William Edwin Safford photograph albums relating to Easter Island, Samoa, and South America
odd: label: Local Call Number(s)
content: NAA Photo Lot 76-26
name: label: Collector
content: Safford, William Edwin, 1859-1926
label: Names
content: Mohican Expedition
label: Photographer
content: Gonsalves, J. A.
label: Photographer
content: Thomson, William J. (William Judah), 1841-1909
label: Photographer
content: Valdeavellano, Alberto G., 1861-1928
place: label: Place
content: Samoa
label: Place
content: Peru
label: Place
content: Panama
label: Place
content: Guatemala
label: Place
content: Ecuador
label: Place
content: Easter Island
label: Place
content: Chile
creator: label: Collector
content: Safford, William Edwin, 1859-1926
culture: label: Culture
content: Samoans
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: William Edwin Safford (1859-1926) was a United States Naval officer from 1880-1902 who took part in Navy expeditions and collected specimens for the United States National Museum. Safford joined the crew of the USS Mohican in South America and participated in its expedition to the South Pacific (1886-1888). In 1891-1892, he commanded an ethnological expedition to Peru and Bolivia for the Chicago Columbian Expedition. He served in the Spanish American War and was vice-governor of Guam in 1899-1900. In 1902, he resigned from the Navy and took an appointment as an economic botanist with the United States Department of Agriculture.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Albums (circa 145 prints, silver gelatin)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1886-1902
custodhist: label: Custodial History note
content: The photographs were donated by Safford's wife to the Bureau of American Ethnology library, along with additional charts and a Samoan manuscript, 1926. They were transferred from the Department of Anthropology library to the National Anthropological Archives by Jannette Saquet, 1975.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.PhotoLot.76-26
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Albums
label: Type
content: Photographs
bibliography: label: Bibliography
content: Photographs published in "Te Pito Te Henua, or Easter Island," USNM Annual Report, 1888-'89, pg. 447-552.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
otherfindaid: label: Other Finding Aids note
content: Inventory available in repository.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Photographs collected by Wiliam Edwin Safford while on US Navy expeditions to Chile, Easter Island, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, and Samoa.  They depict Indigenous peoples and activities, towns, scenic views, and the crew of the USS Mohican and members of the US Navy. There are also photographs of Guatemala made by Alberto. G. Valdeavellano and J. A. Gonsalves.  The Easter Island photographs were possibly made by William J. Thomson, paymaster on the Mohican.
relatedmaterial: label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: Additional photographs of the expedition to Easter Island can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 97.
label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: Additional photographs collected by Safford can be found in National Anthropological Archives in MS 3366.
label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: The Smithsonian Institution Archives holds the William Edwin Safford Papers, 1894-1925 (SIA RU007275).
label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: Records relating to Safford's collecting expedition in South America can be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives in SIA RU000189.
label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: Safford's ethnographic data about Samoa can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 2956.