National Anthropological Archives

Guide to the Aleš Hrdlička papers, 1875-1966, (bulk 1903-1943)

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.1974-31
Creators:
Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943
Dates:
1875-1966
bulk 1903-1943
Languages:
The collection is primarily in
English
. Some documents are in
Czech
,
French
,
German
, or
Spanish
.
Physical Description:
206.71 Linear feet
294 boxes, 138 folders, 9 rolled items, and 4 folios
Repository:
The papers of Aleš Hrdlička, curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, offer considerable insight into the development of physical anthropology in the first half of this century. The papers include honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). In addition, there is material of a personal nature. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the USNM.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of both professional and personal materials. The professional material includes honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). The personal material primarily consists of correspondence with his first wife (Marie Dieudonnée Strickler) and other family members, but there are also financial records. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Hrdlička investigated all major questions confronting physical anthropologists of his day (the fossil record of early humans, the arrival of humans in the Americas, human variation, evolution, and eugenics) and made valuable contributions in all these areas. Hrdlička's interests in the establishment of physical anthropology as a distinct and important field, the welfare of the Czech people, early hominids, and variation within the human species are all documented in the collection as are the services he performed for various United States government agencies. He pursued field studies in many different parts of the world, but there are relatively few field notes as such among his papers. There is instead the edited journal "My Journeys," photographs, and physical anthropological forms. There is also relatively little material on his administrative involvement in the USNM. There is no material from Hrdlička's time at the Pathological Institution of the New York State Hospitals; after he resigned, fire destroyed the anthropological records Hrdlička collected as a member of the staff. There are materials in the collection which contradict, or at least complicate, many long-held criticisms of Hrdlička, particularly claims that he was racist and opposed feminist ideas. The collection contains materials of interest to genetic research, including anthropometric measurements, hair clippings and fingerprints.
There are a few items in the collection which are dated earlier than the collection's date span. These are publication dates, and the folders containing the items have been dated accordingly, but they have not affected the dates of the series or collection. There are also a few items which are dated after Hrdlička's death. These dates reflect the fact that the collection was added to by the Department of Physical Anthropology after Hrdlička's death and have been taken into account when formulating dates for the series and collection.
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.

Arrangement

Arrangement
This collection is arranged in 37 series:
  • (1) Miscellaneous Personal Papers, 1875-1940
  • (2) Early Personal Correspondence, 1883-1919
  • (3) Correspondence, 1885-1953
  • (4) News Clippings and Printed Matter, 1893-1953
  • (5) Financial Papers, 1910-1943
  • (6) Journeys to the Southwestern United States and Mexican Indians, 1898-1919
  • (7) Journeys to the Dakota, Chippewa, Kickapoo, and Shawnee, 1916-1917
  • (8) Florida Survey, 1918, 1918-1927
  • (9) Alaska Archeological Expeditions, 1912-1938 (bulk 1926-1938)
  • (10) Panama-California Exposition Expeditions, 1912-1914
  • (11) Journey to Egypt, Europe, and Russia, 1908-1909
  • (12) Journey to South America, 1910, 1910-1912
  • (13) Journey to the Far East, 1920, 1900-1930
  • (14) Journey to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe, 1924-1925
  • (15) Anthropometric Measurements of Indians Taken at the United States National Museum, 1904-1905, most undated
  • (16) Bone Studies, 1893-1929, most undated
  • (17) Old Americans, 1914-1930
  • (18) Children Who Run on All Fours, 1928-1936
  • (19) Early Man Studies, 1906-1930
  • (20) European Ethnic History, 1908-1938
  • (21) Miscellaneous Research Notes, 1887-1930
  • (22) Manuscripts of Writings, 1901-1944, most undated
  • (23) Writings by Other Authors, 1877-1942
  • (24) Anthropometry, undated
  • (25) "From My Journeys", 1898-1938
  • (26)
    American Journal of Physical Anthropology
    , 1918-1931
  • (27) American Association of Physical Anthropologists, 1924-1931
  • (28) International Congress of Americanists, 1900-1928
  • (29) Institute of Population, 1942
  • (30) Department of Anthropology, 1914-1943
  • (31) Lecture Notes, 1920-1932
  • (32) Maps and Charts, 1900-1932
  • (33) Miscellany, 1895-1954
  • (34) Index Cards, 1899-1948
  • (35) Bibliographic Index, undated
  • (36) Physical Anthropology Folios, undated
  • (37) Photographs, 1887-1944

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Aleš Hrdlička was born in Bohemia in 1869 and came to America when he was thirteen. As a young man, he was trained in medicine at New York's Eclectic Medical College and the New York Homeopathic Medical College, receiving degrees from each. His first professional work was as a private practitioner, but he gave that up in 1894 when he joined the staff of the New York State Hospital for the Insane at Middletown. There, in addition to other duties, he began studies of the physical characteristics of inmates. This set in motion developments that would eventually lead him to become one of the world's most prominent anthropologists who has sometimes been referred to as "the founder of physical anthropology in America."
