Negatives and photographic prints taken by John Peabody Harrington in Santa Barbara and Ventura County, California in 1923. John Peabody Harrington (1884-1961) was an ethnologist and linguist who specialized in the Native peoples of California and served with the U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology from 1915 to 1955. Beyond his efforts to document innumerable Native languages, Harrington also collected objects for the Bureau of Ethnology and on his own. Photographs in this collection accompanied the objects he sold to or collected for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
Scope and Contents:
The John Peabody Harrington photographs from California include negatives and photographic prints taken in 1923 by Harrington while in the field. All of the negatives were taken at the Ventura County fair in the fall of 1923. These photographs depict a group of Chumash men building a grass lodge, organized by J.P. Harrington, as well as Bob Bautista, a Tachi Yokuts man, demonstrating traditional boat and house building. George Gustav Heye is pictured in several shots while the Chumash grass lodge is being built. Prints [P11568-P11572] were made from the aforementioned negatives. There is also one copy negative made from one of the subsequent prints.
The remainder of the photographic prints in this collection were taken during the Burton Mound expedition, funded by Thea Heye and led by John Peabody Harrington in 1923. Photographs taken by Harrington show workers excavating the mound as well images of the mound itself. There are four additional photographs from Burton Mound that were not taken by Harrington. These include an image Of J.P Harrington, D.B. Rogers and George W. Bayley standing with excavated materials. Some of these photographs have been restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
John Peabody Harrington (1884-1961) was an ethnologist and linguist employed by the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) for forty years, from 1915 to 1955. He came to the Smithsonian after training at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. He became interested in Native American languages upon meeting historically renowned anthropologist A. L. Kroeber. J. P. Harrington was reportedly fluent in nine international languages and eighteen Native American languages.
In 1923, the Museum of the American Indian, Heye foundation provided funding for J.P. Harrington to lead an expedition in Santa Barbara, California to excavate the Burton Mound.
Additional information on John Peabody Harrington can be found on the National Anthropological Archives' website, home to his collection.
Related Materials:
Archaeological materials excavated from Burton Mound can be found in NMAI's archaeological collection. For more information on these object please contact NMAICollections@si.edu.
Provenance:
The negatives were acquired from John Peabody Harrington by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation shortly after they were taken in 1923. It is likely that prints [P11568-P11572] were made from the negatives some time in the 1930s. Prints from Burton Mound [P09497-P09502] were cataloged by the MAI in 1929 though the additional Burton Mound prints arrived with the collection in 1923. The provenance of P06039 and P28107 is unknown.
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).
Some images restriced: Cultural Sensitivity.
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); John Peabody Harrington photographs from California, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The negatives in this series depict a group of Chumash men building a grass lodge at the Ventura County Fair, organized by J.P. Harrington. There are also photographs of as Bob Bautista, a Tachi Yokuts man, demonstrating traditional boat and house building during the fair. George Gustav Heye is pictured in several shots while the Chumash grass lodge is being built. Prints [P11568-P11572] were made from the aforementioned negatives. There is also one copy negative made from one of the subsequent prints.
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).
Some images restriced: Cultural Sensitivity.
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 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.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Peabody Harrington photographs from California, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Bob Bautista (Trehlawat/Trex' Lawat, ca. 1843-1923), Tachi Yokuts, about 80 years old, building a tule rush boat in a farm-like setting. The photo may have been taken at the Ventura County Fair, where Bautista was employed to demonstrate boat and house building.
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).
Some images restriced: Cultural Sensitivity.
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 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.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Peabody Harrington photographs from California, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Bob Bautista (Trehlawat/Trex' Lawat, ca. 1843-1923), Tachi Yokuts, about 80 years old, building a tule rush boat in a farm-like setting. The photo may have been taken at the Ventura County Fair, where Bautista was employed to demonstrate boat and house building.
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).
Some images restriced: Cultural Sensitivity.
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 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.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Peabody Harrington photographs from California, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Tule rush boat made by Bob Bautista (Trehlawat/Trex' Lawat, ca. 1843-1923), on a lake at mouth of Ventura river, with one man rowing, and a boy passenger.
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).
Some images restriced: Cultural Sensitivity.
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 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.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Peabody Harrington photographs from California, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Tule rush boat made by Bob Bautista (Trehlawat/Trex' Lawat, ca. 1843-1923), on a lake at mouth of Ventura river, with one man rowing, and a boy passenger. Dock with people in background.
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).
Some images restriced: Cultural Sensitivity.
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 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.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Peabody Harrington photographs from California, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Studio portrait of Bob Bautista (Trehlawat/Trex' Lawat, ca. 1843-1923), posed in a feather headdress, necklace with silver(?) disks, thin beaded or woven shoulder bandolier, a beaded apron with waistband, and wrist ornaments. he is posed among various baskets (one of which appears to contain peppers), on a rug or animal hide, in front of a tasseled drape hung from a planked wall.
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).
Some images restriced: Cultural Sensitivity.
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 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.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Peabody Harrington photographs from California, Photo Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection contains 374 photographic prints and 38 copy negatives made by Grace Nicholson, a collector and dealer of Native American and Asian arts and crafts in Pasadena, California. The majority of the photographs were made between 1910 and 1930 among various native communities in California, though there are smaller amounts of photographs in Arizona and New Mexico. Communities photographed include—Hupa, Yurok, Pomo, Karuk (Karok), Tolowa, Yokayo Pomo, Achomawi (Pit River), Atsugewi (Hat Creek), Hopi Pueblo, Kumeyaay (Digueno), Mojave (Mohave), Paiute, Taos Pueblo, Wintu, Acoma Pueblo, Maidu, Chukchansi Yokuts, Yokuts.
