Indians of North America -- Great Basin Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Albums
Photographs
Date:
circa 1877
Scope and Contents note:
Albums probably assembled by William Henry Jackson, mostly containing portraits of Native American delegates in Washington, D.C. and photographs made on US Geological Surveys (including the Hayden and Powell surveys). Photographs from the field include John K. Hillers' photographs of the Southwest, photographs of Fort Laramie (possibly by Alexander Gardner), Orloff R. Westmann's photographs of Taos Pueblo, and Jackson's photographs of Crow, Shoshoni, Pawnee, and Nez Perce Tribes and related sites. Most of the photographs were made circa 1860s-1870s.
The albums were probably by Jackson while working under Ferdinand V. Hayden for the United States Geological Survey of the Territories. The reason for their creation is uncertain, though it may have been a project set up by Hayden or a continuation of William Henry Blackmore's tradition of publishing albums. Some of the albums include captions pasted from Jackson's Descriptive Catalogue of Photographs of North American Indians (1877) while others have handwritten captions.
Biographical/Historical note:
William Henry Jackson (1843-1942) was an American painter, photographer and explorer. Born in New York, he sold drawings and retouched photographs from an early age. After serving in the Civil War, he opened a photography studio in Omaha, Nebraska, with his brother Edward. As photographer for the US Geological and Geographical Surveys (1870-1878), he documented the American west and published the first photographs of Yellowstone. When the surveys lost funding in 1879, Jackson opened a studio in Denver, Colorado, and also worked for various railroad companies. Many of Jackson's photographs were displayed at the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago (1893), for which he was the official photographer.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4420
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Original negatives for many of the photographs in this collection can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in the BAE historical negatives.
The National Museum of the American Indian Archives holds William Henry Jackson photographs and negatives.
Additional Jackson photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4605, MS 4801, Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 29, Photo Lot 37, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 60, Photo Lot 93, Photo lot 143, Photo Lot 87-2P, Photo Lot 87-20, and Photo Lot 90-1.
Correspondence from Jackson held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4517, MS 4881, MS 4821, and collections of personal papers.
Photo Lot 4420, William Henry Jackson photograph albums based on his Descriptive Catalogue of Photographs of North American Indians, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico -- Missions
Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico
Date:
1913-1928
bulk 1914-1919
Summary:
This collection of photographs, shot by Reverend James O. Arthur while serving as a missionary for the Reformed Church of America, documents the activities on the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska in 1913 as well as Mescalero and Chiricahua Reservation in White Tail, New Mexico from 1914-1919. Additional images depict vacations and travels throughout the United States by the Arthur family and friends between the years 1913-1928.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 701 photographs shot by Reverend James O. Arthur while serving as a missionary for the Reformed Church of America and documents the activities on the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska in 1913, and on the Mescalero Apache and Chiricahua Apache Reservation in White Tail, New Mexico from 1914-1919. The photographs depict informal portraits of Winnebago, Mescalero Apache, Chiricahua Apache, and Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache people; Reverend James O. Arthur, his family, and friends on the reservations and their travels throughout the United States between the years 1913 to 1928; groups such as Indian school children, quilt sewing circles, and Indian police and fire brigade; activities such as church life, fairs, picnics, sports, hunting, horticulture, agriculture, and building construction; and animals such as cattle, deer, turkeys, and wolves. Notable images include those of an elderly Chief Naiche (Chiricahua Apache), Jasper Kanseah [nephew of Goyathlay (Geronimo)], and Eugene Chihuahua (son of Chihuahua).The majority of the images were photographed by Rev. James O. Arthur himself, except for the few images in which he appears. This collection also contains Reverend Arthur's negative envelopes which include his typed notes about the photographs such as dates, subject matter, and his ratings of the photographs. Arthur used a Vest Pocket Kodak camera from circa 1913-1914 and a 3A Folding Kodak camera from circa 1914-1928.
The titles of the photographs were assigned by the photographer.
Arrangement note:
The collection is intellectually arranged in 15 series by location and then chronologically.
