Scope and Contents note

The collection consists of photographs depicting of South American Indigenous peoples, made during Donald Croom Beatty's South American expedition. It includes images of Jivaro (Shuar) people, as well as their boats, houses and villages. Additional photographs depict members of the expedition and the Amazon River.

Biographical/Historical note

Donald Croom Beatty (1900-1980) was an American aviator who flew to South America in 1931 as part of a trade delegation. His expedition was endorsed by Major Leslie Barbrook of the National Geographic Society and Matthew Stirling (chief ethnologist for the Smithsonian Institution) and was funded by J. P. Morgan. The expedition explored the interior of the continent and acquired the first photographs and motion-picture recordings of the Jivaro (Shuar) people, as well as the collection of artifacts and live animal specimens from the Amazon River region. The expedition also led to Beatty's induction as a "fellow" to both The Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographical Society.

Local Call Number(s)

Reproduction Note

Prints made by Smithsonian Institution from Beatty's negatives, circa 1982

Location of Other Archival Materials

Material relating to Beatty's Latin American Expedition can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 7124, MS 7315 and MS 7551.

Location of Other Archival Materials

Jivaro artifacts donated by Beatty can be found in the Department of Anthropology in accession 341779.

Location of Other Archival Materials

Photographs of a Smithsonian reception honoring Donald C. Beatty can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 80-51.

Custodial History note

Donated by Donald Beatty, through the conservation Lab, 1982.