Scope and Contents
These papers reflect the professional life of Neil Merton Judd (1887-1976), archeologist and curator in the former United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Included are diaries of expeditions, correspondence, field notes, notes, financial records, copies of historical documents, maps, drawings, photographs, and other documents that cover the period from the 1870s to the 1970s. Most of the material, however, is dated between 1907 and 1965.
Of primary concern is Judd's archeological work in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, especially at Pueblo Bonito and other sites in the area of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, which he carried out for the National Geographic Society between 1920 and 1927. Appreciable material concerns the so-called Beam expeditions of 1923, 1928, and 1929 to locate study of tree-rings. Other documents relate to Judd's work in San Juan country, Utah; at Paragonah and other sites in southern Utah; and on the Walhalla Plateau in Arizona. Some correspondences, which Judd carried on with William B. Marye between 1932 and 1949, concern Indian bridges in Maryland and nearby states.
Several other expeditions of which Judd was a member are documented among the papers solely or primarily through photographs. There is little material that reflects Judd's personal life, daily curatorial duties at the United States National Museum, work at Rito de los Frijoles with Edgar L. Hewett in 1910, expedition to Guatemala in 1914, or aerial surveys of old canals in Arizona during the 1929-30.
Among correspondents whose letters are included among the papers are Glover M. Allen, Monroe Amsden, Bryant Bannister, James F. Breazeale, Harold S. Colton, Kenneth J. Conant, Fredrick V. Coville, Richard E. Dodge, Harold S. Gladwin, Gilbert Grosvernor, Edgar L. Hewett, Frederick Webb Hodge, William H. Jackson, Jean A. Jeancon, John O. La Gorce, Frank McNitt, Sylvanus G. Morley, Earl H. Morris, Nels C. Nelson, Jesse L. Nusbaum, Deric O'Bryan, George H. Pepper, Frederick Wilson Popenoe, Frank H. H. Roberts, Karl Ruppert, Carl S. Scofield, Hugh L. Scott, Harry L. Shapiro, Anna O. Shepard, Alfred M. Tozzer, and Clark Wissler. In addition to his own material, Judd also acquired some material from members of his expeditions, especially from Frans Blom, Karl Ruppert, and Oscar B. Walsh. He also collected historical documents and photographs. Among these are copies of documents relating to southwestern archeological explorations of the naturalist Edward Palmer. He also acquired photographs by Walter Hough made in Arizona between 1904 and 1920., photographs taken on the Hyde Exploring Expedition to Chaco Canyon, and miscellaneous photographs made on expeditions of William H. Jackson, Edgar A. Mearns, and others.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