The nitrate negatives were originally physically organized by Reverend James O. Arthur in two sets of envelopes first by image size and then by chronology. Upon donation, NMAI image numbers where assigned to the nitrate negatives and then physically stored according to this number in four boxes; Box 1 (N53103-N53272), Box 2 (N53273-N53460), Box 3 (N53461-N53663), Box 4 (N53664-N53801). The 2 prints are stored in Photo Folder 1. Box 5 contains the envelopes in series 5. In 2008 the nitrate negatives were moved to an offsite storage facility.
Biographical/Historical note:
Reverend James Osborne Arthur (1887-1971) and his wife Katherine Arthur (1883-1960) were missionaries for the Reformed Church of America, working on the Nebraska Winnebago Reservation from 1912 to 1914 and among the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apaches in the Whitetail section of the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico from June 1914 to 1919.
Arthur was born in South Dakota in 1887 to Frank G. Arthur (1861-1948) and Jean O. Schuler (Scouller; 1863-1914), but spent his early life in Iowa. James had 5 siblings Margaret W. Arthur (b. 1889), F. Gale Arthur (1892-1952), Dorothy M. Arthur (b.1894), Jeanie (Jeanne) Arthur (1896-1961), and Jessie M. Arthur (1899-1992).
On June 26, 1911, James Arthur married Katherine Magdeline Gottberg Rhoades (1883-1960). The Arthurs had five children who are documented in this collection: Margaret Jean (1913-2010), James, Jr. (1915-2002), John Paul (1917-1987), Robert Lee (1919-2000) and Kathryn (1923-). Reverend Arthur died in August 1971 in Lomita, California.
Related Materials:
The following book documents the Arthurs' work and life on the Mescalero Apache Reservation: Herbert, D. and R. K. Herbert. Yah Et-Te: A Struggling Missionary's Record of Work Among Geronimo's People on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in 1914-1919. Philadelphia: Xlibris Corporation, 2000.
Provenance:
This collection was donated to NMAI in 2007 in memory of Reverend James O. Arthur and Katherine Arthur by Barbara Jane Arthur Jacobs (the Arthurs' granddaughter) and family.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives
Nitrate negatives
Date:
March 20, 1916
Scope and Contents:
Dora Istee (Esttee) and son Evan posing outdoors on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico. They are the wife and child of Charles Istee.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives
Nitrate negatives
Date:
April 6, 1916
Scope and Contents:
Hugh Chee (Chiricahua Apache) and Duncan Balatchu (Warm Springs Apache) sowing oats with a horse-drawn wagon on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives
Nitrate negatives
Date:
April 6, 1916
Scope and Contents:
Hugh Chee (son of Chee) and Duncan Balatchu (Warm Springs Apache) sewing oats with a horse-drawn wagon on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives
Nitrate negatives
Date:
April 18, 1916
Scope and Contents:
Oswald Smith family (Warm Springs Apache) sitting outside of a home on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives
Nitrate negatives
Date:
April 18, 1916
Scope and Contents:
Oswald Smith's (Warm Springs Apache) family sitting on their front porch steps on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives
Nitrate negatives
Date:
May 4, 1919
Scope and Contents:
Hannah Balatchu (wife of Duncan Balatchu) posing outside with her two sons; Herbert is in baby carriage. Photographed on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives
Nitrate negatives
Date:
May 4, 1919
Scope and Contents:
Photograph of Herbert, Hannah Balatchu's baby son, sitting in the grass. Photographed on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives
Nitrate negatives
Date:
May 4, 1919
Scope and Contents:
Photograph of Herbert, Hannah Balatchu's baby son, sitting in the grass. Photographed on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Negatives
Nitrate negatives
Date:
September 1, 1914
Scope and Contents:
Oswald Smith and family posing outside a large tent on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico. Possibly included are Gertrude Smith (age 30), Hopkins Smith (age 12), Lois Smith (age 6), and Alex O. Smith (age 3).