In 1896, in preparation for a research appointment with the Department of Anthropology in the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals, Hrdlička went to Paris and studied with Leon Manouvrier. After his return to America, he worked for a short period with the Pathological Institute and came into contact with G.S. Huntington of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Hrdlička arranged and studied Huntington's large collection of skeletal material, thus gaining knowledge of a well-documented collection representing largely normal persons of European ancestry. He came to the attention of Frederic Ward Putnam, of the American Museum of Natural History, who arranged for his first anthropological field studies.
It was thus that Hrdlička became a member of the Hyde Expeditions to the American Southwest and northern Mexico. In 1898, he traveled to Mexico with Carl Lumholtz to study the Tarahumaras, Huichols, and neighboring tribes. In subsequent years, he returned to Mexico and the Southwest alone and studied physical characteristics and medical conditions of several American Indian tribes. With this experience and examinations of the Trenton and Lansing skeletal material for Putnam, Hrdlička came fully into the world of anthropology. In 1903, he was appointed head of the newly formed Division of Physical Anthropology in the United States National Museum.
While in his position at the Smithsonian, Hrdlička returned to the Southwest for studies of Pima and Apache children in 1905 and, in the following year, traveled to Florida to examine allegedly ancient remains of man. In 1908, he worked among a number of Indian tribes, including the Menominee, Oglala Dakota, Quinailt, Hupa, and Mohave, in a study of tuberculosis among them. In 1909, he traveled to Egypt with an expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in order to study living Egyptians and to examine remains of Egypt's past population. The following year took him to Argentina, Peru, and Mexico. In the first of these, he again examined allegedly ancient remains of man. In Peru, he made a large collection of skeletal material near Trujillo, at Pachamac, and in the Chicama Valley.
From 1912-1914, Hrdlicka undertook a physical anthropological exhibit for the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego and, for this, traveled to eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Peru, and Florida. He also examined fossil remains of man in Europe and directed field work of other anthropologists in South and East Africa, St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, the Philippines, eastern Siberia, and the Ukraine. In 1915, for the Department of Justice, he assessed the racial makeup of Chippewas on the Leech Lake and White Earth reservations in Minnesota and also studied Dakota Indians. In 1917, his field work was directed toward white American families with longtime residence in the United States. In 1918, he carried out a survey of ancient sites in eastern Florida for the Bureau of American Ethnology. In 1920, he traveled to Hawaii, Japan, Korea, and Manchuria in connection with an appointment to lecture at the Peking Union Medical College. As director of the American School for Prehistoric Studies in France, he again studied fossil remains of man in Europe in 1922 and 1923. In 1925, he carried out work in India, Ceylon, Java, Australia, South Africa, and Europe. In 1927, he was again in Europe to deliver the Huxley Memorial Lecture before the Royal Anthropological Society in Great Britain. Between 1929 and 1938, he traveled frequently to Alaska to carry on an anthropological survey. In 1939, he traveled to Russia and Siberia.
