Comprehensive index of Charles Lang Freer's library, mostly relating to art and Asian culture. Headings include authors, countries, and topical subjects. Sections include locations in Freer's original Detroit home; an index of all books transferred to the Smithsonian; a list of collections and collectors catalogues of American and Near and Far Eastern art; sales catalogues, and books in Chinese language.
Arrangement:
Organized in the original manner by the creator.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 05.22
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Topic:
Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Art, American -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
The General William Nicholson Grier photograph collection contains 10 photographs that Grier collected related to his service with the US Army (1835-1870). The photographs include depictions of Carlisle Indian School students circa 1879-1884 and portraits of the 1868 Navajo Treaty signers.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 10 photographs that were collected by General William Nicholson Grier (1812-1885) related to his service with the US Army (1835-1870). The collection includes 6 photographs of Carlisle Indian School students and visitors that were photographed by photographer John N. Choate circa 1879-1884, and one portrait of Chief Standing Bear (also known as Mochunozhi or Ma-chu-nu-zhe).
The most significant photographs in this collection are three albumen prints shot by Valentin Wolfenstein between March and June 1868. Photograph P20819 depicts an outdoor portrait most likely of the Navajo Treaty signers at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This photograph is one of only two known photographs depicting this scene (the other copy is at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology).
Biographical / Historical:
William Nicholson Grier was born on June 11, 1812 in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. After graduating from West Point U.S. Military Academy in New York, he served as a Major of the 2nd U.S. Regular Cavalry during the Civil War and later as a Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st U.S. Regular Cavalry. Throughout his 35 year military career, Grier served in a number of capacities. His posts included serving at Fort Carlisle, Pennsylvania from April 1866 to April 1868, where he was Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and was promoted to Colonel of the 3rd Cavalry. He then served as Commander at Fort Union in New Mexico from July 12, 1868 to May 1870. Grier retired on Dec. 15, 1870. He passed away on July 8, 1885 in Napa City, California and was buried in Northumberland, PA.
John Nicholas Choate (1848-1902) was the official photographer of the Carlisle Indian School from the school's founding in 1879 to his death in 1902. The Carlisle Indian School was the first non-reservation government-supported Indian school. Choate sold his photographs as a series of cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, and stereographs.
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology also holds photographs related to the Navajo Treaty signing shot by Valentin Wolfenstein.
The National Anthrolopogical Archives also holds photographs shot by Valentin Wolfenstein and glass plate negatives shot by John N. Choate.
Separated Materials:
Gerneral William Nicholson Grier's grandson Robert C. Campbell also donated objects to NMAI in 1963 (NMAI Catalog numbers 232812-232855). These objects were collected by Grier during his military career.
Provenance:
Collected by General William Nicholson Grier (1812-1885) during his service with the US Army (1835-1870); inherited by his daughter, Anna Grier Campbell (1848-ca. 1915) and then by her son Robert C. Campbell (1891-1966); donated to Museum of the American Indian by Robert C. Campbell in 1963 in memory of his grandfather.
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.
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); General William Nicholson Grier collection of photographs, Photograph Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