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. 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 nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Reverend James O. Arthur photograph collection; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The Helen Peterson collection includes correspondence, notes, miscellaneous administrative documents, financial records, calendars, questionnaires, notes from interviews, survey forms, copies of resolutions, proceedings, speeches, programs, press releases, printed and processed material, and many other types of documents. Mainly these relate to Petersons's career and special interests between 1953 and 1970. There are also a few documents that concern the organizations which Peterson served for periods preceding or following her periods in office. Of special interest are the materials related to the NCAI, many of which supplement the records in that organization's files. The collection also includes documents that concern a wide range of Indian interests and activities.
Scope and Content:
These papers reflect the professional and personal life of Helen L. Peterson from her birth in 1915 until her 80th Birthday in 1995. Peterson worked for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), 1953 through 1961; the City and County of Denver Commission on Community Relations (CCR), 1962 to 1970; and American Indian Development, Inc. (AID), 1967 to 1970. Peterson worked for the Bureau of Indian (BIA), 1970 through 1985. She was founder of the Church of the Four Winds which started as the Ecumenical Indian Congregation. She was leader of the Church of the Four Winds starting in 1989. She also served as chair of the National Committee of Indian Work (NCIW) beginning in 1980. Peterson also served as chair of the Province of the Pacific (Province VIII) Indian Commission.
Professional materials in this collection include information from Peterson's time working for NCAI, CCR, AID, BIA, Church of the Four Winds/Ecumenical Indian Congress, Province of the Pacific, and NCIW. Personal materials in the collection include personal documentations (baby book, yearbooks, etc.), personal letters, personal photographs, and news articles about her personal life, among other materials related to her personal life.
Arrangement note:
The Helen Peterson papers are organized into 13 Series. Series 1: National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is divided into four subseries; Subseries 1.1: Executive Council, Subseries 1.2: NCAI Conventions, Subseries 1.3: Chronological Correspondence, Subseries 1.4: Subject Files. Series 2: Commission on Community Relations (CCR), City and County of Denver, Colorado is divided into three subseries; Subseries 2.1: Subject Files, Subseries 2.2: Denver Indian Study Project, Subseries 2.3: Jobs for Indians. This is followed by Series 3: American Indian Development, Inc. (AID), Series 4: White Buffalo Council, Series 5: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Series 6: Religious Organizations is divided into five subseries; Subseries 6.1: Church of the Four Winds, Subseries 6.2: Province of the Pacific (Province VIII), Subseries 6.3: Episcopal Church, Subseries 6.4: Other Religious Organizations, Subseries 6.5: Subject Files. This is followed by Series 7: Organizations, Series 8: Events and Series 9: Individuals. Series 10: Newspapers and Newsletters is divided into three subseries; Subseries 10.1: Native American Owned Newspapers and Newsletters, Subseries 10.2: Indian Related News Items, Subseries 10.3 Religious News Items. This is followed by Series 11: Indian Tribes, Series 12: Miscellaneous Subject Files and Series 13: Personal Materials.
Biographical/Historical note:
Helen L. Peterson, born in 1915 on the Pine Ridge Reservation, was an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux tribe. She attended Chadron State College in 1932, beginning an educational process that included course work at Colorado State College of Education and the University of Colorado. She received a B.S. degree in Business Education from Chadron State College in 1957. In 1935 she began working with the Department of Agriculture's Resettlement Administration, a New Deal Agency. She served as director of the Rocky Mountain Council on Inter-American Affairs at the University of Denver Social Science Foundation and set up the Colorado Inter-American Field Service Program which later came under the Extension Division of the University of Colorado.
In 1948, she was appointed as the first director of the Mayor's Committee on Human Relations in Denver, Colorado. As the "Commission on Human Relations," the committee became a permanent part of city government in 1949 transitioning to the "Commission on Community Relations" in 1959. Peterson acted as an adviser to the United States Delegation to the Second Inter-American Indian Conference in Cuzco, Peru in 1949 and in 1953 she was selected as the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), a position she held through 1961. During these years, NCAI experienced tremendous growth, becoming firmly established as a national organization during her tenure.