Beginning with much of the skeletal collection of the Army Medical Museum, which had been transferred to the Smithsonian in 1898 before he was appointed there, Hrdlička amassed a bone collection that included, among many other specimens, the Huntington collection, casts of fossil remains of man, and a large and diverse North American collection. He also gathered a large collection of human brains. Over three hundred publications resulted from his study of this material, his field work, and his study of specimens in other museums. In addition, he was involved in many other activities. For United States government agencies, he provided services ranging from examinations of human remains for law enforcement officials to providing information and opinions concerning national origins and traits that were needed to interpret laws and form foreign policy. During World War II, he also advised government officials on policies to be pursued with certain national groups following the war.
In 1918, Hrdlička founded the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
and remained its editor until 1942. In 1928, he was the major force behind the organization of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and served as its president from 1928 to 1932. He was also president of the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1907, the American Anthroplogical Association from 1925 to 1927, and the Washington Academy of Sciences from 1928 to 1929. He was chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1918 and secretary of the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council in 1917. From the 1920s to the 1940s Hrdlicka was a member of the American Eugenics Society and prepared exhibits for various eugenics congresses. In addition, Hrdlička was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. He represented the Smithsonian at several international gatherings of scholars, including meetings of the International Congress of Americanists.
Chronology
1869 March 29
Alois Ferdinand Hrdlička (Aleš Hrdlička) born in Humpolec, Bohemia
1882 September
Emigrated to New York City
1888
While stricken with typhoid, met M. Rosenbleuth, a physician who arranged for Hrdlička to enroll at the Eclectic Medical College of New York City
1892
Enrolled in the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital
Published first article, "Scheme of Examination (Medical),"
Publications of the Eclectic Medical College
Graduated first in his class from the Eclectic Medical College
1894
Graduated first from his class from the Homeopathic Medical College
Became research intern at the State Homeopathic Hospital for the Insane in Middletown, New York, where he began his studies in physical anthropology
Passed state board examination (allopathic)
1895
Joined staff of the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals as associate in anthropology
1896
Studied anthropology under Leon Manouvrier in Paris
1896 August 6
Married Marie Stickler (Dieudonnée)
1898 March-July(?)
Accompanied Carl Lumholtz on his expedition to northern Mexico, sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and visited the Tarahumara, Huichol, and Tepecan Indians
1899 Spring
Resigned from the Pathological Institute to take charge of physical and medical anthropological research on the Hyde Expeditions of the AMNH to the southwestern United States
1899 August
Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to excavate the site of Pueblo Bonito and to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; visited Grand Gulch caves in southern Utah; included visits to the Navahos and southern Utes
1900
Hyde expedition for the AMNH to New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Colorado to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; included visits to the Apaches, Yumas, and Pueblo Indians
1902 January-September
Hyde expeditions for AMNH to southwestern Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico to conduct somatological surveys; included visits to the Tepecanos, Papagos, Opatas, Pimas, Yaquis, Mayos, Huichols, Otomis, Tepehuanes, Maricopas, Yumas, Yavapais, Paiutes, Walapais, and Havasupais
1902 October-December
Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Mexico for Hrdlička to complete his somatological investigations; included visits to the Tepehuanes, Coras, Huichols, "Nahuas," "Aztecs," and Tarascans
1903 May 1
Became assistant curator in charge of the new Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, at the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution
1905
Expedition under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology to Arizona and New Mexico to complete the observations on the tribes of this region; Hrdlička especially studied Apache and Pima Indian children
1906 February
Expedition to western Florida to investigate remains of alleged ancient man
1907
President of the Anthropological Society of Washington
1908
Expedition to Indian schools and reservations in Wisconsin, Washington, California, Arizona, and South Dakota to study tuberculosis for a report to the International Congress of Tuberculosis
1908 December - 1909 May
