Front and profile studio portraits of Indigenous peoples of Mexico, 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
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 Indigenous peoples of Mexico, 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.
Views of the San Crisobal market in Chiapas to frame #6. Views in Amatenango, Chiapas for the remainder of the roll.
Collection 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).
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
Image series of ground firings of pottery in Amantenango, Chiapas.
Collection 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).
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
Image series of ground firings of pottery in Amantenango, Chiapas.
Collection 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).
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
Image series of ground firings of pottery in Amantenango, Chiapas.
Collection 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).
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
Image series of ground firings of pottery in Amantenango, Chiapas.
Collection 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).
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
Image series of ground firings of pottery in Amantenango, Chiapas.
Collection 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).
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
Image series of ground firings of pottery in Amantenango, Chiapas.
Collection 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).
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
Black and white image series of ground firings of pottery in Amantenango, Chiapas.
Collection 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).
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
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.
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.
This collection includes 13 16mm films, consisting of 38 reels, produced by Harry Wright and filmed by Edwin Myers between 1939-1940 among the Yoeme (Yaqui), Lacandon Maya, Purepecha (Tarasco), Oxchuc Tzeltal Maya (Occucero), Tzotzil Maya, Chamula Maya, Lachiguiri Zapotec [Tehuantepec], and Tacuate communities. These were part of two series' titled The Harry Wright Ethnographic Series: Indian Tribes of Unknown Mexico and Harry Wright's Mexican Indian Series.
Scope and Contents:
This collection includes thirteen films (38 reels) that were shot in 16mm between 1939 and 1940 as part of an expedition funded by Harry Wright and filmed by Edwin Myers. Sound was later added in post-production between 1941 and 1946. The original films were organized into two series: The Harry Wright Ethnographic Series: Indian Tribes of Unknown Mexico and Harry Wright's Mexican Indian Series, but since this collection is incomplete, the films are currently organized by catalog numbers assigned by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation: 3015-3024, 3026-3027, 3043.
The films include the following titles: Yaqui Deer Dance (1 reel); Voladores: Dance of the Flying Men (2 reels); Five Mexican Dances (1 reel); Lancandones: A Lost Tribe of Jungle Savages (4 reels); Tzintzuntzan: The Tarascan Indians Re-enact the Passion Play at Tzintuztan (1 reel); The Tzeltzals Have Many Strange Customs (4 reels); The Unknown Taquate Indians (4 reels); Tenejapenos Cling to Pagan Rites (5 reels); Tehuantepec (5 reels); Rain Fiesta of the Tzotzil Indians (4 reels); Zincantecos: They Look like Arabs (4); Chamula Pow-wow in Honor of their Black Monkey Ancestors (2 reels); In the Village of Huachinango, Puebla: Typical Mexican Fiesta (1 reel). Many of the titles of these films include terminology that is no longer used, or appropriate, to describe the Indigenous communities represented in them.
The films, narrated by Myers and Wright, were made among the Yoeme (Yaqui), Lacandon Maya, Purepecha (Tarasco), Oxchuc Tzeltal Maya (Occucero), Tzotzil Maya, Chamula Maya, Lachiguiri Zapotec [Tehuantepec], and Tacuate communities. Many of the films show Myers interacting with community members who are demonstrating everyday activities as well as rituals for special occasions.
Content Warning:
Please note that the language and terminology used in these films reflects the context and culture of the time of its creation and includes what is considered derogatory and harmful language today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
Arranged by catalog number.
Biographical / Historical:
Harry Wright was born in Bedford, Virginia in 1876. Following the death of his father, Wright began working for the Joseph Iron and Equipment Co. and was sent by the company to Mexico in 1900. His brother, Samuel Bolling, joined him in 1902 and the two started their own Foundry "La Consolidada S.A." which made both brothers millionaires within five years. Wright developed a passion for filmmaking, becoming a founding member and president of the Cinema Club de México, in 1937. Wright built his own private projection room in Mexico City, the "Kraal Theatre" which held a collection of more than two thousand films and became a meeting place for amateur filmmakers.
In the late 1930s, Wright hired photographer Edwin Forgan Myers to travel to indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Pueblo and Hidalgo to shoot material for sixteen travelogues. Myers, born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1901, arrived in Mexico in 1932 and held the position of "Sports Director" at the Mexico City Country Club between 1933 and 1938. Financed by Wright, Myers travelled through some of the most remote and inaccessible regions of Mexico with the purpose of "preserving for posterity the customs, dances, religious ceremonies, and the life of these little-known Indian tribes, before they totally disappear." The travelogues were shot in 16mm and organized into two series: The Harry Wright Ethnographic Series: Indian Tribes of Unknown Mexico and Harry Wright's Mexican Indian Series. Wright added audio to the films in a specialized studio between 1941 and 1943 and would screen the shorts at his Kraal Theater in the early 1940s.
Harry Wright's collection of films was eventually purchased by the Library of Congress from Ruth B. Wright, the widow of Harry Wright's nephew, Harry Wright Conger. A second collection of Wright's films from Mexico, formerly in the possession of Edwin Myers, was gifted to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation by Mildred Walter, in 1974.
Sources:
Acosta, Magdalena. "Indian Tribes of Unknown Mexico una serie etnográfica pionera," El ojo que piensa. Revista de cine iberoamericano Núm. 13 (Julio/Diciembre 2016).
Arrendondo, Isabel. "Telling Stories About Unknown People in Faraway Countries: US Travelogues About Mexico in the 1930s and 1940s," Storytelling in World Cinemas, Volume 2. Columbia University Press, 2013.
Related Materials:
A collection of Wright's films were donated to the Library of Congress by Ruth B. Wright and 39 reels were transferred to Betacam SP tapes and sent to the Cineteca Nacional in Mexico.
Provenance:
Gift of Mildred H. Walter, 1974.
Restrictions:
Collection is closed until the materials have been digitized.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives 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); Harry Wright's ethnographic films from Mexico, NMAI.AC.429; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Ethnographic series #12. Indian Tribes of Unknown Mexico.
Content Warning:
Please note that the language and terminology used in these films reflects the context and culture of the time of its creation and includes what is considered derogatory and harmful language today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is closed until the materials have been digitized.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives 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.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Harry Wright's ethnographic films from Mexico, NMAI.AC.429; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