Peterson returned to Denver in 1962 as the director of the Commission on Community Relations. From 1967 to 1970 she served as part-time executive director to American Indian Development, Inc. She was appointed Assistant to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1970 and remained with the Bureau of Indian Affairs until 1985.
Throughout her career, Peterson was an active member in the Episcopal Church and in later years served various Episcopal organizations. She was a chair of the National Committee of Indian Work (NCIW) beginning in 1980, chair of the Province of the Pacific (Province VIII) Indian Commission, and founder of the Ecumenical Indian Congregation. Ecumenical Indian Congress became the Church of the Four Winds in 1989. During that year Peterson became the chair of Church of the Four Winds.
Peterson received many awards and honors throughout her life. In 1955, Peterson was named "Outstanding American Indian of 1955" at the Anadarko Exposition. She received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Colorado in 1973. She was also the recipient of distinguished service awards from Columbia University, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Congress of American Indians, the White Buffalo Council of Denver, the Multnomah County Commissioners, and the National Institute for Women of Color. She passed away on July 10, 2000.
Provenance:
This collection was received by the National Anthropological Archives from Helen Peterson in June 1987. It was then transferred from NAA to the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center in 2007.
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 users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, 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.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Helen L. Peterson Papers, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection contains an unpublished documentary film shot on May 12, 1992 that depicts an interview with artist Allan Houser [Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico)] discussing his remembrances of painting murals at the U.S. Department of the Interior headquarters in Washington, DC in 1939-1940. The film was shot by Victor Romero (Isleta Pueblo) and Christine Romero.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains an unpublished documentary film that was shot by filmmakers Victor Romero (Isleta Pueblo) and Christine Romero, which depicts an interview with artist Allan Houser [Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico)]. The footage was shot on May 12, 1992 in the Department of the Interior penthouse in Washington, DC with Houser providing remembrances of his life and his perspective of painting murals there in 1939-1940 as part of the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture public art program. In the documentary, Houser views the murals for the first time since he painted them 50 years before and recalls his experiences with fellow artists- Velino Shije Herrera (Zia Pueblo), Gerald Nailor [Diné (Navajo)], and Woody Crumbo (Potawatomi)- who were painting their own murals in the penthouse at the same time. At the time of filming, the penthouse was closed and off-limits and the murals were about to undergo restoration.
The materials in this collection include six 16mm processed film reels; three 1/4" sound reels; three BetacamSP transfers of reels 1 through 6; a BetacamSP master of a 2:30 promo edit; a BetacamSP transfer of music by David Spotted Eagle licensed for the promo; an interview transcript; a log of avid bins; a disc of avid bins; and other textual documents.
Victor E. Romero served as the Producer, Christine Solinski Romero as Director, Gary Geboy as Cinematographer, and Haven McKinney as the Audio Recordist. Unfortunately, the Kodak film stock they used was defective and the footage turned out grainy, while the audio of the interview turned out clear. Subsequently, the intended documentary about the restoration of the murals was not completed other than a short demo reel.
Arrangement:
Materials are arranged by media.
Allan Houser and the Department of the Interior Murals:
Allan Houser is considered one of the most renown Native American painters and sculptors of the 20th century. Born Allan Capron Houser (originally Haozous) on June 30, 1914 near Apache, Oklahoma, Houser was a member of the Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache tribe.
He left Oklahoma in 1934 to study painting with Dorothy Dunn at her Santa Fe Indian School and remained a student there until 1938. In addition to painting murals at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. in 1939, he also painted murals for the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco and the New York World's Fair.
In 1940, Houser studied with Swedish artist Olle Nordmark at the Fort Sill Indian School art program and was encouraged to take up sculpture. Eight years later, the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas commissioned his first sculpture, Comrades in the Mourning.
Houser taught art at Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah beginning in 1952 and left in 1962 to teach sculpture at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He retired from academic life in 1975. Allan Houser died in Santa Fe in 1994.