Traveled to Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Bohemia, Russia, Poland, and Germany to examine human skeletal remains from an excavation in Egypt by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to study peoples of the Near East
1910 March 28
Promoted to curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology
1910 April-September
Attended the 17th International Congress of Americanists in Buenos Aires and Mexico City
Traveled to Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and Panama
1912
Planned and directed seven expeditions for the physical anthropology exhibit at the Panama-California Exposition held at San Diego in 1915; expeditions included Hrdlička to Siberia and Mongolia and later to Peru; Riley D. Moore to St. Lawrence Island, Alaska; Philip Newton to the Philippine Islands; Vojtech Suk to Africa; Stanislaw Poniatowski to eastern Siberia; Kazimir Stolyhwo to the Birusa caves in Siberia and to the Ukraine; and Jindřich Matiegka to Bohemia
1912 May-Summer
Traveled to London to attend 18th International Congress of Americanists
Traveled to Siberia and Mongolia for the Panama-California Exposition
1912 September
Traveled to Geneva for the 14th International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archaeology
1913 January-April
Expedition to Peru as part the effort for the Panama-California Exposition
1914 November 18 - 1915 January 18
Attended Panama-California Exposition
1915 May
Research for the Department of Justice at the White Earth and Leech Lake reservations in Minnesota to determine non-Indian mixture among Chippewas
1915 December
Served as General Secretary for the 19th International Congress of Americanists held in Washington
1916 Fall
Traveled to Florida to examine remains of supposed ancient man
1917 March-July
Served as Secretary on the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council
1917 Summer
"Old American" research at Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of Virginia and in Tennessee
1917 August
Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, traveled to Oklahoma to visit the Shawnee Agency in eastern Oklahoma and the Kickapoo Indians in McCloud to search for adequate samples of pure blood Indians
1918
Elected to the American Philosophical Society
Served as Chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Founded the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
and became its long-time editor
Surveyed prehistoric sites on the southwest coast of Florida
1918 October 8
Death of his wife Marie
1920
Anthropometry
published by the Wistar Institute
Elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain
1920 Summer
Married Mina (Vilemina) Mansfield
1920 January-May
Visited Japan, Korea, Manchuria, northern China, Mongolia, and Hawaii
Lectured at Peking Union Medical College in China
1920 Fall
Visited Minnesota Chippewa (at the White Earth Reservation?) to help the Department of Justice setter the question of mixed and pure bloods among the Chippewa
1921
Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
1922
Visited Spain, France, Germany, Moravia, and England
Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from the University of Prague
Chairman of the American delegation to the 20th International Congress of Americanists in Rio de Janiero
1923
Served three and one-half months as Director of the American School in France for Prehistoric Studies
Visited England, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Croatia, and Italy
1925
The Old Americans
published by Williams and Wilkins Co.
1925 March-October
Traveled to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe on a trip sponsored by the Buffalo [New York] Society of Natural Science to obtain cranial measurements of Australian aborigines and Tasmanians, to investigate the Rhodesian Man site in South Africa, to survey the field of early man, and to collect data to support his hypothesis about the peopling of the Earth
1925-1926
President of the American Anthropological Association
1926
Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from University of Brno and D.Nat.Sc. degree from Brunn University
1926 May-September
First fieldwork in Alaska: reconnaissance down the Yukon River to its mouth, around the Bering Sea and through the Bering Strait along the Alaskan coast to Point Barrow
1927
Received Huxley Memorial Medal and gave Huxley Lecture on "the Neanderthal Phase of Man" before the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain
1928
Helped found the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA)
1928-1929
President of the Washington Academy of Sciences
1928-1932
Served as first president of the AAPA
1929
Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Yukon River from Tanana to its mouth, to St. Lawrence and the Diomede Islands, to Cape Prince of Wales, up to Point Barrow and back to Unalaska
Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from Charles University, Prague
1930
Published
The Skeletal Remains of Early Man
, Vol. 83
Smithsonian Miscellaneous collections
Published "Anthropological Survey in Alaska,"
Forty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology
, pp. 21-374
1930 Summer
Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Kuskokwim River from Bethel down river to Apogak and up river to Stony River
1931
Children Who Run on All Fours
published by McGraw-Hill Book Co.
