrines. Depicted tribes include the Huichol, Mestizo, Tarascan, Seri, Mayo, Tepehua, Totonac, Nahua, Mazatec, Cuicatec, Chinantec, Zapotec, Mixe, Amusgo, Huave, Mixtec, Chapanec, Zoque, Tzotzil, and Maya. Additionally, there are some self portraits of Donald Cordry and his wife Dorothy.
Biographical/Historical note:
Donald Bush Cordry (1907-1978) was an artist and photographer who studied the art of Mexican Indians. In 1931, Cordry made his first trip to Guerrero, Mexico, where he became interested in contemporary mask making. In 1934, Cordry moved to New York to work as a marionette designer for puppeteer Tony Sarg. While there, he contacted George G. Heye to learn more about Mexican Indian art. This led to a series of collecting expeditions from 1935 to 1938, during which Cordry collected Mexican masks and other artifacts for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 87-38, USNM ACC 361232
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs made by Cordry can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 82-14.
Donald Cordry and his wife, Dorothy Mann Cordry, also donated clothing and musical instruments from Mexico to the Department of Anthropology in accessions 361232 and 355866.
The National Museum of the American Indian Archives holds the Donald Bush Cordry collection of photographs and negatives, 1933-1940, as well as artifacts collected by Cordry.
Photographs of the Donald Cordry Mexican mask exhibit can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 80-3.
The Donald Cordry Mexican mask collection can be found in the Department of Anthropology in accession 355867.
Front and profile studio portraits of Mexican Indians, representing Aztec, Chinantec, Chocho, Chol, Chontal, Cuicatec, Huastec, Huave, Maya, Mazatec, Mixe, Mixtec, Otomi, Tarascan, Tepehua, Tlaxcalan, Totonac, Trique, Tzental, Tzotzil, Zapotec, Zapotec Tehuartepec, and Zoque tribes. The photographs were made by William L. Koehne of Chicago for publication in Frederick Starr's book, Physical Characters of Indians of Southern Mexico.
Biographical/Historical note:
Frederick Starr (1858-1933) was an anthropologist and academic who worked as curator at the American Museum of Natural History and professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago. During his professiorship, Starr hired professional photographer and studio owner William L. Koehne to make the studio portraits for his 1902 book, Physical Characters of Indians of Southern Mexico. Additionally, Starr made several field studies in Mexico and commissioned field photographs and plaster busts.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 123
Varying Form of Title:
Mexican and Mesoamerican photographs
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Photographs collected by Cyrus Thomas, Robert T. Hill, Edward W. Nelson, and Edgar L. Hewitt have been relocated to Photo Lot 169, Photo Lot 170, Photo Lot 171, and Photo Lot 172, respectively.
The Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian Archives holds the Frederick Starr negatives and lanterns slides, 1894-1910.
Correspondence from Starr held in the National Anthropological Archives is in MS 4558, MS 4821, and the Bureau of American Ethnology records.
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 123, Frederick Starr collection of William L. Koehne photographs of Mexican Indians, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photographs and papers relating to alleged Mayan codices. The correspondence between Matthew Williams Stirling and Eric Thompson discusses the authenticity of a possible codex, also in the collection, which was found on a book in Oaxaca by a missionary. Additional photographs in the collection document another possible codex, which was discovered on the top of a pyramid in St. Martin Huamelulpan, possibly by C. A. Smith; and a probable Mixtec manuscript in possession of Dr. E. Beyer.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 126
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional materials relating to Mayan and Mixtec codices held in National Anthropological Archives MS 3223, MS 3260, MS 48, and MS 1998-31.
The National Anthropological Archives also holds the Matthew Williams Stirling papers.
Restrictions:
Negatives are in cold storage and require advanced notice for viewing.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Correspondence
Citation:
Photo lot 126, Photographs and correspondence relating to Mayan and Mixtec codices, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photography taken by MAI staff photographer Carmelo Guadagno during a research project expedition with Lewis Krevolin on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in March of 1973. The project focus was pottery making techniques in various Indigenous settlements across Mexico in support of the 1976-1977 exhibition "Traditional Pottery of Mexico."
Scope and Contents:
This collection includes 35mm negatives (photographic) and contact sheets shot by Carmelo Guadagno and Lewis Krevolin on their 1973 research trip to Mexico. The majority of the negatives were made by Guadagno and included both color and black and white rolls. There are 32 rolls of color negatives, numbered 1 to 33 (roll 15 is missing), and four rolls of black and white negatives, numbered 34, 35, 1A and 3A. The negatives depict Guadagno and Krevolin's travels in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Jalisco, and Morelos where they photographed indigenous families, markets and landscapes with a special focus on potters and pottery making. Indigenous communities photographed include the Morelos Nahua, Nahua (Xalita), Guerrero Nahua, Puebla Nahua, Mixtec, Zapotec, Purepecha (Tarasco), Tzeltal Maya and Chamula Maya. There are an additional six rolls of color and black and white negatives shot by Lewis Krevolin labeled "A-F" that were likely shot before and after Guadagno joined him on the research trip. Unlike the Guadagno negatives, these photographs did not come with accompanying descriptions.
Arrangement:
Arranged by Negative Roll number: 1-35, 1A, 3A, A-F.
Biographical / Historical:
Carmelo Guadagno was a staff photographer for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye foundation from 1948 through 1981. In addition to photographing objects in the collections, he also documented the museum's exhibits, events and participated in several research trips.
Initially begun in 1968, research and field work conducted for the "Traditional Pottery in Mexico" exhibition was led by Lewis Krevolin, a ceramicist and art historian at Duchess Community College. The project was supported by the State University of New York Research Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation along with the Duchess Community College. In March of 1973, at the suggestion of Frederick Dockstader, director of the Museum of the American Indian, MAI staff photographer Carmelo Guadagno accompanied Lewis "Lew" Krevolin on his field survey of traditional pottery in Mexico. In addition to photographically recording their trip, Guadagno also assisted in interviews with indigenous potters. The field survey covered 30 villages in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Jalisco, and Morelos. In addition to the photographs shot during the trip, Krevolin collected 125 pottery vessels along with tools and material samples. The Jenny and Lewis Krevolin Collection of Mexican ceramics was donated to the Museum of the American Indian in December of 1973 and the exhibition "Traditional Pottery of Mexico" opened at the Museum in December of 1976.
Related Materials:
Pottery and other materials collected during this trip can be found in NMAI's ethnographic collections with catalog numbers 24/8500 – 24/8695.
Photographs of the pottery collected during this trip can be found in the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation photographs collection (NMAI.AC.001.002) in the "Object Photography" series (N40964 - N41123 ; N41234).
Documents, correspondence and field notes from Carmelo Guadagno related to this trip can be found in the Museum of the American/Heye Foundation records (NMAI.AC.001) in Box 32, Folder 9 and Box 394, Folder 4a.
Provenance:
Gift of Lewis and Jenny Krevolin in 1973.
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:
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.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Field photographs for "Traditional Pottery of Mexico" exhibition, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