The murals that are depicted in this documentary were commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture public art program, which was often referred to as the "Section." Created in 1934 during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, the program was designed to increase employment for artists. The Section artists were commissioned to create art to decorate public buildings often in the form of murals or reliefs. At the Department of the Interior headquarters in Washington, DC, six artists were commissioned from five tribes including artists Velino Shije Herrera (Ma Pe Wi [Red Bird]), Zia Pueblo, 1902-1973; Gerald Nailor (To Yah), Diné (Navajo), 1917-1952; and Woody Crumbo (Woodrow Wilson Crumbo), Potawatomi [Oklahoma], 1912-1989. The Section program was discontinued in 1943.
Victor and Christine Romero:
Victor Eugene Romero (Pueblo of Isleta) is a graduate of New Mexico State University (BA, Journalism and Mass Communications, 1976). Following a stint as an independent video producer, Victor transitioned to a career at the U.S. Census Bureau, including varied service as manager of video/photo/radio production, and team leader for promotions and branding initiatives. His high-level contributions feature extensive work on Census 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020.
Christine Solinski Romero is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (BS, Radio-TV-Film, 1976). Her extensive documentary production credits as Producer, Director, Editor include programs for PBS, National Geographic Television, Discovery Channel, Smithsonian Channel, and an award-winning independent documentary feature, Besa: The Promise, the story of Albanians Muslims who protected refugee Jews during the Holocaust. In 2012, Christine transitioned to a career as a Yoga Instructor and Therapist.
Provenance:
Gift of Victor and Christine Romero, 2019.
Restrictions:
Access to the media materials in this collection are closed until the materials have been digitized. Textual materials are available to view for reference purposes only. Access to NMAI Archives 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 Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Victor and Christine Romero film of Allan Houser, box # and folder #, NMAI.AC.401; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection includes prints and photographic negatives collected by Captain Allyn K. Capron. Many of the photographs were taken in the Fort Sill area in Oklahoma throughout Capron's time serving there. While a few of these photographs depict Capron, the majority of the Fort Sill photographs feature Native American prisoners of war. This collection also contains portraits taken by Frank A. Rinehart and Adolph F. Muhr during the 1898 U.S. Indian Congress of the Trans Mississippi and International Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska. In addition, this collection contains rare photographs from a 1900 Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) and Umatilla delegation visit led by Chief Joseph to Washington, DC. Additional assorted photographs, which were collected by Capron and taken among several communities in Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Florida by various photographers, are also included.
The communities represented within this collection include the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke), Assiniboine (Stoney), Southern Inunaina (Arapaho), Kiowa, Pikuni (Piegan) [Blackfeet Nation, Browning, Montana], Apache, Chiricahua Apache, Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux), Cayuse, Sihasapa Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux), Niimíipuu (Nez Perce), Umatilla, Potawatomi, Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico), Southern Plains, and Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux), with a few individuals identified simply as Sioux.
Scope and Contents:
This collection includes photographic prints and negatives collected by Capron and arranged into four series.
Series 1: Fort Sill and surrounding areas, 1885-1896, includes 6 copy negatives and 73 photographic prints. These photographs were taken by George A. Addison (George Anthony Addison), Ella M. Roff (Ellen M. Roff/E. M. Roff), and unknown photographers in Alabama and Oklahoma,in Fort Sill and surrounding areas, between 1885-1896. Some notable scenes include Geronimo and his family, individuals rounding up calves, non-native soldiers, Kiowa tipis, Niuam (Comanche) men shooting bows, the 12th Infantry of Apache Indians, and the Fort Sill Commanding Officers' quarters. Captain Allyn Capron is pictured in a few of the Fort Sill photographs. The indigenous communities depicted include the Southern Plains, Chiricahua Apache, Apache, Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico), Niuam (Comanche), Kiowa, and Potawatomi.
Series 2: Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, 1898, includes 1 copy negative and 7 photographic prints taken in Omaha, Nebraska by Frank A. Rinehart and Adolph F. Muhr in 1898. The photographs depict scenes from the Indian Congress of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition and include portraits of individuals belonging to the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke), Assiniboine (Stoney), Southern Inunaina (Arapaho), Kiowa, Chiricahua Apache, Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux) communities, with a few individuals identified only as Sioux. A delegation of Apache prisoners of war, including Geronimo, were brought from Fort Sill to attend the exposition.
