The collection consists of photographs collected by the Albertype Company for their postcards and viewbooks, including portraits, scenery, camps, Native Americans schools, and some paintings and composites for postcard printing. Additional subjects include rock drawings in Maine; a statue in Kansas City, Missouri; Standing Rock Monument in North Dakota; people in Atlin, British Columbia; Carib rock drawings in the Virgin Islands; and totem poles in Vancouver.
Included are works of Charles Milton Bell, E. A. Benson, C. R. Bourne, H. E. Brown, William Bull, H. H. Clarke, George B. Cornish, Frank Bennett Fiske, H. Lee Flood, N. W. Halsey, Fred Harvey, H. R. Hazeltine, Kiser Photograph Company, W. H. Martin, C. W. Mathers, Frank Matsura, W. H. Matthewson, Charles E. Morris, Ernest Moses, J. S. Myers, M. OʹConnor, G. W. Parsons, Roland W. Reed, C. B. Robinson , J. E. Stimson, W. M. Stoltz, and H. H. Watkins. Clarke and Fiske, however, are the only photographers with more than a few images.
Biographical/Historical note:
The Albertype Company, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, published viewbooks and postcards for national distribution. Founded by Adolph and Herman Witteman, the company began publishing souvenier photographic albums as early as 1867. The Wittemans established Witteman Brothers in 1885, and then the Albertype Company in 1890. From 1890 to 1950, the firm published collotypes made from the photographs of its agents (including Adolph Witteman), other companies, and independent photographers. The firm was purchased in 1952 by Art Vue Post Card Company.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 25
Reproduction Note:
Modern copy negatives and prints made by Smithsonian Institution, circa 1972.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The Library of Congress, Wisconsin Historical Society, and Historical Society of Pennsylvania also hold original Albertype Company prints and negatives.
Albertype Company views are also held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 88-37, Photo Lot 92-37, and Photo Lot 92-3.
Restrictions:
Original nitrate negatives are in cold storage and require advanced notice for viewing. Modern copy prints and copy negatives for nearly all images are available.
Photographs depicting Native Americans/First Nations peoples (chiefly Cree and Chipewyan) in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Mackenzie, Canada, taken by Francis Harper on an expedition of the Geological Survey of Canada to Great Slave Lake in May-September 1914. Includes images of Cree, Ojibwa, Chipewyan, Salteaux, and Slavey people, as well as images of boats, encampments, and tea dances. Each of the photographs has an associated caption, given by either Harper or the Geological Survey of Canada.
Biographical/Historical note:
Francis Harper (1886-1972) was born in Southbridge, MA to a Canadian father and German mother. He attended Cornell University, receiving a BA in 1914 and a PhD in 1925. Harper made his first trip to northern Canada in 1914, as a zoologist for the Geological Survey of Canada. During World War I, he was stationed with the US Army 79th division in France, and then in New York and Maryland. He returned to Canada in 1920, but continued to travel throughout his life. Harper also worked to trace the travels of John and William Bertram through the American South and made numerous trips to study the people and environment of the Okefinokee Swamp.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4606
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs by Francis Harper held in the National Anthropological Archives BAE historical negatives.
The Smithsonian Institution Archives holds some of Harper's fieldbooks (SIA RU007434, SIA Acc. 12-443, SIA Acc. 12-581, and SIA Acc. 12-443).
The University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library holds the Francis Harper papers.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Reproductions of these photographs should include credit to the Geological Survey of Canada.
Canada -- Northwest Territories -- Great Slave Lake
Collection Restrictions:
Original nitrate negatives are in cold storage and require advanced notice for viewing. Modern copy prints and copy negatives for nearly all images are available.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Collection Citation:
Photo lot 25, Albertype Company photograph collection relating to Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Seven men in white clothing are lined up and facing the camera. Almost all are smoking a pipe.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.09956100
Other Title:
"Dog Rib Indians at Fort Resolution, Great Slave Lake."
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
