National Anthropological Archives

James E. McClees Studio photographs of Native American delegates to Washington, DC, circa 1850 to 1863 (bulk 1857-1858)

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.4286
Creators:
M'Clees, Jas. E. (James E.) (studio owner and photographer)
Dates:
circa 1850 to 1863
bulk 1857-1858
Languages:
Undetermined
.
Physical Description:
32 Albumen prints
mounted
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Studio portraits made by the James E. McClees Studio and published by the Blackmore Museum, depicting Native American visitors to Washington, D.C. The series is identified by an 1863 broadside in the collection as "Photographs of some of the principal Chiefs of the North American Indians, made when they have visited Washington as deputations from their Tribes." Yankton, Sisseton, Mdewakanton, Wahpeton, Pawnee, Potawatomi, Sauk and Fox, Ponca, and Ojibwa people are represented. Three additional portraits depict men (possibly Cree) and were probably made by a different photographer.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
James Earl McClees (1821-1887) trained as a daguerreotypist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before opening a studio in Washington, D.C. in 1857. He was an early user of paper photographic processes and was well-known for photographing delegations of American Indians. His Washington studio, known as the James E. McClees Studio, operated in 1857-1858 with Julian Vannerson (1827-?) and Samuel Cohner as its most established operators. The studio was taken over by Robert W. Addis in 1858. Among Addis's proprietors was Antonio Zeno Schindler, an artist who made copies of photographs for English philanthropist and collector William Blackmore (1827-1878). Blackmore purchased the McClees Studio's negatives from Shindler, later transferring them to the Smithsonian. The Bureau of American Ethnology absorbed the photographs upon its formation in 1878-1879.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup
Existence and Location of Copies note
Digital surrogates for some photographs available online.
Custodial History note
These prints have been in the Archives for an unknown length of time; the broadside was obtained in May, 1968 from the Newberry Library in Chicago, which owns several copies.

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 4286, James E. McClees Studio photographs of Native American delegates to Washington DC, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
Additional McClees Studio and Vannerson photographs held in the National Anthropological Archives in the BAE historical negatives and Photo Lot 4420.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Glass negatives relating to William Henry Blackmore, including copies of photographs collected by Blackmore, held in the British Museum and in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 31 and the BAE historical negatives.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Artifacts collected by Blackmore held in the anthropology collections of the National Museum of Natural History in accessions 1846, 2371, and 1826.

Contained in

Contained in
Numbered manuscripts 1850s-1980s (some earlier)

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 4286

Addl. KW Subj

Addl. KW Subj
Sioux
Mdewakanton
Sauk & Fox
Meskwaki; Sauk & Fox
Chippewa


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ponca Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cree Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Potawatomi Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chaticks Si Chaticks (Pawnee) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fox Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sauk Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Northeast Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wahpetonwan Dakota (Wahpeton Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sioux Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sisitonwan Dakota (Sisseton Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yanktonnai Nakota (Yankton Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blackmore Museum (Salisbury, England) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cohner, Samuel A. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vannerson, Julian, 1827- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746
naa@si.edu