National Anthropological Archives

Romyn Hitchcock photographs of Ainu people, Japan, and Korea, circa 1885-1895

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.77-38
Creators:
Hitchcock, Romyn, 1851-1923
Dates:
circa 1885-1895
Languages:
Undetermined
.
Physical Description:
200 Prints
circa 200 prints: albumen, cyanotype, silver gelatin, halftone
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Photographs documenting Ainu people and villages and Japanese boats, paintings, artifacts, structures, burial mound, tombs, and scenery. They also include some images of people and a village in Korea. Many of the mounted prints have been annotated for publication, some for the 1890 Annual Report of the National Museum.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Romyn Hitchcock (1851-1923), was a Smithsonian curator, scientist and author with degrees in chemistry from Cornell University and Columbia University. He spent four years curating for the Smithsonian's National Museum. In 1887, Hitchcock was put in charge of photographic work for the United States Eclipse Expedition to Japan and appointed professor of English at the Koto Chu Gakko, the Japanese government school in Osaka. His studies in Japan led to a number of articles in the Smithsonian Annual Reports in 1890 and 1891. In the early 1890s, he became a commissioner to China for the World Columbian Exposition and later served as an official of the exposition.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup
Existence and Location of Copies note
Digital surrogate is available online.
Custodial History note
Part of this collection was donated by Robert Elder, 1977. The rest was likely donated as part of the publication of Hitchcock's articles in the USNM Annual Report. Three photographs of Ainu people were originally in the Division of Physical Anthropology photograph collection.

Digital Content

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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 77-38, Romyn Hitchcock photographs of Ainu people, Japan, and Korea, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
R.M. Bartleman photographs of Venezuela, previously filed in 77-38, have been relocated to National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 156.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Photographs in the Hitchcock Collection, previously filed in Photo Lot 97 and Photo Lot 8, have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 77-38. These photographs were also made by Romyn Hitchcock and form part of this collection.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Hitchcock donated artifacts from Japan, China, and Sri Lanka to the Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, in accessions 022393, 022392, 055059, 021640, 021675, 022518, 021963, 022633, 025499, 014786, 021689, and 023462.
Location of Other Archival Materials
The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University Library holds Romyn Hitchcock's papers.

See others in

See others in
Romyn Hitchcock photographs of Ainu people, Japan, and Korea, circa 1885-1895

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 77-38

Bibliography

Bibliography
Photographs published in "Ancient Pit-Dwellers of Yezo," USNM Annual Report, 1890, p. 417-427; "Ainos of Yezo," USNM Annual report, 1890, p. 429-502; "Shinto, or Mythology of the Japanese," USNM Annual Report, 1891, 489-509; "The Ancient Burial Mounds in Japan," USNM Annual Report, 1891, 511-523; and "Some Ancient Relics in Japan," USNM Annual Report, 1891, 525-526.
Bibliography
Some photographs also published in William W. Fitzhugh and Chisato O. Debreuil, Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People, [Washington, D.C.]: Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution in Association with University of Washington Press, 1999.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Mounds -- Japan Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painting, Japanese Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Japan Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Boats and boating Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Villages Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Koreans Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Japanese Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Korea Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ainu Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cyanotypes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
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