23 Photomechanical prints (halftone, photogravure, and collotype)
152 Photographic prints (silver gelatin and albumen)
8 Copy prints
6 Copy negatives
1 Print (offset lithography)
1 Print (probably chromolithograph)
11 Negatives (acetate)
3 Drawings
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Photomechanical prints
Photographic prints
Copy prints
Copy negatives
Negatives
Drawings
Photographs
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs relating to physical anthropologists from the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and the United States. Many of the photographs depict Smithsonian staff, particularly Ales Hrdlicka and T. Dale Stewart, as well as people and artifacts relating to physical anthropology throughout history. Some of the portraits are signed and the collection also includes pamphlets from professional societies, prints mounted for publication, a copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun relating to Adolph Schultz, and some correspondence.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4822
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds the Ales Hrdlicka papers, Thomas Dale Stewart papers, and John Lawrence Angel papers.
Additional photographs collected by the Division of Physical Anthropology held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 8 and Photo Lot 83-41.
Contained in:
Numbered manuscripts 1850s-1980s (some earlier)
See others in:
Division of Physical Anthropology collection of photographs of physical anthropologists, undated
Photo Lot 4822, Division of Physical Anthropology collection of photographs of physical anthropologists, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photographs depicting members of the Department of Anthropology in conversation and receiving awards from National Museum of Natural History Director Porter Kier. The awards were presented on April 10, 1979 in the conference room of the Division of Physical Anthropology. The photographs were probably made by the Department of Anthropology Chairman's office.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 79-51
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs of awards presented to Department of Anthropology staff can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 76-127 and Photo Lot 77-52.
The collection consists of copy prints depicting Smithsonian anthropologists, including group portraits of the staff of the United States National Museum Department of Anthropology and mounted individual portraits of department heads in 1904, 1931, 1952, 1959, and 1962. The photographs were possibly made as part of a 1969 event, "The Anthropology of Anthropology, or Everything You Wanted to Know About the Anthropology Department but Didn't Know What to Ask." The announcement for this event is available with the collection.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 39
Reproduction Note:
Copy prints made by the Smithsonian Institution, 1969.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Original negatives for some images are held in the National Anthropological Archives in the BAE historical negatives.
The National Anthropological Archives also holds the Records of the Department of Anthropology.
Additional photographs of Department of Anthropology staff can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 33, Photo Lot 70, Photo Lot 136, Photo Lot 76-127, Photo Lot 77-52, Photo Lot 77-80, Photo Lot 79-51, Photo Lot 80-17, Photo Lot 83-15, and the BAE historical negatives.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
Photo lot 39, Copies of portraits of Smithsonian anthropologists, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Item (Photographs : ca 3100 prints and negatives)
1 Item (Maps and illustrations )
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
United States -- Archeology
Bc53, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico -- Archeology
Chaco Canyon (N.M.) -- Archeology
Colorado -- Archeology
Arizona -- Archeology
New Mexico -- Archeology
Agate Basin, Wyoming -- Archeology
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
This collection of Rober's papers and photographs is almost excluvely concerned with his scientific fieldwork and resulting publications. It is not complete; for example, there is little in the photographs concerning his work at Agate Basin in Wyoming (though some related site forms are part of the records of the River Basin Surveys). Apparently, some of the series that form the records of the RBS began as Roberts's own files and were simply continued once his interest turned to the administration of the RBS. For instance, there is correspondence concerning Robert's work in New Mexico among the RBS correspondence series. The file of correspondence in manuscript 4851 is a miscellany with few letters from any one correspondent.
Biographical / Historical:
Frank H.H. Roberts, Jr. studied history and English at the University of Denver and after receiving his B.A.worked briefly as a journalist. Entering graduate school at Denver he was influenced by Etienne Bernadeau Renaud and, later, Jean Allard Jeacon. Although his studies toward a master's degree were in political science, he carried out archeological work among ruins in the Piedra-Pagosa region of the San Juan River valley in southwestern Colorado and became an instructor in archeology at the University of Denver. In 1923, he became an assistant curator at the Colorado State Museum.
Robert's formal training in archeology came through subsequent studies at Harvard University, where he received a Ph.D. in 1927. While a student, he worked during the summers of 1925 and 1926 for Neil Merton Judd on expeditions to Chaco Canyon. Judd offered him the opportunity to study pottery sequences, expanding upon work already carried out successfully for the Piedra region. From his work under Judd, Roberts produced his dissertation. The work also led to a permanent appointment as an archeologist with the Smithsonian's Bureau of American Ethnology in 1926.