1931 Summer
Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island
1932
Kober Foundation lecturer of Georgetown University
1932 Summer
Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island
1934 Summer
Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed Cooks Inlet sites and the mainland opposite the Our Point site
1935 Summer
Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site
1936 Summer
Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed the Dutch Harbor caves, some of the Aleutian Islands, and the mummy cave on Kagamil Island
1937 Summer
Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands and Commander Islands
1938 Summer
Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands, Dutch Harbor caves, and Commander Islands
1939 April 4
Testimonial dinner given by the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in honor of his 70th birthday
1939 April-June
Recuperated in London hospital after suffering a coronary occlusion
1942 March 31
Retired from curatorship at United States National Museum, becoming an associate in anthropology
1942 December
Resigned as editor of the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
1943
Alaska Diary
published by Cattell Press
1943 September 5
Died of heart attack
1944
Anthropology of Kodiak Island
published by Wistar Institute
1945
The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitant
s published by Wistar Institute
1969
Tenth Anthropological Congress of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences dedicated to Hrdlička in the 100th anniversary year of his birth
Selected Bibliography
1908
Hrdlička, Aleš.
Physiological and Medical Observations Among the Indians of Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico
. Bulletin 34,
Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology
. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1908.
1912
Hrdlička, Aleš.
Early Man in South America
. Bulletin 52,
Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology
. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1912.
1919
Hrdlička, Aleš.
Physical Anthropology: Its Scope and Aims
. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1919.
1920
Hrdlička, Aleš.
Anthropometry
. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1920.
1925
Hrdlička, Aleš.
The Old Americans
. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Co., 1925.
1930
Hrdlička, Aleš.
The Skeletal Remains of Early Man
. Vol. 83,
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections
. City of Washington: The Smithsonian Institution, 1930.
Hrdlička, Aleš.
Anthropological Survey in Alaska
. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1930.
1931
Hrdlička, Aleš.
Children Who Run on All Fours, and Other Animal-like Behaviors in the Human Child
. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1931.
1943
Hrdlička, Aleš.
Alaska Diary, 1926-1931
. Lancaster, PA: The Jacques Cattell Press, 1943.
1944
Hrdlička, Aleš.
Anthropology of Kodiak Island
. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1944.
1945
Hrdlička, Aleš.
The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants
. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1945.

Administration

Author
Robert Lynn Montgomery and Jennifer Chien
Sponsor
The Repatriation Office, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, provided funds for the arrangement and description of the Aleš Hrdlička papers
Processing Information
Some of Hrdlička's papers had been previously organized by several archival processors. They and the present processor have generally attempted to preserve the organization that Hrdlička gave the papers. Admittedly, there have been problems with that, and some series were merged and new ones added. In researching these papers, it should be kept in mind that many series are a mixture of subject matter.
Titles in square brackets have been supplied by the archivist. However, please note that in some cases the processor has instead chosen to identify Hrdlička's titles with quotation marks. In series where this is the case, there is a series level note to indicate it.
The folder titles of this collection were written by the creator of the collection, Aleš Hrdlička. Some of these folder titles include offensive or outdated language. The original titles have been retained to preserve the historical integrity of the archival record. Use of this language does not reflect the views of the National Anthropological Archives or the Smithsonian Institution.
The three most recent accretions (accessions NAA.2018-07, which includes two card file boxes; NAA.2012-01, which includes a watercolor painting given to Hrdlička by W.H. Holmes; and NAA.2011-30, which includes correspondence with his wife and others, certificates and awards, rolled photographs, and a photograph album) have not yet been processed, but can be viewed. The collection extent does not include these materials.
