Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore photographs relating to Japan and China
odd: label: Local Call Number(s)
content: NAA Photo Lot 139
name: label: Creator
content: Scidmore, Eliza Ruhamah, 1856-1928
label: Names
content: Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942
label: Names
content: Thompson, E. B. (Ezra Bowen), 1865-1951 (possible photographer or publisher)
place: label: Place
content: Japan
label: Place
content: China
label: Place
content: Philippines
label: Place
content: South America
topic: label: Topic
content: Handicraft
label: Topic
content: Transportation -- Japan
label: Topic
content: Agriculture -- Japan
creator: label: Creator
content: Scidmore, Eliza Ruhamah, 1856-1928
culture: label: Culture
content: Japanese
label: Culture
content: Chinese
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore (1856-1928) was an author, journalist, lecturer, and collector who traveled extensively and helped to bring the Japanese cherry blossoms to Washington, DC. She spent her early life in Madison, Wisconsin, and then moved during the Civil War to Washington, DC, with her mother and brother. She was educated for two years at Oberlin College before obtaining a position as a newspaper correspondent covering the capitalʹs social scene. Her career as a travel writer began in 1883 during a trip to Alaska which she documented in her first book, Alaska, Its Southern Coast and the Sitkan Archipelago (published 1885). Shortly thereafter, she lived for long periods of time in southern and eastern Asia, particularly in China, India, Japan, Java, and the Philippines. Scidmore promoted intercultural understanding and cooperation and particularly encouraged the relationship between America and Japan, where her brother served as a Consul General in Yokohama. She was decorated by the Japanese emperor for her sympathetic reporting of Japanʹs treatment of prisoners of war during the Russo-Japanese War. Though Scidmore contributed articles to many popular magazines, she was most active for National Geographic (between 1893 and 1914) and her photographs accompanied many articles. She also served on the National Geographic staff and on its board of managers.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 50 Negatives (photographic) (glass)
label: Extent
content: 23 Negatives (photographic) (nitrate)
label: Extent
content: 120 Lantern slides
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1914-1916
custodhist: label: Custodial History note
content: The collection was donated to the Smithsonian as the result of the Institutionʹs having loaned Scidmore photographic equipment. It was donated in USNM accessions 70640 (1923), 85816 (1925), 31224 (1896), and possibly 30262 (1896).
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.PhotoLot.139
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Negatives (photographic)
label: Type
content: Lantern slides
label: Type
content: Photographs
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies note
content: Most of the glass negatives and lantern slides have been digitized and are available online. Contact prints were made from the nitrate negatives and are available with the collection.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
otherfindaid: label: Other Finding Aids note
content: Preliminary finding aid is available in repository.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Photographs made and collected by Scidmore documenting life in Japan and China. Photos depict people, agriculture, crafting and jewelry, and natural and urban settings. Some additional photographs were made in South America and possibly the Philippines. The collection includes lantern slides published by the William H. Jackson Photo and Publishing Company of Denver and E. B. Thompson of Washington, DC.
relatedmaterial: label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: Additional photographs made and collected by Scidmore are held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 97 and in the National Geographic Society archives.
label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: The Department of Anthropology collections holds several artifacts donated by Scidmore.