National Anthropological Archives

Guide to the Alexander W. Chase photographs of Klamath, Modoc, and Tolowa people and material culture circa 1870

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.2003-10
Creators:
Chase, Alexander W.
Dates:
circa 1870
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
9 Photographic prints
albumen, mounted on paper
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Studio portraits of Klamath, Modoc, and Tolowa Indians made by surveyor Alexander W. Chase while working for the US Coast Survey. Also included are photographs of artifacts from his ethnographic and archaeological collection. The photographs are mounted on brown paper with handwritten descriptions; two newspaper articles, including Alexander Chase's own article for the Topeka Daily Capitol, are glued to the back of two of the pages.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Alexander W. Chase (1843-1888) worked as a surveyor for the US Coast Survey from 1862-1878, during which time he visited several reservations near the San Francisco Bay area and southern Oregon. As an amateur artist, photographer, and ethnologist, he recorded his observations of the daily life on the reservations in a journal. He published his documentation of a visit to the Alsea Reservation in a newspaper article for the Topeka Daily Capitol, dated Sunday, November 27, 1887. He also published a longer paper on the Siletz Reservation in 1869. Additionally, he contributed ethnographic and archaeological data, photographs, and sketches to Stephen Powers' monograph, Tribes of California.

Administration

Author
Gina Rappaport, Sarah Ganderup
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Jean Prentiss through Thomas Blackburn in 2002.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use note
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Conditions Governing Access note
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Preferred Citation note
Photo Lot 2003-10, Alexander W. Chase Photographs of Klamath, Modoc, and Tolowa people and material culture, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
Photo Lot 24 contains four cartes des visite by Chase of Maidu individuals "Captain Tom" and his wife, daughter, and son.
The records of the NMNH Department of Anthropology contain some of Chase's original sketches for Tribes of California.
Additionally, the NAA also holds MS 3230, a manuscript by Chase on the shell mounds of oregon, and the records of the Bureau of American Ethnology contain correspondence between Chase and BAE anthropologists.

Publication Note

Publication Note
The photographs in this collection are published in
Thomas Blackburn, "Some Additional Alexander W. Chase Materials," Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 25, no. 1 (2005): 39-54.

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 2003-10

Bibliography

Bibliography
Powers, Stephen. Tribes of California. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1877.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Modoc Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Klamath Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tolowa Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Plateau Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- California Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
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