Scope and Contents:
The Grace Nicholson photograph collection contains 374 black and white photographic prints (38 copy negatives) made by Grace Nicholson between 1905 and 1930 however many of the photographs are undated. The majority of the photographs were shot within various native communities in California, including Hupa, Yurok, Pomo, Karuk (Karok), Tolowa, Yokayo Pomo, Achomawi (Pit River), Atsugewi (Hat Creek), Maidu, Chukchansi Yokuts, Yokuts, Kumeyaay (Digueno), Wintu. There are smaller amounts of photographs from Arizona and New Mexico which include photographs within Hopi Pueblo, Taos Pueblo, Acoma Pueblo, Mojave (Mohave) and Paiute communities.
A large number of these photographs include portraits of Native men and women posed with baskets, either made by themselves or other community members. There are also posed portraits of families in front of their homes and going about their daily activities. Nicholson was often close with the families she photographed and took care to include their names with the images, though there are many photographs where the sitters are still unidentified. Some photographs of certain dances and ceremonies have been restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
The majority of the prints are silver gelatin (DOP) and the copy negatives (acetate) were made by the Museum of the American Indian sometime in the 1960s as part of a large photograph conservation project. There were also a number of photographic prints found within the Grace Nicholson manuscript materials (NMAI.AC.001) that were transferred to the photo archives in the early 2000s.
Prints from Grace Nicholson: P05451-P05497, P05505, P08339-P08368, P08469-P08479, P09400-P09453, P09463-P09464, P09836-P09838. Prints from Thyra Maxwell: P18316-P18317, P18932-P19107, P20830-P20836, P20999-P21075. Prints pulled from the MAI records (NMAI.AC.001): P28169, P28170, P28443-P28445. Copy Negatives: N35814-N35844, N36250, N41439, N41551-N41556.
Arrangement:
Arranged by catalog number.
Biographical / Historical:
Grace Nicholson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 31, 1877. She moved to California following her parents and grandparents death, in 1901 and was soon purchasing Native American baskets and other artifacts in association with Carrol S. Hartman, an old family friend from the East. Traveling north through California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and south and east through Arizona and New Mexico, she collected, not only for herself, but also for such institutions as the Smithsonian, the Field Columbian Museum of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania Department of Archeology and later the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. Nicholson kept extensive diaries and notes on her buying trips through Native American territory, especially of the Karok, Klamath, and Pomo Indians. Her subjects included Native American legends, folklore, vocabulary, tribal festivals, basket making, the art trade, and living conditions. Native American artists with whom Nicholson established long-term business and personal connections included Pomo basket weaver Mary Benson (1878-1930) and her husband William Benson (1862-1937), as well as Elizabeth Hickox (1875-1947) of the Karuk tribe. By August of 1902 she was establishing a shop and studio at 41-143 Raymond Ave., Pasadena and she regularly paid higher prices than competitive buyers, thereby obtaining the finest pieces.
In 1909 Grace Nicholson was awarded a silver medal for her ethnological collection exhibited at the Alaska-Yukon- Pacific Exposition in Seattle. In 1924, Nicholson designed and opened a new building for her collections nicknamed the "Treasure House" where she also handled the work of a number of the outstanding artists among them, Joseph H. Sharp and Grace Carpenter Hudson. Throughout her collecting career, Nicholson maintained a correspondence with George Heye selling and donating collections to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation from 1916 until her death in 1948.
Following Nicholson's death, her Native American Indian art collection was left to her assistants Thyra Maxwell and Estelle Bynum who became the executors of her estate. Her 12,000-item Asian art collection was auctioned by the Curtis Gallery in November 1950 and purchased by Los Angeles businessman Edker Pope. In 1968, Maxwell donated Nicholson's papers and photographs to The Huntington Library and sold Nicholson's collection of baskets made by the Bensons, as well as a large collection of correspondence and myths from William Benson, to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, of New York City (now the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution).
Related Materials:
The majority of Grace Nicholson's papers and photographs can be found at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California; Grace Nicholson Photograph Collection (photCL 56), Grace Nicholson Papers and Addenda (mssNicholson papers and addenda).
Additional Nicholson material can be found at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley; Photographic negatives and prints of Calif. Indian baskets and other ethnographic items handled by Grace Nicholson from about 1912-1925 (Accession 2880), Grace Nicholson's ledger of Indian baskets from about 1912-1925 in Pasadena, California (Accession 2881).
Separated Materials:
Correspondence between Grace Nicholsan and George Heye as well as Pomo myths recorded from William Benson can be found in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation records (NMAI.AC.001) in Boxes 262, 262A, 263. Baskets made by Mary and William Benson, as well also additional collections donated and sold by Nicholson to the Museum, can be found in NMAI's ethnographic collection.
Provenance:
The majority of the photographic prints were donated by Thyra Maxwell in 1968 and 1969. The rest of the photographs accompanied collections purchased by the Museum of the American Indian or presented to the Museum from Grace Nicholson in 1923.
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). Photographs with cultural sensitivity are restricted.
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.
Genre/Form:
Photographic prints
Copy negatives
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Grace Nicholson photograph collection, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