Series 3: Assorted Photographs by Various Photographers, 1872-1900, includes includes 1 copy negative and 28 photographic prints taken by Frank A. Rinehart, Adolph F. Muhr, Alexander Gardner, David F. Barry (David Francis Barry/D. F. Barry), and unknown photographers throughout the United States between 1872-1900. This series contains photographs taken among the Sioux, Pikuni (Piegan) [Blackfeet Nation, Browning, Montana], Apache, Chiricahua Apache, Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke), Sihasapa Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux), Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux), Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce), Umatilla, Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce), and Cayuse communities. The locations for the shoots include Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, and Washington, DC. The subjects of this series include individual portraits, communities, and landscapes, with notable individuals including Naiche (Natchez), Goyathlay (Geronimo), Chief John Grass (Pe-ji or Pah-Zhe), and Theodore Roosevelt.
Series 4: Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) and Umatilla delegation visit to Washington, D.C.,1900, includes 8 rare photographic prints of a joint Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) and Umatilla delegation visit to Washington, D.C. in 1900. The delegates appearing in this series includes Cayuse delegate Chief Paul Showaway and Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) delegates Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt), Stephen J. Reuben, and Chief Peo Peo Tholekt (Peopeotahlikt/Peo Peo T'olikt/Peo-Peo-Ta-Lakt/George Peo-peo-tah-likt/Bird Alighting). Stephen J. Reuben was Chief Joseph's nephew, and acted as an interpreter for this visit. This series was possibly photographed outside of 1111 Masachussets Avenue, Washington, D.C. Additional identifications were provided by Nakia Williamson-Cloud, Nez Perce Tribe Cultural Resource Program, 2003.
Copy negatives include N21545, N37515-N37518, N41416, N41418, N41459. Photographic prints include P13092-P13095, P13097, P3101-P13203.
Arrangement:
Arranged intellectually into four series. Series 1: Fort Sill and surrounding areas, 1885-1896; Series 2: Trans-Mississippi International Exposition, 1898; Series 3: Assorted Photographs by Various Photographers, 1872-1900; Series 4: Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) and Umatilla delegation visit to Washington, D.C., 1900.
Biographical / Historical:
Captain Allyn K. Capron, a graduate of West Point, was a Rough Rider who served as Lieutenant and Captain in the U.S. Army. In 1886, Geronimo and 341 other Chiricahua Apache prisoners of war were captured and brought to Fort Sill in Oklahoma. It was here that Capron served under Hugh L. Scott, who was in charge of Geronimo's band of Apache Indians from 1894 to 1897. As a lieutenant, between 1895-1896, Capron commanded Troop L of the Seventh Cavalry, U.S.A at Fort Sill; this unit consisted entirely of Apache Indians. He was in charge also of Geronimo, whom he often quoted within his letters written from Fort Sill. Capron died from the effects of exposure during the Spanish American War in 1898.
Provenance:
Gift of Agness Kissam Capron, wife of Captain Allyn Capron, 1938.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives 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 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); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This series includes 6 copy negatives and 73 photographic prints. These photographs were taken by George A. Addison (George Anthony Addison), Ella M. Roff (Ellen M. Roff/E. M. Roff), and unknown photographers in Alabama and Oklahoma, in Fort Sill and surrounding areas, between 1885-1896. Some notable scenes include Geronimo and his family, individuals rounding up calves, non-native soldiers, Kiowa tipis, Niuam (Comanche) men shooting bows, the 12th Infantry of Apache Indians, and the Fort Sill Commanding Officers' quarters. Captain Allyn Capron is pictured in a few of the Fort Sill photographs. The indigenous communities depicted include the Southern Plains, Chiricahua Apache, Apache, Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico), Niuam (Comanche), Kiowa, and Potawatomi.
Copy negatives include N21545, N37515, N37516, N37517, N37518, N41416. Photographic prints include P13105, P13108-P13117, P13119, P13121-P13128, P13130-P13163, P13174-P13176, P13178-P13193
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives 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 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); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
