W J McGee collection of Bailey Willis photographs and lithograph relating to Macas peoples
odd: label: Local Call Number(s)
content: NAA Photo Lot 121
name: label: Photographer?
content: Willis, Bailey, 1857-1949
label: Collector
content: McGee, W J, 1853-1912
place: label: Place
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: Terracing
creator: label: Photographer?
content: Willis, Bailey, 1857-1949
label: Collector
content: McGee, W J, 1853-1912
culture: label: Culture
content: Chinese
label: Culture
content: Shuar
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: W J McGee (1853-1912) was a self-educated geologist, anthropologist, and hydrologist best known for his work with the United States Geological Survey and the Bureau of American Ethnology. In 1883, McGee was hired as a geologist for the USGS by its director, John Wesley Powell. McGee stayed with the USGS until 1893, when he resigned to join the Bureau of American Ethnology, again under Powell. During his time with the BAE, McGee made three expeditions to southern Arizona and northern Sonora in 1894, November 1895-January 1896, and 1900. McGee resigned from the BAE in 1903 to head the anthropological and historical exhibits at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held the following year in St. Louis, Missouri. He later served on the Inland Waterways Commission and studied water resources of the United States for the US Department of Agriculture.

Bailey Willis (1857-1949) was an artist, traveler, geologist, and writer. After studying mechanical (1878) and civil (1879) engineering at Columbia University, he traveled and did geological work in the northwestern United States. Willis joined the United States Geological Survey in 1884 and became known for his research on the southern Appalachian mountains and eastern United States (1885-1892). In 1903-1904, Willis led the Carnegie Institute of Washington's expedition to northern China. He later became a consulting geologist to the Minister of Public Works of Argentina, professor of geology at Stanford Univeristy, and research associate of the Carnegie Institution.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 6 Prints (duplicates not counted, silver gelatin)
label: Extent
content: 1 Color lithograph
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1903-1904
custodhist: label: Custodial History note
content: Probably donated by W J McGee to the Department of Anthropology.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.PhotoLot.121
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Prints
label: Type
content: Color lithographs
label: Type
content: Photographs
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Photographs and a lithograph probably collected by W J McGee during the first decade of the 20th century. The photographs were probably made by Bailey Willis during his 1903 expedition to China and were collected by W. J. McGee for his US Department of Agriculture bulletin on Soil Erosion (1911). Photos document terraced rice fields in China. The lithograph, made by Kell Brothers Lithographers and published by the Royal Anthropological Institute, may have also been collected by McGee, depicts a shrunken head made by Macas or Shuar peoples.
relatedmaterial: label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: The National Anthropological Archives also holds W J McGee papers, photographs, and publications, 1883-1914, 1971 (MS 2003-31). The Library of Congress holds the W J McGee papers, 1880-1916.
label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: Additional Bailey Willis photographs and papers are held by the Huntington Library, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, and Smithsonian Institution Archives.