For some time after this, Roberts continued to work primarily among ruins in the Southwest. In 1927, he conducted excavations at Shabik'esche Village in Chaco Canyon and carried on excavations at Kiathuthlunna on the Long H Ranch in eastern Arizona. In 1930, he excavated in the Village of the Great Kivas on the Zuni reservation and, in 1931-1933, worked along the Whitewater River in eastern Arizona and at a site near Allantown, Arizona. For the University of New Mexico Field School in 1940-1941, Roberts directed expeditions to the Bc-53 site in Chaco Canyon.
Throughout this work Roberts's primary interest was "the early structure and sequences of Southwestern culture." This led to Roberts's ultimate interest in the problem of early man in America. He was asked to inspect the discoveries at the original Fosom site in 1927, and over time became convinced of an error in contemporary thinking about the relatively recent arrival of humans in the New World. He was increasingly drawn to study the problem and particuarly after 1933, devoted most of his field work to it. Between 1934 and 1940, he worked at Lindenmeier, a Folsom campsite in northern Colorado. In 1941, he excavated the Mons site near the Peaks of Otter in Virginia, though failing to find expected remains of early man. In the same year, he worked at a Folsom site at San Jon, New Mexico, and, in 1942, another Folsom site in the Agate Basin in Wyoming. In 1943--again in connection with this interest in early man--he carried out a reconnaissance of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River in Texas. In addition, Roberts inspected other sites in Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Saskatchewan.
Roberts also worked briefly with other interests. In 1932, he served as an advisor to the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C., in its excavation at Chichen Itza and Uxmal in the Yucatan. In 1933-1934, he conducted a Civil Works Administration expedition to excavate mounds in the Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee. In 1956-1960, he was on the advisory council for the National Park Service's Wetherill Mesa Project.
In the administration of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Roberts became the assistant chief under Matthew Williams Stirling in 1944. In 1946, he became, in addition, the director of the BAE's River Basin Surveys, a salvage archeological program concerned with areas where the federal government was planning dams and reservoirs. In 1947, he became the associate director of the BAE and, in 1958, its director. In addition to these duties and his scientific work, Roberts served as American representative to the League of Nations' International Conference of Archeologists at Cairo in 1937 and as representative on the International Commission for Sites and Monuments in 1939-1942. During World War II, he was involved with the Ethnogeographic Board, an organization that provided liaison between federal war agencies and the scientific community. For the board, Roberts prepared a survival manual and a volume on Egypt and the Suez Canal that was issued as one of the Smithsonian's War Background Studies. For several years later in his life, Roberts was also on the National Council for Historical Sites and Buildings. He also served the Smithsonian on committees concerned primarily with personnel.
Outside official duties, Roberts represented the American Anthropological Association on the National Research Council in 1935-1949. In 1936, he was president of the Anthropological Society of Washington and, in 1944, vice president of the AAA. In 1949, he became president of the Washington Academy of Sciences. A founding member of the Society for American Archaeology and a member of the committee that drafts its constitution and bylaws, Roberts served that organization as president in 1950. In 1952, he became a vice president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Local Numbers:
MS 4851
Restrictions:
The photographic negatives are in special storage and require advance notice to view.
Interview of Waldo R. Wedel conducted by Larry D. Banks and Douglas Givens on June 17, 1996 in Boulder, Colorado. The interview was conducted at Wedel's nursing home, a couple of months before he died.This interview is part of a series of oral histories of archaeologists recorded by Givens. Topics include Wedel's youth, career, fieldwork, colleagues, the Smithsonian Institution, and the River Basin Surveys.
Biographical / Historical:
Waldo R. Wedel was an archaeologist, best known for his contributions to Plains archaeology. He worked at the Smithsonian Institution from 1936 to 1977. He began his career at the Smithsonian as an assistant curator under Neil M. Judd in the Division of Archeology in the United States National Museum. He later became curator of archeology in 1950, and in 1962, he became head curator of the Department of Anthropology. In 1964-1965, he was acting head of the newly organized Smithsonian Office of Anthropology. Wedel also established and directed the Missouri Basin Project (1946-50) of the Bureau of American Ethnology's River Basin Surveys.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 2011-29
General:
Date on box insert incorrectly listed as July 18, 1996.
Other Archival Materials:
See also Waldo R. Wedel and Mildred Mott Wedel Papers
Stewart, T. D. (Thomas Dale), 1901-1997, interviewee Search this
Extent:
14 audiotapes (Reference tapes). 27 digital .mp3 files (Reference copies).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Transcripts
Audiotapes
Place:
Shanidar Archeological Site (Iraq)
Date:
1975, 1986
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or student on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Stewart was interviewed for the Oral History Collection because of his long and outstanding scholarly and administrative career at the Institution spanning more than half
a century.
