Scope and Contents note

Photographs originally made or collected by Jesse Walter Fewkes, the bulk of which relate to the American Southwest, including images of Native Americans of the Southwest, archeological sites and artifacts, and landscapes. The collection also includes some images of the West Indies and Mexico, coral islands and atoll formations, and archeological sites in Egypt, China, and other "Old World" regions. There are also photographs of artifacts now in the Department of Anthropology collections, including a broken ladle (ANTHRO CAT 155,771) and cooking pot (ANTHRO CAT 315, 806) from Sityatki and a stone axe from Awatobi (ANTHRO CAT 156,062). Lantern slides, which make up the bulk of the collection, were mostly made from photographs, drawings, and maps, probably for use in Fewkes's lectures. Some photographs may have been made by Fewkes, but most appear to be by other photographers, including C. B. Waite.

Biographical/Historical note

Jesse Walter Fewkes (1850‐1930) was a naturalist, anthropologist, and archeologist who served as chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology from 1918 to his death in 1928. Fewkes received a Ph.D. in marine zoology from Harvard in 1877, and was curator of lower invertebrates at the Museum of Comparative Zoology until 1887. He became deeply interested in the culture and history of Puebloan peoples while on a collecting trip in the western United States. In 1891, he served as director of the Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition and editor of the Journal of American Archeology and Ethnology. In 1895 he embarked on various archeological explorations for the Bureau of American Ethnology, during which he conducted excavations in the Southwest, the West Indies, and Florida.

Location of Other Archival Materials

The National Anthropological Archives also holds Fewkes's field notes (MS 4408).

Location of Other Archival Materials

Additional Fewkes photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4321, Photo Lot 30, and Photo Lot 86 (his negatives).

Location of Other Archival Materials

Correspondence from Fewkes held in the National Anthropological Archives in the George L. Beam papers (MS 4517), the Henry Bascom Collins, Jr. papers, the Anthropological Society of Washington records (MS 4821), the Herbert William Krieger papers, the J.C. Pilling papers, the Walter Hough Papers (in the records of the Department of Anthropology), and the records of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

See others in

Jesse Walter Fewkes photograph collection donated by E. Kenneth Stabler n.d.