Finding aid written by Robert Lynn Montgomery, 1996.
Revised by Jennifer Chien, August 2006, and Katherine Christensen, February 2020.
Encoded by Kate Madison, 2017, and Katherine Christensen, February 2020.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Hrdlička bequeathed his papers to the Smithsonian Institution. The Division of Physical Anthropology maintained them until they were deposited in the National Anthropological Archives in the 1960s. Some papers have come into the collection since then, most recently in 2018. These new accretions came to the collection through Donald Ortner, David Hunt, T. Dale Stewart, the Department of Anthropology, and the University of Alaska.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Conditions Governing Access
Access to the Aleš Hrdlička papers requires an appointment.
Preferred Citation
Aleš Hrdlička papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Related Materials
Additional material in the National Anthropological Archives relating to Aleš Hrdlička can be found in the papers of William Louis Abbott, Henry Bascom Collins, Herbert William Krieger, and Frank Spencer; records of the American Anthropological Association, Bureau of American Ethnology, Department of Anthropology of the United States National Museum (National Museum of Natural History), Science Service, Anthropological Society of Washington, and the United States Army Medical Museum (anatomical section, records relating to specimens transferred to the Smithsonian Institution); and glass negatives of Indians collected by the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution illustrations.
Additional related photographs can be found in Photo Lot 8, Division of Physical Anthropology collection; Photo Lot 9, Photographs of Indians for the Panama-California Exposition, San Diego; Photo Lot 24, Bureau of American Ethnology, United States National Museum photographs of American Indians; Photo Lot 70, Department of Anthropology portrait file; Photo Lot 78, Miscellaneous negatives; Photo Lot 97, Division of Ethnology collection ("USNM" Collection); Photo Lot 73-26B, Aleš Hrdlička photographs relating to the Panama-California Exhibition; Photo Lot 73-26G, Miscellany; Photo Lot 77-48, Group portraits of International Congress; Photo Lot 79-38, Division of World Archeology collection; Photo Lot 83-41, Division of Physical Anthropology collection of photographs of human bones; and Photo Lot 92-46, Anthropology lantern slides.
Related films can be found in the Human Studies Film Archive under the accession numbers HSFA 1982.2.1, 1982.2.2, 1986.12.1, and 2015.13.1.
Hrdlička's extensive collection of reprints is maintained in the Division of Physical Anthropology.
Frank Spencer's doctoral dissertation "Aleš Hrdlička, M.D., 1869-1943: A Chronicle of the Life and Work of an American Physical Anthropologist" (1979) is the only book length biography of Hrdlička. The Frank Spencer papers, 1836-1999, are available at the NAA and contain original correspondence between Hrdlička and his first wife, Marie Strickler; his childhood report card from 1869; copies of family photos obtained from Lucy Miller, Hrdlička's niece; and an audio recording of Hrdlička speaking at Wistar Institute.
Further material may be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
The University of Alaska Anchorage holds diaries relating to Hrdlička's Expeditions to Alaska in 1936, 1937, and 1938 in the Alan G. May papers. The finding aid for this collection is avialable online at https://archives.consortiumlibrary.org/collections/specialcollections/hmc-0690/ and a trascription of May's diaries from the expeditions is available online at https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/11850

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Saint Lawrence Island (Alaska) -- Archaeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Australia Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alaska -- Archaeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Human evolution Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Physical anthropology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Children -- Physical anthropology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
anthropometry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mexico -- Anthropology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Florida -- Archaeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Egypt -- Archaeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Czechoslovakia Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ethnology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peru -- Physical anthropology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fossil hominids Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kodiak Island (Alaska) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Army Medical Museum (U.S.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American Association of Physical Anthropologists Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smithsonian Institution. Department of Anthropology. Division of Physical Anthropology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Institute of Population Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
International Congress of Americanists Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hyde Exploring Expedition (1902-1903) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American Journal of Physical Anthropology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Panama-California Exposition (1915 : San Diego, Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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