Descriptive Entry:
Stewart was interviewed by Pamela M. Henson on twelve occasions between January and May 1975. A follow-up interview was conducted in September of 1986. The interviews
cover Stewart's youth and education; career at the Smithsonian as an aide, Curator and administrator; reminiscences of colleagues; field trips to Alaska, Iraq and Egypt; research
on skeletal age and sex determination for anthropological and legal purposes and identification of bodies in mass disasters; exhibits planning; his hobby of painting portraits;
and his role as emergency physician for Smithsonian staff.
Historical Note:
Thomas Dale Stewart (1901-1997), a physical anthropologist in the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), specialized in diagnostic characteristics of the human skeleton.
Born in 1901 in Delta, Pennsylvania, Stewart came to Washington, D.C., in 1924 to attend college. He received a B.A. from George Washington University in 1927 and an M.D.
from Johns Hopkins University in 1931. During his undergraduate years, he worked as a temporary aide to Ales Hrdlicka in the Division of Physical Anthropology of the United
States National Museum (USNM), and received a permanent appointment in 1927. Upon completion of medical school, he was advanced to Assistant Curator of Physical Anthropology
in 1931, to Associate Curator in 1939, and to Curator in 1942. During these years his research focused on anthropometric studies of Eskimos and American Indians, and on excavations
of Potomac Tidewater ossuaries. After Hrdlicka's retirement in 1942, Stewart became Editor of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology for five years. During World
War II, he was a visiting professor of anatomy at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Stewart worked with the U.S. Army Graves Registration Service
after the Korean War to establish criteria for identifying the age and race of skeletal remains of soldiers.
In 1961 Stewart was appointed Head Curator of the Department of Anthropology and in 1963 Director of the National Museum of Natural History. During his tenure as Director,
Stewart guided planning for the new wings to the Natural History Building (NHB), oversaw the merger of the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) with the Department of Anthropology,
and encouraged formation of a Senate of Scientists. In 1964 he served concurrently as Acting Assistant Secretary for Science. He retired from administration in 1966, and was
appointed Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Anthropology. When he retired from federal service in 1971, he was appointed Anthropologist Emeritus.
Stewart achieved recognition as an authority on diagnostic skeletal characteristics for modern and prehistoric humans. During the years 1957-1962 he conducted analyses
at the Iraq Museum of the newly excavated Neanderthal skeletons from Shanidar Cave. In 1985-1986, he oversaw the reconstruction of the Wadi Kubbaniya skeleton from Egypt.
He performed extensive work in forensic anthropology for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In addition to his anthropological duties, he served as physician to Smithsonian
staff in medical emergencies.
Rights:
Restricted. Recording of interview 13 may not be reproduced without permission. Contact SIHistory@si.edu for permission.
Covers Stewart's research from 1975-1986, his hobby of painting portraits, and international travel, c. 1924-1986, including: revision of his research on the Potomac Creek site, begun in the 1940s and completed in the 1980s; reminiscences of Turkey Tay...
Collection Creator::
Stewart, T. D. (Thomas Dale), 1901-1997, interviewee Search this
Container:
Interviews
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Rights:
Restricted. Recording of interview 13 may not be reproduced without permission. Contact SIHistory@si.edu for permission.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9521, T. D. Stewart Oral History Interviews
Covers his youth, education and early career, c. 1901-1931, including: his youth and education at Delta, Pennsylvania; college years at George Washington University; employment as a temporary aide in the Division of Physical Anthropology, USNM, 1924-19...
Collection Creator::
Stewart, T. D. (Thomas Dale), 1901-1997, interviewee Search this
Container:
Interviews
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Rights:
Restricted. Recording of interview 13 may not be reproduced without permission. Contact SIHistory@si.edu for permission.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9521, T. D. Stewart Oral History Interviews
Discusses his career as Curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology and Director of NMNH, c. 1931-1966, including: reminiscences of his supervisor, Ales Hrdlicka, especially his personality, administrative style, research techniques and relations ...
Collection Creator::
Stewart, T. D. (Thomas Dale), 1901-1997, interviewee Search this
Container:
Interviews
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Rights:
Restricted. Recording of interview 13 may not be reproduced without permission. Contact SIHistory@si.edu for permission.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9521, T. D. Stewart Oral History Interviews
