Photographs of Specimens and Other Subjects (Processing Laboratory Photographs)
name: label: Collection Creator
content: National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology
label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Department of Anthropology
label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. United States National Museum. Department of Anthropology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Department of Anthropology records
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 12.92 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1880s-1950s
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.XXXX.0311, Series 22
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This series is arranged in w sub-series: (22.1) Albums; (22.2) Photographs arranged by publication; (22.3) Photographs arranged by subject; (22.4) Original photographs/works of art/clippings
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: When the Collection was transferred to the NAA, there were albums of photographs arranged roughly by subject and loose folders of photographs, also arranged by subject. The album photographs have been preserved in their original order with their original titles. Unfortunately many of the loose photographs were not longer in folders, or folder labels had become detached. Additionally, folders were reused and had titles which bore no relationship to the images they contained.

As many of the loose photographs were used in museum publications, they have been reorganized by publication. Those that could not be located in a publication have been arranged by subject; vintage images and clippings have been arranged by physical type.

An initial attempt was made to arrange the collection by culture or geographic region, but this proved impossible as most images are not sufficiently identified, to do so would have required many hours searching records, and required long-term, direct interaction with most of the curators. Once done, the problems of composite photographs, would have remained an archival problem.

There are two appendices to this series (a list of publications and biographies); please consult an archivist to see them.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This series consists of several groups of photographs of artifacts, exhibits, and ethnological images collected by the Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum/National Museum of Natural History. There are no records concerning their provenance, or documenting their accumulation. They were transferred to the National Anthropological Archives from the Department's Processing Laboratory, the section responsible for artifacts.

It cannot be ascertained if the original intent of the collection was to document only items in the museum's collection, or to document material culture regardless of the location of the original artifact. In either case, the images include artifacts from around the world that are in the museum's collections as well as in other repositories.

The collection also contains a large number of photographs relating to exhibits with images ranging from curators posing for models to finished exhibits. It also contains a goodly number of ethnological scenes and physical anthropological poses from anthropologists such as Mason Shufeldt in Madagascar, Romyn Hitchcock in Japan, and William Louis Abbott in Asia. Some of the photographers represented include T. W. Smillie, O. C. Hastings, and Axel Lindahl. Paintings by George Catlin and illustrations from McKenney and Hall are also included. The photographs date from the 1880s to the 1950s.

There are also some unusual miscellaneous items. Of special note are portraits taken at the 1916 meeting of the Archeological Institute of America and the American Philological Association; an 1893 program from the World's Congress of Representative Women; portraits of individuals such as Auguste and Pierre Chouteau, G. Brown Goode, W. deC. Ravenel, Queen Victoria, Mrs. Herbert Ward, and Orville and Wilbur Wright (several autographed); and a copy of a letter to the Governor of Michigan requesting the removal of Chippewa Indians.

Aside from documenting material culture, the collection can be used to ascertain what artifacts were once in the museum's collections, their condition at the time of the photograph, and which items were originally part of a larger unit. The images can be useful to conservators seeking images of how a now damaged item once appeared or curators seeking to reassemble as a unit sets of items which were separated over time.

Many of the artifact photographs are marked with accession and catalog numbers.  In general, these numbers are United States National Museum numbers, but this does not always hold true.  The numbers may relate to the object(s) shown in the photograph, to the photograph itself, or to both.  Accession information can be searched by checking records in the Processing Laboratory and in the Registrar's office.

Negative numbers are frequently shown in the plate, on the front of the images.  Some of these negative numbers are still valid; many others are not.  In addition, valid numbers may now require a prefix such as "MNH", "SI," or possibly both.  Before negative numbers are used to order copies, the availability of a matching negative and its full negative number should be checked.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: See also Photo Lot 97, Anthropology Collections, and the Smithsonian Institution Archives.