Register to the Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology Catherine O’Sullivan December 2007 National Anthropological Archives Smithsonian Institution 1 CONTENTS ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY .................................................................................................................4 SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE ................................................................................................................7 RESTRICTIONS .........................................................................................................................................8 EXTENT ......................................................................................................................................................8 PROVENANCE ...........................................................................................................................................8 PROCESSING NOTE .................................................................................................................................8 RELATED ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS .................................................................................................9 SERIES DESCRIPTIONS AND CONTAINER LIST ..............................................................................11 SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1897-1965.......................................................................................11 SUBSERIES: INDICES AND REGISTERS TO LETTERS SENT AND RECEIVED .....................14 SUBSERIES: LETTERBOOKS ..........................................................................................................15 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED 1878 .......................................................................................22 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED 1879-1887 ..............................................................................22 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED 1888-1906 ..............................................................................36 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED 1907 .......................................................................................57 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED 1908 .......................................................................................62 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED 1909-1949 ..............................................................................66 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED 1950-1964 ............................................................................100 SUBSERIES: LETTERS SENT, PHOTOCOPIES AND TRANSCRIPTS 1879-1902 ...................103 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, PHOTOCOPIES AND TRANSCRIPTS 1879-1902 ..........104 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, TEMPORARY CORRESPONDENCE 1949-1965 ...........104 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, S.F. BAIRD 1879-1887 ......................................................105 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, FRANZ BOAS 1889-1909 .................................................105 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, MATILDA COXE STEVENSON 1890-1918 ...................106 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 1889-1907 ....................107 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, MATTHEW W. STIRLING 1925-1950 .............................108 SUBSERIES, LETTERS RECEIVED, US GOVERNMENT AGENCIES 1888-1908 ...................109 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, US GOVERNMENT AGENCIES 1909-1950 ...................110 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, US NATIONAL MUSEUM SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 1889-1909 ................................................................................................................110 SUBSERIES: LETTERS RECEIVED, CHARLES D. WALCOTT 1907-1909 ..............................111 SERIES II: COOPERATIVE ETHNOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS, 1928-1935 .........................111 SERIES III: MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE FILES, 1929-1946.......................................112 SERIES IV: MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE FILES, 1949-1965 ......................................113 SERIES V: RECORDS CONCERNING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT COLLECTION, 1899-1919 .............................................................................................................................................115 SERIES VI: RECORDS CONCERNING EMPLOYEES ....................................................................116 SERIES VII: FISCAL RECORDS, 1901-1902 AND 1945-1968 ........................................................117 SERIES VIII: RECORDS RELATING TO THE 1903 INVESTIGATION OF THE BAE ................118 SUBSERIES: CORRESPONDENCE ...............................................................................................119 SUBSERIES: COMMITTEE REPORT ............................................................................................119 SUBSERIES: MISCELLANY ..........................................................................................................120 SUBSERIES: TESTIMONY .............................................................................................................120 2 SERIES IX: PROPERTY RECORDS AND REQUISITIONS ...........................................................121 SERIES X: CLIPPINGS .......................................................................................................................123 SUBSERIES: UNMOUNTED ..........................................................................................................123 SUBSERIES: MOUNTED ................................................................................................................124 SUBSERIES: SCRAPBOOKS ..........................................................................................................125 SERIES XI: PUBLICATIONS .............................................................................................................126 SUBSERIES: INDIAN MISCELLANY, QUARTO SERIES .........................................................126 SUBSERIES: ANNUAL REPORTS, ILLUSTRATIONS ................................................................127 SUBSERIES: BAE BULLETIN, ILLUSTRATIONS .......................................................................128 SUBSERIES: MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS ...................................................................132 SERIES: XII: BAE LIBRARY MATERIALS, PAMPHLETS AND REPRINTS ..............................133 APPENDIX: LIST OF BAE CORRESPONDENTS ...............................................................................138 3 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY The Bureau of Ethnology was established by an act of the United States Congress on March 3, 1879, but it was largely the personal creation of the geologist and explorer Major John Wesley Powell. His earlier explorations of the Colorado River and Grand Canyon formed the basis of the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region. While exploring the area, Powell became alarmed at what he perceived to be the decline of the aboriginal way of life due to rapid depopulation. In a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, he warned that “in a few years, it will be impossible to study…Indians in their primitive condition, except from recorded history.” 1 He urged swift government action; the result of which was the appropriation of $20,000 (20 Stat. 397) to transfer all documents relating to North American Indians from the Department of Interior to the Smithsonian Institution and its Secretary’s appointment of Powell as director of the newly established Bureau of Ethnology, a position he held until his death in 1902. In 1897, its name was changed to the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) to underscore the limits of its geographical reaches. Under Powell, the BAE organized the nation’s earliest anthropological field expeditions, in which the characteristics and customs of native North Americans were observed firsthand and documented in official reports. Images of Indian life were captured on photographic glass plate negatives, and their songs on wax cylinder recordings. Histories, vocabularies and myths were gathered, along with material objects excavated from archaeological sites, and brought back to Washington for inclusion in the BAE manuscript library or the United States National Museum. The fruits of these investigations were disseminated via a series of highly regarded and widely distributed publications, most notably BAE Annual Reports, BAE Bulletins and Contributions to North American Ethnology. BAE research staff also responded routinely to inquiries posed by colleagues, government agencies and the general public on matters ranging from artwork to warfare. Moreover, the BAE prepared exhibits on the various cultural groups it studied not only for the Smithsonian Institution, but also large expositions held nationwide. In 1882 Powell, under instruction of Congress, established the Division of Mound Explorations for the purpose of discovering the true origin of earthen mounds found predominately throughout the eastern United States. It was the first of three temporary, yet significant subunits supported by the Bureau. Cyrus Thomas, head of the Division, published his conclusions in the Bureau's Annual Report of 1894, which is considered to be the last word in the controversy over the mound’s origins. With the publication of Thomas’ findings, the Division’s work came to a close. The course of BAE operations remained largely the same under Powell’s successors: WJ McGee (acting director) 1902; William Henry Holmes, 1902-1910; Frederick W. Hodge, 1910-1918; J. Walter Fewkes, 1918-1928; Matthew W. Stirling, 1928-1957; Frank H.H. 1 Hinsley, Curtis. Savages and Scientists: