Colonel Alexis B. McMullen photograph and postcard collection relating to West Africa
odd: label: Local Call Number(s)
content: NAA Photo Lot 90-14
name: label: Creator
content: McMullen, Alexis B. (collector and photographer)
label: Photographer
content: Zagourski, Casimir
place: label: Place
content: Rwanda
label: Place
content: Congo (Democratic Republic)
label: Place
content: Kenya
label: Place
content: Ghana
label: Place
content: Africa, West
topic: label: Topic
content: Ngala (African people)
label: Topic
content: Musical instruments
label: Topic
content: Scarification (Body marking)
label: Topic
content: Cacao
label: Topic
content: Cooking
label: Topic
content: Fishing
label: Topic
content: female circumcision
label: Topic
content: Dance
label: Topic
content: Boats and boating
creator: label: Creator
content: McMullen, Alexis B. (collector and photographer)
culture: label: Culture
content: Mputu (African people)
label: Culture
content: Komo (Congolese (Democratic Republic) people)
label: Culture
content: West Africans
label: Culture
content: Mangbetu (African people)
label: Culture
content: Tutsi (African people)
label: Culture
content: Kuba (African people)
label: Culture
content: Hausa (African people)
label: Culture
content: Ashanti (African people)
label: Culture
content: Ghanaians
label: Culture
content: Banziri (African people)
label: Culture
content: Ngbaka (African people)
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: Colonel Alexis B. McMullen participated in American aviation activities for about 50 years. During World War II, he was the commanding officer of a United States Air Corps Air Transport Command (ATC) base in Accra, Ghana (then the Gold Coast).
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 70 Postcards (70 photographic postcards, silver gelatin)
label: Extent
content: 86 Photographic prints (silver gelatin)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1943-1944
custodhist: label: Custodial History note
content: Donated by Sara Anne Lindsey, Colonel McMullen's daughter, 1990.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.PhotoLot.90-14
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Postcards
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Photographs
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Postcards
otherfindaid: label: Other Finding Aids note
content: Inventory available in repository.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Photographs made and collected by Alexis B. McMullen documenting peoples and culture in West Africa.  The images created by McMullen and Captain D. B. McCloskey depict ceremonies at Kibib honoring Ofori Atta, a chief in the Central Province of the Gold Coast; a dance to the god of the sea at Teshi; and fishing boats and equipment.  Additionally, the collection contains photographic postcards collected by McMullen and made by Casimir Zagourski, Leopoldville, and Methodist Book Depots, Cape Coast. These show African "types," a Bwake female circumcision ceremony (please note contains graphic images of circumcision), scarification (cicatrization), African animals (including giraffes, elephants, and a hippopotamus), agriculture, dances, and musical instruments. Depicted West African peoples include the Ashanti, Bangala, Banziri, Hausa, Kuba, Kumu, Mangbetu, Mputu and Tutsi.
relatedmaterial: label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: The National Air and Space Museum Archives Division holds the Colonel Alexis B. McMullen Collection, 1915-1983, documenting McMullen's aviation career and interests.
label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: Additional Zagourski photographs can be found in the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives in EEPA 1987-0024 and the EEPA Postcard Collection.