National Anthropological Archives

Adrian John Ebell photograph of women and children guarding corn, 1862

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.2000-15
Creators:
Ebell, Adrian J. (Adrian John), 1840-1877
Dates:
1862
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1 Stereograph
albumen
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Stereoview of Dakota women and children with a canopy in corn fields, guarding corn from birds. The photograph was made by Adrian John Ebell, shortly before the Sioux uprising in Minnesota, 1862.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Adrian John Ebell (1840-1877) immigrated to the United States from Ceylon as a youth and entered Yale University in 1859. In 1862, he hired University of Chicago student Edwin R. Lawton as his assistant on a trip to photograph Native Americans in Minnesota. They rented camera equipment from St. Paul photographer and gallery operator Joel E. Whitney, who would later publish many of Ebell's photographs. On August 17, Ebell and Lawton stayed at Dr. Thomas S. Williamson's mission near the Upper Sioux Agency and fled with the other refugees when news of the revolt reached the mission the next day. Ebell created his most widely published photograph of the refugees resting on the prairie during this flight. After the group stopped in Henderson, Ebell and Lawton continued on to St. Paul, where Ebell gave his exposed glass plates to Whitney for publication and wrote articles about the experience for the St. Paul Daily Press. Ebell then briefly joined Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley's expedition, photographing the Dakota captives at Camp Release, before returning to his studies at Yale. In June 1863, his account of the uprising, entitled "The Indian Massacres and War of 1862," was published in Harpers New Monthly Magazine.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup
Custodial History note
Donated by Ed Italo, 1999.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use note
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Preferred Citation note
Photo Lot 2000-15, Adrian John Ebell photograph of women and children guarding corn, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
Additional Ebell photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 90-1.
Location of Other Archival Materials
The Minnesota Historical Society also holds Ebell photographs from 1862.

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 2000-15

Addl. KW Subj

Addl. KW Subj
Sioux (Eastern)


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stereographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sioux Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Zimmerman, Charles A., 1844-1909 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
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